U.S. patent application number 16/269836 was filed with the patent office on 2019-06-06 for assistive technology for the impaired.
The applicant listed for this patent is Open Text Holdings, Inc.. Invention is credited to Zhigang Li, Richard James Seabright.
Application Number | 20190171708 16/269836 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44760727 |
Filed Date | 2019-06-06 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190171708 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Seabright; Richard James ;
et al. |
June 6, 2019 |
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE IMPAIRED
Abstract
Disclosed are methods and apparatus for generating accessible
documents. In one embodiment, an initial document in a print format
is obtained. The print format of the initial document is identified
as one of a plurality of print formats. A parser corresponding to
the one of the plurality of print formats is applied such that the
initial document is parsed according to the print format of the
initial document. An intermediate document that conforms to an
intermediate format is generated based upon results obtained from
applying the parser. A template for converting the intermediate
document into an accessible document is obtained. The template is
then such that an accessible document corresponding to the initial
document is generated.
Inventors: |
Seabright; Richard James;
(Oshawa, CA) ; Li; Zhigang; (Calgary, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Open Text Holdings, Inc. |
San Mateo |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
44760727 |
Appl. No.: |
16/269836 |
Filed: |
February 7, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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15143003 |
Apr 29, 2016 |
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16269836 |
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14939918 |
Nov 12, 2015 |
10169320 |
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15143003 |
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14595982 |
Jan 13, 2015 |
9223764 |
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14939918 |
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14136939 |
Dec 20, 2013 |
8964201 |
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14595982 |
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13045347 |
Mar 10, 2011 |
8619272 |
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14136939 |
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61322774 |
Apr 9, 2010 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/205 20200101;
G06F 40/117 20200101; G06F 3/1244 20130101; G06F 3/1246 20130101;
G06F 40/177 20200101; G06F 3/1257 20130101; G06F 3/1206 20130101;
G06F 40/186 20200101; G06F 3/1208 20130101; G06F 40/14 20200101;
G06F 40/106 20200101; G06F 3/1245 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/27 20060101
G06F017/27; G06F 3/12 20060101 G06F003/12; G06F 17/22 20060101
G06F017/22; G06F 17/21 20060101 G06F017/21; G06F 17/24 20060101
G06F017/24 |
Claims
1. A method, comprising: obtaining a document in an initial format;
parsing the document to generate an intermediate document that
conforms to an intermediate format, wherein the intermediate
document defines a plurality of regions; accessing a template,
wherein the template includes computer-executable instructions for
converting the intermediate document into an accessible document;
and converting the intermediate document into an accessible
document using the template, wherein converting the intermediate
document to the accessible document includes inserting a plurality
of tags into the accessible document, the plurality of tags
associated with the plurality of regions in the accessible document
and interpretable by an accessibility product to enable the
accessibility product to present content associated with each of
the plurality of regions in the accessible document to a user
without user involvement.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 15/143,003 filed Apr. 29, 2016, which is
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/939,918 filed
Nov. 12, 2015, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,169,320, which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/595,982 filed
on Jan. 13, 2015, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,223,764, which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/136,939, filed
on Dec. 20, 2013, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,964,201, which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/045,347, filed
on Mar. 10, 2011, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,619,272, which claims
priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/322,774
filed on Apr. 9, 2010, which are incorporated herein by reference
in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Today, 3.3 million Americans over the age of 40 are blind or
have low-vision--a number that will surpass 5 million within the
next decade. In addition, over 21 million Americans have profound
visual impairments that require large print documents. A vast
majority of these individuals have bank accounts, credit cards, and
savings in various investment vehicles that require monthly
statements. However, these individuals often are unable to access
the financial statements that are typically provided.
[0003] Many visually impaired individuals use assistive
technologies to access digital information. Such assistive
technologies range from screen readers to Braille printers.
However, many documents and websites are not designed to be
compatible with assistive technologies.
[0004] The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has developed guidelines
for technology products. These Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) state that websites, software products and electronic
documents should be built to work with assistive technologies.
