#best software testing tools

[digy4]

Prompt Engineering in Software Testing

Prompt engineers significantly influence AI interactions by adjusting prompts to control the creativity and specificity of AI-generated content, ensuring outputs are uniquely tailored. They fine-tune responses to achieve more contextually accurate answers, essential for detailed inquiries. By designing prompts thoughtfully, they can reduce biases in AI responses, steering them towards objectivity. Moreover, their precision in crafting prompts is crucial for enhancing the accuracy of AI outputs, highlighting the importance of meticulous prompt engineering in generating valuable and precise results. The best software testing tools, prompt engineering can be utilized to automate test scenarios, generate test data, and identify bugs or issues within the software. By creating targeted prompts, testers can guide AI tools to simulate user behaviors, test various inputs, and assess the software’s responses under different conditions.

Visit:- https://digy4.com/prompt-engineering-in-software-testing/

[saad1505]

What is ETL and why it is important | PiLog iTransform – ETL 

ETL (Extract Transform Load) - integrating data through extraction, transformation, loading into warehouse. Explore best ETL tools, testing, software, services. https://www.piloggroup.com/itransform-ETL.php 

[lifehacksthatwork]

Just a bunch of Useful websites - Updated for 2023

Removed/checked all links to make sure everything is working (03/03/23). Hope they help!

Sejda - Free online PDF editor.

Supercook - Have ingredients but no idea what to make? Put them in here and it'll give you recipe ideas.

Still Tasty - Trying the above but unsure about whether that sauce in the fridge is still edible? Check here first.

Archive.ph - Paywall bypass. Like 12ft below but appears to work far better and across more sites in my testing. I'd recommend trying this one first as I had more success with it.

12ft – Hate paywalls? Try this site out.

Where Is This - Want to know where a picture was taken, this site can help.

TOS/DR - Terms of service, didn't read. Gives you a summary of terms of service plus gives each site a privacy rating.

OneLook - Reverse dictionary for when you know the description of the word but can't for the life of you remember the actual word.

My Abandonware - Brilliant site for free, legal games. Has games from 1978 up to present day across pc and console. You'll be surprised by some of the games on there, some absolute gems.

Project Gutenberg – Always ends up on these type of lists and for very good reason. All works that are copyright free in one place.

Ninite – New PC? Install all of your programs in one go with no bloat or unnecessary crap.

PatchMyPC - Alternative to ninite with over 300 app options to keep upto date. Free for home users.

Unchecky – Tired of software trying to install additional unwanted programs? This will stop it completely by unchecking the necessary boxes when you install.

Sci-Hub – Research papers galore! Check here before shelling out money. And if it’s not here, try the next link in our list.

LibGen – Lots of free PDFs relate primarily to the sciences.

Zotero – A free and easy to use program to collect, organize, cite and share research.

Car Complaints – Buying a used car? Check out what other owners of the same model have to say about it first.

CamelCamelCamel – Check the historical prices of items on Amazon and set alerts for when prices drop.

Have I Been Pawned – Still the king when it comes to checking if your online accounts have been released in a data breach. Also able to sign up for email alerts if you’ve ever a victim of a breach.

I Have No TV - A collection of documentaries for you to while away the time. Completely free.

Radio Garden – Think Google Earth but wherever you zoom, you get the radio station of that place.

Just The Recipe – Paste in the url and get just the recipe as a result. No life story or adverts.

Tineye – An Amazing reverse image search tool.

My 90s TV – Simulates 90’s TV using YouTube videos. Also has My80sTV, My70sTV, My60sTV and for the younger ones out there, My00sTV. Lose yourself in nostalgia.

Foto Forensics – Free image analysis tools.

Old Games Download – A repository of games from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Get your fix of nostalgia here.

Online OCR – Convert pictures of text into actual text and output it in the format you need.

Remove Background – An amazingly quick and accurate way to remove backgrounds from your pictures.

Twoseven – Allows you to sync videos from providers such as Netflix, Youtube, Disney+ etc and watch them with your friends. Ad free and also has the ability to do real time video and text chat.

Terms of Service, Didn’t Read – Get a quick summary of Terms of service plus a privacy rating.

Coolors – Struggling to get a good combination of colors? This site will generate color palettes for you.

This To That – Need to glue two things together? This’ll help.

Photopea – A free online alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Does everything in your browser.

BitWarden – Free open source password manager.

Just Beam It - Peer to peer file transfer. Drop the file in on one end, click create link and send to whoever. Leave your pc on that page while they download. Because of how it works there are no file limits. It's genuinely amazing. Best file transfer system I have ever used.

Atlas Obscura – Travelling to a new place? Find out the hidden treasures you should go to with Atlas Obscura.

ID Ransomware – Ever get ransomware on your computer? Use this to see if the virus infecting your pc has been cracked yet or not. Potentially saving you money. You can also sign up for email notifications if your particular problem hasn’t been cracked yet.

Way Back Machine – The Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and loads more.

Rome2Rio – Directions from anywhere to anywhere by bus, train, plane, car and ferry.

Splitter – Seperate different audio tracks audio. Allowing you to split out music from the words for example.

myNoise – Gives you beautiful noises to match your mood. Increase your productivity, calm down and need help sleeping? All here for you.

DeepL – Best language translation tool on the web.

Forvo – Alternatively, if you need to hear a local speaking a word, this is the site for you.

For even more useful sites, there is an expanded list that can be found here.

[adasitecompliance]

Accessibility Experts

Learn how to create inclusive and compliant PDF documents with our ultimate guide on PDF accessibility best practices!

[market-insider]

Automation Testing Insights: Transforming Testing

The global automation testing market size is expected to reach USD 92.45 billion by 2030. Prominent technological advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is propelling the demand for the market. Mobile application usage is growing across various end-user industries, and smartphone penetration is rising, opening an attractive potential for market expansion. Furthermore, there is a rising demand for automation testing as web-based applications have developed significantly and new software technologies have emerged. The market is growing rapidly due to the increasing usage of ML and AI for advanced analytics and continuous testing across DevOps and DevSecOps areas.

