Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. The Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to methods, systems, and computer program products for accessing electronic documents. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods, systems, and computer program products for providing a voice interface to electronic documents. 
     2. The Prior State of the Art 
     As computers have become ubiquitous in our day-to-day activities, the advantages of storing information electronically have steadily increased. One of the primary advantages of electronically stored information is its inherent versatility. For example, editing and exchanging electronic information is greatly simplified as compared to editing and exchanging documents stored in paper form only. Furthermore, any advantage attributable to having a physical document is retained in electronic storage because a “hard copy” of an electronic document may be readily produced from the electronic version. 
     Another significant advantage of electronically stored documents is that of providing enhanced access to information. Over the past few years, the improved access offered by electronic documents has become so important that many organizations expend substantial resources in scanning paper documents to store them electronically. Routine facsimile transmission further exemplifies the value of electronic access to documents. Arguably, it is access to information that fuels what many refer to as the Information Age. 
     Today, perhaps the most prominent example of access to electronically stored information is the Internet. Literally millions of people depend on the Internet for email, banking, investing, shopping, news, entertainment, and social interaction. Not too many years ago, sharing information over the Internet was principally the domain of academicians and scientists. For members of the general public, the cryptic nature of access tools and the essentially prohibitive computer hardware requirements meant virtual anonymity for the Internet. However, the advent of hypertext navigation and the World Wide Web (“Web”), in conjunction with modestly priced and increasingly powerful personal computers, has propelled the Internet to the forefront of public attention and has made the Internet an almost indispensable source of information. 
     Likewise, use of early cellular telephone technology was also limited. Initially, problems included providing coverage beyond major metropolitan areas, the expense and size of cellular telephones, and the expense of airtime. As a result, cellular telephones were used mostly for vital business concerns rather than for personal matters. Over the past few years, however, the cellular industry has solved, to one degree or another, most of the problems that inhibited cellular&#39;s general acceptance. Today, cellular telephone use has dramatically increased and, for many people, is the primary means of communicating with others. 
     Increasing dependence on cellular telephones as a primary means of communication together with increasing dependence on the Internet as a source of information presents an unfortunate problem: a primary means of communication, the cellular telephone, does not interface well with a vital source of information, the Internet. The problem is compounded in that the hypertext navigation of the Web is visually oriented, making a computer with a relatively large screen an obvious choice for access, yet the size of cellular telephones is much more conducive to convenient portability. Frequently cellular telephones are clipped to belts or placed in pockets or purses; portable computers require their own case and a free hand to carry. Moreover, public telephones are available to those who do not carry cellular telephones, whereas public computers have a minimal presence at best. 
     Although the prior art includes some attempts to solve the problem of accessing electronic documents by voice, none of the prior art teachings offer the comprehensive solution provided by the present invention. Specifically, FIGS. 1 and 2 show the prior art&#39;s approaches to accessing Internet documents, approaches that have proven to be generally inadequate in many ways. The approach designated generally at  100  illustrates a Source  110  of electronic content that is accessible through Telephone  120 . The content in Source  110  is written in a markup language specifically designed for telephone access. 
     Using Motorola&#39;s Voice extensible Markup Language (“VoxML”), the information includes explicit elements or tags for enabling voice interaction. However, requiring explicit voice elements presents a serious drawback: it provides no means for accessing content that does not include the VoxML&#39;s voice elements. Thus, VoxML provides no access to the wealth of content already available on the Web, written mostly in HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”). In other words, to provide full Web access, the entire content of the Web would need to be rewritten to include VoxML&#39;s explicit voice tags. 
     Moreover, VoxML&#39;s facilities for authoring voice content do not provide for using a common source to generate both audio and visual interfaces. Therefore, even if a single document contains both visual and audio elements, the elements must be maintained separately; any changes to one must be replicated in the other. 
     FIG. 2 shows another approach to the problem, designated as  200 , that has proven to be generally inadequate. HTML Source  210 , representing existing Web content, can be accessed through one of two interfaces. First, as is well known in the art, Visual Browser  220  provides a visual interface for Monitor  230 . Second, Static Translation  240  provides an audio interface for Telephone  250 . Static Translation  240  is a copy of at least a portion of HTML Source  210  that has been manually altered to include audio elements. Someone examines HTML Source  210 , creates a corresponding audio interface, and then stores the audio interface in Static Translation  240 . A user who is interested in accessing HTML Source  210  through telephone  250  interacts with the audio interface provided by Static Translation  240 . 
