Links to software and hardware resources:
This section of the Accessibility & Disability web site provides links to software and hardware resources that can assist people with disabilities when working with computers or printed materials. Some of this assistive technology includes screen readers, talking web browsers, printed text readers, braille translators (text-to-braille and braille-to-text), screen magnifiers, special computer keyboards, and technology that allows control of a computer through head movements or eye movements.
Hands On Video Relay Service (HOVRS)
"HOVRS uses the Internet to provide an audio/video link to a qualified, certified Video Interpreter (VI) who interprets between the visual language of ASL and the auditory language of a hearing person. Using the Internet, Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing persons can use interpretive services to place phone calls wherever they may find themselves: at home, at the office, in the classroom, or anywhere an Internet-connected computer is available. HOVRS can contact hearing people anywhere through a standard dial-up telephone number.... You can now make video relay calls with either your Mac computer using iChat, or with your PC using AOL Instant Messenger(AIM) 5.5. HOVRS."
JAWS--an acronym for "Jobs Access With Speech"--is the most widely-used screen-reader. It has versions that work with Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, & Vista. It uses a software speech synthesizer, "Eloquence for JAWS," that can pronounce American English, Brazilian Portuguese, British English, Castilian Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Finnish, French, German, and Italian.
Window-Eyes, another widely-used screen-reader, has versions that work with Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, & Vista. It supports multiple users, over 50 speech synthesizers, and over 40 Braille displays.
Apple's Tiger, Leopard, & Snow Leopard Operating Systems for the Mac
"Every Mac comes standard with a wide range of assistive technologies that help people with disabilities enjoy the power and simplicity of the Mac. We call this Universal Access, and it includes many features you won't find in other operating systems at any price. In Mac OS X, they're built right in."
iBraille - Braille editor for Mac
"iBraille is a user friendly braille editor for Macintosh computers. The software is developed in close cooperation with Apple. [Works with] Mac OS X 10.4 and later * Index Braille embossers V3 * Document types: rtf, doc, etc. Advanced formatting: Structured documents.... iBraille translates graphic PDF-documents into text then converting the text into braille."
Google Accessible Web Search for the Visually Impaired
Google search with an audio component.
"WebAnywhere is a web-based screen reader for the web. It requires no special software to be installed on the client machine and, therefore, enables blind people to access the web from any computer they happen to have access to that has a sound card.... WebAnywhere will run on any machine, even heavily locked-down public terminals, regardless of what operating system it is running and regardless of what browsers are installed."
"12 cell refreshable Braille display * Can be used to write and read SMS text messages and operate your mobile phone or PDA * Battery Life 20 hours wireless * Weight: 0.232kg * Dimensions:13.0cm x 1.7cm x 8.1cm"
The major feature of Vocal-Eyes is that it is MS-DOS compatible. The default setting requires between 50K and 64K of DOS RAM. However, it only requires about 4K of DOS RAM if it is loaded into extended memory. Vocal-Eyes requires a high density 3.5 inch disk drive.
Books-To-Burn is a text- to-speech file for making books on CD on an Apple computer. "Books2burn translates text files into a series of audio files (Apple AIFF format) which can then be converted to mp3's or other formats using programs like LAME, iTunes, or other tools available around the net. The program is released under the GNU GPL. Feel free to copy and modify the program."
EmacSpeak works with the text-based UNIX systems and does not just read the screen but works within the Emacs system and can speak the information that is the basis of the visual display. It is completely free and can be downloaded from the internet. As T.V. Raman wrote in "Emacspeak: A Speech-Enabling Interface" in the September, 1997, issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal: "I implemented the speech-enabling approach in Emacspeak to overcome many of the shortcomings encountered with traditional screen-readers. Screen-readers allow users to listen to the contents appearing in different parts of the display, but users are entirely responsible for building a mental model of the visual display to interpret what an application is trying to convey. Emacspeak, on the other hand, does not speak the screen: It provides speech feedback from within the application, allowing the application to render information in both a visually and aurally pleasing way. Emacspeak audio-formats the text (analogous to visual formatting) and augments the spoken text with nonspeech auditory icons to succinctly convey information other than the text itself (such as events triggered by the application)."
e-Speaking Voice and Speech Recognition
"An easy software solution to enable you to control your computer, dictate emails and letters, and have the computer read documents back to you.... Command and control your Window's computer through your voice. Operate your computer using a minimum of keystrokes or mouse clicks. If you want to move the cursor down one line, simply say: Down One. Want to check your emails? Simply say: Open Email.... It's Free! That's right. You can download it with over 100 built-in commands and begin using it today and forever at no cost."
Lynx, perhaps the most popular text-mode browser, is free (under the GNU Public License).It works on diverse platforms including MacIntosh (MacLynx), Windows, DOS, UNIX, and VMS. It works especially well with voice-synthesizers and Braille-based technology.
Proloquo 2.0 with speech to iPod-ready iTunes tracks and quick voice access
"Proloquo is a multilingual speech and communication solution for Mac OS X that provides: (1) a full-fledged communication system (AAC) for people who cannot speak; (2) provides speech feedback in any application while typing for children and people with learning disabilities; (3) can serve as a talking word processor; (4) provides an advanced, multilingual speech engine for our KeyStrokes® on-screen keyboard and our SwitchXS® switch access solution."