Automation Testing Market Report Highlights

The services segment dominated the market and accounted for over 56% of the global revenue owing to rapid advancements in implementation services, which make it easier to include automation into a functioning infrastructure for software testing

With the aid of this service, automation is integrated into an existing software automation testing setup

The large enterprises segment held the largest revenue share in 2022 as it helps improve efficiency, reduce manual effort, increase test coverage, and ensure the quality of software applications

The BFSI segment is estimated to have significant growth over the forecast period; adopting digitalization in the BFSI sector creates a significant demand for application software automation testing

Gain deeper insights on the market and receive your free copy with TOC now @: Automation Testing Market Report

The emerging use of RPA to automate time-consuming, error-prone manual processes are just a few instances of the usage of AI & ML in automation testing. Moreover, a bot uses the page’s numerous links and web forms to systematically explore through an online application when web crawling or spidering. This is a new use for AI and ML in automation testing. This approach is typically used for indexing online browsing. It may be improved further to perform reverse engineering on an application being tested and automatically find Test Cases. Emerging automation testing tools are significantly fueling market growth.

For instance, Testcraft, a codeless Selenium test automation platform for regression and continuous testing, as well as monitoring of web applications, is gaining traction among users. Their revolutionary AI tech removes maintenance time and cost, as it certainly affects changes in the app. Similarly, Applitools Eyes, Testim, and Test.ai are more automation testing tools propelling the market growth. Furthermore, mergers and acquisitions by other key players are propelling market growth. For instance, in 2022, to improve the user experience on 5G smartphones, Key sight introduced AI-driven and automated testing. Automation and AI enable mobile service providers and app developers to more swiftly evaluate how smartphone users engage with native apps in the real world.

[saptutorials]

Master the Art of Software Testing: Tips and Tricks to Ensure Quality and Efficiency

Software testing is an essential step in any product’s development. Software testing ensures that software works as intended is error-free, and meets users’ needs. We will discuss some tips and tricks to help you master software testing and increase efficiency and quality in your testing. Before starting this tutorial, you should be familiar with the software development lifecycle (SDLC). It…

[engineering]

StreamBuilder: our open-source framework for powering your dashboard.

Today, we’re abnormally jazzed to announce that we’re open-sourcing the custom framework we built to power your dashboard on Tumblr. We call it StreamBuilder, and we’ve been using it for many years.

First things first. What is open-sourcing? Open sourcing is a decentralized software development model that encourages open collaboration. In more accessible language, it is any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit.

What, then, is StreamBuilder? Well, every time you hit your Following feed, or For You, or search results, a blog’s posts, a list of tagged posts, or even check out blog recommendations, you’re using this framework under the hood. If you want to dive into the code, check it out here on GitHub!

StreamBuilder has a lot going on. The primary architecture centers around “streams” of content: whether posts from a blog, a list of blogs you’re following, posts using a specific tag, or posts relating to a search. These are separate kinds of streams, which can be mixed together, filtered based on certain criteria, ranked for relevancy or engagement likelihood, and more.

On your Tumblr dashboard today you can see how there are posts from blogs you follow, mixed with posts from tags you follow, mixed with blog recommendations. Each of those is a separate stream, with its own logic, but sharing this same framework. We inject those recommendations at certain intervals, filter posts based on who you’re blocking, and rank the posts for relevancy if you have “Best stuff first” enabled. Those are all examples of the functionality StreamBuilder affords for us.

So, what’s included in the box?

The full framework library of code that we use today, on Tumblr, to power almost every feed of content you see on the platform.

A YAML syntax for composing streams of content, and how to filter, inject, and rank them.

Abstractions for programmatically composing, filtering, ranking, injecting, and debugging streams.

Abstractions for composing streams together—such as with carousels, for streams-within-streams.

An abstraction for cursor-based pagination for complex stream templates.

Unit tests covering the public interface for the library and most of the underlying code.

What’s still to come

Documentation. We have a lot to migrate from our own internal tools and put in here!

More example stream templates and example implementations of different common streams.

If you have questions, please check out the code and file an issue there.

[ovdsssoftwares]

5 Usefull Online Software Tools

Software tools are majorly used to accomplish and investigate the business processes as well as to develop the whole business process and optimize it accordingly. One of the major uses of these software development tools are that they are very productive and are up to date. From a developers point of view these developers can easily maintain the workflow of their work or any project they are working on.

There are endless software tools available in the market that help in various developments which help in making major processes easier in various fields such as – Text comparison tools, typing speed online tool, YouTube thumbnail maker tool, secure password generator for various websites and many more. The softwares used in making all of these possible are different and are used in making all these applications or websites work. Some of those major development softwares are listed below-

·         Ultra Edit- Ultra edit is considered to be the best choice for various content writers out there working in any field. Ultra edit is widely used for its high performance , flexibility and security as well. it is one of the prominent text tool out there, it comes with all access package that allows you to access various useful tools such as- file finder, integrated FTP client, text comparison and many other.

 ·         Quixy- Quixy is one those softwares that helps business in turning their ideas into applications which eventually helps them making their working process much easier and more efficient. This software helps in smoother, more innovative, productive and transparent working of the organisation.one can start using pre-installed app on quixy or can make their own customised one as per the need of their business.

 ·         Embold – Embold is a software majorly used for fixing various bugs before implementing the application. It helps in analysing the bugs or problems before hand so that there are no further malfunctioning happening and helps establishing smooth working of the application.

  ·         LINX- LINX is one of the back end code tool that helps in generating various codes in applications whenever we access any application or any web server. This software helps in accelerating the design , the user experience , development , designs and everything related, to systems any application and its integration as well it works for databases and systems.  