     The solution of FIG. 2 has the advantage of providing an audio interface without obligating HTML content providers (e.g., providers of HTML Source  210 ) with the responsibility of maintaining an audio interface. However, this approach imposes new problems that may be nearly equal to the one it proposes to solve. Like the approach in FIG. 1, a significant amount of work must be devoted to identifying HTML content of interest and then modifying that. Once the content has been initially modified, each time HTML Source  210  changes, corresponding changes must be made to the Static Translation  240 . Naturally, some delay will occur between the time HTML Source  210  changes and the corresponding modifications are made to Static Translation  240 . For content that changes frequently, such as information regarding financial markets, frequent and constant updating is a significant burden. Moreover, because of the incredible amount of HTML content available on the Web, only a small portion could be modified to include an audio interface and placed in Static Translation  240 , leaving vast Web content completely inaccessible to Telephone  250 . 
     One area that may be particularly well-served by telephone access is the personal home page market, as it is becoming increasingly popular for content providers, such as Yahoo!, to offer personal Web home pages. These personal pages allow a user to select from a variety of content that is placed on a single Web page. For example, a user may chose to have current data regarding various financial markets, weather, sports stories, headlines, technology, calendaring, contacts, entertainment, travel, reference, etc., appear on a personal home page. By providing a single, convenient source of diverse information, these personal home pages are highly attractive. 
     There is no end in sight for the increasing growth of the Internet nor is it likely that the Internet&#39;s expanding importance as a source of information will diminish any time soon. Considering the corresponding growth in cellular telephone use and the cellular telephone&#39;s convenient size, providing cellular access to the Internet in particular and electronic content in general would be a great benefit. Furthermore, public telephones also could provide beneficial Internet access for those who do not carry cellular telephones. However, the prior art lacks effective methods, systems, and computer program products for providing voice or audio interfaces to electronic content. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The problems in the prior state of the art have been successfully overcome by the present invention, which is directed to methods, systems, and computer program products for providing a voice interface to electronic documents. The present invention allows for access to existing electronic content without requiring any modification to the content source. Furthermore, the present invention allows for a common content source to incorporate both a visual and audio interface, without including separate markups for each interface, making the content source more easily maintained. Although embodiments of the present invention are described as applied to Web pages in an Internet context, the invention is not limited to any particular format of electronic information or any particular network typically used for accessing electronic content. 
     In one preferred implementation, the present invention works with content that operates as an index to additional content, such as is typical with personal home pages. The present invention takes the content of a personal home page and creates a hierarchy of categories that are presented to a client. There is no requirement that the client is necessarily a person. For example, the client may be an intervening service needing an audio interface to electronic documents. The present invention generates an audio representation of the available categories and allows the client to select one. Navigating through the hierarchy, the client may eventually reach the bottom hierarchy level, with links pointing to content that includes text mixed with links. At this point, the present invention reports the number of links, and provides an audio representation of the text. 
     Because creating categories requires some knowledge of the layout for personal home pages, Web content in general will not be mapped into various categories. For unmapped content, the present invention operates as described above with respect to text mixed with links, by reporting the number of links on a page and providing an audio representation of the page&#39;s text. Alternatively, a client may choose to hear an audio representation that only includes links. In response, the client may select a link of interest to follow. The present invention also provides a variety of global commands that are available to assist navigation. 
     The foregoing methods, systems, and computer program products provide significant advantages over the prior art. Because the present invention provides an audio interface without requiring any modification to existing content, the telephone access will be readily available to the vast information available electronically. Moreover, the present invention also provides for organizing certain content by mapping links and text to a hierarchy of categories to aid navigation. 
