Microsoft and GW Micro Team Up to Offer Window-Eyes Free to Office Users

GW Micro, the makers of the Window-Eyes screen reader, has teamed up with technology giant Microsoft to offer Windows-Eyes to Microsoft Office 2010 and newer users for free. Windows-Eyes can read elements on the screen aloud allowing the blind, low-vision, and print disabled to have full access to their Windows PC. Window-Eyes can also output on-screen content to a Braille display for users who prefer Braille. This new partnership will increase the affordability of Window-Eyes and allow more people to benefit from its features. Window-Eyes normally costs almost $900 while Microsoft Office costs far less. GW Micro and Microsoft believe this new partnership will allow millions of new users to access their computers using Window-Eyes. Rob Sinclair, Microsoft's Chief Accessibility Officer says the following about this new program,

"By partnering with GW Micro in this endeavor we are demonstrating Microsoft's onging commitment to provide all of our customers with the technology and tools to help each person be productive in both their work and personal lives."

This announcement is very significant in the world of assistive technology. This deal will allow millions of users to increase the usability of their computers for free if they already own Microsoft Office. Owners of Microsoft Office 2010 or higher can download Window-Eyes by visiting WindowEyesForOffice.com and following the instructions on screen.

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Snap&Read by Don Johnston

Don Johnston recently introduced a new product named Snap&Read. Don Johnston describes Snap&Read as follows,

"The simple one on-button toolbar that reads any text on-screen as it floats over any application."

 To use Snap&Read just press the selection button and drag to select the text you want to be read aloud with high quality text-to-speech. Snap&Read can read text in Flash, PDF and images files along with plain text. You can purchases Snap&Read on a USB flash drive and use the program on any computer. Snap&Read works the same on Macs and PCs. To watch a video about Snap&Read click here. To learn more about Snap&Read and its features click here. 

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Voice Recording in Office 2010 & 2007

A feature in OneNote 2010 and 2007 allows users to take audio or video content while taking notes. The feature allows a student to make an audio recording of a lecture while still taking notes. The audio or video notes are then available for playback from within the notebook. The audio and video notes are time coded and allow you to hear what  the teacher was saying when you wrote a particular sentence. The functionality is similar to the function of Word for Mac 2011 and the Livescribe pen. OneNote is included in  Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 and 2010. Watch the videos above to learn more.

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Imagine Cup Idea Can Help Students With Low Vision

For students who  have low vision taking notes can be challenging if not impossible. A group of students from Arizona State University have come up with a solution. The solution gave them first place in the 2011 Imagine Cup sponsored by Microsoft. Their solution, called Note-Taker, can magnify the board and display a live view of the board on a tablet computer. Note-Taker is not available for sale at the time of this post. For people with low vision Note-Taker offers hope and should be on the market some time in the near future.   

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Spell Checker Add-On for Internet Explorer

Most web browsers have a built in spell checker. Chrome, Firefox and Safari all include built-in spell checkers. But one of the most popular browsers, Internet Explorer, does not include a built-in spell checker. Luckily for Internet Explorer users there is a free spell check add-on called Speckie. To install Speckie click this link. Speckie is compatible with all versions of Internet Explorer.  When Speckie is installed it checks your spelling as you type; then if it detects a word not in the dictionary it underlines the word in red. To correct the misspelled word right click and select the correct word from the drop down menu. Speckie is a good replacement for a built-in spell checker in Internet Explorer. For more information about spelling and grammar correction software refer to an earlier post about Ginger.  

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