 ·         Genexus- this software offers a platform for developing applications as well as apps that help in developing, creating and maintaining programs, databases as well as mission critical applications in different languages and that too on various platforms. All the applications made on this software are easy to edit and can be edited timely according to the need of the business and user needs. The vision behind creating this platform I to create something that helps in automatic generation of applications which takes lesser time and delivers most efficient app formats. its is known to be by fas top AI based software generator and is used widely worldwide for making multi experience apps as its has BPM modelling integrated which helps in better configuration.

[iww-gnv]

As firms increasingly rely on artificial intelligence-driven hiring platforms, many highly qualified candidates are finding themselves on the cutting room floor. Body-language analysis. Vocal assessments. Gamified tests. CV scanners. These are some of the tools companies use to screen candidates with artificial intelligence recruiting software. Job applicants face these machine prompts – and AI decides whether they are a good match or fall short. Businesses are increasingly relying on them. A late-2023 IBM survey of more than 8,500 global IT professionals showed 42% of companies were using AI screening "to improve recruiting and human resources". Another 40% of respondents were considering integrating the technology. Many leaders across the corporate world hoped AI recruiting tech would end biases in the hiring process. Yet in some cases, the opposite is happening. Some experts say these tools are inaccurately screening some of the most qualified job applicants – and concerns are growing the software may be excising the best candidates. "We haven't seen a whole lot of evidence that there's no bias here… or that the tool picks out the most qualified candidates," says Hilke Schellmann, US-based author of the Algorithm: How AI Can Hijack Your Career and Steal Your Future, and an assistant professor of journalism at New York University. She believes the biggest risk such software poses to jobs is not machines taking workers' positions, as is often feared – but rather preventing them from getting a role at all.

[digy4]

Prompt Engineering in Software Testing

Prompt engineering is a growing field in AI that’s gaining traction across various domains, including best software testing tools. This article delves into how prompt engineering can revolutionize software testing, enhancing efficiency and accuracy. Prompt engineers significantly influence AI interactions by adjusting prompts to control the creativity and specificity of AI-generated content, ensuring outputs are uniquely tailored. They fine-tune responses to achieve more contextually accurate answers, essential for detailed inquiries.

Visit:- https://digy4.com/prompt-engineering-in-software-testing/

[magebunkshelf]

Do you have any tips/useful information for people who want to start making audio rps?

(Also love ur content sm!!! Mitch is the most lovable little guy)

Aw thank you so much! Love him too!

This is a great question, had to think about it for a bit;

If you want to dabble with making audios, feel free to start off with public scripts! I think there's subreddits like ASMR script haven (IIRC?) that has public scripts that can be filled by anyone. Just be sure to read the author's conditions carefully i.e. credit, terms of use, what can be changed etc. Right at the start I recorded a public script to try and get started, it's a great way to just jump right into making something to learn the ropes of it without also first having to write an entire script for it too. Filling public scripts is a fantastic way to start off, however I reckon writing your own stories is a major part of the fun!

You don't need an expensive mic, but audio quality is a very important factor. Do some test recordings and listen back to them (with headphones!) and see how it sounds. This is especially important for whispered scenes (DO NOT get too close to the mic or breathe on it!) or loud scenes (DO NOT peak the mic!). If your mic has a gain / input dial, play with that before recording! Just start with mono to begin with, play with stereo if your mic supports it after you become familiar with it. Aim for your recording to be no louder than -6db at the highest, if you can keep your voice roughly between like -20 and -6 that tends to sound reasonably natural.

Do your best to eliminate external sounds! If you have AC or anything like that on, turn it off. I have to shut down my main PC and record with only my editing Mac on because the PC fans are much louder and my mic is very sensitive! There'll pretty much always be background fuzz, some mics will just have some, but try to make your room as quiet as you can. Your software may have some background noise removal tools, I use filters for that (expensive so I can't recommend them), but DO NOT use the noise removal tool in Audacity! It's terrible!

Speaking of, Audacity is decent to get started with. It's good basic recording software, plus multiplatform. For a while I preferred recording on Windows with Audiodope, also very simple, plus I liked that it asks me whether I wanted to record in mono or stereo first in case I forget to switch, I currently record on Mac with ocenaudio which does the same, while Audacity won't ask, you have to go into settings. Anyway Audacity is okay to start with for editing, it's free, but from what I understand it's a "destructive" editing software in that after you make a change like adding a filter, you can't then go back in and change it other than just undoing, which I really don't like, plus changing the timing of things looks fiddly. I don't know what to recommend to move up from, I've heard good stuff about Reaper but it looks very complicated. Avoid Adobe unless you have a free subscription from somewhere else. I edit entirely in Final Cut Pro so I can't recommend that unless you're on Mac, plus it's my old work software and expensive! If you need sound effects, I use freesound.org, there are other great free resources as well, but make sure you check each individual sound effect's license before use.

Once you've edited the audio and want to turn it into a video, I've heard good stuff about Da Vinci Resolve and Kden Live, both are free! Make a video canvas of 1920 x 1080, FPS doesn't especially matter if you only have a still thumbnail, 25 or 30 is fine, and render it out as a h264 mp4 if you're not sure what to select! Good compression for internet video, good for streaming. Try to record and export your audio as wav if you have enough space, wav is uncompressed audio so it maintains full quality but they can get large.

I also make my thumbnails in-edit but you may want to use external software like Gimp to make them. Avoid getting random stuff of google especially anime boys / girls, and definitely don't ever use an artist's stuff without asking for permission + giving proper credit. Using pre-built generators like Picrew is totally fine, just be sure to credit where you got it from, but 100% avoid AI generators, obviously. Be careful with Adobe stock images, apparently there's AI slop in there too. You don't need art for audios though, they're a nice to have bonus, but many of my most viewed videos have no art at all. If you need background images, I like unsplash.com because it has a free license! Read over it yourself but basically you're able to use pretty much any image they have in your videos!

Just jump in and try making something small, never start with your magnum opus! I started with the introverted incubus character because I'm a very shy person myself, it was an easier role to get started with! If you want to start writing your own scripts too there's a lot we could talk about there as well, just try to picture the scene from the perspective of the listener, what they may be thinking or feeling at any given moment, not just the perspective of the character you're going to be playing!

