I'm back, and here's a quick update on what's been going on. In addition to my work at the library, I'm working on a presentation with the Accessibility and Usability Committee, which we will be presenting this Friday. I'll be posting more information on that soon.
Things are going pretty well at work. I’m starting to really get into things now. I started doing some basic demos for library staff on the assistive technology computer. I explained the different technologies available, and gave quick demos. Here’s a quick rundown on some of the software I have been and will be using.
Jaws for Windows
http://www.freedomscientific.com
I have been using this software for a long time on my own. Actually I’ve been using it since Jaws for DOS. It’s come a long way since then. This software is known as a screen reader, and it basically does just that. Using the computers sound card, the computer will speak what’s on the screen. The user uses the keyboard to both control the mouse, and tell Jaws what to speak. Jaws works with most Windows programs, like office software, web browsers, and pretty much anything else.
On the website listed above, anyone can download a demo of the software to see what it’s like. It’s actually the full program, but it runs in a 40 minute demo mode. Once 40 minutes are up, the system has to be rebooted to run Jaws longer.
Magic
http://www.freedomscientific.com
This is another program made by the same company. This software can magnify the screen for users with low vision. That’s the basics of what the program does. It has a lot more functionality though, like high contrast backgrounds, mouse and cursor enhancements, some speech output like Jaws, and a variety of ways to view the screen. Portions of the screen, or the whole thing can be magnified.
Again, there’s a demo for this software that works just like the Jaws one. It’s enough to get a good idea of what the programs do. The only down side is they are pretty spendy, so it’s not something just anyone would buy. Although I have had a lot of people who’ve played with my copy of Jaws tell me they really want it for reading stuff on the computer.
Kurzweil 1000
Kurzweiledu.com
This is another cool program. I used to use Kurzweil a long time ago, but until recently, haven’t used it at all. I’m glad I’ve started again though. It can do a lot of cool things. It’s primary function is scanning print materials. Using a flatbed scanner, a blind user can scan in print materials: bills, letters, books, etc. It can then be read by synthesized speech within the program, similar what Jaws would do for other programs on the computer. The file can then be saved as a variety of file types like txt, rtf, doc, and brf. This last one is an electronic Braille format. The user then could print the book or whatever on Braille paper.
It’s also got a lot of other cool features. A couple of my favorites are the audio file output and virtual scanning. Once the user has scanned in a book, it then can be converted to an audio file like an MP3 file. The user can then listen to it on a computer with no assistive technology. The file will open in Media Player, Winamp, or whatever program plays MP3’s. It will also work on portable players like the Ipod. The book could automatically be split up into shorter files for easier navigation as well.
The other feature I really like is the virtual printer. Rather than scanning from an actual scanner, other files can be scanned for text. When Kurzweil is installed, it puts another printer in the printers list. This can then be chosen from other programs like Word or Adobe Reader. Printing files to this printer will extract the text from the files and import it into Kurzweil, where it can be saved as an accessible format.
There are more programs on the machine at the library, but I’ll save that for next time. I really didn’t think I’d type this much about the ones so far. And later I’ll explain some of the other assistive technology available at the library and others I’ve used in the past. so keep checking back often.
Things are going pretty well at work. I’m starting to really get into things now. I started doing some basic demos for library staff on the assistive technology computer. I explained the different technologies available, and gave quick demos. Here’s a quick rundown on some of the software I have been and will be using.
Jaws for Windows
http://www.freedomscientific.com
I have been using this software for a long time on my own. Actually I’ve been using it since Jaws for DOS. It’s come a long way since then. This software is known as a screen reader, and it basically does just that. Using the computers sound card, the computer will speak what’s on the screen. The user uses the keyboard to both control the mouse, and tell Jaws what to speak. Jaws works with most Windows programs, like office software, web browsers, and pretty much anything else.
On the website listed above, anyone can download a demo of the software to see what it’s like. It’s actually the full program, but it runs in a 40 minute demo mode. Once 40 minutes are up, the system has to be rebooted to run Jaws longer.
Magic
http://www.freedomscientific.com
This is another program made by the same company. This software can magnify the screen for users with low vision. That’s the basics of what the program does. It has a lot more functionality though, like high contrast backgrounds, mouse and cursor enhancements, some speech output like Jaws, and a variety of ways to view the screen. Portions of the screen, or the whole thing can be magnified.
Again, there’s a demo for this software that works just like the Jaws one. It’s enough to get a good idea of what the programs do. The only down side is they are pretty spendy, so it’s not something just anyone would buy. Although I have had a lot of people who’ve played with my copy of Jaws tell me they really want it for reading stuff on the computer.
Kurzweil 1000
Kurzweiledu.com
This is another cool program. I used to use Kurzweil a long time ago, but until recently, haven’t used it at all. I’m glad I’ve started again though. It can do a lot of cool things. It’s primary function is scanning print materials. Using a flatbed scanner, a blind user can scan in print materials: bills, letters, books, etc. It can then be read by synthesized speech within the program, similar what Jaws would do for other programs on the computer. The file can then be saved as a variety of file types like txt, rtf, doc, and brf. This last one is an electronic Braille format. The user then could print the book or whatever on Braille paper.
It’s also got a lot of other cool features. A couple of my favorites are the audio file output and virtual scanning. Once the user has scanned in a book, it then can be converted to an audio file like an MP3 file. The user can then listen to it on a computer with no assistive technology. The file will open in Media Player, Winamp, or whatever program plays MP3’s. It will also work on portable players like the Ipod. The book could automatically be split up into shorter files for easier navigation as well.
The other feature I really like is the virtual printer. Rather than scanning from an actual scanner, other files can be scanned for text. When Kurzweil is installed, it puts another printer in the printers list. This can then be chosen from other programs like Word or Adobe Reader. Printing files to this printer will extract the text from the files and import it into Kurzweil, where it can be saved as an accessible format.
There are more programs on the machine at the library, but I’ll save that for next time. I really didn’t think I’d type this much about the ones so far. And later I’ll explain some of the other assistive technology available at the library and others I’ve used in the past. so keep checking back often.
posted by Jesse Anderson at 8:42 AM
1 Comments:
WOW! I never knew so much was out there. Good thing you know about it, so that we can all learn about it! Does Jaws have different computer voices that will talk to you? If I had it, I would pick a girl and call her "Karen, my computer wife..." just like Plankton in Spongebob Squarepants the movie.
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