Soundscape in UK English — a few questions
Email your answers to soundscapeAndroid@scottishtecharmy.support, with the language in the subject line.
Hello, and thanks for taking a look.
The app is written in American English, with a UK English layer on top. We’d like to know where that layer still sounds American to you. You don’t need to know or install the app: each question says when you’d hear the text and what it says now.
What is Soundscape?
Soundscape is a free phone app for blind and partially sighted people. It’s used while walking, with headphones, often with the phone in a pocket. It doesn’t give turn-by-turn directions like a satnav (“turn left”); instead it says out loud what’s nearby, so people can orient themselves.
A few terms that come up:
- Callout: a short spoken message about something you’re passing, such as “Café”, “Pavement next to High Street” or “Heading north along High Street”. It’s heard in 3D audio, from the direction the thing is in.
- Audio beacon: when you pick a destination, a steady, repeating sound plays in your headphones from that direction. As you turn, the sound moves with you, so you can walk there by ear.
- Markers and routes: saved places, and a sequence of them the beacon leads you through one by one.
Blind users operate their phones with a screen reader (TalkBack on Android, VoiceOver on iPhone), which reads every button and every piece of text aloud. So the app’s text is nearly always heard rather than read, often over traffic noise. What matters most is that it’s short, clear and natural to listen to.
There’s more detail on these terms on this page.
How to reply
Just reply by email, quoting the question number (“Q1: I’d say…”). You don’t need to answer everything. If something already sounds right, a quick “fine” helps too.
Already settled: “intersection” stays, because a path meeting a road isn’t a junction; “grocery store” stays, with supermarket, corner shop and grocer’s used by size and kind; “pavement” always, never “sidewalk”; “transit” is fine.
Q1 — Anything else American?
Words, spellings or phrases that still sound American to a UK ear.
Q2 — Anything else?
Anything that’s unclear, too long, or awkward to listen to.
Thanks very much!