Assistive technology: What is it?
Advances in software have allowed us to be "smarter" users of
technology. Software developers have focused on making our work
easier. Many times these products originate from a need to help
people with disabilities overcome barriers in work and in life.
Fortunately these products are user friendly and appeal to many
people who want to take advantage of labor saving devices to
work "smarter not harder."
Here
are some examples:
•
Microsoft XP
XP offers a voice recognition (voice to type) feature. Check
"Tools" for a speech function. Premier Assistive Technology The
Universal Reader is an easy-to-use utility that reads to you.
The best part is that it works with virtually any application.
Use it to read your e-mail, your Microsoft Word documents, even
Web pages. It is as simple as selecting what you want it to read
and then clicking on the floating toolbar. It takes about two
minutes to install and even less time to learn how to use it.
•
Read Please
This is a free download you can install on your home computer to
make reading easier. It will read any text that you can copy and
paste into the reader screen (such as electronic files, e-mail
and Web pages). Used in conjunction with
bibliomania.com (a Web
site with several full-text books and articles), you can listen
to what you need to read.
•
VIA Voice
VIA Voice recognizes an individual's voice and then types into
text what the user is saying. This is a great tool for people
who have trouble using their hands and for people who have a
hard time spelling. Users will still need to develop their
editing skills.
•
Kurzweil
Kurzweil is a software that helps people with reading or
learning difficulties increase their reading speed and
comprehension. Kurzweil can read virtually any scanned document
or other electronic file on your computer or the Internet. Words
are also highlighted in a contrasting color to the reading unit,
which makes tracking easier. New or unfamiliar words can be
defined using the electronic dictionary, or they can be broken
down into syllables using the syllabification tool.
•
The Reading Pen
The Reading Pen is a fully portable, self-contained assistive
reading device that provides immediate word support while
reading printed text. Individual words are enlarged on the
display, and words may be spelled out or broken into syllables.
This pen is a completely portable, self-contained device and
does not require a computer. It also assists users by providing
a definition of the scanned word or line of text, as well as
reading both the words and definition aloud using its
miniaturized text-to-speech technology.
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