[0005] Portable Document Format (PDF) is the most commonly used
document format in electronic statements. However, this document
format has presented one of the most problematic accessibility
issues. A number of organizations have been working to address this
issue by outlining the appropriate tagging requirements.
[0006] Currently, tagging of PDF documents is manually performed on
a per-document basis. Unfortunately, this is a time-consuming and
tedious process. There also fails to be a mechanism for tagging of
documents that are stored in electronic formats other than PDF.
[0007] In view of the above, it would be beneficial if an improved
process for tagging documents could be developed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The disclosed embodiments support the generation of
accessible documents. This may be accomplished through the
execution of a template to convert one or more documents into
accessible documents. This may be accomplished on a per-document
basis, or as a batch process such that a plurality of documents are
converted simultaneously.
[0009] In accordance with one aspect, an accessible document that
is generated may include a plurality of tags, where the plurality
of tags conform to a set of accessibility standards for generating
documents compatible with an accessibility product for visually
impaired individuals. For instance, the plurality of tags may
designate an order of a plurality of regions of the accessible
document, where the order indicates an appropriate read order for
visually impaired individuals. The designated order of the
plurality of regions of the accessible document may be different
from an order of the plurality of regions of the initial document
from which the accessible document was generated.
[0010] In accordance with another aspect, documents stored in
various formats may be converted to accessible documents. More
particularly, when an initial document is obtained, the format of
the initial document may be identified as one of a plurality of
formats. For example, the format of the initial document may be one
of a plurality of print formats. A plurality of parsers may be
available for parsing documents of any of the plurality of formats.
Therefore, a parser corresponding to the identified one of the
plurality of formats may be applied such that the initial document
is parsed according to the format of the initial document. More
particularly, the initial document may be parsed to identify a
plurality of regions of the initial document.
[0011] In accordance with yet another aspect, an intermediate
document that conforms to an intermediate format may be generated
based upon results obtained from applying the parser. More
particularly, a data structure or document such as a PDF document
identifying each of the plurality of regions of the initial
document may be generated. The intermediate document may also
include additional information pertaining to the plurality of
regions, such as the order of the plurality of regions in the
initial document and information (e.g., text) in each of the
plurality of fields/regions of the initial document.
[0012] In accordance with yet another aspect, the intermediate
document may be converted into an accessible document through the
use of a template. In the following description, the term
"template" will be used to refer to a reusable component that
includes computer-readable instructions for converting an
intermediate document into an accessible document. In other words,
the template may include the computer-readable instructions that
are specific to tagging a document of a particular document type
(e.g., bill type). The computer-readable instructions for
converting an initial document into an intermediate document may
not be specific to a particular document type (e.g., bill type).
Rather, the computer-readable instructions for converting an
initial document into an intermediate document may include
instructions for parsing an initial document in a particular format
(e.g., print format) to generate an intermediate document in an
intermediate format (e.g., PDF). Since the instructions for
converting an initial document into an intermediate document are
not specific to the document type, these instructions need not be
re-saved for each document type and corresponding template.
However, in other embodiments, the computer-readable instructions
for converting an initial document into an intermediate document
may be saved in association with each template.
[0013] In accordance with another aspect, a template may be
generated through the use of a user interface. More particularly, a
user may specify one or more tags to be associated with one or more
of a plurality of regions of a first document through the use of a
user interface. Through this process, computer-readable
instructions for tagging the document may be generated and saved as
a template that may executed for tagging other documents (e.g.,
intermediate documents) of the same document type.
[0014] In accordance with one aspect, a template may be generated
during the process of tagging a first document and reused to tag a
second document. More particularly, a first document in a first
format may be obtained. The first document may be parsed to
generate an intermediate document that conforms to an intermediate
format. A template including computer-readable instructions for
converting the intermediate document into an accessible document
may be generated. The template may then be executed to convert the
first document, as well as a second, different document, into an
accessible document. The second document need not be in the same
format as the first document. For instance, the first document and
the second document may be saved as two different print formats.