This was a lot and I don't think I covered much, I hope some of it helps though!!

[lighthouse-system]

There's gonna be scam and phishing texts running rampant this weekend specifically, so your local software developer/IT guy is here to post a couple reminders. I've made the important text red to stick out in case TL;DR.

If a text asks you to click on a link that you did not explicitly ask for, don't click it. Instead, go to the site of whoever they claim to be (e.g: A text claiming to be UPS says your package couldn't be delivered and sends a link, so go to ups.com and resolve the issue that way if it even exists). It's imperative that you do not click on the link in the text under any circumstances. See number 2.

Do not send a read receipt. If you send a read receipt, that tells the scammer that your number is active and they should keep you on their mailing list for further scamming. Furthermore, they may share your number with other scammers.

Seriously, do not click that link under any circumstances by the way. Even if you want to, just to test if it works. If there's anything in that link like "?id=589hjsfgsdfhjg3" or something, that's a parameter that will be passed into the server hosting the website. That id is unique to you, and it will, like in number 2, ping the scammers that your number is active in the best scenario. In the worst scenario, it will launch malicious software on your phone. You should always assume the worst from these situations, so do not click that link. Period.

If you are on Android, you can are usually given a choice to send a read receipt when you tap on the message. In almost all circumstances, you are better off choosing not to send read receipts, especially here. If you are on iOS, tap and hold the message to preview it without sending a read receipt. If you want to just delete this text and not deal with it, then just delete it and report it as junk.

For those of you that actually want to take these places down, go to the ICANN Lookup tool, type in the URL, and then email whoever is listed as the abuse contact email. I'd also include the number of whoever texted you.

If there is no email listed to contact, Google has a report phishing page if you search "Report phishing". This will, at the very least, take them off of Google in case they're using search results to also lure in victims.

Stay safe this weekend and be on the lookout for stuff like this.

[adasitecompliance]

Create Accessible PDFs

The Ultimate Guide To PDF Accessibility: How To Make Your Documents Inclusive And Compliant

In today’s digital age, Portable Document Format (PDF) files have become an integral part of our information-sharing process. Whether educational materials, corporate reports, or government publications, PDF files with Accessibility maintain the original formatting and allow users to access information consistently across various devices. However, for PDFs to be truly effective, they must be accessible to all, including those with disabilities. Besides, as about 61 million adult Americans have some disability, you risk their not being able to access the ADA-compliant PDFs and content you create. And it’s not just those with visual impairments that are affected. Even people with a mobile or hearing disability may face problems accessing your web content or PDF.

This is why the ADA and Section 508 focus on making life for those people with disabilities much easier. They require that places of accommodation be accessible to users with disabilities. As PDFs are commonly used on the web, they also have to comply with these laws based on the criteria set by the WCAG. While web compliance is important, creating accessible web content can be challenging. PDFs are especially difficult to manage as they are complex files inaccessible out of the box. It’s only experts who know WCAG and ADA standards well who can take care of the task. We have provided some tips about PDF accessibility features in this article. However, don’t worry if the information overwhelms you. We at ADA Site Compliance can help if you don’t know how to ensure your website or PDF is accessible. Our team of accessibility experts will not only check your PDFs and website content for accessibility but also constantly monitor and update your website and PDFs based on the latest accessibility updates.

Overview of Portable Document Format (PDF)

PDFs, developed by Adobe, have transformed how we share electronic documents. The format was created to maintain document integrity while allowing easy sharing. PDFs are based on an image model that differs from the typical PostScript language commonly used. It is to improve interaction and accessibility that PDFs are structured differently.

What makes an accessible PDF?

As the name suggests, an accessible PDF is a PDF anyone with any disability can easily read and navigate through. And it can mean different things for users with different disabilities. For example, for those with visual impairments, an accessible PDF can mean any of these three. It can mean:

They can easily zoom into the texts if need be

The content has high contrast, making it easy to read

They can easily read the PDF using the help of screen readers

In the case of users with physical disabilities, it means ensuring users can easily navigate through the entire document with the help of a keyboard. These readers find managing a mouse for navigation difficult, so being able to use a keyboard is a welcome move for them. For users with hearing impairments, creating an accessible PDF will mean having captioned audio and video content. In short, the main aim of creating web-compliant PDFs is to provide them with an alternative means of accessing content. Most PDFs have some of these options as default, like zooming and keyboard navigation. However, it doesn’t mean that these PDFs are necessarily accessible. They can, however, be made accessible just by implementing some additional steps.

Characteristics of Accessible PDF Files

Accessible PDFs are a must to ensure inclusivity. Most importantly, they feature searchable text, which, in the process, makes content available to screen readers. Besides, unlike scanned images of text, accessible PDFs can be selected, copied, and edited. This can prove helpful to everyone requiring more clarity about the PDF. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology also plays a crucial role in making content searchable and thus accessible to all.

Navigating PDF Accessibility

Ensuring that your PDF documents are fully accessible can be a complex task, but it’s an essential one. This is especially required with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) having set the standards for digital accessibility. These guidelines encompass various aspects, including alternative text alternatives, navigation, and readability. Adhering to these guidelines is crucial to creating PDFs that are both legally compliant and user-friendly. Besides, ensuring that your website and the content you provide, including PDFs, are accessible is not just a legal obligation; it’s a moral imperative. By embracing accessibility, you not only comply with the law but also open doors for a more inclusive and diverse audience.

Accessible PDFs: A Key to Digital Inclusion

The importance of accessible PDFs cannot be overstated. They open up a world of information and opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Accessible PDFs offer text-to-speech capabilities, allowing screen readers to convey the content to visually impaired users. Moreover, they allow users to navigate the document efficiently, providing screen reader users with a seamless reading experience. When your documents are accessible, you broaden your reach and cater to a broader audience. This inclusivity can increase website traffic and customer engagement, benefiting your business or organization.