     These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by practicing the invention as set forth below. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A more extensive description of the present invention, including the above-recited features, advantages, and objects, will be rendered with reference to the specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Because these drawings depict only exemplary embodiments, the drawings should not be construed as imposing any limitation on the present invention&#39;s scope. As such, the present invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a prior art solution for providing a voice interface to electronic content; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another prior art solution for providing a voice interface to electronic content; 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the relationship of the present invention to other components used in accessing electronic content; 
     FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing increased detail of the components that make up the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention that includes the use of mapped categories; 
     FIG. 6 is an example of electronic content that is used to describe the operation of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 shows the portfolios portion of the content from FIG. 6 in greater detail; 
     FIG. 8 shows the weather portion of the content from FIG. 6 in greater detail; 
     FIG. 9 shows the headlines portion of the content from FIG. 6 in greater detail; 
     FIG. 10 illustrates the hierarchy generated by the present invention for the content shown in FIGS. 6-9; 
     FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred embodiment of the present invention that does not include the use of mapped categories; and 
     FIG. 12 is an example of electronic content that is used to describe the operation of the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG.  11 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The invention is describe below with reference to drawings. These drawings illustrate certain details of specific embodiments that implement the systems, methods, and computer program products of the present invention. However, describing the invention with drawings should not be construed as imposing, on the invention, any limitations that may be present in the drawings. For example, the embodiments that follow describe the present invention in the context of Web pages usually accessed over the Internet. Nevertheless, the scope of the present invention is not limited to electronic content formatted as Web pages nor is it limited to content that is ordinarily accessed through the Internet. 
     The present invention relates to methods, systems, and computer program products for providing an audio interface to electronic content. Two embodiments are described below. Each embodiment is a significant advance over the prior art because no modification of the content&#39;s source is required. The first embodiment is most useful for content that is arranged as a hierarchical index, with broad topic indices leading to more specific topic indices and eventually to individual documents discussing a particular subject. The present invention creates a hierarchy of categories and indices. A corresponding audio representation allows a client to navigate through the content, where the client need not be a person. For example, the present invention could be accessible to other services needing a voice interface to electronic content. Upon reaching the bottom level in the index hierarchy, selection of a link leads to specific documents. 
     Reaching specific documents introduces the operation of the second embodiment. Here, the present invention identifies the number of links and provides the user with an audio representation of the document text. A client may also choose to hear the links to navigate among various documents. Depending on the initial page identified by a client, the present invention may begin operating according to either of these two embodiments. Each embodiment includes the benefits of providing an audio interface to dynamic Web content without requiring providers to modify their documents. 
     The embodiments of the present invention may comprise a special purpose or general-purpose computer comprising various computer hardware. Other embodiments within the scope of the present invention also include computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. 
     When information is transferred or provided over a network or other communications connection to a computer, the computer properly views the connection as a computer-readable medium. Thus, such a connection is also properly termed a computer-readable medium. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media. Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which cause a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or special-purpose processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. The computer-executable instructions and associated data structures represent an example of program code means for executing the steps of the invention disclosed herein. 
     The invention will be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. 
     Turning now to FIG. 3, an environment, including the present invention, for accessing electronic content is referenced generally as  300 . HTML Source  310  is an example of electronic content that is common to the Web. However, the invention imposes no particular requirement on the format of the content&#39;s source or on how the content typically is accessed. Visual Browser  320  accesses HTML Source  310  and provides a visual representation for Monitor  330 . Visual browsers, such as Microsoft&#39;s Internet Explorer and Netscape&#39;s Navigator are both well known in the art. Voice Browser  340  provides an audio interface to HTML Source  310  that is suitable for use by Telephone  350 . Alternatively, Voice Browser  340  could be used in conjunction with Visual Browser  320  to provide simultaneous visual and audio interfaces. Similarly, Visual Browser  320  could also be specialized to generate content that would be suitable for the limited space of a telephone display. Then, Visual Browser  320  and Voice Browser  340  could be used simultaneously through Telephone  350 . 
     FIG. 4 shows some of the basic components that make up Voice Browser  340 . In addition to the following relatively brief treatment, the operation of these basic components will be described in greater detail with respect to the flow chart of FIGS.  5 . Line/Call Manager  410  is responsible for establishing and maintaining telephone connections. Text to Speech  420  converts the text it receives to speech that can be communicated to a client and is an example of processor means for generating an audio representation of electronic content. Text to Speech  420  may also include some prerecorded speech. For example, prerecorded speech could be used for frequently used words, links, text or prompts. Modules for implementing both Line/Call Manager  410  and Text to Speech  420  are well known in their respective arts. Document Parsing and Audio Layout  430  receives electronic content and identifies any text and links included within the electronic content and is an example of processor means for parsing electronic documents. (Links are content elements that lead to other locations in the same document or to other documents entirely. HTML links, for example, create locations within a document&#39;s visual representation that may be selected to further explore the link&#39;s subject, such a defining a word or leading to related material.) The audio layout portion may organize certain content into a hierarchy as an aid to navigation and is an example of processor means for mapping any text and links identified into one or more categories. 
