A Pocket PC For The Visually Impaired?

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/PACmate_qx400.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs...Cmate_qx400.asp</a><br /><br /></div>OK, this is pretty cool: a Pocket PC device for the visually impaired, optionally with braille attachments!<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20030927-FSQX440.jpg" /><br /><br />What I'm not quite sure about is how the Pocket PC UI translates to Braille. I assume they picked the Pocket PC platform (as opposed to a customized Windows CE-based interface) for application ubiquity. If anyone has links or experience, let us know -- this kind of diversification usefully fills a niche that doesn't typically have access to the PDAs we use.

[freitasm]

Two years ago I went to a meeting on a Microsoft office here in Wellington (New Zealand) and saw a device exactly like this, made in New Zealand.

At the time they were running Windows CE on that device.

[yawanag]

I work with two seniors that have macular degeneration. My concern would is would they be able to read the screen? One needs to use a magnifying glass for all reading material.

[Dermot81]

This puppy costs $3000 and $5000 for the deluxe version.

I don't understand how it works, does the brail screen at the bottom replace the PPC screen? How would you see pictures and stuff then? Is the PPC inside the keyboard or something? Why do they sell just the keyboard as one of their options? What good would that do to a blind person?

[sponge]

Don't think of it as a PocketPC. Think of it more as a DOS prompt with a screenreader, and it'll make a lot more sense.

[mamcleod]

Don't think of it as a PocketPC. Think of it more as a DOS prompt with a screenreader, and it'll make a lot more sense.

The device actually uses Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system and a version of Freedom Scientific's JAWS screen-reading software. The standard parts of Pocket PC (Calendar, Notes, Contacts, Mail, Internet Explorer, etc.) are accessible using the keyboard for input and speech or Braille for output, except for navigating parts that we see on the screen using the keyboard and voice. For example, we can see the "Monthly view" calendar on the screen. The blind person navigates, using the keyboard, by viewing each day's "square."

Equating this to "DOS prompt with a screenreader" is rather unfair because this isn't DOS. Freedom Scientific licensed Pocket PC operating system from Microsoft and tailored its version of JAWS and the hardware to accommodate it. A good piece of evidence for this is the fact that the applets under "Settings" from the Start Menu actually includes those applets that would control a visual display if the hardware included that.

How do I know this? My girlfriend is totally blind and uses the early version of this device. Freedom Scientific in the past made a device that essentially was, to use your words, "DOS prompt with a screenreader," but this is not that. This is a true Pocket PC with speech and now Braille.

[mamcleod]

This puppy costs $3000 and $5000 for the deluxe version.

I don't understand how it works, does the brail screen at the bottom replace the PPC screen? How would you see pictures and stuff then? Is the PPC inside the keyboard or something? Why do they sell just the keyboard as one of their options? What good would that do to a blind person?

The processor (a standard Intel ARM), basic memory, and other stuff, are inside the keyboard. The device also accommodates CF cards, PCMCIA cards, and some USB devices. The device will print to a USB printer or a Braille embosser.

Blind people can't view pictures, but a good number of the applications that are available for Pocket PC are accessible to some point. See this site for good basic information about what such devices offer: http://www.pacmategear.com/

[pivo]

We had the chance to test one of these devices and, although I'm not visually impaired, I can asure that navigaton can be easly accomplished.
Freedom Scientific have been ofering, for some years now, solutions for the visually imparied that integrates with Windows, Internet Explorer or the Opera Browser. DOS prompt produts are long gone !
The earlier PACMate devices didn't (don't) have integrated keyboards, there are only a few buttons that allow users to navigate the entire PocketPC system. These new models only allow a faster input (believe me a blind can type, at least, twice as fast as you !).
The final price is high due mainly to the Braille line.

To finish: blind people don't need to see pictures to use the computer. W3C recommends several ways to provide text descriptions for pictures embedded in HTML pages, Macromedia Flash can use MSAC to provide information for animations, etc.
Pedro


http://www.pocketpt.com
http://www.pocketvoice.com

[BevHoward]

>>> text descriptions for pictures embedded in HTML pages &lt;&lt;

That's why taking the time to fill in the "Alt-Text" fields for _all_ images on any web page is so important to providing better access to the visually impaired.

For example... all of the "emoticon images" next to the compose box here have text descriptions that at least help to explain their use.

[iPaqDude]

And for some more background information on this and other parts of the technology rulings to help those with disabilities, do some searching on "Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act".