Mapping an internet document to be accessed over a telephone system

In a network that includes a server system connected to the Internet, and a computer system and a telephone system that communicate with the server system, a method performed at the server system for enabling a user to access an Internet document with the telephone system, such that content of the Internet document is presented to the user according to a user-defined map of the Internet document, the method comprising:

• receiving an access request for the Internet document from a user using a telephone system;
• accessing a user-defined map that controls which regions of the Internet document are presented to the user without modifying the Internet document, the user-defined map comprising:
• one or more categories, each category associated with a particular region of the Internet document;
• and
• at least one of links and text in each category, the at least one of links and text in each category corresponding to selection regions of the Internet document;
• prompting the user over the telephone system to select a particular category of the user-defined map;
• retrieving the Internet document and comparing the Internet document to the user-defined map to identify the portions of the Internet document that are to be presented to the user;
• generating an audio representation of the portions of the Internet document that are to be presented to the user;
• and
• transmitting said audio representation to the user over the telephone system.

In the mapping module of a server system that communicates with a telephone system and a computer system, a method for enabling a user to a map an Internet document to identify which text and links of the Internet document will be presented to the user over the telephone system, the method comprising:

• retrieving an Internet document in response to a first user input received from the computer system, wherein the Internet document comprises at least one of text and links;
• creating a user-defined map that identifies which regions of the Internet document are presented to a user over a telephone system without modifying of the Internet document by performing:
• receiving a second user input from the computer system, the second user input selecting a region of the Internet document to be mapped;
• receiving a third user input from the computer system, the third user input causing the mapping module to map one of either text and links of the selected region to a category of the user-defined map;
• and
• receiving a fourth user input from the computer system, the fourth user input causing the mapping module to associate a name with the selected region of the Internet document and the category in the user-defined map;
• and
• storing a copy of the user-defined map at a database that is associated with the server system, wherein a comparison of the user-defined map and the Internet document determines the content of the Internet document that is to be presented to the user over the telephone system.

A computer program product for implementing, in a computer system that communicates with an Internet-connected server system, the server system communicating with a telephone system, a method mapping an Internet document to control how text and links of the Internet document will be presented to the user over the telephone system, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer-readable medium carrying computer-executable instructions for implementing the method, the computer-executable instructions comprising:
• program code means for receiving an Internet document in response to a first user input received from the computer system, wherein the Internet document comprises at least one of text and links;
• program code means for creating a user-defined map that controls which portions of the Internet document are presented to user over a telephone system without modifying of the Internet document, wherein creating a user-defined map comprises program code means for:
• receiving a second user input that selects a region of the Internet document to be mapped to the user-defined map as a category, wherein unselected regions of the Internet document are omitted from the user-defined map;
• receiving a third user input that causes one of either text and links of the selected region to be mapped into the category of the user-defined map;
• and
• receiving a fourth user input that associates a name with the selected region and the category;
• and
• program code means for transmitting a copy of a user-defined map to the server system, wherein unselected regions of the Internet document are omitted and only those text and links defined in the user-defined map based on a comparison between the user-defined map and the Internet document are included when transmitting an audio representation of the Internet document to a user over the telephone system.