While the first document and the second document need not be in the
same format, they should be of the same type. For instance, the
first document and the second document may both be a utility
bill.
[0015] In accordance with yet another aspect, once a template has
been saved, the preexisting template may be "re-used" to tag other
documents of the same document type. In one embodiment, an initial
document may be obtained and parsed to generate an intermediate
document that conforms to an intermediate format. For example, the
initial document may be parsed to identify a plurality of regions
of the initial document. The intermediate document may therefore
identify the plurality of regions of the initial document, as well
as other information pertaining to the plurality of regions of the
initial document. An existing template including computer-readable
instructions for converting an intermediate document of the
document type into an accessible document may be obtained and
executed such that an accessible document corresponding to the
initial document is generated from the intermediate document.
[0016] In accordance with yet another aspect, a plurality of
documents of the same document type may be converted to accessible
documents using the template that corresponds to that document
type. For instance, the plurality of documents may include bank
statements to be issued from a particular bank, where each of the
bank statements is a statement for a different individual. More
particularly, a set of initial documents may be obtained, where
each of the set of initial documents is a first document type
(e.g., bank statement). Each of the set of initial documents may be
parsed to identify a plurality of regions of the corresponding one
of the set of initial documents. A template including
computer-readable instructions for generating an accessible
document including the plurality of regions for the first document
type may be obtained and executed such that an accessible document
is generated for each of the set of initial documents.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example system in
which various embodiments may be implemented.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of
generating a template for converting an initial document to an
accessible document.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example
method of executing a template in accordance with various
embodiments of the invention.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of
processing a batch of documents in accordance with various
embodiments.
[0021] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example system in which
various embodiments may be implemented.
[0022] FIG. 6 illustrates an example computer system via which
various embodiments may be implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS
[0023] Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments
of the invention. Examples of these embodiments are illustrated in
the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in
conjunction with these specific embodiments, it will be understood
that it is not intended to limit the invention to these
embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives,
modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit
and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. In
the following description, numerous specific details are set forth
in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
invention. The present invention may be practiced without some or
all of these specific details. In other instances, well known
process operations have not been described in detail in order not
to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
[0024] Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are part of a
series of Web accessibility guidelines published by the W3C's Web
Accessibility Initiative. They consist of a set of guidelines on
making content accessible, primarily for disabled users, but also
for devices such as highly limited devices, such as mobile
phones.
[0025] The disclosed embodiments enable an accessible document to
be generated from an initial document in accordance with web
accessibility guidelines such as WCAG 1.0, published on May 5,
1999, or WCAG 2.0, published on Dec. 11, 2008, which are
incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. When printed or
viewed via a display, the accessible document may appear to be
identical to the initial document. However, the accessible document
may be compatible with various accessibility products enabling
visually impaired individuals to "read" the accessible document, as
will be described in further detail below. Various accessibility
products include speech synthesizers (i.e., readers) capable of
reading a document, technology that renders hard-copy output into
Braille, and Braille devices. In addition, the accessible document
may make the content of the initial document accessible to various
devices such as mobile phones.
[0026] In the following description, the term document may be used
to describe an electronic document (e.g., file) or data structure
representing a physical document that may be printed or displayed
via a suitable medium (e.g., printer or display). The document may
include text and/or images (e.g., graphics, photographs, logos,
etc.). In addition, the document may include formatting information
such as font characteristics (e.g., font size, bold, italics,
underline, color, etc.).
[0027] The disclosed embodiments may be implemented in software
and/or hardware. For example, the software may be implemented in an
object-oriented language such as C++ or Java.
[0028] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example system in
which various embodiments may be implemented. As shown at 102, an
initial document may be received. For example, the initial document
may be a bill, book, magazine, newspaper, or article. In addition,
the format of the initial document may be one of a variety of
formats capable of being parsed and converted to an accessible
document via a system such as that described herein. For example,
the initial document may include a print stream in one of various
print formats such as Advanced Function Printing (AFP), line data,
metacode, Printer Command Language (PCL), Portable Document Format
(PDF), or TIFF.
