BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk) announced on December 21 that the Scottish speech technology firm CEC Systems (www.marketingsense.co.uk) is looking to attract web surfers with a search engine that reads out results. Called Speegle (www.speegle.co.uk), it has the look and feel of a normal search engine, with the added feature of being able to read out the results. People visiting Speegle can select one of three voices to read the results of a query or summarize news stories from sources such as the BBC and Reuters.
The site uses a technology dubbed PanaVox, which takes web text and converts it into synthesised speech. Visitors to Speegle may notice that the look and feel of the site bears more than a passing resemblance to the search engine giant Google. Google, though, has no connection with Speegle and the use of bright colours is simply to make the site more visible for those with visual impairments.
Speegle founder Gordon Renton said that it is still a bit robotic and can make a few mistakes, that the system is ideal for people with blurred vision or for those that just want to search for something in the background while they do something else, and that he is not saying that it will be suitable for totally blind people, although the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) is looking at the technology. However, Julie Howell, digital policy manager at the RNIB, expressed doubts over whether Speegle and similar sites added anything to blind people's experience of the web.
Gordon Renton added that Speegle is proving popular with those learning English in countries such as Japan and China, that the site is bombarded by people just listening to the words, and that the repetition could be useful although they may all end up talking like robots.
