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Paromita Pain

The computer is getting more and more user-friendly for visually-impaired surfers.

THE power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect". — Tim Berners-Lee, Director of the World Wide Web Committee and inventor of the Web.

Computers were designed keeping the power of sight in mind and hence the interfaces proved to be a handicap to the visually-impaired. But path-breaking developments in computer technology are today enabling such users to become an integral part of the World Wide Web.

Among the first software created were the Braille displays. These devices, which can be placed directly under the keyboard, offer a set of 20, 40, or 80 Braille characters to be read. A visually-impaired user can `see' a single line of text or a part of it at a time. With Braille displays, these users can read on their screen. So they can conduct their computer activities almost anywhere, irrespective of the operating system used.

Speech synthesiser

Additional to the Braille display or as a replacement for it, impaired users may recognise the output via a speech synthesiser. Speech synthesisers are available as hardware and software solutions. There are different types of speech synthesisers, differing in quality depending on the technical aspects of how speech is synthesised, in the set of adjustable parameters such as pitch, speed, or voices as well as in the set of offered languages. If a text is synthesised in the wrong language, it will cut into the ease of perception. These synthesisers differ in the interface to the computer.

The three main types of speech synthesisers are external, internal and portable ones. They are convenient to use since they come in the form of credit card-size pieces, which can be plugged inside computers. While hardware speech synthesisers have been very useful when working with older PCs, newer PCs have enough CPU power to handle speech synthesising on their own with the help of an inexpensive sound card.

Other equipment include Jaws — a screen reader for the blind enabling mouse navigation through the keyboard. Designed for Windows 95 and 98, it allows the visually impaired to read and format text as easily as anybody else.

The Hal 95 software made for the Windows 95 versions with its synthesiser allows the visually-impaired to read information from the screen.

The Zoom Text Extra is meant for those with low visual capacity. It can zoom the text to sixteen times its original size while changing colours and contrasts so that people with low visual capacity may read. This software has a Spanish screen reader as an added feature.

The Duxbury Braille translator for Windows is a word processor that allows words to be converted into Braille. The keyboards can also be used for ordinary work. The Optical character device uses scanners to help the user read non-electronically presented texts.

The output question

Varied difficulties arise when the output has to be examined. While printouts are the easiest, they cannot serve the visually impaired.

Output devices used by visually-impaired people are Braille displays, speech synthesisers and Braille printers. Video magnifiers provide large print access to texts and help people with low vision to access information at home, at school or at work.

As real as it can get

While phonetic output helps, the few programmes available in this sphere require extensive training which do not render them a viable option.

At the University of Glasgow, cutting-edge research is under way to create a virtual environment for visually-impaired students. Dr Stephen Brewster of the Department of Computing Science, involved in human-computer interaction, has a particular interest in audio and haptics. Haptics is billed as the next big thing in computing. It allows you to feel virtual objects on the computer screen. By putting a finger in a thimble, connected to a complicated Meccano-type arm and moving it around in three dimensions, objects can be felt. These feel like real, solid 3-D objects which have size and weight. The system works by three motor systems: one for each dimension: when pushed against. By programming the machine carefully, sensations of feeling different textures and softness, sponginess can be created. It is hard not to imagine the real now. This combines touch and sound, thus making the most of the sensory resources visually-impaired people have. Both the 3-D audio and the haptic — or touch — technologies are being driven by the computer games industry. With such advancement in software of this kind, it will certainly not be long before the gap between the visually challenged and computers is completely obliterated.

The author can be reached at paromita_pain@yahoo.com

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