Tools and Programs for the Visually Impaired

   

Browsing alternatives for visually impaired users

Over the past few years, some browsers have been developed especially for people with disabilities. These

include products with optical character recognition, screen magnifier, screen readers, voice recognition, speech synthesizers, etc. Below are only some of them

Braillesurf - BrailleSurf is an Internet browser for visually impaired users, which allows a simplified reading of the information available on the Web. BrailleSurf 4 shows this information in a text form. This information can then be displayed on a Braille bar, or it can be spoken out by a speech synthesizer. The text can also be presented on the screen according to the needs of partially sighted people.

BrookesTalk - BrookesTalk is a under development by Oxford Brookes University and is a function key driven Web Browser for blind and visually impaired users, providing keyboard only accessibility using the function keys. It also provides a configurable large text window for partially sighted users and a standard visual browser so that users can work together with sighted workers. Quick views of web pages are provided using information retrieval and natural language processing techniques.

ALVA Braille - Offering screen readers and Braille displays. A screen-reader is used to allow navigation of the screen presented by the operating system, using speech or Braille output.

 

 

Assistive technologies used for web browsing

Individuals living with a disability use assistive technologies such as the following to enable and assist web browsing:

• Screen reader software, which can read out, using synthesized speech, either selected elements of what is being displayed on the monitor (helpful for users with reading or learning difficulties), or which can read out everything that is happening on the computer (used by blind and vision impaired users).

• Braille terminals, consisting of a Refreshable Braille display which renders text as Braille characters (usually by means of raising pegs through holes in a flat surface) and either a QWERTY or Braille keyboard.

• Screen magnification software, which enlarges what is displayed on the computer monitor, making it easier to read for vision impaired users.

• Speech recognition software that can accept spoken commands to the computer, or turn dictation into grammatically correct text - useful for those who have difficulty using a mouse or a keyboard.

• Keyboard overlays, which can make typing easier and more accurate for those who have motor control difficulties.