Layout Analysis of PDF Documents by Two-Dimensional Grammars for the Production of Accessible Textbooks

Kohase, Kento; Nakamura, Shunsuke; Fujiyoshi, Akio

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-58796-3_38

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 4 publications

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“…In order to create any type of audio textbooks, it is necessary to obtain the information of structure and the reading order of documents of regular textbooks in PDF. It is not simple task because most PDF files only have the information how to print them out, and page-layouts of most textbooks are complex [ 8 ].…”

Section: Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

STS on Accessible and Inclusive Digital Publishing

Ruemer¹,

López

2020

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Section: Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

STS on Accessible and Inclusive Digital Publishing

Ruemer¹,

López

2020

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Mathematical Content Browsing for Print-disabled Readers Based on Virtual-world Exploration and Audio-visual Sensory Substitution

Kruger

Wet

Niesler

2023

ACM Trans. Access. Comput.

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Documents containing mathematical content remain largely inaccessible to blind and visually impaired readers because they are predominantly published as untagged PDFs which do not include the semantic data necessary for effective accessibility. Equations in such documents consist of text interlaced with lines and other graphical elements, and cannot be interpreted using a screen reader. We present a browsing approach for print-disabled readers specifically aimed at such mathematical content. This approach draws on the navigational mechanisms often used to explore the virtual worlds of text adventure games with audio-visual sensory substitution for graphical content. The relative spatial placement of the elements of an equation are represented as a virtual world, so that the reader can navigate between elements. Text elements are announced conventionally using synthesised speech while graphical elements, such as roots and fraction lines, are rendered using a modification of the vOICe algorithm. The virtual world allows the reader to interactively discover the spatial structure of the equation, while the rendition of graphical elements as sound allows the shape and identity of elements that cannot be synthesised as speech to be discovered and recognised. The browsing approach was evaluated by eleven blind and fourteen sighted participants in a user trial that included identifying twelve equations extracted from PDF documents. Overall, equations were identified completely correctly in 78% of cases (74% and 83% respectively for blind and sighted subjects). If partial correctness is considered, the performance is substantially higher. Feedback from the blind subjects indicated that the technique allows spatial information and graphical detail to be discovered. We conclude that the integration of a spatial model represented as a virtual world in conjunction with audio-visual sensory substitution for non-textual elements can be an effective way for blind and visually impaired readers to read currently inaccessible mathematical content in PDF documents.

show abstract

Layout Analysis of PDF Documents by Two-Dimensional Grammars for the Production of Accessible Textbooks

Cited by 2 publications

References 4 publications

STS on Accessible and Inclusive Digital Publishing

STS on Accessible and Inclusive Digital Publishing

Mathematical Content Browsing for Print-disabled Readers Based on Virtual-world Exploration and Audio-visual Sensory Substitution

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