Visually impaired
- 1. Modern Technologies used for the Visually Impaired
- 2. Educating children has it’s challenges whether it is behaviour modification or curriculum development. Students with visual impairments can have very different abilities and needs, some children can have no vision, tunnel vision, peripheral vision or have some other form of limited sight. Classroom materials in the form of chalkboards and whiteboards will be inaccessible to students with visual impairments. Teachers therefore need to use assistive technology in combination with classroom materials to give students equal access.
- 3. Visual Input devices are equipment or technologies that help people with visual loss access visual information in the environment. These devices enlarge print so that it is easy for a person with visual loss to see and read. E.g. closed-circuit television. closed-circuit television
- 4. Assistive technology to help people with visual disabilities by changing what would be seen into information that is heard. E.g. talking ATM’s Panopticon – This device instant audio and braille Feedback.
- 5. This is an assistive audio input technology that presents visual information on screen or stage via oral narrations. This system, initially developed for television, uses the added sound track available in stereo televisions to describe aspects important to a fuller understanding of the story.
- 6. These are equipments/technologies that allow people to use touch to gain information. A well- known tactile device would be braille which allows people to read by feeling letters that have been translated into patterns of dots raised on a flat surface such as paper. Braille
- 7. Text-to-Speech- software that converts digital text into audio. It is implemented in talking programs, like word processors, or is part of read aloud imported text. Audio support-software or hardware that gives information through auditory channel in addition to the primary channel whether it be visual or tactile.
- 8. Talking Web browsers – self-voiced browsers that give access to many Websites through auditory channel. Tactile-audio - overlays and devices link to a computer to output audio information assigned to a specific area in the overly that is put over a touch sensitive board. Narrator (PC), Voice Over (Mac) – computer operating systems come with built-in voice output applications to support access.
- 9. Large or color-coded keys keyboard – modified keyboard giving better access because of the bigger size of the characters, and various colors assigned to specific groups of keys. Portable word processing device – a stand- alone tool for typing; its functionalities are usually much simpler than those of a computer system; it is also smaller and easier to handle than desktop or laptop computer.
- 10. Using the information given about the different types of technologies used to instruct the blind: Give examples of ways you can utilize these technologies and for which subject areas. Given the information about the different types of visual impairment, share your ideas on how the technologies mentioned can foster a better understanding of the information being presented.