Hello Steve, Michael and other AXSLIBers,
If text is available on the net, it can always be translated.
There are several free translation services on the web. The one
I remember is called babelfish, but I've been told there is a newer
and better service from another site, whose name I forget.
Being English, and not a linguist, it is difficult for me to
judge the quality of translation, so I go on what continental
friends tell me.
Although there are a limited number of texts freely available on
the web due to copyright law, a number of publishers make texts
available on the web to paying subscribers, who may include libraries.
Do you know what the situation is, Steve?
Some students may be illiterate in English but able to understand
English as spoken. Such students could benefit from speech synthesis,
which can be applied to any etext, be it scanned in or down-loaded
from the internet. <plug warning> My company, Cloudworld, has
developed a piece of software which displays text a word at a time
synchronised with speech, so you hear the word as it is displayed.
This was originally developed for people with visual impairment, but
is also suitable for people with English as a second language, and
for others who struggle with the written word. The software runs
on Windows 95 upwards. Email to [log in to unmask] for a
demonstration disc, and include your postal address. <end of plug>
Cheers from Chiswick,
John
--
In message <[log in to unmask]>
Steve Noble via [log in to unmask] writes:
>There may be a few sides to this question:
[snip]
>3) On the question of obtaining accessible content, here are some
>thoughts:
>--if the individual is a citizen of another country, they can likely
>receive services from their native national library even while living
>in the USA;
>--some access organizations within the USA supply non-English texts,
>although the number of available works to choose from may be rather
>small. Try the RFB&D or APH online catalogs;
>--many older "classic" texts in languages other than English can be
>found on the net in electronic form. Unfortunately, Project Gutenberg
>only has a few non-English books. I noticed only 8 in Spanish and only
>12 in French. I did not take the time to do a good search for some
>better sites, but here are a few:
>http://www.griffe.com/projects/worldlit/etexts/
>http://www.lysator.liu.se/runeberg/admin/foreign.html
>http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/rr/forlang.html
>--- michael krieg <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> I am a library science student and was wondering how non-English
>> speakers who are blind or deaf are helped at libraries for the
>> disabled?
>> What Braille, audio or special materials are available in other
>> languages?
>> Thank you.
>> Sincerely,
>> Michael Krieg
--
Access the word, access the world Tel/fax +44 20 8742 3170/8715
John Nissen Email to [log in to unmask]
Cloudworld Ltd., Chiswick, London, UK http://www.tommy.demon.co.uk
|
