Technology

Using a computer without vision – technology information sheet

Summary: This information sheet highlights products that enable a blind person to use a computer by hearing in electronic speech what is displayed on the screen or read it as braille on a braille display.

• What is a screen reader?
• Speech output software for home use
• Text-to-speech programs
• Case study – Steve
• Screen readers – availability and cost
• What is a braille display?
• Choosing a braille display
• Braille displays - availability and cost
• Where can I buy a screen reader or a braille display?

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What is a screen reader?

A standard computer, whether laptop or desktop, can be adapted by adding a screen reader, which enables the computer to ‘talk’. The screen reader will speak the text in its focus and the user navigates through menus, dialog boxes, edit fields and so on. The computer is controlled by a standard keyboard using key combinations called keyboard shortcuts, instead of a mouse. Some people also use a braille display, which provides information on the screen on a tactile display, which sits underneath the keyboard.

Typically, a screen reader, sometimes called a speech output system, for use with a computer will consist of two components:

A speech synthesizer which ‘speaks’ the text sent to it from the screen-reading program installed on the computer. The speech synthesizer is usually a software program that works with a sound card.

A screen-reading program sends text displayed on the screen to be spoken by a speech synthesizer. Common features include the ability to speak:

• the full screen
• a user defined area of the screen
• a line, word, individual letters or the phonetic equivalent of a letter
• capital letters, punctuation, symbols
• system messages.

Speech output software for home use

These are intended for home use and are designed to be easier to and/or cheaper than other screen readers. They are usually designed for access to word processing, Internet and email facilities. These might not be appropriate for someone who is using a screen reader for work or education purposes. Some of these are self voicing application, rather than intended to read text from standard software.

Text-to-speech programs

A screen reader differs from a text-to-speech program in its flexibility and price. While text-to-speech programs are cheaper, they are restricted in what they allow to be read back from the screen and may not provide complete access to a PC for a blind user. This is because they were not originally designed for people with sight problems, but for users with dyslexia or learning difficulties. Because of this navigation around the computer using speech only without any useful vision may not be possible. Different text-to-speech programs will also vary between each other in what features they can offer.

Case study – Steve

Steve is a Customer Services Adviser at the RAC Call Centre. Before he joined the RAC in 1997 he had not used computers or access technology at all. Steve was worried at first that using speech output whilst working would make him less efficient than his sighted colleagues.

"Before I started this job I did have some reservations about my ability to meet the high standards of performance set out by my employer. But I have no difficulty in listening to the speech output whilst holding a telephone conversation and my overall performance is amongst the highest in the call centre. The technology I use allows me to operate on the same basis as my sighted colleagues.”

Screen readers – availability and cost

It is important when buying a screen reader to try it first to see if it will work with the software that you need to use and to check if it has the features that you want. Remember text-to-speech readers are not the same as screen readers and cannot offer the same speech support and features. Suppliers can usually offer a demonstration version for you to try, or if you don’t have a PC at home, you may be able to try speech at a local voluntary IT centre or a suitable equipped library, college or UK Online centre.

Screen readers

Hal

Will support other languages using the Orpheus speech synthesizer and has support for braille displays. The professional version enables users to create map files which can improve access to applications where there is not full keyboard access.
Developed by Dolphin, also available from various suppliers including RNIB, HumanWare and Optelec.
Approx £575 - £950

Jaws for Windows

Has support for braille displays and includes a scripting language which enables users to improve access to applications where there is not full keyboard access.
Available from various suppliers including Sight and Sound Technology and RNIB
Approx £560 - £680

Lookout

Has a novice mode for the beginner and a system of musical tones to assist with screen navigation. It can be configured using Visual Basic programming.
Available from Choice Technology
Approx £80

ProTalk 32

Will support some braille displays and certain sound cards.
Available from Professional Vision Services
Approx £495 - £895

Window-Eyes

Has support for braille displays and a number of configuration options which can be set via a menu to define functionality to specific areas of the screen.
Available from Computer Room Services, Force 10 and Humanware
Approx £425 - £575

Screen readers and magnification for home use

Mercury Desktop Computer

This accessible computer package incorporates magnification and synthetic speech software on a Dell computer. The computer comes fully set up with all software installed. Audio tutorials are also included.
Approx. £750

Portset Speech Enablement (PSE)

