Visual-Impairment-Web-Assistant

---IMPORTANT NOTE: The MVP (Version 1.0) has a planned release of 12/15/2023. Development is still underway and I am doing this by myself so bare with me :)

Description

WebSum is a specialized web summarization tool designed with the visually impaired community in mind. By providing concise summaries of web content in both text and audio formats, our tool aims to enhance the browsing experience and make information more accessible.

Features

• High-Quality Summaries: Utilizing advanced AI techniques, WebSum provides succinct and accurate summaries of lengthy web content.

• Text & Audio Output: Tailored to the user's needs, WebSum can output summaries in both readable text and audible formats.

• Browser Extension Integration (Coming Soon): For an even more streamlined experience, we're working on browser extensions that allow users to get summaries at the click of a button, right within their preferred browsers.

• Designed for Compatibility: With a focus on visually impaired users, WebSum aims to integrate seamlessly with other assistive technologies to provide a comprehensive browsing aid.

• Privacy-Centric: Unlike many other services, WebSum prioritizes your privacy. We ensure that your data isn't used for any other purposes beyond providing you with a summary.

Motivation

With the vast amount of content on the web, it can be challenging for visually impaired users to sift through and access the information they need. WebSum was born out of the desire to provide a tailored tool that bridges this gap, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their visual capabilities, can efficiently and effectively access web content.

What Makes This Tool Different?

• Customization and Specialization:

  • Voice assistants are general-purpose tools. They are designed to cater to a wide range of tasks. Your tool, on the other hand, specializes in summarizing web content. This specialization allows for greater customization and fine-tuning to ensure high-quality summaries.

• Integration with Assistive Technologies:

  • You mentioned the potential to design your tool to work in tandem with other assistive tools for visually impaired users. This focus can ensure better compatibility and functionality, tailored specifically for this audience.

• Browser Extension Benefits:

  • The convenience of a browser extension can't be overstated. Users don't need to invoke a separate voice assistant, ask it to navigate to a site, and then request a summary. They can simply click a button or context menu option and get an immediate summary. This direct integration into the browsing experience can be more streamlined than using a voice assistant.

• Audio and Text Dual Output:

  • While voice assistants might read out summaries, your tool provides both text and audio summaries, catering to users' preferences and ensuring accessibility for various impairment levels.

• Platform Independence:

  • Siri is specific to Apple devices. By developing a web application and extensions for major browsers, your tool becomes accessible to a broader range of users across different devices and operating systems.

• Potential for Continuous Improvement:

  • As it's your project, you have the potential to iterate and improve based on direct user feedback. You can fine-tune the algorithms, integrate with newer summarization technologies, or add features that a general voice assistant might not prioritize.

• Privacy:

  • While large voice assistants send data to servers for processing, you can emphasize the privacy-centric nature of your tool (if applicable). Users might appreciate knowing their browsing data isn't being used for other purposes.

Getting Started

• Will add soon

Dependencies

• Will add soon

Installing

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [your-repo-link]

2. Navigate to the directory:

   cd [your-repo-name]

3. Create a virtual environment (Optional but recommended):

   python -m venv venv

4. Activate the virtual environment:

   On Windows:

   venv\Scripts\activate

   On MacOS and Linux:

   source venv/bin/activate

5. Install the dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

Executing program

• Will add soon

Help

1. Ensure all dependencies are installed: pip install -r requirements.txt.
2. Ensure your virtual environment is activated.
3. Check the logs for any specific error messages and try searching for them online.

For more assistance or to report bugs, please open an issue on this repository.

Authors

Brian Bell @BrianBe11

Version History

• 0.1
  • Initial Pre-Release