Accessible Reading Mode Techniques For Electronic Devices

• US 20140026055A1
• Filed: 07/19/2013
• Published: 01/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nook Digital, LLC (f/k/a Barnesandnoble.com LLC) (Bahwan CyberTek Pvt Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Nook Digital, LLC (f/k/a Barnesandnoble.com LLC) (Bahwan CyberTek Pvt Ltd.)
• Inventors: Pallakoff, Matthew, Cohn, Harold E., Mosquera, Luis D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,658,746 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/727
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for providing accessible reading modes in electronic computing devices. The user can transition between a manual reading mode and an automatic reading mode using a transition gesture. The manual reading mode may allow the user to navigate through content, share content with others, aurally sample and select content, adjust the reading rate, font, volume, or configure other reading and/or device settings. The automatic reading mode facilitates an electronic device reading automatically and continuously from a predetermined point with a selected voice font, volume, and rate, and only responds to a limited number of command gestures that may include scrolling to the next or previous sentence, paragraph, page, chapter, section or other content boundary. For each reading mode, earcons may guide the selection and/or navigation techniques, indicate content boundaries, confirm user actions or selections, or to otherwise provide an intuitive and accessible user experience.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a touch sensitive surface for allowing user input; and

an accessible user interface comprising;

an automatic reading mode configured to automatically and continuously aurally present textual content from a predetermined point with a selected voice font, volume, and rate; and

a manual reading mode configured to perform an action including at least one of;

aurally present textual content at a current read point or that is selected, navigate menu options, share content, select content, add notes to content, adjust reading rate, adjust voice font, and/or adjust volume in response to one or more corresponding gestures; and

wherein the accessible user interface is configured to transition between the automatic reading mode and the manual reading mode in response to a transition gesture.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the accessible user interface is further configured to activate the automatic reading mode in response to an automatic reading mode activation gesture, and to activate the manual reading mode in response to a manual reading mode activation gesture.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the automatic reading mode is further configured to aurally present one or more earcons in response to at least one of:

passing a sentence, paragraph, page, slide, article, chapter, and/or content section.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the accessible user interface is further configured to aurally present one or more earcons in response to at least one of:

confirming a user action, accepting a menu option, selecting content, entering an automatic reading mode, entering a manual reading mode, navigating through a menu, and/or adjusting a settings option.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the automatic reading mode is further configured to perform at least one of:

adjust reading rate, scroll by sentence, scroll by paragraph, scroll by page, and/or scroll by chapter in response to a corresponding swipe gesture.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein the automatic reading mode is displaying a page that is not the beginning of a chapter and the mode is configured to create a virtual bookmark on the currently displayed page if a gesture is performed to scroll to the next or previous chapter, wherein the bookmark prompts the automatic reading mode to make an additional stop on the bookmarked page while scrolling over that page.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein the automatic reading mode is configured to disregard all contacts on the touch sensitive surface other than commands to adjust reading rate, scroll by sentence, scroll by page, and/or scroll by chapter.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein the manual reading mode is further configured to aurally present textual content in forward order in response to a horizontal drag gesture performed toward the right, and in reverse order in response to a horizontal drag gesture performed toward the left.

9. The device of claim 1 wherein the manual reading mode is further configured to aurally present selected textual content in response to a double-tap gesture.

10. The device of claim 1 wherein the touch sensitive surface is a touch screen display and the manual reading mode is further configured to aurally present a word to the user in response to a short press gesture performed over the word.

11. The device of claim 10 wherein the manual reading mode is further configured to select the word in response to a first tap gesture performed after the word is aurally presented, navigate to a terminating word in response to one or more navigation gestures, and select all text between the word and the terminating word in response to a second tap gesture performed after the terminating word has been presented to the user.

12. The device of claim 11 wherein the first tap gesture is performed while the short press gesture is still being held.

13. A mobile computing system, comprising:

a processor and a touch sensitive surface for allowing user input; and

an accessible user interface executable on the processor and comprising;

an automatic reading mode configured to automatically and continuously aurally present textual content from a predetermined point with a selected voice font, volume, and rate; and

a manual reading mode configured to perform an action including at least one of;

aurally present textual content at a current read point or that is selected, navigate menu options, share content, select content, add notes to content, adjust reading rate, adjust voice font, and/or adjust volume in response to one or more corresponding gestures, and wherein the accessible user interface is configured to transition between the automatic reading mode and the manual reading mode in response to a transition gesture.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the automatic reading mode is further configured to perform at least one of:

adjust reading rate, scroll by sentence, scroll by paragraph, scroll by page, and/or scroll by chapter in response to a corresponding gesture on the touch sensitive surface.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the automatic reading mode is further configured to aurally present one or more earcons in response to at least one of:

passing a sentence, paragraph, page, slide, article, chapter, and/or content section.

16. A computer program product comprising a plurality of instructions non-transiently encoded thereon to facilitate operation of an electronic device according to the following process, the process comprising:

receive at a touch sensitive surface an accessible automatic reading mode activation gesture;

automatically and continuously aurally present textual content from a predetermined point with a selected voice font, volume, and rate in response to the accessible automatic reading mode activation gesture;

receive at a touch sensitive surface an accessible manual reading mode activation gesture, the manual reading mode configured to perform an action including at least one of;

aurally present textual content at a current read point or that is selected, navigate menu options, share content, select content, add notes to content, adjust reading rate, adjust voice font, and/or adjust volume in response to one or more corresponding gestures; and

transition between the automatic reading mode and the manual reading mode in response to a transition gesture.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the touch sensitive surface is a touch screen display and wherein the process is further configured to:

receive at the touch screen display a short press gesture performed over a first word; and

aurally present the first word to the user.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the process is further configured to:

select the first word in response to a first tap gesture received on the touch screen display after the word is aurally presented;

navigate to a terminating word in response to the one or more navigation gestures received at the touch screen display;

aurally present the terminating word to the user; and

select all content between the first word and the terminating word in response to a second tap gesture received on the touch screen display after the terminating word has been presented to the user.

19. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the touch sensitive surface is a touch screen display and the process is further configured to:

proceed to an adjacent page in response to a page turning gesture received at the touch screen display; and

proceed to the beginning of an adjacent chapter in response to a chapter scrolling gesture received at the touch screen display.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the process is further configured to:

create a virtual bookmark on a currently displayed page if a chapter scrolling gesture is received, the currently displayed page not being the beginning of a chapter; and

make an additional stop on the bookmarked page in response to a subsequent chapter scrolling gesture prompting the process to proceed over the bookmarked page.