     Speech Recognition  440  interprets the audio or voice data received from a client so that Command Processing  450  can execute the client&#39;s request. Speech Recognition  440  is an example of processor means for receiving a spoken instruction from a client. Modules for implementing Speech Recognition  440  are well known in the respective art. Command Processing  450  may also perform various general control functions and coordinate the operation of other components. Document Retrieval Protocols  460  request and receive the electronic content of interest and are examples of processor means for obtaining electronic documents and for following links. These Document Retrieval Protocols  460  are also well known in the art of accessing electronic content, especially in the context of HTML documents. 
     As described in FIGS. 3 and 4, Voice Browser  340  provides an audio interface without imposing the limitations found in prior art solutions. Specifically, Voice Browser  340  does not require content providers to modify their documents to support a voice interface. Therefore, the dynamic content of the Web is available to Voice Brower  340  at the same instant it is available to Visual Brower  320 . How Voice Browser  340  operates to create an audio interface is described more fully with reference to FIG.  5 . 
     All acts shown in the flow chart of FIG. 5 will be described by using the document shown generally in FIG. 6, and more specifically in FIGS. 7-9. Because each figure number is incorporated into individual references, i.e., reference  650  appears in FIG.  6  and reference  940  appears in FIG. 9, the specific figure number may be inferred and therefore may not be explicitly identified in the discussion that follows. It should also be noted that while the steps of FIG. 5 are shown sequentially, there is no requirement that one step be completed prior to the next step beginning. For example, the prompts can be interrupted or anticipated by making a selection before the prompt finishes or before it even begins. FIG. 6 is an example of content that provides hierarchical indices leading to more textually oriented material and is suitable for enhanced mapping. 
     In step  510 , a particular document is identified or selected. For example, Text to Speech  420  may prompt the client to select or request a desired source of information. Options include unified messaging, home page, favorites, etc. Prompts for unified messaging, home page, favorites, etc., are examples prompts that may be prerecorded and included in Text to Speech  420 . In response, the client selects the personal home page shown in FIG.  6 . The present invention can also include a variety of global spoken navigation commands, such as fast forward, rewind, cancel, forward, back, home, links, fax, telephone, and email. Fax, telephone, and email are instructions to fax, telephone (voice mail), or email the current document&#39;s contents, or some portion thereof, in audio and/or visual form based on what is appropriate for the particular instruction given, to someone selected from the client&#39;s contact list; the other terms retain their ordinary meaning. For example, an instruction to fax would send a visual representation of at least a portion of the document&#39;s contents to the fax recipient. Links is a request to hear a page&#39;s links only rather than its text. 
     Next, in step  520 , Document Retrieval Protocols  460  retrieve or obtain the document. No particular protocols are imposed according to the present invention. For example, the document may be stored locally, stored on a local area network, stored on a private wide area network, or stored on the Internet. The document shown in FIG. 6 is retrieved from the Internet. Having obtained the requested document, in step  530  Document Parsing &amp; Audio Layout  430  next parses the content to identify any title, any text, any links, and any link names included within the document. A link name is simply the text that forms the link. For example, “Weather” is the link name of Weather category  810 . 
     Parsing the retrieved document to identify title, text, links, and link names that may be present illustrates how an audio interface may be provided without requiring changes to the document source. In conjunction with the other aspects of the present invention, this allows immediate audio access to dynamic visual content that otherwise would be unavailable in the prior art. Once parsed, in step  540  the text and links included within the document are mapped to various categories. 
