Accessability Software:

Much has been done since the early days to address the needs of the Visually Impaired. A lengthy conversation with a friend and retired Computer Programmer started me on the hunt for accessability software. He was a big help in gaining an understanding of the difference between Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Screen Character Recognition (SCR). If you have a scanner you would have had the option of installing an OCR program. This software allows you to scan a document as an image, select those blocks of text you want to recognize as text, and with the OCR engine transform that portion of image into readable, editable text. Try doing that with a pdf file. Not going to happen! The "Xerox Document Center" used an OCR engine to make the scanned document accessable to word processing, fax, and e-mail programs. An interesting concept and very powerful tool.

SCR software on the other hand would recognize characters on screen and using a "text to speech" engine and a speech synthisizer to read the on screen text. Early SCR software included "DEC Talk" which used a dedicated hardware synthesizer. Ibelieve it was origionaly wrote for UNIX based systems. I am told that it read a little funny. Such software is continuing to improve all the time, and I've found that Magic, Jaws, and Windoweyes (the 3 I am most familiar with) all have a dictionary so you are able to modify the way they read certain words. I am not going to attempt to list all the SCR software out there as I might miss something. In fact I would appreciate it if someone more Knowledgable in this area shared some of their knowledge so I could include it here.

Suffice to say that the computer is becomming much more accessable than it was. Windows 98 SE was packaged with a screen magnifier, and I am told that Windows XP comes with a basic speech synthesizer to help Visually Impaired users to install their own Operating System.

The one truly universal document format accessable across all platforms is Html (pdfs are image files and were not readable as text until the release of "Acrobat Reader 6". Text files are at least universal across all PC based systems. I have resisted learning Html and due to another project finally gave in and began my Introduction. Boston Universities "Web Central" has a very helpful site with an Introduction and goes into Intermediate Html. There are some areas I wish they had gone into a little deeper but I was able to find other sites that seemed to clear up most of my questions. This site was origionaly done using Yahoo's "Page Builder" with no knowledge of Html. Seeing the way "Magic" reads other sites (framed sites are the worst), I have since gone back and removed a lot of table rows and cells to put larger blocks of text on each page. This has not only resulted in smaller file sizes, but I believe that Magic reads it a little more uniformly.

Apple/Mac OSX:
Mac OS X Tiger introduces VoiceOver, an accessibility interface that gives you magnification options, keyboard control and spoken English descriptions of what�s happening on screen. If you have a visual impairment, VoiceOver enables you to work collaboratively with other Mac users or work on their computers without assistance.
For more information go to: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/voiceover/

Linux accessibility:
With training a blind user can do some operations faster and more efficiently than a sighted user. In researching Linux accessability, I have found a wealth of information and links. An exelent place to start would be at Linux HQ.
www.linuxhq.com/ldp/howto/Accessibility-HOWTO/visual.html

BLINUX project
Information on the BLINUX project. This site focuses on Emacspeak (an SCR program that uses the IBM Via Voice synthesizer). Emacspeak is alleged to be the only "free" Accessability software interface for the Blind. This might have been the case early on, but I have found that the Via Voice synthesizer is now a downloadable 30 day demo, with the registered version costing about $295. I should have figured that when Big Business is involved, the dollars aspect eventually comes into play. I belive that the "Blinux Project" has sold out and I would recommend following links off the Linux HQ site as there is other "free" software available.

Emacspeak:

Emacspeak is a speech interface that allows visually impaired users to interact independently and efficiently with the computer.
Available free of cost on the Internet,
When combined with Linux running on low-cost PC hardware, Emacspeak/Linux provides a reliable, stable speech-friendly solution that opens up the Internet to visually impaired users around the world. With support for the freely downloadable IBM ViaVoice Outloud speech synthesis Engine, Emacspeak now turns Linux into the first zero-cost Internet access solution for blind and visually impaired users.
(**Note: while the Via Voice engine is still available for download, if you can find the link. It is only available free as a 30 day demo. A fully registeredcopy may be purchased on Cd for $295, which makes the claim of 0 cost Nul and Void.)
Home page:http://cs.cornell.edu/home/raman/home.html
Mirror Site:
ftp://ftp.cs.vassar.edu/pub/mirror/emacspeak/

• Speech output for emacs: Emacsspeak
• BLINUX Documentation and Developmenen Project
• Blinux CD-ROM
• linux-access Homepage

Knoppix:

Knoppix is a Linux Operating System that runs directly off the Cd rom. For current Windows users this has the advantage of giving you a look without having to make major changes to your system. On accessability, there is a utility that creates a bootable floppy with Braille Terminal support. There is also an ISO bootable Knoppix image available for download (697 Mb) that is speach enabled with support for external hardware synthesizers.
What I have seen of Knoppix through my 7X hand held magnifier, I have found that it is not real user friendly with poor contrast in the menus, poor mouse support, and the could be better mapped for keyboard shortcuts. Most of this could reasonably be resolved with configuration settings, but the standard screen font configurations makes this very difficult. Maybe the speach enabled version is a little more user friendly.

accessibility of CLIs compared to GUIs
An article on accessibility of CLIs compared to GUIs

Windows Accessability Software

I had an interesting link sent to me a couple of days ago. On free accessability software there is a company in Canada that is offering their speach enabled magnification program as a free download on their web site. iZoom from Issist (Canada), you can download it from: http://www.issist.com/index.asp?page=iZoom The downloadable link at this location is for Windows 2000 and XP. I am still using Windows 98 SE and am in no hurry to change. When I contacted Issist and queried them about support for other operating systems, I did not get an answer on that particular issue. I will download "izoom" check it out and post my findings here.

