Processing of speech signals for physical and sensory disabilities.

Assistive technology involving voice communication is used primarily by people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who have speech and/or language disabilities. It is also used to a lesser extent by people with visual or motor disabilities. A very wide range of devices has been developed for people with hearing loss. These devices can be categorized not only by the modality of stimulation [i.e., auditory, visual, tactile, or direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve (auditory-neural)] but also in terms of the degree of speech processing that is used. At least four such categories can be distinguished: assistive devices (a) that are not designed specifically for speech, (b) that take the average characteristics of speech into account, (c) that process articulatory or phonetic characteristics of speech, and (d) that embody some degree of automatic speech recognition. Assistive devices for people with speech and/or language disabilities typically involve some form of speech synthesis or symbol generation for severe forms of language disability. Speech synthesis is also used in text-to-speech systems for sightless persons. Other applications of assistive technology involving voice communication include voice control of wheelchairs and other devices for people with mobility disabilities.

Commercial applications of speech interface technology: an industry at the threshold.

Speech interface technology, which includes automatic speech recognition, synthetic speech, and natural language processing, is beginning to have a significant impact on business and personal computer use. Today, powerful and inexpensive microprocessors and improved algorithms are driving commercial applications in computer command, consumer, data entry, speech-to-text, telephone, and voice verification. Robust speaker-independent recognition systems for command and navigation in personal computers are now available; telephone-based transaction and database inquiry systems using both speech synthesis and recognition are coming into use. Large-vocabulary speech interface systems for document creation and read-aloud proofing are expanding beyond niche markets. Today's applications represent a small preview of a rich future for speech interface technology that will eventually replace keyboards with microphones and loud-speakers to give easy accessibility to increasingly intelligent machines.

The press and freedom of speech in Ukraine ahead of parliamentary elections. OSW Commentary No. 90, 2012-09-20

The independence of the mass media has been regularly restricted over the past two years in Ukraine. Following a period of relative freedom in 2005–2010, the scope of direct and indirect government control of the press has increased, cancelling out the achievements of the Orange Revolution in this area. The press in Ukraine is less and less able to perform its role as watchdog on the government and politicians and as a reliable source of information on the situation in the country to the public. This is mainly due to: (1) the concentration of the most important mass media in the hands of Ukraine’s most powerful oligarchs, whose business interests depend on the government; (2) the use of the press as instruments in political and business competition; (3) the ruling class’s subordination of the institutions which supervise the press; (4) repression used against media critical of the government and (5) the lack of an independent public broadcasting corporation. As a consequence, the press has hardly any impact on the political processes taking place ahead of the parliamentary election scheduled for 28 October. This is also an effect of a passiveness present in the Ukrainian public, who are tired of politics and are focused on social issues. Cases of abuse or corruption scandals revealed by the press do not provoke any response from the public and are rarely investigated by the public prosecution authorities. The more popular a given medium is, the more strongly it is controlled by the government. At present, television has to be recognised as the least reliable of the mass media. In turn, Internet news journals are characterised by the greatest pluralism but also have more limited accessibility. The political conditions in which the mass media operate in Ukraine lead to various forms of pathology. The most serious of them are censorship by the owners and self-censorship performed by journalists, and a great share of political advertorials. As the parliamentary election is approaching, the pathologies of the Ukrainian media market have been showing up with greater intensity.

Manual of speech training,

Mode of access: Internet.

Application of Burst Processing to the spectral decomposition of speech /

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1977.

Helen Keller. Souvenir of the first summer meeting of the American association to promote the teaching of speech to the deaf.

Mode of access: Internet.

The phonarthron. Or, Natural system of the sounds of speech: a test of pronunciation for all languages: also, the phonarithmon, and the phonodion. To which is added, a practical application of the phonarthron to English and French pronunciation; and to the reading of Hebrew, &c.

Mode of access: Internet.

The faults of speech.: A self-corrector and teachers' manual.

Mode of access: Internet.

A new English grammar, containing a critical demonstration of the definitions of the parts of speech, the moods and tenses of verbs, and the rules and notes of syntax, never before published ...

Mode of access: Internet.

Parts of speech of the English language, in rhythmic illustrations, with copious models & exercises in analysis & composition; designed for beginners.

Mode of access: Internet.

English parsing: comprising the rules of syntax, exemplified by appropriate lessons under each rule, with an index, containing all the parts of speech in the different lessons unparsed, for the use of schools, private teachers, and elder students.

Mode of access: Internet.

Sentence, with exercises for analysis, diagraming and outlines of the parts of speech.

Mode of access: Internet.

The rudiments of English grammar : illustrated by parsing lessons : containing also a table of questions on the parts of speech, arranged in systamatic order, designed to facilitate the pupil's progress and initiate him in the principles of etymology : together with twenty-four syntactical rules, ellipsis, and a few observations on the uses of what and its /

Mode of access: Internet.