[0029] Upon receiving the initial document 102, a parser 104 may
parse the initial document in order to generate an intermediate
document in an intermediate format 106. For example, the
intermediate format may be PDF. Moreover, information provided in
the intermediate document may be stored in a data structure such as
an object (i.e., instantiation of a class) generated in an
object-oriented language.
[0030] In one embodiment, the parser 104 parses the initial
document 102 in order to identify or define a plurality of regions
(i.e., sections) within the initial document 102. In this manner,
the logical structure of the document may be identified. For
example, the regions that are identified may include specific
fields, rows, or columns within the initial document 102. Examples
of regions that may be identified for a bill include a title, due
date of a bill, an amount due, a name of the individual to which
the bill is addressed, an address of the individual to which the
bill is addressed, and/or one or more line items/rows including
text describing an item billed and a corresponding amount billed
for the item. Each of the regions may be defined by a rectangular
area or a border surrounding the region. Thus, content from each of
the identified regions may be extracted. This content may then be
used to generate the intermediate document in the intermediate
format 106. More particularly, the content may be stored in an
intermediate data structure such as an object, which may then be
used to generate the intermediate document.
[0031] A tag generator 108 may generate an accessible document 110
from the initial document 102 by "tagging" the corresponding
intermediate document through the execution of a template. More
particularly, the tag generator 108 may tag the intermediate
document by inserting one or more tags at various points within the
intermediate document. The tags in an accessible document may
designate an order of the various fields or regions within the
accessible document. This order will be interpreted by an
accessibility product as a "reading order," where the order is
appropriate for the visually impaired. In this manner, the
disclosed embodiments may enable a visually impaired person to
better understand the information presented in a variety of
documents.
[0032] In order to generate a template, an individual may specify
tags associated with various identified regions of an initial
document or intermediate document via a graphical user interface.
More particularly, when the individual chooses to tag an initial
document, the initial document may be automatically parsed to
generate a corresponding intermediate document. A user interface
may be provided to enable the individual to select region(s) within
the initial/intermediate document and submit tags to be inserted in
association with the selected region(s), resulting in the
generation of an accessible document. A set of computer-readable
instructions for tagging a document of the same type may be
automatically generated as a result of this process. For example,
the computer-readable instructions may be generated in a markup
language such as Extensible Markup Language (XML). Once all of the
tags for the document have been specified, the set of
computer-readable instructions may be saved as a template 112. The
template 112 may be named and/or associated with a particular type
of document. Thus, a first template may be saved in association
with a first type of document, while a second template may be saved
in association with a second type of document. Various types of
documents may include documents generated by a specific company,
newspapers, magazines, articles, books, or bills. More
particularly, an electric bill generated by an electric company
will generally have a different format from a credit card bill
generated by a credit card company. In fact, each credit card
company may use a different format when generating their credit
card statements. Therefore, a different template may be generated
in order to convert each of these different types of documents to
an accessible document 110. A method of generating a template for
converting an initial document to an accessible document will be
described in further detail below with reference to FIG. 2.
[0033] A template 112 is a reusable component that may include
computer-readable instructions for tagging an intermediate
document. In some embodiments, the template 112 may also include
instructions for parsing an initial document and generating an
intermediate document corresponding to the initial document, as
described herein.
[0034] Assuming that a template has previously been generated and
saved as shown at 112, the template 112 may be executed in order to
tag another document of the same type. More particularly, the
template may correspond to a particular type of the initial
document. The type of document may be any form of printable
document that contains encoded text and/or images and has a
consistent repeating logical structure or layout across many
instances of that document type.
[0035] When the template is executed in association with the
current initial document, the executing template may automatically
tag the corresponding intermediate document. Through the execution
of the template to tag the intermediate document, the initial
document 102 may be "converted" to an accessible document 110. The
accessible document 110 may then be output or saved for later
retrieval. In one embodiment, the accessible document 110 is a PDF
document. A method of converting an initial document to an
accessible document using an existing template will be described in
further detail below with reference to FIG. 3.