How to Remediate an Inaccessible PDF?

Making an inaccessible PDF accessible isn’t about perfection; it’s about improving and providing access for all. Whether you have the original source document or just a PDF, here is a rundown of the best ways to enhance existing PDF documents for accessibility with the help of the right tools and processes. Contact ADA Siite Compliance today so we can make ALL your PDF documents fully accessible.

1. Determining the Accessibility Path for Each PDF Document

As PDFs can be generated in various ways, there is no cookie-cutter accessibility solution. Each document has and needs a unique solution.  The good news is there are some tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro with multiple accessibility features, making the remediation process more manageable.

2. Starting with an Accessible Document

The journey to accessible PDFs begins with the source document. Whenever possible, it is always better to start the remediation process with the document title in native file formats. The reason is that any and all documents created in Word or desktop publishing software can be later easily exported as PDFs. This is a useful feature as it allows for adding additional text, headings, data table structures, other document structure tags, language definitions, and more.

3. Preventing Security Settings from Interfering with Screen Readers

Ensuring that screen readers can navigate your PDFs smoothly is an important step in remediating inaccessible PDFs in the form fields in the proper PDF format. It is always better to avoid copying, printing, extracting comments, or editing PDFs. The reason is that these actions can hinder accessibility. There are tools that can help you ensure that access permissions do not interfere with screen reading.

How to Make a PDF Compliant with Accessibility?

Achieving document accessibility in your PDFs is essential. It ensures that users with difficulties can at least use the help of assistive technologies like screen readers to interpret your whole document structure’s structure correctly. Besides, as mentioned earlier, compliance with ADA standards helps make your digital landscape more inclusive to reach out to more of your target audience and, in the process, generate more web traffic.

How do you make accessible PDF documents?

There are a few optimal practices to adhere to within reading order to make a PDF accessible documents, and they are to:

Make things simple; in other words, use simple language in the PDF

Ensure you include as many relevant headings and subheadings as possible

Including meaningful alt-text for all the images and graphics you have in your PDF

Ensuring the text in the PDF is not only readable but has sufficient contrast with the background for better readability

Not depending much on colors to convey information as it can be intimidating to users with color blindness

Always make more use of accessible tables and lists in PDF documents

Adding bookmarks where possible

Using a catchy and interesting title, and of course, specifying the language used in the PDF

Correctly tagging the different elements

Setting titles and metadata as and where appropriate

Adding captions to videos and other non-text content accessible

It is undoubtedly time-consuming to create accessible PDFs. However, the end result of a compliant, accessible PDF file, which increases your reach and reduces the chances of facing a legal lawsuit, makes the item invested well worth it. Besides, you can always use the help of PDF accessibility checkers for PDF document audits and verifications as per the latest accessibility standards. And if that’s too cumbersome, you can always have the experts take care of your PDF compliance while you focus on what you do the best!

Web Accessibility Provider

Ensuring web compliance is a multifaceted endeavor. It may seem to take lots of time and be confusing to many. It’s where web accessibility providers, like ADA Site Compliance, play a crucial role in ensuring your website and PDFs meet ADA standards. We have a team of accessibility experts who can help make web compliance so much easier and less time-consuming for you. With our expertise, we can ensure your site and all your PDFs are easily accessible to all, including individuals with disabilities.

In conclusion, the world of PDF accessibility and web compliance is multifaceted, but it’s a journey worth embarking on. By ensuring that your PDFs are accessible, you not only meet legal standards but also contribute to a more inclusive and diverse digital landscape. Together, we can make the Internet a place where everyone can access information and opportunities. Contact ADA Site Compliance for all your website accessibility needs today!

[gaysheep]

Touching is Good: A Retrospective

My trusty Nintendo 3DS, which has held out since I was gifted it for my 15th birthday, has turned one decade old with my 25th birthday this past November. Given new life with custom firmware and nds-bootstrap via TWiLightMenu, the 3DS is stellar for visiting any past handheld title or console title up to (and somewhat including) the N64. (Quick plug for the CFW/hacking community for the less popular PS Vita, too, which has accomplished some pretty crazy-cool stuff this last year.) I use my 3DS more often than I use my Nintendo Switch most weeks.

The Nintendo DS (minus the three) launched in late 2004. The second display and stylus support were novel tools for developers to experiment with, and the NDS is best remembered for its robust catalogue of RPGs and visual novels. Where it lacked in power, narrative-focused games flourished under its technical limitations.

That being said, while browsing the ROM archives on Vimm's Lair to pick up some titles, I was reminded of what an interesting era the mid-to-late 2000s were for games. While Sony and Microsoft were fighting over the "core gamer" demographic, who had outgrown Nintendo mascots, Nintendo led a series of wildly successful marketing campaigns for its hardware after the light failure of the Gamecube, where the Nintendo DS and then the Wii were targeted at...everyone else.

[Image source. Image description in alt text.]

If you look at ads for the DS and the Wii, you'll see that adults are featured much more prominently than children, especially women and seniors. (This did not go unnoticed, as I found this ancient relic of misogyny while looking for images for this post.) A Nintendo handheld was already an easy sell to parents with small children (though I think it's also notable that ads which do focus on children often prominently feature girls. Munchlax is pretty hot...), but Nintendo's angle for the DS and Wii was that their hardware wasn't just for children. The Wii was a way to get up off the couch and to play board games with grandma. The DS was a great gadget for a working woman to keep in her pocketbook.

This worked. The Wii and DS were two of the best-selling consoles of all time. In particular, the DS's marketing campaign only worked because it came out in the perfect window of time. PDA-phone hybrids had been around since the 90s, and the Blackberry had been kicking around for a few years, but the iPhone wouldn't be introduced until 2007, and the 4G LTE standard wouldn't be released until 2009. While the Blackberry was popular with businesspeople and the PDA was out of style, smartphones were luxury toys for several years; they wouldn't become near-ubiquious until the mid-2010s. I didn't get my own smartphone until probably around the same time I got my 3DS, a full handheld generation later.

