LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 24:4 April 2024
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

Celebrate India!
Unity in Diversity!!

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

Poetic Encounter
Available in https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09TT86S4T

Poems
Naked: the honest browsings of two brown women
Available in https://www.amazon.in

Decrees
Available in https://www.amazon.com

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2024
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
Custom Search

Malayalam Text-to-Speech Conversion: An Assistive Tool for Visually Impaired People

Muhammed Shafi M., Research Scholar and
Prof. (Dr.) S.A. Shanavas

Abstract

The discourse on Malayalam Text-to-Speech (TTS) Conversion emphasizes its crucial role as an assistive tool for the visually impaired, addressing the challenges they face in accessing printed and digital content. By enabling synthesized speech, Malayalam TTS technology enhances accessibility and inclusivity, allowing visually impaired individuals to engage with digital content independently. The flexibility of Malayalam TTS, including language preference and pacing options, facilitates efficient information consumption for users. Its applications in education and professional environments illustrate its role in levelling the playing field for visually impaired individuals. However, challenges such as adoption and usability persist, necessitating improvements in TTS quality and compatibility, alongside efforts to promote accessibility standards. Ultimately, Malayalam TTS serves as a means of empowerment, providing equitable access to information and fostering personal and professional development for the visually impaired community.

Keywords: Text-to-Speech Conversion, Visually Impaired People, Assistive tool, Malayalam

Introduction

Nowadays, digital communication and the exchange of information play an ever-growing role, ensuring accessibility for everyone, including individuals with visual impairments, is absolutely essential. For speakers of Malayalam, a language with a rich cultural heritage, accessing digital content can pose significant challenges. Malayalam is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the Indian state of Kerala and some parts of neighbouring states. However, the development of Malayalam text-to-speech (TTS) conversion technology offers a transformative solution, serving as a powerful assistive tool for visually impaired individuals. In this article, we explore the role of Malayalam TTS conversion in enhancing accessibility and inclusivity for the visually impaired community. This technology offers customizable speech settings, improving comprehension and efficiency in information consumption. It also supports multi-modal interactions, benefiting education and workplace applications, and promotes inclusivity by levelling the playing field for visually impaired individuals. However, challenges remain, such as enhancing TTS quality and compatibility with digital platforms, necessitating efforts to raise awareness and promote accessibility standards for broader adoption.

Text-to-speech (TTS) systems play a crucial role in aiding visually impaired individuals by converting text from images into audio format for easier comprehension [1] [2]. These systems utilize technologies like Natural Language Processing (NLP) for accurate text-to-speech conversion [3] [4]. The aim is to provide a cost-effective and easily accessible solution for the visually impaired to read and understand text from various sources like newspapers or posters [5]. By employing machine learning algorithms and OCR tools, these TTS systems help in extracting text from images, processing it, and converting it into speech, thereby enhancing the daily lives of visually impaired individuals by enabling efficient text reading through audio output.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Muhammed Shafi M.
Ph.D., Research Scholar, Department of Linguistics
University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram -695581
Email: shafim.lin@keralauniversity.ac.in

Prof. (Dr.) S.A. Shanavas
Professor and Head, Department of Linguistics
University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram -695581
Email: sashanavas@keralauniversity.ac.in
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.