Attracting end users...

The initial Getting Started and User Guide documentation is now published (but incomplete / unpolished). So, it is now time to take a short while to concentrate on pulling together the marketing side of the project.

As stated:

"The aim of Project metalmouth is to develop a fully functioned (although initially basic) open source voice browser - which sits inside the Chrome browser as an extension. The ambition is to give users, who want to use this extension, the best possible user experience when interacting with the spoken web."

In order to reach anywhere near this ambition it is the end users who must now decide on what they want. The beta release which is now published has always been intended as a 'straw man' - providing something real for people so that they can state what they like and don't like. In this way the extension can be burned down and built back up to more accurately fulfil their needs.

Getting as many relevant end users as possible to feedback on the project is the key, and the focus of the current activity. Where a relevant end user of this project might be:

"Anyone, from any Country, who for one reason or another finds it necessary to have content spoken out to them to ensure their full interaction (via the Chrome browser) with the web".

As always, if you are using the extension or just like the intensions behind the project (I already like you and think your wonderful) I would ask you to get involved in the project (especially user testing, feature requests, etc...) - otherwise, maybe just providing a link to the project website (http://code.google.com/p/metalmouth/) so that others may more easily find it.

Project documentation...

Work was completed yesterday on supporting access to the Project metalmouth extension via the Chrome browser omnibox (where you enter the urls).

My worry had been about how a user would navigate to the voice browser extension - as Chrome browser is not self-voicing (and, without the need for an external screen-reader).

With omnibox support now implemented a user can launch Chrome browser (or open a new tab) - focus will go to the omnibox in both cases - and type "mm". The Project metalmouth extension will recognise this keyword and ask the user to "press the space bar then press enter". These two additional actions will start the extension, meaning a user needs only four key presses from launching Chrome to being able to surf the web via the extension.

So, the aim today is to improve the Getting Started and User Guide wiki pages for Project metalmouth - to reflect the work above.

As always, if you are using the extension or just like the intensions behind the project (I already like you and think your wonderful) I would ask you to get involved in the project (especially user testing, feature requests, etc...) - otherwise, maybe just providing a link to the project website (http://code.google.com/p/metalmouth/) so that others may more easily find it.

Project metalmouth launched...

This week saw the launch of Project metalmouth - a project I have been wanting to deliver to the widest possible community for ages.

If you don't already know, the aim of this project is to develop a fully functioned (although initially basic) open source voice browser - which sits inside the Chrome browser as an extension. The ambition is to give users, who want to use this extension, the best possible user experience when interacting with the spoken web.

Voice browsers are one type of assistive technology. They have a primary focus, unlike their more generalist bigger cousins 'screen-readers', on maximising a user's ability to interact with content or applications found on the web. Voice browsers typically speak out-loud web content, so users (via a keyboard) are able to interact with it without the actual need to see it.

The project release is currently set at beta - version 1.1.1. With this extension a user can:

1. Have their current page read out from the start - stopping, continuing or re-reading items at will (buttons 10, 11, 12 above).
2. Navigate the page by items - all items, sections, links, skip links, forms (drop-down 4 above).
3. Navigate a page one item at a time - read again, next, previous (buttons 5, 6, 7 above).
4. Interact with items (and enter text) - skip links, links, text entry boxes, select drop-down menus, buttons, check buttons (button 8 above).
5. Enter a new url, and undertake action 1 to 4 (text entry 1 above).
6. Change the speed at which text is being read out-loud i.e. normal, fast, slow (drop-down 9 above).
7. The extension can now be started from the omnibox (url area) in Chrome, by simply typing "mm" in the box then pressing the space bar and then pressing return. This is so a user needs only four key presses from launching Chrome to being able to surf the web via the extension.

My intention with this blog is to track the direction of work on this project, and as such provide an easier entry for anyone wishing to take part in the project.

Finally, if you are using the extension or just like the intensions behind the project (I already like you and think your wonderful) I would ask you to get involved in the project (especially user testing, feature requests, etc...) - otherwise, maybe just providing a link to the project website (http://code.google.com/p/metalmouth/) so that others may more easily find it.