Examples of use

AsTeR can be used to:

• Read technical articles and books. The files for such documents may be available on the local system or on the global Internet[+]. Resources retrieved over the network can be audio formatted by AsTeR , since they are just text in Emacs buffers. The author has listened to this thesis as well as [tex2html_wrap5244] textbooks using AsTeR . In addition, AsTeR has rendered a wide collection of technical documents available on the INTERNET, including technical reports and AMS bulletins.

• Entertain. About [tex2html_wrap5246] electronic texts are available on the INTERNET, including the complete works of Shakespeare. The majority of these documents are in plain ASCII, but the quality of audio renderings produced by AsTeR , based on the minimal document structure that can be recognized, still surpasses the output of conventional reading machines. Increased availability of electronic texts marked up in La)TeX and SGML will enable better recognition of document structure and, as a consequence, better audio renderings.
• Proof-read partial and complete documents under preparation. This feature is specially useful when typesetting complex mathematical formulae. This thesis has been proof-read using AsTeR and the system helped the author locate several minor errors, including bad punctuation. Thus, though designed as a system for rendering documents, the flexible design, combined with the power afforded by the Emacs editor, turns AsTeR into a very useful document preparation aid.