Biting into Assistive Technology

This Jaws does not bite. Unlike the infamous sharks in Spielberg's blockbuster, Jaws the screen-reader software offers visually-impaired people the opportunity to work independently and traverse the wondrous world wide web with ease.

Dr Wong Meng Ee, president of the Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) Society and who is visually impaired, showed today the workings of software Jaws, demonstrating its benefits and user-friendliness.

He typed in Microsoft Word and with each letter, Jaws echoed it back to him. And to audible gasps from the crowd of 60, he even set up a table in Word and effortlessly keyed in words into the individual cells of the table.

"Jaws is very useful for office work, since many of us use Word and Excel almost every day," said Meng Ee, who is also an assistant professor at the Nanyang Technological University. "It has allowed me to work in a mainstream environment, using things which are used by my colleagues. So I can read all documents, papers and e-mails sent to me."

He was speaking at a talk on Assistive Technology, organised by the Macular Degeneration Society, the RP Society and Glaucoma Patients Association. This is the second joint effort by the three organisations this year.

Getting the news, now

Besides using Jaws on Word and Excel, Meng Ee also used it to surf the Internet, searching for information through Google.

But while a sighted person can very quickly get to the information he wants on the website, going through Jaws takes a little longer because the software reads out all the text on screen. Still, with a little practice and some familiarity of certain websites, it gets faster and easier.

More importantly, Jaws allows a visually-impaired person to go online and "read" the news he wants, connecting to the world instantly and on his own demand. "In the past, we have to wait for someone to convert newspapers to braille and that takes time," he said. "By the time it is ready, it is old news. These days, we want news instantly."

Scanning documents

Since Jaws can only read out text that is already in the computer, that means that printed documents would be out of its reach. But he refers the audience to a product known as OpenBook, which scans printed documents and converts it into text format in computers, allowing Jaws to then do its magic.

"You can scan it, go for a cup of tea, come back and it is done. You can even save it into MP3 format," he shared.

Money no enough

But there is a downside to these products - cost. Jaws cost about S$2,500 and OpenBook is about S$1,500. The American company selling these products does not deliver to Singapore and so those who are interested would have to order through the Singapore Associated for the Visually Handicapped (Tel: 6251-4331).

For those who are unable to afford it, he suggests approaching the National Council of Social Service, which has an Assistive Technology Fund. It subsidises up to 90 per cent of the costs of the products. (AT Fund secretariat can be reached at 6210-2677 and ncss_rad@ncss.gov.sg)

He urged people to embrace assistive technology and invest in it, noting that an American colleague had remarked that while Singaporeans go for the biggest TVs and the latest mobile phones, we stint on the technology which can really change lives.

Increasing font sizes and magnifiers

Besides Meng Ee, MDS secretary Sharon Siddique and Exco member Steven Lo also offered tips on how to make technology work for the visually handicapped. After years experimenting with his computer settings, Steven showed how users can enlarge all the font sizes on screen, from the desktop icons to text on websites. This is to make it easier for MD sufferers who are no longer able to read small fonts.

Sharon, on the other hand, showed new magnifiers which are not only user-friendly, but portable and robust. She said: "Many of us here today do not need these equipment yet. But it is good to know that down the road, there are these innovations which can help with our lives. It gives me comfort."

* What is your view on assistive technology? Have you used any before? Share with other MDS members your experience. Click on the Comments tab.