[0036] FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of
generating a template in accordance with various embodiments of the
invention. An initial document in an initial format may be obtained
at 202. In one embodiment, the initial document conforms to a print
format.
[0037] It would be desirable to support the generation of
accessible documents from multiple formats. This may be
accomplished by parsing an initial document to generate an
intermediate document that conforms to an intermediate format at
204. More particularly, a format of the initial document may be
identified as one of a plurality of formats for which accessible
documents can be generated. One of a plurality of parsers
corresponding to the one of the plurality of formats may then parse
the initial document according to the format of the initial
document. For example, where the initial document conforms to one
of a plurality of print formats, a format of the initial document
may be identified as one of the plurality of print formats. Parsing
of the initial document may then be performed according to the
identified print format.
[0038] During the parsing process, a plurality of regions of the
initial document may be defined or identified. For example, a row
of a statement or bill may be identified as a line item of the
bill. This may be accomplished despite the variations in size or
height of the rows. These regions may be defined by the names of
one or more field(s) within the regions and/or physical dimensions
of regions within the initial document. The region names and/or
content within the regions may be stored in an intermediate data
structure. Based upon the identified regions, an intermediate
document including the plurality of regions may be generated.
[0039] Computer-readable instructions for converting the
intermediate document representing the plurality of regions into an
accessible document may be generated at 206 via a user interface,
as set forth above. A template including the computer-readable
instructions may be stored as a template for converting the
intermediate document into an accessible document.
[0040] The template may then be executed at 208 such that an
accessible document corresponding to another, second initial
document of the same type is generated. More particularly, the
second initial document may be parsed to identify regions within
the second initial document, enabling an intermediate document
including the identified regions to be generated, as set forth
above. The intermediate document corresponding to the second
initial document may be automatically tagged as specified in the
template in order to generate the accessible document. For example,
the accessible document may be a PDF document that conforms to the
PDF format.
[0041] The accessible document may include a plurality of tags that
conform to a set of accessibility standards for generating
documents compatible with an accessibility product for visually
impaired individuals. The plurality of tags may designate or
otherwise indicate an order of a plurality of regions of the
accessible document, enabling an accessibility product or other
device to relay the information in the tagged regions of the
accessible document in the designated order. The designed order of
the plurality of regions of the accessible document may be
different from an order of the plurality of regions in the initial
document. For example, while the amount due region of an initial
bill may be present at the end of the bill, the amount due region
may be tagged as the first piece of information in an accessible
document generated from the initial bill. In this manner,
information in a document may be reordered in a manner that is more
suited to visually impaired individuals.
[0042] Tagging may be performed in accordance with accessibility
standards, and therefore may be used in a variety of scenarios.
Moreover, readers typically do not understand how to read and
interpret non-textual information such as tables, charts, logos,
hypertext links, and images. Thus, in order to relay this
non-textual information to a visually impaired individual, an
accessible document may be tagged with alternate text to replace
this non-textual information. An accessibility product may
interpret this additional text as alternate text to be "read" or
otherwise communicated in place of the information in the
corresponding tagged region of the document. As one example, a tag
may be used to identify (or replace) an image present in one of the
plurality of regions of the initial or intermediate document.
Through the use of tagging, a pre-defined set of text associated
with the image may be added to the intermediate document during
generation of an accessible document. As another example, a tag
indicating a company's name may be added in association with a
logo. As yet another example, text such as "Dec. 1, 2010" may be
added in association with a date in a format such as "12/01/10."
Furthermore, tagging may notify readers that information in a table
is presented in rows and columns so that it can be properly
delivered and understood by a visually impaired individual. For
instance, tagging may identify rows and columns of a table. Text
may also be added in association with hypertext links or
graphics.
[0043] Tagging may also be used to specify a particular language in
which the accessible document is to be presented to a user via an
accessibility product. For example, the language may be tied to a
particular user such as the user of the accessibility product. An
accessibility product would therefore be able to communicate
information in the accessible document in the specified
language.