Browsing the software library for the Nintendo DS and DSi with that in mind is really interesting. Many titles released for the platform serve the same purposes that would be fulfilled by simple smartphone apps less than a decade later: planners and diaries, fitness trackers, calculators, language learning and SAT prep software, even a guide to the then-most-recent version of the driver's test in the UK. These proliferated with the release of the DSi's virtual store, but they existed even with the base model. You could go to a brick-and-mortar store and buy them on physical cartridges. (You might be wondering, "Why would you bother carrying those around over just buying a Blackberry?" You can't underestimate how expensive the service bills for a smartphone were before companies realized they were the most powerful spyware tool in history.)

There was never a time where every single businesswoman in New York carried a DS Lite, but adults did buy and use them, and a not insignificant portion of the DS's software library is aimed at a casual adult audience. Another niche covered mostly by smartphone games these days—games designed to be picked up and played in short sessions on-the-go, in places like waiting rooms and subway commutes.

Nintendo made crazy bank in the seventh console generation. Publications of the time talked about a console war between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, but the real battle was between the PS3 and the Xbox 360 over the gamer demographic. Nintendo was producing hardware for a niche who would quietly disappear once smartphone sales began ballooning by hundreds of millions per year over the course of the early 2010s.

After the failure of the Wii U, Nintendo's marketing strategy pivoted again, though I doubt they'll ever completely abandon their family-friendly image. Currently beat out only by the PS2 and the DS, the Nintendo Switch may very well climb to a status as the best-selling console of all time before the end of its lifespan, but the "gamer" demographic is much bigger than it was two decades ago at the dawn of the DS. As more and more devices become consolidated into the Swiss army knife the smartphone has become, consoles can only carve out a role as dedicated gaming machines.

I'm not sure we'll ever see anything like the Nintendo DS or the Wii again. I think they're worth looking back on for their uniqueness in that way as much as they are for the more celebrated parts of their libraries.

[lalaluvvs]

robot sug pt 2

thanks for all the love lately! im clearly having too much fun writing these...

Suguru doesn't remember when it started, but he knew he was in trouble the second it did.

He felt a pang in his heart- or what mimicked a human heart- and felt fear like he never had before. He began running through all the tests in his software, frantically running every program back to back. They all came back positive, with no sign of anything wrong.

But he felt wrong.

That morning he kept his strange feeling to himself. Not the smartest decision, he would admit, but he'd rather not bother Satoru with useless checks. He would remind him over and over that he was never a problem, but Suguru did not yet have the emotional intelligence to tell whether that were true.

However, as stupid and oblivious as the guy was, Satoru noticed a change within his companion. He forgot to make the bed, and allowed him to throw his clothes around the room. What's worse- he was burning the pancakes.

"Hey." Satoru comes up behind him, soft hand pressed into his shoulder. He's taken aback by the flinch it illicits, and pulls back a second later. "You seem out of it today. Why don't you take the time to recharge?"

Suguru shakes his head, less stiff now than he was just a few months prior. He was learning, and he was learning fast. "No." he sighs. It was eerily human-like. "Im fine. I promise. Just- need to start over."

He tosses out the burnt pancake from the pan and plops more batter onto it, watching it carefully before Satoru notices his eyes grow distant with thought. He doesn't mention it for the time being.

Satoru picks a grape from the fresh bowl of fruits Suguru always left out for him. He was so good at buying the sweet ones. "Nah it's cool. I'll just order some takeout, no biggie."

Suguru glares at him and there's something so irritatingly authoritative in his eyes that he can't stand, something that says "not even an option." He does best with avoidance, so he walks away before he has to hear his speech. He wanders aimlessly through the kitchen, keeping a close eye on Suguru and watching him fail uncharacteristically at making breakfast. It was seriously hard to watch.

He hums, running down to the basement and coming back up with his tools in hand. Suguru only side eyes him, relaxing only when he realizes that it's too early for Satoru's antics. He usually offers a grace period of peace. Usually.

That's until he starts throwing the tools haphazardly around the table. They clatter and thunk, interrupting Suguru's quiet, peaceful morning. To be fair, it wasnt like it was all that quiet in his head anyway.

He creates a small circle of tools right beside him as he sits at the kitchen table, flipped away from the table, staring at Suguru's back until he starts to get the hint.

Suguru does, in fact, get the hint after about thirty seconds. He really did have such a good robot.

"What do you need?" Suguru frowns, arms crossed in front of his chest. He was getting so bold recently, and it made Satoru so proud to see him out of his shell.

"Other than breakfast?" he holds up his tools, grinning ear to ear. ""m gonna fix ya!"

Suguru only looks at him, head cocked to the side.

"Oh don't look at me like that. Come here." He urges Suguru to sit in the chair he pulled right in front of him.

Begrudgingly, the robot moves. More out of a sense of 'I owe this man my life' than obedience. Although, thinking about it, he would follow every single request, no matter how ridiculous. There, again. The pang in his heart. He'd been feeling it off and on, keeping track of when it came, but he still had no answer as to what could've caused it.

He picks his eyes up then, meeting Satoru's lively, blue ones and has to fight the impulse to flinch back at his closeness. God, when did that become a thing?

He feels the pang again. He doesn't consider this pain. No, the opposite. When he looks into his eyes, he feels something like- well like when you finish a new, hefty update. Or when you're given nice things, like clothes and a roof over your head and a pan to make pancakes in the morning. It's the feeling of getting up and taking care of someone, even when they're fully capable of taking care of themselves.

This feeling... it didn't have a name in his mind. It was just familiar, surrounded by all the things he would be afraid to lose. Like his new wardrobe, or his pan for pancakes, or the mornings he spent with Satoru.

He knew what the pang was. He just couldn't bring himself to admit that. Not now, and probably not ever. Satoru would simply not want him anymore, he decided.

