Computer for the blind?

Question

I have a blind friend , he want to use a normal desktop pc , any solutions that is both cheap and usefull ,
thanx

Answer 1

A blind relative of mine use's JAWS ( Did not like the Windows XP text-to-speech) and finds it quite easy to hear what is on the screen as far as typing he uses Dragon Natural Speak. As far as I have heard he has no problems with it but minor typo's here and there in e-mails. =) Well I guess they wouldnt be typo's they would be speech to texto's lol

Answer 2

Yes , depending on your operating system its free because Windows
Xp comes with features like this. I am not sure if its exactly what your looking for and I know its not Usefull because I tried it. Maybe semi usefully at best.

It will be under the control panel for disability options or something like that.

Answer 3

I know that there is a braille keyboard as I used that technology for my ICT Double award GCSE... You can buy them from the internet, although they are a little expensive... You can also get a program which speaks on the computer, for example, they click on something (which may be hard though) and it says what it is.

Answer 4

Is there a place that you could find donated used PC for cheap or free? Any Blind Agency's that could help him with that.

Answer 5

yes in the settings in a computer theres a disabled icon (wheelchair)from here you can set the pc to talk instead of reading it.then a braille key board or cheaper still stick on braille lettering

Answer 6

Hi! Here's an overview of all I can find out about Braille/Blind Assistance Software.

Standalone Reading Machine

A Standalone Reading Machine is one unit that integrates a scanner, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Software and speech software. The printed document can then be scanned and read by the same machine. This option is most popular with those people who don't have a PC or don't want to use a computer. Some of these machines allow document storage. If you already have a PC with speech output software, then usually a cheaper option for reading documents is tso you geo buy a scanner and some mainstream or specialist OCR software.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software

This software is used in conjunction with a PC and scanner to copy printed text to the computer and hold it electronically so it can be read by a screen reader or magnified with software. There is mainstream OCR software available that just copies the text.

Speech Output software or Screen Reader software

A screen reading program sends screen text displayed on the screen to be spoken by a speech synthesizer. Common features include the ability to speak the full screen, a user defined area of the screen, a line, a word, individual letters or the phonetic equivalent of a letter and punctuation. A screen reader allows menus, dialog boxes, tool tips and system messages to be read back. A screen reader is designed to give a blind person access to the computer.

Screen magnification software

This software can magnify the text, menus and icons on the computer screen up to 32 times. Because screen magnification software increases the size of the image displayed on the screen, only a portion of the original screen image can be seen at one time. Normally the magnification will automatically follow the area of attention, for example the cursor. Because of the restriction on the amount of viewable area of the screen, a large monitor is usually used in conjunction with screen magnification software to effectively increase the viewable area on the screen.

Other types of access technology

Braille embosser or braille printer

Embossers print braille output from a computer by punching dots onto paper. They connect to the computer in the same way as text printers and can also be connected to notetakers and other devices with a serial or parallel port. Used in conjunction with the embosser is braille translation software that translates printed text into braille. Basically, a Braille printer is a dot matrix printer. Or visa-versa. If you can get your hands on an ancient dot-matrix printer (and its software, of course!) it will print out in Braille. All you have to do is save the patterns of dots as graphics and then, when you want to print them out, make sure you've set the outlines as thick as possible in the graphics package. You don't need the printer ribbon, just the printer (you might have to find where the ribbon contact point on the printer is and shove something there to close the circuit so it 'thinks' there's a ribbon there, or it might refuse to print!) Use sheets of thin card, playing card thickness, not paper. When it uses its 'needles' to print out the super-dark spots, they'll come out as raised bumps on the other side of the card! I KNOW you see things called 'embossers' for $/£LOADS on websites, but they're just dot-matrix printers with fancy names to justify fancier price-tags.

Notetakers

A portable computer with a braille or QWERTY keyboard that gives speech feedback and allows the user to take notes, make appointments and some are email and internet enabled. They can also have an integrated braille display.

Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTVs) or Video Magnifiers

This is a magnifying aid for people with some useful vision. Printed material and objects can be placed under a camera and the magnified image is displayed on a television screen or computer monitor. They are mostly used for reading, but can also be used for writing and other activities such as sewing

Braille Display

An electronic braille display is a tactile device that is placed under a conventional computer keyboard, or laptop keyboard and enables the user to read the contents of the computer screen by touch in braille. Each cell has eight pins made of metal or nylon, which are electronically controlled to move up and down, to display a braille version of characters that appear on the computer screen.

Voice Recognition Software

Voice Recognition Software enables the user to have an alternative to typing text into a computer. This is where the user talks to the computer and should not be confused with a Speech Output System where the computer talks to you. To use a Voice Recognition system you must be prepared to modify the way you talk and it does take some time to develop. This is a possible solution for people who have difficulty with their hands or who have dyslexia and is not usually the recommended option for a person who is blind or partially sighted who can learn to touch-type. This is because most of the software isn't good enough to recognise accents, some isn't even good enough to recognise context!

Free Braille creation software:- Braille-Pokadot.com. Dots.exe on Softlookup.com (looks GREAT fun, that one, I don't know Braille, but it looks a great piece of software!) Brailleplanet.org has got loads of info on all the variations of Braille. A new invention on the market is 'Print Braille', made by Guy Perelmuter, who I know is Brazilian, and I know his software is the only one specifically designed to print on dot-matrix printers. But in spite of diligent searching, I'm very ashamed to say I can't find a site for it in English!

Hope this is of some use to you.

If I can help any more, I'm [e-mail]

Chris.

Answer 7

How To Configure and Use Text-to-Speech in Windows XP = http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306902

"Microsoft Sam is the default voice, but you can download additional ones.
http://www.bytecool.com/voices.htm =
(all these voices for sapi will work)
You can also download a free microsoft sapi if you do not have XP from this site."


ReadPlease = http://www.readplease.com

Text-To-Speech (TTS) -- Our Demo Speaks Your Text = http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php#top =

Sayz Me = datafurnace.net.au/sayzme = http://www.datafurnace.net.au/sayzme = "A free text-to-speech reader for Windows. Text is typed in or copied from the clipboard and then read aloud. Words are highlighted as they are spoken. Select voice, adjust reading speed, voice pitch, font, font size and color. Hides in the system tray. Very simple and easy to use. Freeware."

"RealSpeak™ is software that converts text into remarkably high quality speech. Whether you want to speech-enable an in-car navigation system, provide a screen reader for the blind or partially sighted, or enhance your call center service, RealSpeak is the natural solution. Friendly, expressive, highly intelligible quality that speaks for itself." = http://www.nuance.com/realspeak


Talk It! = http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;160045

"Aldo's Text-to-WAVE = Convert text, web pages and MS Word documents into audible documents in WAVE, OGG or MP3 formats.= http://www.aldostools.com/text-wav.html

TalkAny.exe = http://www.joshellison.com/fun/TalkAny.exe

Crap Talker = http://unaesthetic.net/st/dl.htm


"IVOS (Intelligent Voice Operating System) is an intelligent agent that offers BOTH Speech Recognition and Text-to-Speech capabilities." = http://www.snapfiles.com/downloadfind.php?st=voice-recognition+&search=Search&action=s

Answer 8

braille keys ?

Answer 9

urm...u cant use a computer if ur blind ...can u?