Missoulian George Kerscher talks about his role in the development of Reading published materials using text to speech technology for those with print disabilities and obstacles to full inclusion that remain unresolved.

One of the most important technologies for blind and low vision persons is text to speech (TTS). Being able to hear the contents of an email, a web page, a book, or a restaurant menu allows the visually impaired to take part in the life of family, workplace, and community. That text to speech is now standard across electronic platforms is in no small part due to the vision, ingenuity and persistence of Missoulian George Kerscher.

Kerscher began his career as a teacher in 1974. By the mid-80’s, his retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease, had left him blind. In 1980, he took a computer programming course in BASIC, and “it just clicked.” He took more courses and decided to pursue a Master’s in computer science at UM. After acquiring copies of three of his textbooks on diskettes, he wrote a program over the Christmas break in 1987 to convert the text to a format that could be used with audio. Word of his accomplishment spread, and soon he founded a company to create and distribute these new talking books. It was at this time he coined the term “print disabled” to better define who could benefit from reading with TTS.

In the early 1990’s, Kerscher began to drive the field of accessible publishing as leader of the International Committee on Accessible Document Design (ICADD). He became head of the Steering Council for the Web Accessibility Initiative, a position he still holds. Kerscher is also the Chief Innovations Officer of the DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) Consortium. The organization was created in 1996 by libraries across the world to lead the transition from analog to digital talking books. In 2011, Kerscher was elected president of the International Digital Publishing Forum, a trade group that oversees the standards for electronic publishing, including the widely used epub format.

Kerscher is proud of how the publishing industry has embraced accessibility. He says, “now, when they publish a print book, they publish a digital version at the same time. People with print disabilities can get the material at the same time as everyone else.” Since most books and web pages still must be read by a computer, Kerscher is most excited about the emergence of neural voices for TTS. They sound much more human than even the best of today’s computerized voices.

Kerscher continues to travel extensively and works full time. He just celebrated his 50^th anniversary with his wife, Gail. He has been a guide dog user since 1999 and has had three guide dogs. The dogs have travelled with him on about three million of the four million air miles he has logged. Indeed, Nesbit, his first guide, received platinum status by Delta Airlines for a million miles flown,

Advocacy for accessibility is still a central theme in Kerscher’s vision for the future. He underscores the importance of making websites and published materials accessible to ensure equal opportunities for higher education students and the broader blind community. However, Kerscher also highlights the need

for technology to become more user-friendly. He envisions a future where blind individuals, regardless of their technical proficiency, can easily navigate and benefit from the latest advancements in technology.

So, are we there yet?

No, but thanks to George Kerscher’s relentless commitment to accessibility, innovation and advocacy, the day when those with print disabilities are on an equal footing with the rest of society may be within sight.

You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future.

To contact the Missoula chapter of the NFB, email us at missoulachapter@nfbofmt.org .