SBIR/Phase I: The Accessible Semantic Web

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一个概念验证、多模态通用访问Web界面，为用户提供文本、语音和动画美国手语（ASL）之间的选择。使用可扩展标记语言（XML）模式编码的代表性知识库将被翻译成Vcom3D的角色动画标记语言（CAML）的不同表示。CAML是在NSF SBIR之前的资助下开发的，目前正在一些教育产品和网站（包括www.signingavatar.com）上使用，以创建语法正确的美国手语，以及具有正确韵律和协调手势和表情的合成语音。概念验证通用访问网络接口在K-12教育环境中的有效性将得到测试。基于概念验证的成功演示，将研究该接口对更一般知识库领域的可扩展性。特别地，调查小组将评估资源描述框架（RDF）、本体Web语言（OWL）和其他语义Web计划对创建基于标准的可访问语义Web的适用性。该项目有潜力产生软件工具，可以用来经济地创建聋哑人和盲人都可以使用的电子学习材料。随着语义网的出现，长期的发展可能会产生以多种语言形式提供对基于Web的信息的通用可访问性的产品。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a proof-of-concept, multi-modal Universal Access Web Interface that provides the user with a choice between text, speech, and animated American Sign Language (ASL). A representative knowledgebase, encoded using Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema, will be translated into differentiated representations in Vcom3D's Character Animation Markup Language (CAML). CAML, developed under a previous NSF SBIR grant, is currently being used in several educational products and on Websites (including www.signingavatar.com) to create grammatically correct ASL, as well as synthesized speech with correct prosody and coordinated gesture and expression. The effectiveness of the proof-of-concept Universal Access Web Interface in K-12 educational environments will be tested. Based on successful demonstrations of the proof-of-concept , the extensibility of the Interface to more general knowledgebase domains will be examined. In particular, the investigative team will evaluate the applicability of Resource Description Framework (RDF), Ontology Web Language (OWL), and other Semantic Web initiatives to the creation of a standards-based Accessible Semantic Web. The project has potential to produce in Software Tools that can be used to economically create e-Learning materials that are accessible to both deaf and blind persons. Longer-term development, in concert with the emergence of the Semantic Web, can result in products that provide general accessibility to Web-based information in multiple language modalities.