This page archives past NCAM projects. While the information remains relevant, some resources referenced are no longer available, so links to them have been removed.
Table of Contents
Text-to-speech conversions of on-screen information
NCAM has created brief clips that show various approaches to making on-screen information more accessible to blind and visually impaired viewers. Below are videos that demonstrate automated text-to-speech (TTS) conversions of on-screen information with synchronized playback. In each video the main audio channel is automatically lowered as the secondary channel, containing TTS audio, is raised. When the TTS is finished playing, the main audio channel is raised to its previous level.
One TTS voice reading a single stream of data:
Two TTS voices reading different data streams:
One TTS voice reading an emergency crawl:
Automatically relocated closed captions
Below are links to brief videos that demonstrate how closed captions can be automatically relocated to make room for on-screen crawls or other text displays. These movies contain open captions-- that is, you cannot turn them off.
Captions in the upper third of the video relocated to make room for an emergency crawl:
Captions in the lower third of the video relocated to make room for blocks of text:
The text-to-speech and caption-relocation processes shown in these clips were accomplished with software created by Tim Heidmann at Serious Intent Entertainment, running on a Pinnacle Systems Dekocast, which is used by broadcasters to merge on-screen graphics with video. Read a technical article about how the DekoCast can be used to relocate captions and merge TTS audio into a broadcast stream.
NCAM wishes to thank project partner WCVB for granting permission to use their news footage in these clips.
Previous: Access to Locally Televised On-Screen Information
Back: NCAM Resources
Contact NCAM
NCAM at GBH
One Guest Street
Boston, MA 02135