Office For Students With Disabilities

A Closed Circuit TeleVision (CCTV) is a video magnification system consisting of a video screen interfaced with a video camera. Video magnification is achieved in two ways - the electronic conversion from the small camera imager to the larger display screen and the optical effect of the camera's zoom lens. The stand mounted CCTVs can be configured with either television receivers, video monitors, or computer monitors. The CCTV system provides high contrast, inverse video display, gray scale, false colors, natural colors, and/or control of contrast level and brightness.

Optical character recognition (OCR) is the process of converting an image of text, such as a scanned paper document or electronic fax file, into computer-editable text. The text in an image is not editable: the letters are made of tiny dots (pixels) that together form a picture of text. During OCR, the software analyzes an image and converts the pictures of the characters to editable text based on the patterns of the pixels in the image. After OCR, the converted text can be exported and used with a variety of word-processing, page layout and spreadsheet applications.

Kurzweil 3000 for Windows has become the leading reading, writing and learning solution for individuals of all ages with learning difficulties like dyslexia, attention deficit disorder (ADD) and other literacy difficulties.

Kurzweil 3000 reads questions and answers aloud and allows students to type answers directly onto the image of a scanned test.

Kurzweil 1000 is scanning and reading software that makes printed or electronic text accessible to people who are blind or have limited vision. Using Optical Character Recognition and Text to Speech technology combined with a unique audible user interface, Kurzweil 1000 converts the printed word into speech. Users can scan in books, articles, bills, and advertisements - almost anything that fits on a scanner, so they can quickly have the information read aloud. Moreover, the text can be saved in Kurzweil's accessible format for future reference and modification. Kurzweil 1000 can open and read a broad variety of electronic text formats, efficiently search, download and read electronic books and magazines directly from sites such as Bookshare.org, Web Braille and other electronic repositories.

A Screen Reader is the commonly used name for Voice Output Technology. Hardware and software produce synthesized voice output for text displayed on the computer screen, as well as for keystrokes entered on the keyboard. Voice-based browsers use the same technology as screen reading software, but are designed specifically for Internet use.

JAWS is a powerful software program designed to work with a speech synthesizer to improve the productivity level of visually impaired employees, students and the casual user. JAWS is based upon a whole new approach to talking computers - that of designing software with the priorities of the blind user in mind. Yet, the sighted trainer or supervisor has not been forgotten, since JAWS offers both audible and visual flexibility.

Screen magnification software is used by people with visual disabilities to access information on a computer's screen. The software enlarges the information on the screen by pre-determined incremental factor [for example, 1x magnification, 2x magnification, 3x magnification, etc,]. Magnification programs run simultaneously and seamlessly with the computer's operating system and applications. Most screen magnification software has the flexibility to magnify the full screen, parts of the screen or provide a magnifying glass view of the area around the cursor or pointer. These programs also often allow for inverted colors, enhanced pointer viewing and tracking options.

Zoom Text is a screen magnification program that magnifies characters on the screen from 2x to 16x for students with low vision. It can include full screen or partial screen zoom windows.

Voice Recognition allows a user to use his/her voice as an input device. Voice recognition may be used to dictate text into the computer or to give commands to the computer (such as opening application programs, pulling down menus, or saving work).

Older voice recognition applications require each word to be separated by a distinct space. This allows the machine to determine where one word begins and the next stops. This style of dictation is called discrete speech. Many people (especially those with learning disabilities) prefer these systems to the newer continuous speech.

Continuous speech voice recognition applications allow a user to dictate text fluently into the computer. These new applications can recognize speech at up to 160 words per minute. While these systems do give the user system control they are not yet hands-free.

Voice recognition uses a neural net to "learn" to recognize the user's voice. As one speaks, the voice recognition software remembers the way a user says each word. This customization allows voice recognition, even though everyone speaks with varying accents and inflection.

In addition to learning how users pronounce words, voice recognition also uses grammatical context and frequency of use to predict the word a user wishes to input. These powerful statistical tools allow the software to cut down the massive language data base before one speaks the next word.

While the accuracy of voice recognition has improved over the past few years some users still experience problems with accuracy either because of the way they speak or the nature of their voice.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7 turns speech into text. Users can dictate into virtually any windows-based application at speeds up to 160 words per minute and achieve higher levels of accuracy than ever before.

The Tactile Image Enhancer takes a blank piece of paper and creates a raised print, sensory image. The tactile image can be created easily from a regular photocopy, laser print, or regular pen drawing by inserting the paper into the unit. A raised image document comes out the other side. The enhancer is a great tool for reproducing graphs and charts, maps, and other diagrams.

A Braille embosser is a hardware device for "printing" a hard copy of a text document in Braille. A Braille translation software program is required to translate the text from the computer into Braille. Most Braille translation software programs can translate material into several grades or versions of Braille. There is also a new music Braille software program as well as scanning software to scan Braille into a computer and have it displayed or translated into text.