Web Reader/Readium - Universal cross-platform Accessible Reading System

An open source EPUB3 reader for web browsers

We need to replace BookShare's Web Reader (currently based on an early prototype of Readium) with the latest Readium code but to do that we need to add the enhancements made to the forked version of Readium and bring these enhancements (such as TTS with Highlighting) back into Readium.  Bookshare serves nearly 340,00 members who are blind or visually-impaired, physically disabled or having learning disabilities.

Skills / Technologies: HTML, CSS, Java Script, EPUB3, Google Analytics

Other possibilities:

• Make Bookshare Web Reader more mobile-friendly: it works now somewhat on iPad but we could do more for phones other devices
• A11Y features such as annotations.  
• Possible UI/UX (workflow) based on EPUB's non-linear spine items for off-page element for alternative image descriptions (long description, simplified description, tactile representation, 3D model with tour)   
• Incorporate Google Analytics for usage tracking

A student will use the latest agile methodology including; pair programming, scrum and sprints.  

More Information

• Readium Project: Readium is an open source library for handling EPUB documents and viewing them in a browser..

• Web Reader: Bookshare's HTML browser based reader of EPUB documents. 

Accessible Math for the Blind and Vision Impaired - MathML Cloud

MathML Cloud was developed in 2014 to make mathematics on the web and inside eBooks/eTextbooks accessible to people who are blind or have vision impairments. For GSoC 2015, we would like to extend MathML Cloud's reach to mainstream authoring platforms and content management systems. To start, we'd like to build an Add-In for Microsoft Word that incorporates API calls made to MathML Cloud.

Skills / Technologies: 

• Visual Studio
• Visual Basic for Applications
• Potentially JavaScript and HTML/CSS
• PHP

Other Add-Ins/Plug-ins to address after Microsoft Word Add-In:

• Adobe Illustrator
• Wordpress: http://wordpress.org/plugins/mathjax-latex/
• Google Docs

More Information:

• MathML Cloud Project: http://benetech.org/our-programs/literacy/born-accessible/mathml-cloud/
• MathML Cloud App: https://mathmlcloud.org/ / open source code available at: http://github.com/benetech/mmlc-experiments
• MathType: http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/

On Demand Math assistance for the Blind and Vision Impaired - MathPoet

MathPoet is an iOS application that allows for on-demand transcription of math equations into accessible formats. 

Skills/Technologies: iOS programming, web-app development in Python/Django

Project Overview:

We need to add the following functionality to the MathPoet iOS application:

• add photo capture support
• create web-service backend to connect submitters of inaccessible content with transcribers of content
• add audio recording/tagging functionality to equations
• add iPad support
• use MathML cloud to generate accessible math

More Information:https://github.com/benetech/iosmobilepoet

Enhancements to Go Read Android eBook Reader for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Go Read is the premier app on Android for Blind and Vision Impaired readers. It integrates tightly with Benetech's Bookshare - the largest library of accessible eBooks for nearly 340,000 people worldwide with print disabilities, with a growing population in countries where Android phone and tablet sales are soaring.

• Support TTS voicing of DAISY image prodnotes and alt properties, WAI-ARIA aria-describedby
• http://github.com/benetech/fbreaderj
• http://www.daisy.org/z3986/structure/SG-DAISY3/part2-image.html
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.benetech.android&hl=en
• Support of multi-language DAISY books (e.g., books containing both Hindi and English)
• Support DAISY 3 language element
• http://www.daisy.org/z3986/structure/SG-DAISY3/index.html
• http://www.daisy.org/z3986/structure/SG-DAISY3/index-of-elements.html#lang
• Support setting for TTS processing at paragraph or sentence level based on TTS engine used. This is used to reduce pause between TTS processing periods.
• Support word-level highlighting of text for members with low-vision and learning disabilities

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