Now, visually challenged people need not struggle to translate Kannada scripts to audio format.Text-to-speech (TTS) format is now available in Kannada.
Sridhar TS, a computer programmer who is visually challenged, has designed the software, which has now been adopted by the Karnataka Knowledge Commission (KKC) on its Kannada Wikipedia, Kanaja, http://kanaja.in
TTS will help not only the visually challenged, but even those who understand Kannada without being able to read the script. Talking about the project, Sridhar said, “I had this dream of bringing TTS to Kannada while still studying for my diploma. A friend recently told me of the TTS in Tamil, and that inspired me to bring the software to Kannada.”
Sridhar got in touch with Jonathan Duddington, the man who first developed the TTS in English. “Duddington was extraordinarily generous, and he helped me design the TTS in Kannada. There is still a little work pending, which I expect to finish soon,” Sridhar said.
Among those who have expressed appreciation for the work that Sridhar has done are former IAS officer Chiranjeevi Singh and chairman of the Kannada Development Authority Mukhyamantri Chandru.
The Karnataka Knowledge Commission felicitated Sridhar on Monday, offering him a reward of Rs25,000. Sridhar says the money will help him design a manner in which Kannada can be used in mobile phone applications.
