Creating an automatic question answering text skimming system for non-visual readers

ABSTRACT

This poster describes an approach to creating a system that will allow blind, low vision, dyslexic, and other non-visual readers to skim through documents for answers to questions. The ultimate goal is a system that gives the users information similar to that which a sighted individual obtains while skimming through a document for an answer to a question. To create this system, we will be incorporating open domain question answering (QA) techniques, word clustering techniques, and data gathered from visual readers skimming through documents. Ultimately the system will take a question and a text document and return a list of rated links that suggest where the answers within a document are likely to be located. This poster focuses on results of data gathered from individuals skimming through documents.

REFERENCES

• 1: Prager, J.M. and Chu-Carroll, J. Use of WordNet Hypernyms for Answering What-Is Questions. Proceedings of the TREC-10 Conference, NIST, 2001, 302--316.
• 2: Rohini Srihari , Wei Li, A question answering system supported by information extraction, Proceedings of the sixth conference on Applied natural language processing, p.166-172, April 29-May 04, 2000, Seattle, Washington [doi>10.3115/974147.974170]

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.2 Social Issues
          Subjects: Assistive technologies for persons with disabilities

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Human Factors

Keywords:
natural language processing, open domain question answering, text skimming, word clustering