Assessing Student's Needs for Assistive Technology (ASNAT)

Chapter 8 – Assistive Technology for Vision and Hearing
Another way to enlarge print is with a closed circuit television (CCTV). This consists of a television style
monitor with a camera. When a book or magazine is placed under the camera, the print is magnified up to
60 times on the monitor. There are portable CCTV’s with a hand-held camera and a four inch monitor.
These typically will only magnify print up to 12 or 13 times; however, they are very useful for their
portability. These devices can be taken from classroom to classroom or outside of the school to work sites
or field trips. In some models, the hand held camera portion can be transported and then hooked up to any
television. The size of the magnification will vary dependent upon the size of the television. Some CCTVs
use split screens so that you can look at a printed page on the same monitor that is being used for a
computer system.
Speech Output
Another way to help the child with vision impairment gain access to print materials is to type the
material into a computer with speech output. Speech output comes in two types: synthesized and
digitized. Synthesized speech is generated by the computer using a complex set of rules. Systems with
fewer rules sound more robotic than those with more rules. Near human-quality speech can often be
achieved. Digitized speech is recorded speech, much like a tape recorder. The quality of the speech is
dependent on the recording and playback conditions.
For many years Macintosh computers have come with built in sound and synthesized speech capability.
PCs require add-on sound systems, although they are frequently bundled with the computer system now.
Speech output capabilities may come with a sound card but software must be written to utilize those
capabilities. The newest Microsoft Corporation Operating System, Windows XP, has some speech output
capabilities built in like the Macintosh.
For a person with low vision or blindness, it is desirable to have a screen reading program. A screen
reading program is software that works with the speech synthesizer to allow a person to “hear” what is
on different parts of the screen. For instance, depending on which keys are activated on the keyboard,
the user could choose to hear the current word or sentence, or the preceding, current, or next paragraph.
Some screen reading programs can also “read” the icons, menus, and scroll bars on the screen. Some
screen reading programs have special keypads. The only screen reading program for the Macintosh is
OutSpoken, by ALVA Access Group, Inc. Some screen reading programs for PCs include JAWS ® ,
OutSpoken for Windows, and Window-Eyes.
Screen reading programs can identify and read text and graphics, identify and announce the function of
Windows, buttons, menus, and dialog boxes, identify graphics, and serve as a mouse or pointing device.
In selecting a screen reading program it is important to identify the unique features that the user needs
and find a program that best matches those needs. Information and assistance can be obtained from the
American Foundation for the Blind’s National Technology Program at 212/502-7642 or email:
techctr@afb.net.
Speech output can also be obtained from talking word processing software. However, talking word
processing software reads only the text within the word processing program. You can input text into that
program by typing it in, importing it from another program, or scanning it and then importing it into the
talking word processing program. Talking word processing programs also offer other helpful features
such as feedback from each key press and the ability to choose different color backgrounds and text.
However, if the student has very limited vision or is totally blind, they will not be independent until they
have a screen reading program that provides access to the whole screen, menus included.
Assessing Students’ Needs for Assistive Technology (2004) 194