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Technological Solutions for the Partially Sighted?
Jakeg asks: "My gran is currently losing her vision at a rapid rate and I'd desperately like to use technology to help her as best I can. She's used email on a computer before but is generally nervous of computers and technology. She's applied for talking books which come on tapes and CDs, some using DAISY . Can anyone here who is themselves partially sighted/blind, or knows someone who is, suggest what else I can do/buy for her? I was thinking perhaps of an DAP (MP3) jukebox loaded with her favourite music and audio books (which I could download from where?), which I could add more to every now and then. Solutions -must- be very easy to use, especially without good vision. I have a budget of around UKP500 (US$800)."
Well I don't have personal experience to share with you, but I haven't really gone down that route. I can tell you that Windows 2000 (and I think XP...) has an Accessbility tab under the control panel where you can activate a tool called Narrorator. It reads pages and dialog boxes for you. I don't want to push too hard on this, though, because in the few minutes I used it, it was confusing as heck to listen to.
That's the best I can offer at the moment. I can tell you that I did work with a blind person before. He was able to be rather productive in a technical support enviornment. So I'd say there's a good shot there is something useful you can find. I do worry, though, that if she's afraid of computers, she'll find this a little too daunting.
Good luck, man.
"Derp de derp."
iTunes music store, if you don't mind paying the bit of money, has a nice selection(though you have to buy an iPod if you want to do a portable player).
For books, check out audible.com, $20 a month gets you 2 books. They have a decent(if not huge) selection, maybe you can browse around, see if there is anything she is interested in. You can also buy them directly from audible or use iTunes to buy them, but seeing as how most books average about $10-15 easily, you would probably be better off going with a subscription.
Good luck, and you are to be commended for your kindness.
I don't have problems with my vision beyond a little myopia, but would text to speech software and Project Gutenberg be of interest?
Granted, computer-rendered speech has a long way to go, but there's plenty of public domain books available through PG in ASCII format.
I know this doesn't directly help you, but I'm pretty sure this question has been asked on slashdot more than once (if not many times over the years) as recently as within the last couple months. Not mentioning this to be a dick, but to suggest doing a search in the old ask slashdots for additional suggestions.
Peace
"Can anyone here who is themselves partially sighted/blind, or knows someone who is, suggest what else I can do/buy for her? I was thinking perhaps of an DAP (MP3) jukebox loaded with her favourite music and audio books (which I could download from where?), which I could add more to every now and then. Solutions -must- be very easy to use, especially without good vision. I have a budget of around UKP500 (US$800).""
Well there's quite a bit left out. Is this rapid loss of vision the same resulting from old age? A disease? Reason that's important is it gives you an idea of what kind of timeline to construct. The first thing she'll need is order. Everything has a place, and everything in it's place (no musical chairs with the furniture). Second remember to ask around your local, state, and federal about their programs for the blind. Don't forget chartiable organizations, and even businesses. Third you can get magnifiers (the glass kind), or electronic (B&W Monitor with a camera, book on a movable table). Fourth the blind are resourceful (anyone here know what a "say when" is? It's a simple device with a 9-V battery and 2 prongs, that clips onto a coffee cup. Pour until liquid closes conection and makes a buzzing noise, STOP!). Fifth there a usually in most states a volunteer organizations that reads magazines, and newspapers for the blind. Sixth this requires some creativity on your part, look at the world as a blind person would (much as first time parents would look at their house from a babies level). You'll think of many more ways, and NO you don't have to spend lots of money.
An MP3 player with a good button layout might be good, but you need one that doesn't really rely too much on being able to read the screen. An iPod might not be very good because that jog wheel might not be much use. I think the Neuros might be good option.
You can download a lot of talking books from the filesharing networks like eDonkey, and AFAIK it would be legal as long as you also bought the hardcopy. The RNIB site has links to some more legitimate suppliers.
BBC Radio 4 lets you listen online to most of their programmes from the last week, and they have a lot of dramas and book readings (and some great comedy). Unfortunately it's currently in RealMedia format, but that is due to change.
Lastly, if any of your friends are web designers, encourage them to follow the WAI guidelines otherwise she might not be able to access their websites (not that she will neccessarily want to, but it's always good to get more people interested in accessibility).