     FIG. 6 identifies the categories present in the selected document and also shows some portions of the document that are filtered out and ignored. Top Banner  610  and Bottom Banner  660  include a variety of images and other content that is not particularly suitable for voice interaction. However, the enhanced mapping identifies three categories of information stored on the page, Portfolios  630 , Weather  640 , and Headlines  650 . Each of the categories may also include content that is ignored. For example, Graphic  840  (see FIG. 8) is eliminated because there is no speech analog, although alternate information provided within the image tag, such as the text of the “alt” attribute, could be used. Search Fields and Instructions  770  and  850  (see FIGS. 7 &amp; 8) are eliminated because it is impractical to enter this type of data by speaking into a telephone. 
     There are a variety of ways to identify the page content that should be mapped. For example, it may be possible to use HTML tags, including attributes, as an indication of various categories. The enhanced mapping feature of the present invention for My Yahoo! pages looks for a tag with a particular background color attribute. Other mappings may use other HTML tags and/or tag attributes to identify categories. While enhanced mapping beyond the default mapping provided by parsing text and links requires some degree of customization, a single mapping can be used for all corresponding pages provided by a site. Thus, a single My Yahoo! enhanced mapping provides enhanced mapping for all My Yahoo! pages. 
     FIG. 10 shows the hierarchy created by enhanced mapping of the document shown in FIG.  6 . The Categories  1010  include Portfolios  710 , Weather  810 , and my Front Page Headlines  910 . The First-level of Links  1020  includes Quotes  720  within the Portfolios  710  category, Salt Lake City, Utah  820  within the Weather  810  category, and Top Stories from Reuters  920 , Tech News from News.com  930 , and Top Sport Stories from AP  940  within the my Front Page Headlines  910  category. The Second-level of Links  1030  includes DJIA  730  and NASDAQ  750  within the Quotes  720  first-level of Portfolios  710  and the individual story headlines  922 - 926 ,  932 - 936 ,  942 - 946  within the first-level links Top Stories from Reuters  920 , Tech News from News.com  930 , and Top Sport Stories from AP  940  all within the My Front Page Headlines  910  category. The Text of Stories  1040  are documents that are produced by selecting any of the Second-level Links  1030 . 
     In step  550 , Text to Speech  420  generates the audio representation that corresponds to the document. It is not necessary that all of the audio representation be generated at one time. For example, a portion of the audio may be generated and communicated to the client while another portion is being generated. The audio may also be generated on demand as each level in the mapped hierarchy is accessed. 
     Next, in steps  560 - 590 , Text to Speech  420  prompts the client to make various selections from categories  1010 , First-level Links  1020 , and Second-level Links  1030  to reach Text of Stories  1040 . Again, some of these prompts may be prerecorded. Because each of the categories shown in FIGS. 7-9 includes options that may not be relevant to or available in other categories, steps  560 - 590  will be discussed separately for FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG.  9 . Thus, steps  560 - 590  represent all possible choices. For certain documents, some of the steps may not be required. The foregoing description presumes that the selections made in steps  560 - 580  do not result in a document that is mapped. 
     Assuming that a client chooses Portfolios  710  in response to the category selection prompt in step  560 , the following will occur. Because Portfolios  710  includes only a single first-level link, Quotes  710 , prompting in step  570  is skipped, but the text of Quotes  710  played, and the client will be prompted to select a second-level link, either DJIA  730  or NASDAQ  750  (i.e., “Quotes, please choose from DJIA or NASDAQ”). In step  590 , choosing DJIA  730  will play audio of Text  740  and choosing NASDAQ  750  will play audio of Text  760 . However, DJIA  730  and NASDAQ  750  are also links. Although choosing the Links global command would not alter the choices offered, it would alter the action taken by making a selection. In this case choosing DJIA  730  or NASDAQ  750  would follow the respective links rather than playing the audio representation of Text  740  or Text  760 . 
     Selecting Weather  810  at step  560  similarly leads to skipped steps. However, in this case, both steps  570  and steps  580  are skipped because Salt Lake City, Utah  820  is the only first-level link and there are no second-level links. Therefore, selecting Weather  810  will result in the audio representation of Text  830  being played (i.e., “Salt Lake City, Utah, 49 to 82 F”) at step  590 . A Links command could also be issued here to identify Salt Lake City, Utah  820 , but the link would only be followed if the client explicitly selected it. 