So, he sat back and let the young engineer pull all the wires and push all the buttons he needed to.

Satoru would never figure out what his problem was, and figured he would just take a break from working on Suguru for a while. He knew Suguru was aware of something he wasn't, but for some reason he didn't find it important enough to bother him about it. He was like that about everything.

He realized on that day that he held a secret with the power to destroy everything he's been gicen these past few months. He was getting greedy. He wouldn't ask for Satoru to love him. He couldn't. Not when everything about him made him a fraud.

[shimmerloid-ai]

Preliminary Considerations - Which Vocal Synthesizer Software is Right for You - Paid Synthesizers

Hello everyone, Shimmer/Ripple/whatever you want to call me here. Sorry for not posting for a while, I've had a lot of stuff going on in my life (I turned 20 last week!), and have been busy with using vocal synthesizers than to make a blog post about them. I hope this article was worth the wait.

Last time, I comapred various free vocal synthesizers, and this time, I will be showing off the most popular paid ones. Quick disclaimer; I do not own all of these softwares, and will not buy the ones I have just to test them out as they are not cheap. I got feedback and advice from my friends who do own these synthesizers, along with Reddit posts and other forums. The piano roll images for the softwares I do not own are from various websites and vsynth users who I will be crediting in the captions. VOCALOID4

(Song: Devil's Manner by Konnichiwa Tanita-san; UST by Moru, Tuning by me)

When people think of the VOCALOID user interface, this edition of the software is probably what first comes to mind. It is very popular for a good reason; it’s got a simple UI and release of some of the best VOCALOID voicebanks; including Hatsune Miku V4x, Megurine Luka V4x, Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len V4x, Fukase, Otomachi Una Sweet and Spicy, Megpoid Gumi V4, and Yuzuki Yukari V4. V4 also introduced the “GROWL” and “CROSS-SYNTHESIS” parameters! Despite being the sister software to UTAU, it is a lot easier to install voicebanks and plugins into VOCALOID4, and you do not need to worry about phonemizers or resamplers.

Pros:

Can use every V2, V3, and V4 VOCALOID voicebank

Growl and Cross-Synthesis (also known as XSY; allows you to combine any two V4 voicebanks of the same character; such as Fukase’s Normal Japanese voicebank with his Soft Japanese voicebank or Gumi’s V4 Sweet voicebank with her V4 Adult voicebank) parameters

Can use job plugins to simplify the overall tuning process like in UTAU, Open Utau, and SynthesizerV Studio Pro

Pitch Rendering function allows users to see the pitch of notes

Really beginner-friendly (this vocal synthesizer was the one that taught me how to tune)!

Cons:

Is no longer available for purchase on the official YAMAHA website; you can only obtain it through Mercari (that was how I was able to get it), eBay, or through piracy

No piano roll tuning; users are restricted to the parameter box

Can not use V1 or V5 and higher voicebanks

The breathiness parameter gives a metallic effect instead of the desired whisper-like outcome

VOCALOID5

(Song: ID Smile by Toa; UST by K3RA; Cover by Shara Delvia)

The next edition of VOCALOID that was meant to change the playing field for vocal synth users. With an entirely new UI and never-seen-before features, VOCALOID5 was designed to simplify and enhance the overall vocal production and tuning process.

Pros: 

Dark mode at last!

Unlike the previous editions where you had to purchase a voicebank to use VOCALOID, VOCALOID5 comes with four free voicebanks

Preset phrases that beginners can play with to learn how different vocal properties can result in different sounds

Preset “attack” and “release” pitch bend effects

Easy pitchbend and vibrato adjustment using the “style” and “emotion” tools

Automatic breaths

Can be used as a VST plugin in almost any DAW or as a standalone editor

Over a hundred style and voice colour presets (Rich, Husky, Hard; Melodic, Diced Up, Bent; Lead Vocal, Chopped, Pitched)

Tons of audio and mixing effects

Fixed breathiness parameter 

Cons

Appears to be no longer up for purchase through normal means, YAMAHA has  pulled it from the VOCALOID website to promote their newest engine, VOCALOID6

Does not support V2 or V1 VOCALOIDS

Does not support job plug-ins

Does not have the Cross-Synthesis parameter

Not worth the price

No piano roll tuning

VOCALOID6

(Song: Unknown Mother Goose by wowaka; VSQx and Tuning by me)

This is the most recent edition of VOCALOID that is up for purchase from the official website. With this installation of the VOCALOID software, the highly anticipated AI VOCALOID voicebanks have come into existence so that we can enjoy GUMI AI, ZOLA PROJECT AI, and Otomachi Una AI at last! It also comes with many other fresh features that were not present in VOCALOID5.

Pros: 

Multilingual(Japanese, English, and Chinese) AI voicebanks!

A total of ten VOCALOID AI voicebanks

VOCALO CHANGER: works similarly to plugging an RVC model on top of an audio file, but legal

The doubling feature allows instant harmony creation

Fixed breathiness parameter 

It can be used as a VST plug-in in most DAWs. or as a standalone editor

Included with the CUBASE AI DAW

Can be purchased at a cheaper price by upgrading from previous VOCALOID editions

Every feature that was present in VOCALOID5 is included in VOCALOID6!

Cons:

The AI voicebanks are of poorer quality compared to SynthesizerV; they are not easy to tune in the slightest, and you can only edit three parameters (pitch, pitch bend sensitivity, dynamics) unlike the normal VOCALOID voicebanks; not including the style presets

For the desired results in VOCALO CHANGER, the audio recordings must be clean without any flaws, otherwise the audio will sound distorted

Does not support V2 or V1 VOCALOIDs

Does not support job plug-ins

Piapro Studio V4x

(Song: Enjou Alice by Maiki-P; UST by KIRI; Tuning by Me)

Following its departure from YAMAHA, Crypton Future Media created a new vocal synthesizer to promote its new V4x Cryptonloid voicebanks. With its VSTi compatibility and E.V.E.C. feature, this software gave a new feel to tuning VOCALOIDs all while maintaining the features from the vocal synthesizers that were developed by YAMAHA.

