VoiceCraft

Inspiration

With the rapid rise of digital technologies and the transmission of information online, traditional methods of storing data, such as hard copies of books, are becoming less common. In the pursuit of inclusivity, designers are focused on making products and information accessible to the widest range of users possible. However, as technologies become our primary form of communication, many traditional approaches that once promoted inclusivity are no longer relevant in the digital space. This includes but is not limited to, the use of braille, large print materials, and tactile signage, all of which provide essential accessibility for individuals with disabilities in the physical world. This weekend, we wanted to address a key issue: the lack of accessibility in digital media.

What it does

We are focusing on the lack of text-to-speech tools that can assist blind or visually impaired individuals navigate digital content by developing a platform that allows users to input either text, PDFs, or URLs, and converting that material into auditory speech. This will allow users such as the visually impaired to access digital material, that they otherwise wouldn't.

How we built it

Defining the purpose and functionality We identified the fact that users may want to input various types of media. We also wanted to ensure a simple user interface, allowing for adaptability and usability among a broad range of users.
Front-end development HTML was used to structure the webpage that users would interact with and CSS was used to style it. PropelAuth was used to prompt the user to log in / sign up.
Back-end development JavaScript was used to manage the behaviour of the website, including converting user input to auditory speech. Google's Text-to-speech was used for the actual conversion of text to audio

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was working under tight time constraints while ensuring that all team members, with varying skill levels, could contribute effectively. We also had to quickly familiarize ourselves with new APIs and development tools that many of us had never worked with before. Luckily, we were able to demonstrate of ability to adapt and learn as we were quickly able to grasp these new technologies.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This project provided us with the chance to work with softwares that many of us had never had prior experience with. We were able to quickly gain a strong understanding of how to use API's such as the Google text-to-speech API. We were able to successfully leverage each team member's individual skill set and work collaboratively as a team to develop an end-product that is a fully functional tool which serves to make a tangible impact in the community.

What we learned

This experience was immensely rewarding for everyone involved. Each member believes that they have gained a valuable experience and broadened their skillset in web development. Members went into this hackathon with varying levels of knowledge and expertise. We gained hads-on experience with developing a webpage- an experience that none of us have worked on before. Our foray into UX/UI taught us about the critical role of optimizing the user interface and the user interactions with our design. Finally, devising the pitch and presentation has allowed us to learn about the tactics in which we could employ to deliver an engaging and persuasive argument.

What's next for VoiceCraft

Looking ahead, VoiceCraft has the potential for significant growth and development. One of our primary goals is to enhance the current functionality by incorporating additional language support, allowing users from various linguistic backgrounds to access content in their preferred language. This could include text-to-speech capabilities in multiple languages, dialects, and accents, providing a more personalized and inclusive experience. We are also considering the integration of AI-driven natural language processing (NLP) to improve the accuracy and tone of speech synthesis, making it sound more human-like and engaging. Beyond text and PDFs, expanding compatibility to other types of media, such as images with embedded text (using OCR technology), would allow VoiceCraft to serve a wider variety of content, including scanned documents and photos containing text.