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Developing PC's for the Legally Blind?

Posted by Cliff on from the computing-ideas-for-the-disabled dept.

Jon asks: "My father is legally blind, to the point of not being able to see more then just a vague shadow, if even that. His one hope has always been to use a computer. I've decided to build him a PC that would allow him to send and receive email as well as read the weather to him, yet not require any voice recognition. Input would be done by showing him where certain function keys are and possible putting special marks he can learn on the rest of the keys. Has any of the slashdot readers tackeled a project like this before? I've seen several projects, yet none that seem like a good solution, or are not complete. Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated."

4 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. XP And The Legally Blind by LiQiuD · · Score: 3, Informative

    We have 3 developers that are currently legally blind, and they all have a special wrist-rest that has braile on it as well as a screen scraper (Jaws with the XP Narrator) and this seems to work for them...one catch, your video card must work with Jaws, alot of them don't...as for the keyboard, there are always little marks on f and j, teach him to find the rest of the keys from there. If that doesn't work, i have seen a few braille keyboards out there, but not sure where to get them... Feel free to email me to discuss this more - liqiud@havenbbs.com

  2. how is his braille? by not-quite-rite · · Score: 3, Informative

    There are a number of manufacturers that sell stick on caps for the keys. This allows people to convert an ordinary keyboard into a braille keyboard.

    see here:

    http://www.speedskin.com/html/home.asp

    Pretty damn useful. As for screenreaders, JAWS is alright, though all screenreaders are painful to use...

    I am currently working on a database of accessibility technology for those with print disabilities etc, so if you would like more info or you have info to share please email me

    luvgnu 'at' hotmail.com

    Good luck now!

  3. Neat, but pre-built. by GiMP · · Score: 2, Informative

    This isn't about building a computer, but rather a pre-built computer running Linux. It can also be used to access a Windows machine as a keyboard, but it can run independantly.

    http://www.papenmeier.de/reha/products/elbae.htm
    You can find one on sale here, although they don't seem to have the Qwerty version:
    http://www.tvi-web.com/products/elba.htm l

    Yes, it is painfully expensive.. but it is certainly a 'niche' item.

  4. Re:No voice recognition? by TC+(WC) · · Score: 2, Informative

    They actually make braille 'displays'. They're rather neat.

    Here's a useful link