Speech Accessibility Project Begins Recruitement

The Speech Accessibility Project is actively recruiting U.S. and Puerto Rican adults who have had a stroke or have Parkinson’s disease, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

This project, funded by big tech companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, aims to train voice recognition tech to understand people with diverse speech patterns so they can teach AI systems to understand and assist in daily life.

“It is essential for individuals with communication impairments to have access to technology in a way that can suit their needs,” said Shawnise Carter, senior research manager and speech language pathologist. “The hope is that it will allow people who have had a stroke to access smart devices and smart technology while decreasing frustration resulting from voice recognition technology not recognizing impaired speech.”

You can sign up online here. Mentors will connect with participants to screen their speech, help them understand the project, and consent to participate.