AT for Blind and Vision Impaired Stuart Lawler

AT for Blind and Vision Impaired

• Stuart Lawler. • Rehabilitation Training centre Manager.

About NCBI Registered charity, founded in 1931. Provides a wide range of services to individuals and organisations.

NCBI Services • • • Technology training, assessment and support. Library and media service. Community based services. Rehabilitation training and day services. Peer support services.

PC Access and Visual Impairment • Braille note-takers • Screen reading and Screen magnification • Low Vision Equipment

Braille Note-Takers • Portable Notetakers function like a PDA. • They come with or without Braille display and with Braille or qwerty keyboards. • Most run on Windows Mobile or Windows c. E and offer access to cut-down Microsoft applications.

Jaws • Outputs contents of the screen in high quality synthetic speech. • Can be used with a wide variety of applications. • Also works with refreshable Braille terminals.

Screen Magnifiers 1 x magnification 2 x magnification 4 x magnification

Guide Software • Simplified PC access • Magnification and screen reading

Low Vision Equipment • CCTVs – Portable – PC/TV access – Standalone

Audio books Traditionally available on cassette, then cd and now as downloadable files DRM or other such protection is used extensively to protect content Protection can sometimes limit the choice of player that can be used Many software and hardware players available

Mission of the Daisy Consortium • Our mission is to develop, integrate and promote international DAISY standards, technologies and implementation strategies to enable global access by people with print disabilities to information provided by mainstream publishers, governments, and libraries in a way which will also be of benefit to the wider community. • The DAISY Consortium works toward worldwide availability of publications in DAISY format, wherever print or electronic content is produced.

Portable players • Specialist players are available to play Daisy and other content. • Usually they can play text and audio as well. • They contain a range of additional features such as voice recording, clock, etc

Mobile Devices • Mainstream devices are becoming accessible. • Apple i. Phone 3 GS, 4 and 4 S all accessible without additional software. • Android catching up although difficult with multiple hardware manufacturers. • Hope for Windows Mobile 8 being released later this year.

What’s for the future? • Windows 8 pre-release now available, reported improvements in screen reading and magnification. • Microsoft are moving the Apple direction in making software usable from the start. • The screen reader as we know it is likely to change.

Further Information • • Stuart Lawler. Email: stuart. lawler@ncbi. ie Telephone: 087 9926360 www. ncbi. ie