"IBM Easy Web Browsing software helps people with limited vision and seniors access Web content more easily."
Speakup for Linux Operating System
Speakup works with the Gnu/Linux operating system and provides access to all console programs in the operating system, and is compatible with Lynx, Pine, and similar applications.
Hal works with Windows 95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000, XP, & Vista. It provides a choice of 2 speech synthesizers: Dolphin Orpheus Speech System and Microsoft's MSAPI Speech Synthesizer. It will pronounce words in English (UK and USA), Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish (Latin and Castilian) and Swedish. It will also provide Grade 1 or Grade 2 Braille.
"24 cell refreshable Braille display * Serves as a Braille terminal for a PC screen reader"
Braillesurf 4, developed by Inserm Inova, is an internet browser that works with Windows 95, 98, NT, and 2000, and has English, French, and Spanish versions. It analyzes the web page's source code and represents the content in text form that can be displayed on a braille bar or spoken by a speech synthesizer.
"Supernova offers magnification, speech and Braille support, giving people with visual impairment the freedom to access Windows in the way that suits them best."
EAI (Enhancing Internet Access) is a "specialized Web Browser, suitable for touchscreen systems, with fully integrated Web awareness, assessment and training modules."
LunarPlus Screen Magnifier with added speech
"LunarPlus Enhanced Screen Magnifier offers people with a visual impairment the same invaluable features as Lunar Screen Magnifier but with the added advantage of speech output. Any text on screen is read out so not only you can check for accuracy as you type in documents or emails but you can also hear information on menus and web pages."
The Magnifier is software that provides an "Area Screen Magnifier for Windows 3.x, 95, 98, NT, Windows 2000, & Vista. The software supports 2 times through 10 times magnification, may be sized as needed or positioned anywhere on screen, and has several features such as Auto-Position. . ."
Level 1 provides 2x to 16x magnification. Level 2 provides synchronized magnification and screen reading. ZoomText works with Windows Vista, XP, ME, 2000, NT4, 98 and 95.There is also a version for DOS.
The Kurzweil 1000 is a system for scanning books and other printed material into a computer and then speaking it aloud through a synthesizer.
Cicero Text Reader is software that "effectively takes your computer and scanner and turns them into a reading machine for people with a visual impairment. Printed text documents are placed on the scanner and can then be translated into speech, Braille or simply held as a text document which can be adjusted, saved, edited and printed out."
This software set allows books and other material that has been scanned to be translated into text, even if the words in the printed material has been embedded in graphics. The text can be pronounced aloud by a voice synthesizer that is included. It can create both MP3 and WAV sound formats as well .brf and .brl Grade II Braille formats.
This machine scans and translates text from books and other printed matter into speech.
This document reader includes a DEC talk Voice, an OCR reader, a flat bed scanner, a computer, and a screen reader.
Poet Compact: Scan & Read Standalone Reader
This compact machine (19.3 x 12.8 x 3.5 inches) used a flat bed scanner, a text recognition program, and a speech synthesizer. Internal hard disk provides for considerable storage of text.
SARA - Scanning & Reading Appliance
"With the press of a button, you can scan reading material and have it read back to you. Have the SARA continuously read, read by line, word - even by letter, if you don't understand a word and need it spelled out. Pause when you need to, rewind, and fast forward. Choose among human-like voices that are the most natural-sounding and pleasant in any standalone scanning and reading system. The SARA features 29 voices in 19 language dialects and 12 major languages."
Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboard version 3.03
Click-N-Type is free software that works with windows and DOS applications. It shows a virtual keyboard on the screen for those people who cannot type on a computer's physical keyboard.
This software "enables convenient operation of GUI environment by means of keyboard only (mouseless operation). With QPointer running, the keyboard starts functioning as an absolute and relative pointing device. . . . It allows operation of the whole computer without taking hands off the keyboard."
"Flexiboard is an entirely new alternative keyboard with a built-in optical overlay-detection method — the keyboard always detects which overlay is placed on top of the keyboard. Because overlays can be changed without commands to the computer, the user can handle a large range of overlays independently."
"KeyStrokes is a fully-functional advanced virtual on-screen keyboard that allows you to type with a mouse, trackball, head pointer or other mouse emulator to type characters into any standard Macintosh application. KeyStrokes provides advanced multilingual word prediction. ...it can do word completion, next word prediction and even multi-word prediction in any Roman language as well as many other languages....It can be used with a keyboard, mouse, trackball, head pointer, touch screen, or other mouse emulator. For those who can position the pointer, but not click the mouse buttons, the integrated Dwellix™ system-wide dwell-based utility allows mouse button clicks to be entered by simply holding the cursor motionless for a programmable period of time. You can even type without clicking."
Dwell Clicker is a free utility for people who can move the mouse but have difficulty clicking the mouse buttons. "Dwelling is resting the mouse over one area of the screen for a specified time. The dwell click software allows you to perform left-click, right-click and double clicks, and even drag things around the screen."
