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Tools for Visually Impaired People

People with visual impairments have many challenges to overcome, and one of them is tackling the problem of using modern technology, such as computers. Reading machines, braille terminals or keyboards, talking compasses, braille calculators, large-print computer text, and desktop and video magnifiers help blind or visually impaired individuals to navigate the information age and keep up with their sighted peers.

  1. Screen and Video Magnifiers

    • Screen magnification software enlarges information displayed on computer screens in incremental factors, from two times to 20 times the magnification. These programs work in tandem with the computer's operating systems and programs. This software can give a magnifying-glass view of an area around a cursor or pointer, enlarge parts of the screen or magnify full screens. They can also enhance pointer viewing and invert screen colors. Video magnifiers use a closed circuit television to enlarge small objects and written materials for people with low vision. It can magnify any printed material, from textbooks to mail.

    Personal Digital Assistant

    • This device combines a personal computer with a personal organizer. It comes with built-in application software that is user friendly. It has a braille keyboard that translates the user's typed braille code and a computer-modulated voice output. It can have a word processor, clock and calendar, calculator, telephone directory, appointment diary, and file manager. It can even be connected to a computer for a file transfer.

    Braille Search Engine Software

    • Alternate browsing methods allow those with visual impairments to browse the Internet. These methods utilize a braille output on a braille terminal, a text-to-speech output device, and a big characters view. As of November 2, 2010, the alternate browsing search engine program MozBraille works with Mozilla or Firefox and is a standalone Internet browser for the blind or partially sighted.

    Electronic Books

    • Libbraille is a shared computer library that has a simple API to write text on the display, draw dots, or get the values of keys that are pressed on a braille keyboard. Libbraille supports a wide range of braille displays that have a USB or serial connection. According to the Libbraille website, their online translation tool supports braille terminals made by Alva, Baum, Blazie Engineering, EuroBraille, HandyTech, Hermes, ONCE, Papenmeier, Pulse Data, TechniBraille and Tieman. Libbraille is free software and is Open Source. It can be downloaded at libbraille.org.

    Other Software and Devices

    • Scanners and OCR (optical character recognitions) software translate any page of printed material into spoken text on the computer and allows the user to control the speed and volume of the voice. Screen-reading software reads aloud everything that is on the screen -- from text, pull-down menus, icons and web pages, to dialog boxes. Scan/Read Systems combine a flatbed scanner and software that reads aloud the scanned texts. Portable Note-Takers are lightweight devices that have a speech output without a visual display. They can be connected to computers or just printers alone for printing and uploading text. Portable Note-Takers can be bought with braille keyboards and refreshable braille displays. You can even get a standard QWERTY keyboard to use with it if you prefer.

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