August 2, 2008
Volunteer Anthony Loeff is reporting digital tools for people suffering from blindness
The console-based Oralux Linux distribution ships with three screen-reading environments: Emacspeak, Yasr and Speakup. Near 15 percent of those deemed legally blind, by any measure, have no vision. Increasingly, screen readers are being bundled with operating system distributions. However functionality remains limited compared to equivalent desktop applications, the major benefit is to increase the accessibility of said websites. The rest have some vision, from light perception alone to relatively good acuity. Recent versions of Microsoft Windows come with the rather basic Narrator. A persons choice of screen reader is dictated by many factors, including platform and the role of organizations like charities, schools, and employers.
The primary audience for such applications is those who have difficulty reading because of learning disabilities or language barriers. Experimental approaches in sensory substitution are beginning to provide access to arbitrary live views from a camera.
Screen readers can be assumed to be able to access all display content that is not intrinsically inaccessible.
Screen reader choice is contentious: differing priorities and strong preferences are common. A screen reader is a software application that attempts to identify and interpret what is being displayed on the screen. This interpretation is then represented to the user with text-to-speech, sound icons, or a braille output. The Macintosh OS also comes with a built-in screen reader, called VoiceOver. Comming year volunteer Anthony Loeff is testing screen readers for people who are blind The open source GNOME desktop environment long included Gnopernicus and now includes Orca. Indeed, using a screen reader is, according to some users, considerably more difficult than using a GUI and many applications have specific problems resulting from the nature of the application. Later versions of Microsoft Windows include an Accessibility Wizard and Magnifier for those with partial vision, and Microsoft Narrator, a simple screen reader. Web browsers, word processors, icons and windows and email programs are just some of the applications used successfully by screen reader users. Access technology such as screen readers and Screen magnifiers enable the blind to use mainstream computer applications. The latter developed in part by Knopper who has a visual impairment. There are also open source screen readers, such as the Linux Screen Reader for GNOME and NonVisual Desktop Access for Windows.
Screen readers are a form of assistive technology potentially useful to people who are blind, visually impaired, or learning disabled, often in combination with other AT such as screen magnifiers.
Most legally blind people 59 percent do not use computers. Only a small fraction of this population, when compared to the sighted community, have Internet access.
Linux distributions for the blind include Oralux and Adriane Knoppix. The movement towards greater web accessibility is opening a far wider number of websites to adaptive technology, making the web a more inviting place for visually impaired surfers. While Apple Mac OS X includes VoiceOver, a more feature-rich screen reader.
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