5.2 Application of Technology in Assistive Devices – For example, JAWS, Smartphones,ScreenReaders 

5.2 Application of Technology in Assistive Devices – For example, JAWS, Smartphones, Screen Readers

JAWS (Job Access With Speech)
JAWS, Job Access With Speech, is the world's most popular screen reader, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. JAWS provides speech and Braille output for the most popular computer applications on your PC.

Features:

• Two multi-lingual synthesizers: Eloquence and Vocalizer Expressive

• Talking installation

• Built-in free DAISY Player and full set of DAISY-formatted basic training books

• Works with Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and much more

• Supports Windows® 8.1 and Windows 10, including touch screens and gestures

• Support for MathML content presented in Internet Explorer that is rendered with MathJax

• Fast information look-up at your fingertips with Research It

• Convenient OCR feature provides access to the text of PDF documents, even those with scanned images that are reported as empty documents by screen readers

• Save time with Skim Reading

• The only Windows screen reader to provide contracted Braille input from your Braille keyboard

• Fully compatible with MAGic, screen magnification software, and OpenBook, scanning and reading program

Advanced Features:

• JAWS Tandem available for free to help with support and training

• Optional support for Citrix, Terminal Services, and Remote Desktop

• Powerful scripting language to customize the user experience on any application

• Includes drivers for all popular Braille displays

• Includes voices for over 30 different languages

Smartphone: Mobile devices by nature of their design are for personal use. We store personal information on them, we carry them with us, we use them dozens of times a day. Some of these devices even recognize our faces, fingerprints, and our voices. Mobile technology is bridging the gap between the inherent shortcomings of our brain and the tasks we ask of it every day. Long and short-term memory is being supplemented, and in some cases replaced, with powerful tools available on our mobile technology. Now that is getting personal! For people with learning disabilities (LDs) and possible memory deficits, personalization is key. It allows the user to organize and personalize the tools they need as well as the environment that they operate in.

Dictionary, Thesaurus, Notes, and Bookmarks:
Built into the operating system of most Smartphones are powerful dictionary and thesaurus tools that are only a click away from any word on the screen. It is also possible to easily make notes, bookmarks, and highlight text within eBook readers for reference later. These tools make comprehension and study of digital print resources easier than ever, particularly for students with LDs.

Phonetic Word Prediction:
Phonetic spelling can be enabled in the accessibility settings of many devices allowing assistive word prediction accuracy to be improved for users with spelling difficulties. Speech is now available for word prediction so that the correct word can be selected by sight and by sound.

Speech-to-Text:
Speech-to-text technology has evolved over the past two decades into a powerful tool for all technology users, but particularly for people with LDs who are struggling in translating their thoughts into words and sentences. It initially was available as software for desktop computers and is now very functional on mobile devices. It is increasingly being integrated into operating systems, applications, and web browsers and the accuracy is very high. It is important to remember that speech-to-text works best when the user speaks in full sentences, with fluency and with good volume.

Text-to-Speech – with Highlighted Speak Selection:
A text-to-speech (TTS) system, originally referred to as speech synthesis, converts normal language text into speech, and has been available for decades on personal home computers. Now it is available with multiple voices, dialects, and languages on your mobile device. Text-to-speech on mobile devices can be customized for male or female voices, speed, and language, quite easily in the settings of the device. Most operating systems provide a built-in voice and many applications provide additional voice options.
A recently added feature to mobile devices is that of highlighted text during text-to-speech reading. This feature allows readers to follow along while the article or text is being read aloud. Speed settings can be customized and the color of highlighting in some cases can be selected. This feature has previously only been available on desktop and laptop computers with expensive software. Now it is increasingly being included in the operating systems of mobile devices.

Font Size and Font Type - Dyslexie Font - A Weighted Font for Readers with Reading Disabilities:
Fonts, size, and spacing all play a role in the ease with which a person can read. Unfortunately, almost all books are published in the same font size, type, and spacing. These features are not customizable in fixed print, but on a mobile device all that changes. Here is a clip of a font that is available in some apps for readers with reading disabilities. It is called Dyslexie and it is a weighted font that has been developed so that each letter is different from every other letter.

Screen Readers:
Screen readers are software programs that allow blind or visually impaired users to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer or Braille display. A screen reader is the interface between the computer's operating system, its applications, and the user. The user sends commands by pressing different combinations of keys on the computer keyboard or Braille display to instruct the speech synthesizer what to say and to speak automatically when changes occur on the computer screen. A command can instruct the synthesizer to read or spell a word, read a line or full screen of text, find a string of text on the screen, announce the location of the computer's cursor or focused item, and so on. In addition, it allows users to perform more advanced functions, such as locating text displayed in a certain color, reading pre-designated parts of the screen on demand, reading highlighted text, and identifying the active choice in a menu. Users may also use the spell checker in a word processor or read the cells of a spreadsheet with a screen reader.

There are two ways that this hardware can provide feedback to the user:

• Speech

• Braille

A screen reader uses a Text-To-Speech (TTS) engine to translate on-screen information into speech, which can be heard through earphones or speakers. A TTS may be a software application that comes bundled with the screen reader, or it may be a hardware device that plugs into the computer. Originally, before computers had sound cards, screen readers always used hardware TTS devices, but now that sound cards come as standard on all computers, many find that a software TTS is preferable.
In addition to speech feedback, screen readers are also capable of providing information in Braille. An external hardware device, known as a refreshable Braille display, is needed for this. A refreshable Braille display contains one or more rows of cells. Each cell can be formed into the shape of a Braille character, a series of dots that are similar to domino dots in their layout.
As the information on the computer screen changes, so do the Braille characters on the display, providing refreshable information directly from the computer. Whilst it is possible to use either format independently, Braille output is commonly used in conjunction with speech output.