Text to speech in digital television

Text to speech in digital television refers to digital television products that use speech synthesis (computer generated speech providing a product that “talks” to the end user) to enable access by blind or partially sighted people. By combining a digital television solution (a television, set-top box, PVR or other type of receiver) with a speech synthesis engine, blind and partially sighted people are able to access information that is displayed to other users visually on the screen and therefore can operate the menus and Electronic Program Guides of the receiver.

Television is arguably the most prevalent medium used by people all over the world . Being able to use television is not merely a nice to have, but an essential characteristic of citizenship in the modern world. Indeed, it is often stated policy, affirmed also by organisations representing people with disabilities, that access to television is fundamental to full participation in society

Using an audio-visual medium involves obvious problems for certain groups of people with disabilities, notably individuals with sight or hearing loss. These problems can be split between interface accessibility barriers and impediments in using the content itself. Text-to-speech in television products is a feature that addresses interface accessibility barriers for blind and partially sighted people who are unable to use in the standard visual interface even where this has special features such as large fonts, magnifiers, adjustable colour schemes, etc.

Digital television solutions are often more complicated products compared to their analogue ancestors. The ability to navigate many menus, to see on screen programme information and to browse the Electronic Programme Guide or on-screen content listings to find out what is available to watch – these are all essential to using digital TV.

Policy makers across the world have recognised the importance of access to (digital) television for citizenship in the Information Society:

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