PS. Tell her 'Hi' from Slashdot!
this couldnt possibly be first post could it?
um..i've nothing useful to add but pls post any info you find (my gf is going blind too). i've had little searches but found nothing worth remembering. audio books are real expensive to buy and the text-to-mp3 convertors i've found are all rather ordinary. good luck
It's very good that you are searching for solutions. Unfortunetaly I don't have any advices to you. I hope that we get a slashback on this or perhaps you could post a web page about the results so other people could learn from what you've accomplished.
Thanks
Learning to read Brail now maybe very useful to her and you could do it easily with a computer.
A B
oo ox
ox oo
oo oo
not accurate but an easy example. Theres alot of places you can find brail charts but if you have no luck I believe theres one in the pokemon ruby 'regis guide' on gamefaqs due to Brail puzzles in the game.
Other wise turn resolution down majorly, use the accessability features and use the magnifering option to make it huge.
I like muppets.
also note that a quite notable figure in hackerdom has a link to audio readers.
The light at the end of the tunnel is a train.
- Trying to give a gift
- Trying to help her cope better with the situation
- Trying to revent the eyesight from getting worse
- etc
I'd like to suggest that 'technology' is the last thing on her mind right now. Help her with or without 'technology'.___
internet, productivity blog
Ok I happend to know alot about this stuff. First let me say I am too lazy and did not read the whole thread so forgive me if I am repeating what has already been said. I am not exactly sure what you are looking for or what you might think are the most useful. There are screen magnifiers ZoomText and WindowEyes which are the most common. I know ZoomText has a screen reader built into it (if you get level 2). I am not as familar with WindowEyes. Then there are screen readers Jaws is a very common screen reader. There are also some other programs that can be useful which are Kurzweil 1000/3000. 1000 is made for visually impared people pretty smiple basic interface. This program can be used to scan in text into the computer and then read it aloud. I know that Kurzweil 3000 is made more for dislexic people but I find some features useful. Both Kurzweil 1000/3000 come with a large selection of books in the public domain. I also know that the newer versions of Kurzweil 3000 can also download and read books from Bookshare.org and other sites that provide similar services. The nice thing about this feature is you can use the voices form Kurzweil to read the text. I have to say that the voices are pretty good sound still have some problems but are better than the ones that come with Mac's. Yes it is also true that windows XP and 2000 have screen magnifiers and screen readers. Though there are better ones out there. Most of the software will cost a chunk of change so I would research your options before investing. Anyway that is my 2 cents
The roots of education are bitter but the fruit is sweet. --Aristotle
Off topic, but Shiatsu massage often reduces the speed of degradation of aging. To be of value, the person getting the massage must be dedicated to being aware of her body.
Also check with nearby schools. Under inclusion policies many of them are equipped with Kurtzweil readers, etc., and the teachers/consultants can give good advice and perhaps permit you and grandma to try out different machines and software before you buy anything. If she doesn't touch-type, I recommend she learn to NOW. Voice dictation software would help her write e-mail to friends, compose memoirs, etc. IMHO learning Braille at an advanced age is useful mostly for brief prose, e.g., shopping lists and labels. Handheld Braille slates and labelmakers are available. Many religious and some civic/fraternal groups provide lending libraries of audiotapes and large-print materials. I also agree with the comments about emotional support. Let her set the pace. Counseling for her and the family might help prevent depression and encourage independence.
Misty
Try searching for "linux blind" on Google. Lots of very useful information especially Blinux. Anything that is -or can be put- in asccii format can be read outloud by a special version of emacs or Lynx. This means not only on-line books but even the web.
Of course your oma will have to learn touch typing, but this is probably a lot easier than Braille. If you can set up and maintain the programs for her, you could help her a lot, if she's willing and able. Don't forget to contact your national blind-help people as someone has already advised you. Maybe this is the FIRST THING you should do.
I'm 71 myself and have eyesight problems. I was temporarily blind for about 3 weeks and was tremendously depressed. But my nine year granddaughter, who is coming to visit us in July, likes to lead me around.
I'm not a good touchtyper yet because
a) lazy
b) Ican still see pretty well with one eye.
Saludos y buena suerte a tu abuelita.
I just got a Samsung model 660 with the best voice recognition that I've seen in a handheld device. Mine is activated through Sprint in the US, but I imagine that it's available worldwide. This phone can dial names and numbers without any special training or setup, and can browse the web using voice commands. It can also "read" your email and instant messages back to you as synth. speech.
The speech recognition is a feature of the phone hardware - not the sprint network, and it's really fast and reasonably accurate.
Hope this helps,
-MattT *** Not speaking for my employer, or any other sentient beings ***