Integrating audio into an online format is getting to be easier now, with text-to-speech, audio icons and their close cousins screen readers.

Check this article out. It’s the Associated Press story on ASU, featured in the International Herald Tribune, on March 25th.  When you click on this link, to the right, is a small box with eight options, one of which is to ‘listen to this story.’ Clicking on it opens a proprietary audio player from the Tribune.

Why is this important to us? Consider this. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which is the web’s arbiter of standards, protocols and guidelines has been pushing the concept of ‘interoperability’ has been calling for better accessibility and navigation to all users, including those with disabilities. Voice browsers and something called VoiceXML is a part of it.

Who knows, there could come a day when someone may be able to subscribe to a page via RSS (say ASU News, or Knowledge@ W.P. Carey) and have the text feed translated into audio.

Sounds futuristic? It’s already being experimented with iNewscaster, from a company called Magnetic Time. (Thanks to For Immediate Release, for this cool tip).

Distribution? Access? On-demand information? It’s another channel that’s worth looking into. Now!

Check this cool demo of how text-to-speech works when mashed up with RFID, from Make Magazine.