     In contrast, selecting My Front Page Headlines  910  at step  560  does not result in any skipped steps. In step  570 , the client will be prompted to select from the first-level links Top Stories from Reuters  920 , Tech News from News.com  930 , and Top Sports Stories from AP  940 . Selecting any of these first-level links in step  570  will result in step  580  prompting for the stories associated with the first-level link. For example, selecting Top Sport Stories from AP  940  in step  570  will lead to step  580  prompting the client to select from NL Playoffs Notebook  942 , NFL Roundup  944 , and America&#39;s Cup Enters Third Day  946 . In step  590 , an audio representation of the document text corresponding to the selection made in step  580  will be played to the client. 
     Portfolios  710 , Weather  810 , and My Front Page Headlines  910  present a large amount of information to the client. As the client moves from one category to another, each category presents an increasing number of links or options. In a visual environment, it is a relatively simple matter for the client to scan a page and remember the links or options that are currently available. However, in an audio representation, it is significantly more difficult to keep the links and options of one page separate from the links and options of another page. Therefore, one aspect of the present invention accumulates all links and options from certain pages that are visited and makes the accumulated links and options of a previously visited page available in a subsequent page. 
     Accumulation is desirable because “pages” are a visual motif that does not necessarily carry over into an audio representation. Particularly in a personal home page environment, a client may view the personal home page as simply a monolithic source of information. Someone familiar with the available content who is moving between various levels in the hierarchy, may find an explicit requirement of returning to a particular page, for the sole purpose of selecting a link or other option from that page, cumbersome or even annoying. Therefore, accumulation preserves the organizational benefits of hierarchical organization-the client continues to be informed regarding the content of a particular page-without limiting the availability of links to only those present on the particular page. 
     For example, selecting the NL Playoffs Notebook  942  link of Top Sport Stories from AP  940  found in the category My Front Page Headlines  910 , will lead to the NL Playoffs Notebook document. That document contains both text and links that are available to the client. In a typical visual browser, if the client next wanted to choose category Weather  810 , the user would need to return to Web Page  600  first. However, the present invention, by accumulating links, would allow the client to select Weather  810  from the NL Playoffs Notebook document since Web Page  600  had been previously visited. In a preferred embodiment, accumulation is limited to certain predetermined Web content that would benefit from the feature, such as personal home pages. 
     In contrast to FIG. 5, FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention that provides only the default mapping of separating text and links. In step  1110 , a client selects the option of starting with a list of favorite Internet sites. Text to Speech  420  prompts the user to select one of the sites listed, step  1120 . As before, in step  1130  the document is retrieved using the protocols that are appropriate given the document&#39;s location. Again, as before, the content is parsed in step  1140  to identify any title, any links, any link names, and any text included in the document. 
     FIG. 12 is an example of Electronic Content  1200  that is useful in describing the embodiment disclosed in FIG.  11 . Parsing step  1140  identifies title  1240  (HTML titles are indicated by explicit tags), links and corresponding link names  1210 ,  1220 , and  1230 , as well as the document text. With these various elements identified, audio representation of Electronic Content  1200  is generated in step  1150 . Once generated, the document title is reported in step  1160  and is followed by reporting the number of links in step  1170 . 
     Just as with the description of FIG. 5, parsing the retrieved document to identify any title, any text, any links, and any corresponding link names that may be present shows how an audio interface may be provided without requiring changes to the document source. Together with the other aspect of the present invention, this provides immediate audio access to dynamic, visually-oriented, content that otherwise would be inaccessible to the prior art. 
     In the case of the Electronic Content  1200 , the present invention reports the document title as Guide to Filing a Utility Patent Application  1240 . There are three links, named U.S. Patent and Trademark Office  1210 , www.uspto.gov  1220 , and Patent and Trademark Depository Library  1230 . Then, in step  1180 , an audio representation of the electronic document&#39;s text is played for or communicated to the user. In the case of Electronic Content  1200 , this text includes everything except the title  1240 . The client may also choose the global Links command, to hear an audio representation of the three links,  1210 ,  1220 , and  1230 . By choosing a link, the client instructs the present invention to follow the link, as in step  1120 , beginning audio interface process anew at step  1130 . 
     The present invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. As properly understood, the preceding description of specific embodiments is illustrative only and in no way restrictive. For example, using Web pages accessible over the Internet to describe the present invention does not limit the invention to any specific format of electronic content or any particular means of accessing electronic content. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims as follows.

Technology Category: 4