Mapping GUIs to auditory interfaces

This paper describes work to provide mappings between Xbased graphical interfaces and auditory interfaces. In our system, dubbed Mercator, this mapping is transparent to applications. The primary motivation for this work is to provide accessibility to graphical applications for users who are blind or visually impaired. We describe the design of an auditory interface which simulates many of the features of graphical interfaces. We then describe the architecture we have built to model and transform graphical interfaces. Finally, we conclude with some indications of future research for improving our translation mechanisms and for creating an auditory desktop environment. KEYWORDS: Auditory interfaces, GUIs, X, visual impairment, multimodal interfaces. INTRODUCTION The goal of human-computer interfaces is to provide a communication pathway between computer software and human users. The history of human-computer interfaces can be interpreted as the struggle to provide more meaningful a...