David Pope EDCP 737

On Adaptive Technology for the Blind.

Explanation: There are many, many more adaptive technology products for the blind that there were ten years ago. This is due in part to both the expansion of home computing and advances in microchip and software availability during the late 1980’s and 1990’s. Adaptive technology falls into two major categories: HIGH TECH and LOW TECH.

LOW TECH DEVICES Low-Tech devices are usually inexpensive and include software/hardware that is easy to use and practical, especially in classroom settings.

HIGH-TECH n High Tech devices are usually more expensive, require professional setup, and take time to learn and understand. High- tech devices are also usually more temperamental.

Magnification Software This software that can monitor and magnify text and screen sections for better clarity.

Talking Word Processors Allows student to hear the letter, word, sentence or phrase as it is entered into the computer. Available for both the Macintosh and Windows, computer operating systems. The Pull down menus also have speech output.

Braille Translation Software This is software that can interpret and print regular text into Braille. Usually used with a special printer called an Embosser.

Portable Devices n There are quite a few laptop type computers that have Braille keyboards with speech output and text scanning features. A few of these are: Braille ‘n Speak, Braille Lite, Aria, and Braille Companion.

Scanned Material Access Devices 1. Open Book- Takes a picture of a page of text, sends it to the PC, which can then speak or display the text in Braille. 2. Expert Reader(from Xerox)- One of the newest and affordable devices that combines scanning, speech, Braille output, and speech recognition into one. 3. Kurzweil software that works on your personal computer and a scanner to convert the printed word into speech. It has the ability to find key words or phrases within a document, Edit Text, a 175,000 word dictionary, and the ability to decipher multi- column text.

Sources n Google Corp. n Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired at n Ron Marriage’s Blind Links at