Pros:

Bundles with Cryptonloids include Piapro Studio V4x and Studio One 6 for free; an incredible DAW

VOCALOID4 with a different, cleaner UI

Compatible with V2 (some of them), V3, and V4 voicebanks

Enhanced Cross-Synthesis parameter; now you can cross-synthesize two completely different VOCALOIDs (such as Hatsune Miku V4x Original with Megurine Luka V4x Hard)

E.V.E.C. with a press of a button; in VOCALOID4 you have to edit phonemes manually

Improved breathiness parameter

Ability to change the wallpaper of the piano roll and icons of voicebanks!

Can be used as a VSTi plug-in in most DAWs

Cons:

Does not support job plugins

Not all VOCALOID2 voicebanks are supported; such as Utatane Piko

Does not support NT voicebanks

Playback is not always on time with piano roll; you have to scroll as the vocals play unlike other softwares (this could be a glitch for me however)

No piano roll tuning

Can not run it through Studio One 6 (despite being included with the bundles), it can only function in Studio 5

Piapro Studio NT

(Song: vivid by Utsu-P x Yuyoyuppe; UST by pifuyuu; Cover by AfiqTV)

Yes, Piapro Studio NT (an acronym for “new type”) is completely different from Piapro Studio V4x. This successor to the latter vocal synthesizer is entirely separate from YAMAHA, and was created for Crypton’s NT voicebanks. It no longer requires the use of a DAW, and was carefully designed with resynthesis technology for efficient vocal creation through the research that was conducted by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).

Note: As of August 2024; Crypton has shifted their intention to release the other NT singers to getting back with YAMAHA to develop Miku V6 AI. We will be getting a Piapro Super Pack in a week (it is currently available for preorder). The package contains remastered versions of Miku V4x Original, Rin V4x Power, Len V4x Power, and Luka V4x Natural; along with V4 versions of KAITO and MEIKO. The former V3 voicebanks will come with growl features, and although there will be no appends, you can cross-synthesize any of the new Cryptonloids to produce unique sounds. In addition, Miku NT will be receiving a massive new update in the future.

Pros:

Piano roll tuning at last!

New accent feature and E.V.E.C

Comes with Vocal Drive Plugin for growl and scream effects

Cons: 

Not compatible with VOCALOID voicebanks; Miku NT is the only usable voicebank to date

Harder to tune in

Missing parameters such as pitchbend sensitivity 

Plugins are not compatible

SynthesizerV Pro

(Song: Underworld by niki (reverse); SVP and Tuning by PixPrucer)

This is the complete version of SynthesizerV Basic. It has suppressed VOCALOID in every way possible; from having insanely good AI voicebanks, to a multitude of features, this is probably the best paid vocal synthesizer available for purchase as of now. Honestly, I could only find a few downsides to this software because it’s that good, and one of them is more of a personal preference than a major issue. YAMAHA seriously needs to take notes from Dreamtonics.

Pros: 

The synthesizer and voicebanks are much cheaper than any of the VOCALOID engines

Comes with Mai; an amazing female vocalist

Piano roll tuning

Auto-pitch tuning makes the pitchbending process much easier 

Paid voicebanks come with THREE activation codes so they can be used on multiple devices

Allows scripts (basically plug-ins but for SynthesizerV)!

Cross-Lingual Synthesis; allows Japanese voicebanks to sing in English, English voicebanks to sing in Japanese, etc

Really complex phoneme customization

Vocal modes for full A.I. voicebanks

The audio to midi tool we’ve always wanted for VOCALOID; it turns wav. files into an amazing SVP (I know V3 has the Vocalshifter plugin… but it’s kind of trash in my opinion as it only works with Japanese lyrics and goes crazy with trying to copy the vocalist’s tone rather than just the pitchbends)

Frequent updates!

Cons: 

As the voicebanks are ultra realistic, it’s not the best for those who enjoy more robotic voices, as seen in UTAU and VOCALOID

Crashes every now and then

Still no glottal effects 

ACE Studio

(Image Source: https://support.acestudio.ai/article/62-3-2-the-main-ace-studio-screen)

ACE Studio is a newer AI vocal synthesizer. Like DeepVocal, it features characters that originated from other softwares such as Namine Ritsu, Luo Tianyi, Kurobousuku, Yuezheng Longya, and many others. It also has a heavy emphasis on Chinese vocals. Most importantly, Ace Studio had a mobile version called Pocket Singer!

Pros:

Piano roll tuning

Can cross-synthesize voicebanks to your liking to make your own vocal synth (Pocket Singer has a simple yet cute OC maker)

Simpler pitch editing

Cons:

Subscription based model on both platforms

Some of the voicebanks sound too similar to each other

Pitch editing on a phone is not fun

The phone number sign-in thing is a pain… why don’t these guys have my regional  phone code as an option?!

One of the developers was exposed as a pedophile and proshipper; and some of the voicebanks used A.I. artwork; I personally don’t feel comfortable using a software made by people like this… ew

I’m just going to say it; SynthesizerV Pro is probably your best pick here, in terms of both price and versatility. You get so much out of this editor at a good cost, and it’s super easy to use! However, if you prefer robotic voices and can get your hands on it, then go with VOCALOID4 as it's pretty beginner friendly. If V4 is not an option, then you may have to deal with V6. 

Now, even though the latter software is not as easy to use as the former, a new lightweight singing editor designed for V6 and V5 called TuneLab has been recently released! It allows for piano roll tuning, along with better cross-synthesis usage. I will cover this software in a later post as I am still trying to learn the ropes of it.

Finally, as I have stated in my other post, take my statements with a grain of salt. Pick whatever synthesizer you want based on your interest; whether it is a fun feature or a specific singer you like. 

Hope this helps! In my upcoming post, I will recommend some VOCALOID voicebanks that are easy to use for beginners.