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，多模式通用访问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。 一个代表性的知识库，使用可扩展标记语言（XML）模式编码，将被翻译成不同的表示在Vcom 3D的角色动画标记语言（CAML）。 CAML是在之前的NSF SBIR资助下开发的，目前正在几个教育产品和网站（包括www.signingavatar.com）上使用，以创建语法正确的ASL，以及具有正确韵律和协调手势和表达的合成语音。将测试概念验证通用访问Web界面在K-12教育环境中的有效性。 基于概念证明的成功示范，将检查接口到更一般的知识库领域的可扩展性。 特别是，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倡议的适用性，以创建一个基于标准的可扩展的语义Web。 该项目有可能产生软件工具，可用于经济地创建聋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这样的产品，即以多种语言形式提供对基于网络的信息的普遍访问。

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.