The exciting thing about technology is that it is continously changing. This page is designed to keep you abreast of the latest happenings in the field of devices designed to aid the disabled. The major emphasis will be on computer hardware and software--but other equipment will be covered as well. As stated elsewhere, inclusion of products on this page does not imply an endorsement by NOAA or any other branch of the United States government
The KNFB Reader Mobile is a reading machine for the blind contained on a
cell phone. The reader is a software program that uses a camera to read
printed material. At present,
it will run on two models: the Nokia N82 and the Nokia 6222 Classic.
The KNFB Reader Mobile's current version is 6.1.9. The most significant
new feature of this version is the ability to read and translate foreign
languages. For more information on this product you should visit:
GW Micro the company that brings us the Window-eyes Screen Reader is
now marketing a personal desk assistant called the Smalltalk. It
utilizes a 1 gigahertz Crusoe microprocessor (which causes very low
current drain, thus long battery life). It features WIFI, Blue Tooth
technology and USB ports. Not surprisingly it comes with the
Window-eyes screen reader. For more information you can visit:
One additional comment on Window-eyes, is that it works well on Firefox 3.0. I hav yet to thoroughly test it on Firefox 3.5.
Freedom Scientific continues to release accessories for their Pac Mate
which is a Windows-based talking personal desk assistant. Accessories
include, Destinator GPS which is a talking gps solution. Also, offered
is Daisy Reader for reading the new digital talking book format and Scantalk for "speaking" barcodes. For
additional information you can visit the Freedom Scientific home page:
c.a.technology of Jensen Beach, Florida released what they refer to as the
portable reading device or P2RD. THis device was formerly referred to as the
"new Optacon". The machine enables the blind to access printed material
without the need of a separate computer, reading machine software and a
scanner. Instead of using a scanner this device utilizes a digital
camera. The standard camera provides 4 million pixels, which enables
the OCR software to perform with a high degree of accuracy. To find out
more about the P2RD:
Access Solutions recently released a new Dectalk synthesizer that can operate
using a USB as well as a standard serial port.
For more information you can visit:
Here is a technical tip that will hopefully be of some help. Many blind users are having good luck with converting previously inaccessible pdf files containing pictures of text, into tiff images and then converting the images back into text using Kurzweil 1000 version 6.0 or greater.
A new service that allows blind users and others with reading
disabilities to share books has been set up. This is permitted in the
United States because of revisions to copyright law passed in 1996.
People from other countries should be familiar with their copyright law
before attempting to use this site. You can access their page by going
to:
Many blind computer users are abandoning the world of the graphical user interface and are instead, returning to an operating system that uses plain text. But its not MS-DOS this time.
In recent years, the trend has been for implementors to introduce increasingly graphical computer languages that are for the most part, inaccessible to the visually impaired programmer. Now, comes rebol, a very high-level scripting language that clearly bucks the trend. Instead of using graphics, and object orientation rebol stresses natural language and context sensitivity. The reason it is being mentioned here is that it is text oriented and easy to learn. It supports many internet-specific features, such as the ability to easily retrieve web pages and send email. We have tested rebol and it works well under WINDOWS with the WINDOW-EYES and the Jaws for Windows screen readers. The linux version works flawlessly when using the Speakup screen reading package.
Envision America has developed a voice module and an associated bar code
reader that allows users to record and associate voice messages with a
particular bar code. This permits people who are blind to independently
identify most consumer products once its bar code is known.
For more information click on the link below:
If you are a NOAA employee, you can help by letting us know of any
late-breaking news in assistive technology.
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This page was last updated on: July 1, 2009.
This page was last reviewed on July 1, 2009.