[Athen] Synthesized Voices and Accurate Pronunciation

[Jeffrey Dell]

Many programs that use a speech synthesizer have a pronounceation
dictionary that you can add to.  You would need to check with the
programs help files that you are using for directions
beyond that I don't nkow of a medical jargon tts engine.
Jeff

On 9/17/09, Burke, Dan (DSS) <burke at mso.umt.edu> wrote:

> The main determinant of accuracy in reading is not what is doing the

> reading, but the quality of the electronic text that is being read.

>

> For example, , JAWS out of the box pronounces the name of my town as

> Miss-owl-a, when it is commonly pronounced as Mizzoola.

>

> So the issue is for the student to learn a couple of tricks -- stop

> (frequently, if necessary) and spell out words he or she is uncertain

> of.  If they are pronounced strangely, virtually every tts package

> offers some way to correct pronunciation.  Which is what I have done

> with JAWS and the name of my town.

>

> So, the quality of the e-text -- is it a publisher file?  If not, has it

> been properly spell-checked?

>

> And then add to that the student taking responsibility (with our

> guidance) and learning how to manipulate the screen reader to make him

> or herself successful.

>

> Dan

>

>

> Daniel J. Burke

> Assistant Director/Coordinator

> Disability Services for Students

> Emma B. Lommasson 154

> The University of Montana

> Missoula, MT 59812

>

> www.umt.edu/dss/

>

> 406.243.2243 voice/text

> 406.243.4424 direct line

> 406.243.5330 fax

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On

> Behalf Of CUTLER_ELLEN

> Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 2:37 PM

> To: Access Technology Higher Education Network

> Subject: [Athen] Synthesized Voices and Accurate Pronunciation

>

> Hello,

>

> We have a student who needs to listen to respiratory therapy text books.

> Towards this end, we need to know what determines how accurately text

> will be read. Is it the synthesized voice? Is it the text-to-speech

> software? What text-to-speech environment is likely to read medical

> texts accurately? I was wondering if the TTS feature of the Medical

> version of NaturallySpeaking would do well; however, the student does

> not need voice recognition....

>

> Thanks, Ellen

>

>

> Ellen Cutler

> Santa Monica College

> Disabled Student Services, High Tech Training Center

> 1900 Pico Blvd.

> Santa Monica, CA 90405

> 310.434-4496

> cutler_ellen at smc.edu

>

>

>

>

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