[0044] FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of
executing a template in accordance with various embodiments of the
invention. An initial document may be obtained at 302. The initial
document may be parsed at 304 to generate an intermediate document
that conforms to an intermediate format, as set forth above. More
particularly, the initial document may be parsed to identify a
plurality of regions of the initial document in order to generate
the intermediate document. A template for generating an accessible
document from the intermediate document may be obtained at 306. The
template may then be executed at 308 such that an accessible
document is generated from the intermediate document, wherein the
accessible document includes a plurality of tags that designate an
order of a plurality of regions of the accessible document.
[0045] Conversion of a document to an accessible document may be
performed on an as-needed basis on demand in response to a request
from an individual. For instance, the individual may submit a
request for an accessible document corresponding to a particular
initial document (or request generation of the accessible
document). The request may be received off-line or on-line. For
instance, the individual may submit a request via a user interface
coupled to a website suitable for generating and/or providing
access to accessible documents. In one embodiment, the individual
may log in to his or her account via the website in order to
generate, view or otherwise obtain an accessible document from his
or her account. Thus, the request may indicate an identity of the
individual associated with the initial document. Upon receiving the
request, the accessible document may be generated and provided to
the individual in real-time (e.g., by providing an electronic
version such as a PDF of the accessible document for viewing or
downloading) or at a later time (e.g., via postal mail). The
generation and/or providing of the accessible document may be
performed automatically, or upon initiation by a user (e.g., the
individual).
[0046] Alternatively, conversion of documents to accessible
documents may be performed as a batch process to generate a
plurality of accessible documents. The accessible documents may be
stored for later retrieval. More particularly, each of the
accessible documents may be provided in response to a request from
an individual, as set forth above.
[0047] FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram illustrating a method of
processing a batch of documents in accordance with various
embodiments. A set of initial documents may be obtained at 402,
each of the set of initial documents being a first document type.
For example, a composition engine may generate a single file
including a plurality of documents. The file may then be processed
accordingly. More particularly, each of the set of initial
documents may be parsed to identify a plurality of regions of the
corresponding one of the set of initial documents at 404. A
template for generating an accessible document including the
plurality of regions for the first document type may be obtained at
406. The template may be executed such that an accessible document
is generated for each of the set of initial documents, wherein each
accessible document includes a plurality of tags that designate an
order of the plurality of regions of the accessible document.
[0048] The accessible document that is generated for each of the
set of initial documents may be stored such that a plurality of
accessible documents are stored. One of the pluralities of
accessible documents may then be provided in response to a request
indicating an identity of an individual associated with the one of
the plurality of accessible documents.
[0049] The disclosed embodiments may be used advantageously by
companies to convert high volume documents such as bills in an
efficient manner. Moreover, data formatted for a printer may be
captured and transformed into an accessible document. Therefore,
organizations may capture data from high-volume print streams and
transform it into accessible documents. Through the automation of
the generation of accessible documents, organizations can gain a
competitive advantage by supporting an underserved consumer
segment. Moreover, the ability to generate accessible documents
eliminates the need for these organizations to contract with
outsourcers to generate accessible documents on a per-document
basis.
[0050] Embodiments of the present invention may be employed to
generate accessible documents in any of a wide variety of computing
contexts. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, implementations
are contemplated in which the relevant population of users interact
with a diverse network environment via any type of computer (e.g.,
desktop, laptop, tablet, etc.) 1002, media computing platforms 1003
(e.g., cable and satellite set top boxes and digital video
recorders), handheld computing devices (e.g., PDAs) 1004, cell
phones 1006, or any other type of computing or communication
platform.
[0051] An accessible document may be generated or accessed
according to the invention in some centralized manner. This is
represented in FIG. 5 by server 1008 and data store 1010 which, as
will be understood, may correspond to multiple distributed devices
and data stores. The invention may also be practiced in a wide
variety of network environments (represented by network 1012)
including, for example, TCP/IP-based networks, telecommunications
networks, wireless networks, etc. In addition, the computer program
instructions with which embodiments of the invention are
implemented may be stored in any type of computer-readable media,
and may be executed according to a variety of computing models
including a client/server model, a peer-to-peer model, on a
stand-alone computing device, or according to a distributed
computing model in which various of the functionalities described
herein may be effected or employed at different locations.
