Assistive Technology
Assitive Technologies Visual Issues
- Scanning Reading Systems
Tools that allow printed information to be scanned into a system and read
to the employee, using a speech synthesizer.
- Screen readers
Software used by individuals who are blind or have learning disabilities
that interprets what is displayed on a screen, and directs it either
to speech synthesis, for audio output, or refreshable braille, for tactile
output. Some screen readers use the document tree (i.e., the parsed document)
as their input. However, older screen readers make use of the rendered
version of a document, meaning that document order or structure may be
lost (e.g., when tables are used for layout) and their output may be
confusing. A popular example is Jaws for Windows from Henter-Joyce.
- Screen magnifiers
Software used primarily by individuals with low vision that magnifies a
portion of the screen for easier viewing. Note that at the same time
screen magnifiers make presentations larger, they also reduce the area
of the document that may be viewed. Some screen magnifiers therefore
offer two views of the screen: one magnified and one default size for
navigation.
Examples of Screen Magnifiers/Screen Readers:
- Zoom Text by AI Squared - screen magnifying software that makes computers
accessible/friendly to low-vision users.
http://www.aisquared.com/
- JAWS by Freedom Scientific - popular screen reading software. Uses
internal speech synthesizer and computer's sound card to read info from
computer screen aloud.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/
- Home Page Reader by IBM - a web access tool for blind and low vision
users.
http://www.ibm.com/able/
- Window Eyes - a Windows screen reader for Microsoft Office applications
as well as the web.
http://www.nanopac.com/WindowEyes.htm
- Refreshable braille
Dynamic or refreshable braille involves the use of a mechanical display where dots can be raised and lowered dynamically to allow any braille words to be displayed. Only letters and numbers can be represented in braille, although some braille printers have a utility that allows simple graphics to be drawn on a sheet using the raised dots at a resolution of approximately 11 dots per inch.