PSE is a suite of products that include typing tutor, word processor and Internet applications. It is designed to be installed on a PC running Windows but to provide access to the functionality without the need to learn Windows software.
Available from Portset
From £150

Guide

Guide is a self-voicing application that provides word processing, Email and web access as well as scanning and audio features. It can be installed on most PCs running Windows 98 or later. It is navigated using numbered menus.
Available from Software Express
Approx £395

Screen readers with magnification

Supernova

Supernova combines all the features of Hal screen reading software with all the magnification features of Lunar screen magnification software. This is a full screen reading and magnification package with no features removed.
Available from various suppliers including Dolphin Computer Access, HumanWare and Optelec.
Approx £815 - £1330

Dual

DUAL is a combination of LookOUT, speech output and Magnus, screen magnification.
Available from Choice Technology
Approx £155

Free screen reader software

Thunder

Thunder is available to download from Screenreader.net It works on Windows XP and Vista computers.

SA to Go

System Access To Go is a web-resident application that makes Web 2.0 accessible. Can be downloaded to any internet enabled computer simply by logging in at Serotek website

NVDA

Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a free and open source screen reader for Windows. Can be downloaded from NVDA website

Text-to-Speech

Text-to Speech products vary vastly and depending on the features offered they cost between £25 - £320 and include:

Various Products by Keystone

Available from Words Worldwide and iANSYST

Readplease

Available from ReadPlease

Various products by textHELP

Available from Words Worldwide and iANSYST

What is a braille display?

An electronic braille display is a tactile device that is placed under a conventional computer keyboard, which enables the user to read the contents of the computer screen, by touch in braille. They are also known as Paperless, Soft or refreshable braille displays and vary in size from 20 to 80 braille cells.

Each cell has 6 or 8 pins made of metal or nylon, which are electronically controlled to move up and down, to display a braille version of characters that appear on the computer screen. Braille displays are driven by a screen reader, as described earlier in this information sheet.

Each braille cell shows one character from the screen at a time, which gives the users access to approximately one line of the screen on an 80 cell braille display using grade 1 braille. The displays are designed with buttons and/or bars to enable the user to roam around the screen, reading whichever part they wish. On many displays these buttons can be customised to suit the users needs. These features reduce the need to move the hands from the display to the keyboard.

All displays now have at least one row of touch cursors, these are tiny buttons, one for each braille cell. Their function is crucial - if you move away from the PC cursor to read the rest of the screen with your braille display these tiny buttons allow you to bring the PC cursor to the area of the screen that you are reading with your braille display e.g. to edit that character or word.

Braille can provide layout information more efficiently and using a braille display is described by users as being more accurate. A spelling mistake, for example, is more obvious on a braille display than hearing mispronunciation amongst a lot of speech. It is sometimes said that speech is for speed and braille is for accuracy. For many people braille is their natural way of working and is an essential medium for deafblind people.

Choosing a braille display

Braille displays are quite expensive and as a result you tend to find that most users of these products are in education or employment. This is because the braille display has been funded through access to work or statutory funding in compulsory and higher education.

Choosing the size of display is often a compromise between functionality and cost. More cells mean that more information can be read from the screen without having to move the display on to the next part of the screen using buttons provided. The largest displays have 80 cells giving 80 cells of information at one time and are designed specifically for desktop PCs. There is a range of sizes available from the large 80 cell displays to the tiny 20 cell displays only usable with note-takers. 40 cell displays are the most commonly used size for laptop PCs, but they can be used with desktop PCs - check that this is comfortable.

These days there are more portable displays available, including fold away ones. If you need to travel with your PC, then it might be a good idea to test these displays as they are lighter.

Always make sure that the braille display you purchase will work with your chosen screen reader. Always try before you buy to make sure it is comfortable and it provides the functionality you need in conjunction with your screen reader.

Braille displays - availability and cost

There are many different ‘ranges’ of braille displays, all of which offer different choices for the number of cells and features available. First decide on the number of cells you require, as this is dependant on whether you are using a laptop or desktop machine, then try some out to see what features suit you best.