A I Squared
(802) 362-3612
(800) 859-0270
Website: http://www.aisquared.com/index.htm
Produces Zoom Text - a screen magnifier with optional speech

Arkenstone Inc. (now operating as:Benetech)
NASA Ames Moffett Complex
Bldg. 23
Moffett Field, CA. 94035-0215
(800) 444-4443
(650) 603-8880
www.benetech.org

Arkenstone, Inc. was founded in 1989 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing reading tools for people with disabilities. For over a decade, it delivered these tools to over 35,000 individuals in 60 countries. In 2000, Arkenstone business operations were sold to Freedom Scientific which now sells three products originally developed by Arkenstone: OpenBook scanning/reading software for people who are blind and low vision, WYNN scanning/reading software for people with reading challenges, and the integrated VERA reading machine for people who are blind and low vision.

After the sale, Arkenstone changed its name to Benetechan innovative Silicon Valley nonprofit that uses the Arkenstone model to develop technology projects addressing major social problems in areas such as disability, human rights, literacy, education, and the digital divide. Its first two projects are the Bookshare.org online library of accessible digital books for people with disabilities and The Martus Human Rights Bulletin System, a technology tool to assist grassroots human rights workers worldwide to collect, safeguard and disseminate information on human rights abuses. Benetech continues to be led by Arkenstone founder, Jim Fruchterman, and includes the former Arkenstone engineering team. For more information about Benetech, please visit www.benetech.org

Blazie Engineering
105 Jarrettsville Rd.
Forest Hill, MD. 21050
Sales: 410-893-9333
Support: 410-893-9333
Fax: 410-893-5040
BBS: 410-893-8944
Homepage: http://www.blazie.com
E-mail: [email protected]

Sells Hardware & Software for Visually Impaired. Braille 'N Speak, portable note takers, Braille Printers and displays.

Freedom Scientific
(800) 336-5658  Sales Ext. 1107
www.freedomscientific.com

A merger of: Henter- Joyce, Arkenstone, and Blazie Engineering.

Henter-Joyce Inc.
11800 31st Court N.
St. Petersburg, FL. 33716
(800) 336-5658
(813) 803-8000
Fax: (813) 803-8001
www.hj.com defaults to the Freedom Scientific Site.

Product demos available on the website Sells JAWS (Job Access With Speech) and MAGIC, a screen magnification program. All three of the companies are accessible from the Freedom Scientific web site.

G W Micro
725 Airport N. Office Park
Ft. Wayne, IN. 46825
Hours: M-F, 8a-5p, EST
(260) 489-3671
Fax: (260) 489-2608
www.gwmicro.com

Sells Vocal-Eyes for use with a speech synthesizer available for Dos and Window Eyes. Also a Dealer for other company's adaptive technology.

Microsoft

"MS Speech" - Microsoft's speech synthesis program. While I haven't checked, I am certain that MStts can be downloaded at the Microsoft website. I have found MStts packaged as an alternative SAPI synthesizer on the Jaws, Window-eyes, and Magic Cd's. I have run across other SAPI synthesizers while looking for OCR programs (most proprietory to that particular program) so this is only the tip of the ice berg.

Windows 98 SE came with a screen magnifier that could be installed as part of their accessability option

Windows XP comes with a synthesizer to aid blind users in the installation of their Operating System.

While this is not specificly "Accessability Software" it was interesting enough for me to include it here:
Microsoft Reader 2.0. (E Book Reader)
enables premium content on both Pocket PC 2002 devices and Windows�-based PCs and laptops. Microsoft Reader allows up to four activations for mobile users, enabling people to share the same eBook on as many as four devices, Features include a new user interface, simplified and enhanced navigation, new text-to-speech accessibility support, and includes increased activations and robust security for the Pocket PC, Microsoft Reader software offered free for Windows-based PCs and laptops and included on all new Pocket PC 2002 devices. (connect-time fees may apply) Premium titles are now available to all users, titles from top U.S. and international publishers are available on leading booksellers' Web sites. Microsoft Reader is localized in five languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The search and look-up functions make this a superior reference device, while the screen quality and availability of ClearType make it great for immersive reading.
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/default.asp

Download Link: http://www.microsoft.com/reader/downloads/default.asp

Email: [email protected]