11-05-2012, 12:48 PM
Toward a New Algorithm for Hands Free Browsing
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Abstract
The role of the Internet in the life of everyone is becoming more and more important. People who
usually use the internet are normal people with use of all physical parts of their body.
Unfortunately, members of society who are physically handicapped do not get access to this
medium as they don’t have the ability to access the internet or use it.
The Integrated Browser is a computer application that browses the internet and displays
information on screen. It targets handicapped users who have difficulties using a standard
keyboard and/or a standard mouse. In addition, this browser, unlike the conventional method,
works by responding to voice commands.
It is characterized as an economical and humanitarian approach because it is handicap-friendly
and is especially helpful to those who cannot use their hands. The Integrated Browser is a stateof-
art technology that provides better and faster Internet experience. It is a program that will
facilitate and enhance learning of slow or/and handicapped learners
Keywords: Internet Browsing, Handicapped, Computer Application, Voice.
INTRODUCTION
Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet
Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide [1].
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information
resources on the World Wide Web [2].
The handicapped person is a person who has a special condition that markedly restricts his ability
to function physically, mentally or socially [3]. The IB (Integrated Browser) application tries to
combine these three terms (Internet, web browsing and handicapped) to work all together and
become a reality.
There are several different web browsers available in the internet world. The several types of
browsers could be used by normal people who can use their hands. Internet usage has become a
part of the daily life in a society that contains different types of people such as children, adults,
and handicapped, each with their different abilities. Unfortunately, the handicapped faces
difficulties in using the different general browsers. There is a need to create a special browser to
target these people. This paper aims to develop an internet browser with a new approach in the
technology world. The change in the routine style of browsers is a state-of-art design which
provides a multifunction process through combining voice.
This paper has worked out to combine the voice with the internet browsing, which would help the
handicapped to use the internet in an easy and direct way. Assuming that the computer’s
operating system is running on and that the program is in the startup programs, the focus would
be on browsing the WWW through voice commands.
A new focus on accessibility should be kept in mind as speech technology has “always” (at least
since the mid-1990s) implicitly addressed users with visual or mobile disabilities, sometimes
Murad Al-Rajab & Haifaa Kattan
International Journal of Computer Science and Security (IJCSS), Volume (1) : Issue (3) : 2011 339
“disguised” as a more general goal of enabling eyes-free/eyes-busy or hands free/hands-busy
access to web browsing and other applications [4].
What makes the IB a different browser is its backbone algorithm that supports the voice
commands. The paper will discuss an algorithm which will develop a voice command browser
that targets handicapped people. In addition, the IB can be used by any individual, not only the
handicapped.
The IB has its own new style of browsing that is shown in the new design of the browser. It has
many built in functions, such as News Line, Add Rotator, Games, Quick Search Button, Quick
Email, and other useful functionality.
Bringing up the idea of having a voice command browser is one way of assisting and supporting
the handicapped. There are other approaches of developing a voice command browser, but the
idea discussed in this paper is to develop the IB by applying a new algorithm technique.
Technical Objectives
1. To allow the handicapped to interact and navigate the web using their voice.
2. To investigate the possibility of using the voice Recognition Technology, which is a special
technique, needed to achieve success and use special components such as the programming
language and specific grammar to match the key words.
3. To help workers multitask. If a worker needs to type, explore or navigate the internet all at one
time, the voice would help achieve this simultaneously.
4. To investigate the difference between other browsers we used different functions and
applications imbedded to show the IB different style such as:
The voice recognition for facilitating the work on browsing the internet.
The ability to change the background color through a choice of different colors to allow for
personal style.
The particular style of other browsers was avoided through using different menus on
different locations and adding the advertisement rotator.
A rotating line for news was added.
The user has many other facilities in this browser such as making pop ups optional,
selecting size and other additional features.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Definition of the Internet Browser
A browser is a software program that allows you to view and interact with various kinds of internet
resources available on the World Wide Web (WWW). A browser is commonly called a web
browser [5]. Internet browsers are of different types and designs; some are closed source (i.e.
Internet Explorer) and some are open source (i.e. Mozilla Firefox). Also, browsers are available
with different add on tools that facilitate their functions and usability.
Significance of the Voice Internet Browser
Access to information has become a major economic and social factor [6]. Voice browsing
technology is a rapidly-growing field. Whether or not it proves to be the next internet, it deserves
a careful examination in its present form [7], as the need for an easy and direct way to access the
internet has become a demand for many types of people, especially the handicapped. From this,
the idea of the paper was raised in order to help implement a voice command IB browser.
Previous Work and Algorithms
In many studies, algorithms and applications have been implemented to facilitate the internet
browsing or to revolutionize the traditional way of surfing the www in different angles. One
application was implemented to display enumerated links in the browser window and to have also
a compass mouse with a curser positioned over a mouse-over pull-down menu by speech
recognition [8].