Many technologies can enlarge text to make it easier to see. But auditory learners -- especially persons with visual impairments and learning disabilities -- may find enhanced sound makes reading audiobooks easier.
Those with mobility impairments who rely more on digital communication can also benefit from a reliable speaker for hands-free phone, Skype, and conference calls.
Persons who are hard of hearing might find TV more accessible if they could easily increase the volume.
One solution that addresses these special needs is the iClarityHD Precision Micro Bluetooth Speaker from Monster.
The iClarity connects wirelessly to an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and most computers and smartphones equipped with Bluetooth 2.0. It can also connect to any device with a headphone port through a 3.5 millimeter mini-jack, sold separately.
A built-in mic with advanced noise-canceling capabilities provides users with clear sound they can use anywhere.
The speaker sells for $119.95 and comes with a charging cable, travel pouch, and user manual.
Research In Motion (RIM) has launched BlackBerry Screen Reader, a free screen reader app designed to help blind and visually impaired users operate their BlackBerry smartphone
The screen reader speaks aloud visual information that's displayed on the screens of its Curve 9350, 9360 and 9370 smartphones.
Key features include:
- Support for Core BlackBerry Apps: e.g. email, calendar, phone calls etc.
- Customizable Speech Settings: e.g. volume, pitch, rate of speech rate, punctuation preferences, verbosity, etc.
- Keyboard Shortcuts: enable users to set speech and audio preferences quickly
- Multilingual: BlackBerry Screen Reader is available in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish
- Accessible Documentation: BlackBerry Screen Reader User Guide is in navigable HTML that can be read as audio, enlarged, or converted into braille.
Visit BlackBerry to download its free Screen Reader app and to learn more about its solutions for customers with disabilities.
Each new iPad seems to bring a new level of optical clarity. That's great news for those who rely on its built-in camera and processor to do OCR scanning and enlarge text.
For blind and visually impaired users, this sometimes means an opportunity to save a great deal of money by having their iOS device serve as their desktop video magnifier or portable CCTV.
The optics on devices such as Enhanced Vision's Pebble and the Optelec Compact 5 HD are still superior to those found on mobile apps such as VisionAssist.
But they're evolving quickly. SightTech's EyeSight app, for example, takes advantage of iPad 3's new Retina display. Prop it on a stand and suddenly a $29.99 app rivals -- if not replaces -- a $2500+ CCTV.
You need an iPad, but even that costs only a quarter of most CCTVs and provides so many more functions: OCR, GPS, color and currency identification, communication, and audiobook reading.
I hate to sound like a broken record, and hate to date myself by actually knowing what a broken record sounds like, but iOS and other mobile apps are changing how disabled people view assistive technology.
It's all just technology now.
Bookshare parent Benetech seeks volunteers to write image descriptions for books in its accessible online library developed for persons with print disabilities, such as blindness and dyslexia.
Launched in 2002, Bookshare has partnered with publishers and educational organizations to build a collection of over 130,000 DAISY books downloadable in e-text, braille, and audio.
The project focus is images in high school science, technology, engineering, and math textbooks--the STEM curriculum outlined by the National Instructional Materials Access Center, or NIMAC.
Access to information on graphs, charts, tables, and other images in such books has long been a barrier to blind and visually impaired students.
Funding the pilot project is a Leveraging Impact Through Technology (LIT) award from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
The project uses Poet, an open-source online collaboration tool. Volunteer describers log in, select the book they're working on, view its images, and enter descriptions in the appropriate fields.
Thus far, volunteers have already described nearly 7,000 images. The target, outlined in the LIT award, is 15,000.
Bookshare seeks volunteers among teachers, professors, students, and professionals with expertise in a STEM-specific or related field. Time commitment can be as little as 15 minutes a day. In addition to individual, Bookshare also hopes to inspire dynamic volunteer partnerships, such as schools or universities launching a description club, or a professor-student partnership.
Sign up online. In the "Library" field, select Bookshare. A program manager will contact you and help get you started and direct you to an online training video and project guidelines.
