text reader

[wchair]

can anyone recommend a good text to speech program, hopefully one that will work in word, Internet explorer and Acrobat
thanks

[SCI-Nurse]

You might want to check with your local blind rehab or Braille Institute office for a recommendation as these are generally used by those with very low vision or who are blind. Not commonly used by those in wheelchairs. Are you blind?

(KLD)

[wchair]

You might want to check with your local blind rehab or Braille Institute office for a recommendation as these are generally used by those with very low vision or who are blind. Not commonly used by those in wheelchairs. Are you blind?

(KLD)

thanks, no I'm not blind, just asking on behalf of someone who's vision is deteriorating, thought maybe some of the higher level injury people might have tried one do to limited physical abilities

[orangejello]

thanks, no I'm not blind, just asking on behalf of someone who's vision is deteriorating, thought maybe some of the higher level injury people might have tried one do to limited physical abilities

These programs, while very helpful for those with vision problems, are not really practical at all for people with high level injuries as you still typically need the physical means to move the cursor around the screen somehow yourself to get the most use out of them. They don't work in quite the same fashion as voice recognition software, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking, where the computer follows the user's voice commands.

But regardless of that, JAWS is probably the best one out there for text reading software. It works really well from what I have seen of it.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_jaws.asp

Another one I have seen used is Window Eyes, but I think JAWS is much more user friendly. At least out of what I have seen of both programs.


http://www.gwmicro.com/

If cost is an issue (the software itself and the hardware needed to make the most of it can get pricey), Windows Vista has a rudimentary built in screen reader that is a bit clumsy but functional. It also has a screen magnifer. Previous versions of Windows have this feature as well, but the Vista version seems slightly improved. There is some good information available directly from Microsoft on windows accessibility available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/ENABLE/

[wchair]

thanks