Seika braille display

The Seika is a 40-cell 8 pin braille display with cursor routing buttons and four braille panning keys. It is powered and operated from a PC by the single USB connection. Use with Windows 2000 or XP. Available from RNIB, price £1,200

Braillex range

EL – 80, 40 and lightweight 40 cell versions. Twin cursor routing and sliding access bar to switch between navigational and PC commands.
2D – 80, 66, 40 cell versions. As EL, but also have additional 13 cell vertical display providing spatial information.
Approx EL £3,500 - £6,700 (depending on number of cells) 2D £4,600 - £10,000 (depending on number of cells)

Available from Professional Vision Services

Brailliant range

It is available in either a 24 cell version or a 40 cell version. These are designed to be smaller, lighter and more ergonomic than other braille lines. They can be connected to a PC or laptop by either USB or using Bluetooth technology. They have their own battery back-up and will automatically use these if the laptop is disconnected from the mains power supply.
Available from HumanWare
£1,995 for 24 cell and £3,595 for the 40 cell

Braille Voyager range

44 and 70 cell versions. A folding lightweight portable display with additional keys to enable more control of the computer from the braille display. Includes the Tieman Express software that allows the user to create simple programs to gain access to parts of the screen that can be difficult to access otherwise.

Available from Optelec
Approx £3,460 (44 cell) and £6,900 (70 cell)

Braille Wave range

40 cell version only with concave cells, touch cursors and function keys. It can be connected to the Nokia 9210 I using one cable. The display can drive the phone, using all of the phone functions including the address book. Has a notetaker facility and can transfer information back and forward to the PC.
Available from Computer Room Services
Approx £3,400

Focus Range

44, 70 and 80 cell versions, designed to clip onto the front of the PC keyboard as they are light. Touch cursor and navigation by whiz wheels and unidirectional advance bars. Perkins style keyboard and programmable navigation keys. The firmness of the braille dots can be adjusted to suit individual need.
Available from Blazie Engineering and Sight and Sound Technology
Approx £3,800 (44 cell), £6,600 (70 cell) and £7,700 (80 cell)

PacMate range

20 and 40 cell small, lightweight portable displays designed primarily for use with the PacMate Pocket PC (see the Notetaking Information Sheet). Can be used with a desktop or laptop PC. Two sets of touch cursors and whiz wheels for navigation around the screen.

Available from Blazie and Sight and Sound Technology
Approx £1,500 (20 cell) and £3,000 (40 cell)

Braille displays on notetakers

There are some purpose designed notetakers on the market, which have Braille displays with cursor routing. In addition to working as a stand alone braille notetaker these devices can be attached to a desktop or portable computer. The screen reader on the PC enables the braille display on the notetaker to read the computer screen.
For more information about these see our Notetaking information sheet.
There are advantages and disadvantages to using the braille display on your notetaker as your PC’s braille display.

Disadvantages

• The ergonomics of arranging the braille notetaker and the PC keyboard so that they are comfortable to use.
• The lack of specialist screen reading buttons on the notetaker that a braille display has.
• The necessity to use the QWERTY keyboard, as the braille keyboard cannot emulate every key combination on the QWERTY keyboard. It is not possible to navigate around the PC using the braille keyboard on the notetaker.

Advantages

• Highly portable notetaking facilities available away from the PC, and notetaking facilities available whilst using the display on the PC.
• Low cost compared to using a dedicated display for the PC and a separate notetaker.

Braille keyboards

Notetaker braille keyboards

Some specialist notetakers have a braille keyboard which can be attached to a desktop computer. The braille keyboard on the notetaker can be used to type Grade 1 or Grade 2 braille into the computer. For full control of the PC, a QWERTY keyboard also needs to be attached (with ergonomic implications).

Perky Duck

Using the Duxbury Braille Translation program and a free utility for it called “Perky Duck” it is possible to input or edit text using the home keys and space bar in the same way as the keys on a Perkins brailler. Full control of the PC is not possible. Please note there are ergonomic implications of using a QWERTY keyboard as a braille keyboard.
Available from Techno-Vision Systems
Approx £390

Sixin

Sixin allows the home keys and space bar of a QWERTY keyboard to be used as a braille keyboard for entering text. Grade 2 or computer braille can be used but full control of the PC is not possible. Please note there are ergonomic implications of using a QWERTY keyboard as a braille keyboard.
Available from Choice Technology
Approx £50

Where can I buy a screen reader or a braille display?

Read our list of suppliers contact details

This information sheet is intended as an introduction to the subject for blind and partially sighted people and their supporters. It is not intended as a complete list of all products and services available, nor should it be inferred that products and services mentioned in this information sheet are recommended or endorsed by RNIB.

Information sheet updated June 2008.

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Content author: technology@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 20/11/2008 11:13