[0052] The disclosed techniques of the present invention may be
implemented in any suitable combination of software and/or hardware
system, such as a web-based server or desktop computer system. The
apparatus of this invention may be specially constructed for the
required purposes, or it may be a general-purpose computer
selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program and/or
data structure stored in the computer. The processes presented
herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or
other apparatus. In particular, various general-purpose machines
may be used with programs written in accordance with the teachings
herein, or it may be more convenient to construct a more
specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps.
[0053] Regardless of the system's configuration, it may employ one
or more memories or memory modules configured to store data,
program instructions for the general-purpose processing operations
and/or the inventive techniques described herein. The program
instructions may control the operation of an operating system
and/or one or more applications, for example. The memory or
memories may also be configured to store documents being converted
to accessible documents, accessible documents, computer-readable
instructions for enabling a user to tag documents via a graphical
user interface, templates that have been generated as a result of
tagging an initial document, computer-readable instructions for
generating a graphical user interface enabling a user to tag an
initial document or execute a previously generated template for
tagging documents, etc.
[0054] Because such information and program instructions may be
employed to implement the systems/methods described herein, the
present invention relates to machine readable media that include
program instructions, state information, etc. for performing
various operations described herein. Examples of machine-readable
media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard
disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as
CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and
hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform
program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and
random access memory (RAM). Examples of program instructions
include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and
files containing higher level code that may be executed by the
computer using an interpreter.
[0055] FIG. 6 illustrates a typical computer system that, when
appropriately configured or designed, can serve as a system of this
invention. The computer system 1100 includes any number of
processors 1102 (also referred to as central processing units, or
CPUs) that are coupled to storage devices including primary storage
1106 (typically a random access memory, or RAM), primary storage
1104 (typically a read only memory, or ROM). CPU 1102 may be of
various types including microcontrollers and microprocessors such
as programmable devices (e.g., CPLDs and FPGAs) and unprogrammable
devices such as gate array ASICs or general purpose
microprocessors. As is well known in the art, primary storage 1104
acts to transfer data and instructions uni-directionally to the CPU
and primary storage 1106 is used typically to transfer data and
instructions in a bi-directional manner. Both of these primary
storage devices may include any suitable computer-readable media
such as those described above. A mass storage device 1108 is also
coupled bi-directionally to CPU 1102 and provides additional data
storage capacity and may include any of the computer-readable media
described above. Mass storage device 1108 may be used to store
programs, data and the like and is typically a secondary storage
medium such as a hard disk. It will be appreciated that the
information retained within the mass storage device 1108, may, in
appropriate cases, be incorporated in standard fashion as part of
primary storage 1106 as virtual memory. A specific mass storage
device such as a CD-ROM 1114 may also pass data uni-directionally
to the CPU.
[0056] CPU 1102 may also be coupled to one or more interfaces 1110
that connect to one or more input/output devices such as such as
video monitors, track balls, mice, keyboards, microphones,
touch-sensitive displays, transducer card readers, magnetic or
paper tape readers, tablets, styluses, voice or handwriting
recognizers, speakers, accessibility devices such as speech
synthesizers (i.e., readers) or Braille devices, or other
well-known input devices such as, of course, other computers.
Finally, CPU 1102 optionally may be coupled to an external device
such as a database or a computer or telecommunications network
using an external connection as shown generally at 1112. With such
a connection, it is contemplated that the CPU might receive
information such as an accessible document from the network, or
might output information such as a request for an accessible
document to the network in the course of performing the method
steps described herein.
[0057] Although the foregoing invention has been described in some
detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be
apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced
within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the present
embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not
restrictive and the invention is not to be limited to the details
given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents
of the appended claims.
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