"Dasher is a data entry interface incorporating language modelling and driven by continuous two-dimensional gestures, e.g. a mouse, a stylus, or eye-tracker. Tests have shown that, after an hour of practice, novice users reach a writing speed of about 20 words per minute while taking dictation. Experienced users achieve writing speeds of about 34 words per minute, compared with typical ten-finger keyboard typing of 40-60 words per minute. Although the interface is slower than a conventional keyboard, it is simple to use, and could be used on personal data assistants and by motion-impaired computer users. Dasher can readily be used to enter text from any alphabet."
BigKeys LX and BigKeys Plus have keys that are 4 times as large as the typical keyboard. They work with both PCs and Macs.
According to its web site, the Magic Wand Keyboard "Needs No Strength—No Reach—No Dexterity. The Magic Wand Keyboard is a miniature computer keyboard, with a built-in mouse, which allows anyone with a disability who has limited or no hand/arm movement to fully access any IBM or Apple Macintosh computer. It is the only computer keyboard, and mouse, that requires no strength. This mini computer keyboard works with the touch of a wand (hand-held or mouthstick). It requires absolutely no force. Using only the slightest hand or head motion, the keyboard allows people with disabilities easy access to the Internet, e-mail, and all computer programs."
VirtualKeyboard is an on-screen keyboard that offers point-and-click typing using pointing devices such as a head pointer, mouse, trackball, etc. This program is designed primarily for disabled person but it can be used also to teach the children to write, to prepare kiosk environments, etc. To use VirtualKeyboard simply click on the keys on the on-screen keyboard, each keypress will be sent to the active or front-most application. As with a real keyboard, to get uppercase characters you click Shift first, or to type in all uppercase, click Lock. Similarly, the other qualifier keys work as expected, they even work outside of VirtualKeyboard.
"SmartNAV is the perfect hands free ergonomic mouse for people with carpal tunnel, RSI and disabilities. Increase productivity by simply moving your head to control your computer with our ergonomic mouse alternative."
This assistive technology enables people to use their eyes to operate a computer, communicate, operate a telephone, etc. "Its users include people with ALS (MND), brain injuries, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injuries, spinal muscular atrophy, strokes and Werdnig-Hoffman syndrome."
"VisionKey combines a viewer mounted on a pair of standard frames with a small control unit. An eye tracker and a microcomputer measure the position of the eye and when a selection is made, it appears on the control unit LCD and on the computer. Users look at a specific word, letter or character on the chart in front of their eye and "type" by holding their gaze until a selection is confirmed by a green highlight and a beep."
"The Assistive Mouse Adapte ... works by filtering out the unintentional movements of the hand caused by a tremor. The effect of the adapter is much smoother movement of the cursor on the screen and greatly improved accuracy of mouse operation. The adapter works with most PCs and operating systems. No additional software is required; the device is simply plugged in between the computer and the mouse and can be switched on or off, and adjusted depending on the tremor severity. It can also be set to filter out unintended multiple clicking on the mouse."
"SwitchXS provides virtually complete access to Mac OS X and all standard Mac applications for people who can only use one or more switches. It offers full mouse and keyboard emulation by means of a so-called scanning mode. With each click on the switch the user selects an action, such as 'move the cursor up' or 'type B', from a 'scanning' menu. SwitchXS is typically used by people who are, for example, quadriplegic due to an accident, or living with neuromotor diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) with very limited limb movement.'
"Tracer gives mouse control to people with Quadriplegia, CP, MD, MS, ALS, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and any other disability where you lack the hand control to use a standard mouse but retain good head movement. Tracer uses a small gyroscope to sense the user's motion. The gyroscope communicates wirelessly with the computer via an FCC Certified RF (radio frequency) connection, which solves all of the problems of the IR (Infrared) connection..."
"Mouse for Quadriplegics with all of the functions of a standard 5 button mouse wheel mouse."
"This hands free cursor control system is an assistive technology breakthrough for people with ALS, spinal cord injuries, and other people with disabilities who require a hands free mouse alternative. . . . The Smart-Nav AT Hands Free Mouse is a hardware and software bundle that comes with all the features normally seen on devices that cost five times as much, including: Real time head tracking, Built in dwell clicking, Switch clicking capability, On-screen virtual keyboard, Compatibility with all recent windows platforms, [and] Fully customizable software."
HeadMouse, a wireless head-pointing device, comes in versions for both desktop and portable computers, and for both Macs and PCs. A Sip and Puff Switch is also available.
NaturalPoint Head-Tracking Mouse Alternative
The Smart-Nav is a hands-free mouse alternative that connects to the computer through a USB port. "The ergonomic Smart-Nav™ provides precise cursor control through simple head movement allowing your hands to remain on your keyboard, or at your side."
"TrackerPro is a computer input device that takes the place of a mouse for people with little or no hand movement. Simply plug it in and it works just like a mouse (no additional software required). Anything that can be done with a regular hand mouse can be done by using TrackPro (in conjunction with one of many clicking solutions)."
As the web site describes in much more detail, "Skipper is a free package for Linux that describes simple sensors that can be built at home, or re-used from other applications, to enable people with severely limited or involuntary movements to signal to a PC."
