MOST people get all their feedback from a computer visually. Certainly, there are alarm beeps and on machines with sound facilities there can be music and even clips of speech. But as we word process or run spreadsheets we rely almost enquiry on reading our input and the computer's output from the screen.
Not so for blind people, or those whose sight is severely impaired. The way the world relies increasingly on computers and computers rely on visual displays may seem like a further disadvantage to the visually displays may seem like a further disadvantage to the visally disabled
But computerised technology ash also opened up opportunities, by making devices like text to speech converters much more affordable.
An exhibition in Dublin and Belfast this week will feature several systems designed to assist people with visual problems. The National Council for the Blind, which is publicising the exhibition, is anxious to attract trainers and employers, as well as potential users, to "show how it is possible through this technology for visually impaired people to work in integrated office situations". Over 400 people already use these systems in Ireland.
Tim Gunning, technical services manager with the council, says the effect of this sort of technology has been profound. After several years' work on accessibility products, "to put blind people back to work on an equal footing with their sighted colleagues there is no job we would view as closed any more." (Apart from obvious exceptions like surgeon or pilot, of course.)
He says it has also had a profound effect in education. "Nowadays books can be turned into braille very, very rapidly. Most books used at second level are generated on computer anyway, and that means they're available to us" (electronically). A student can then read them off the screen in large text, or in braille or access them through speech synthesis.
The social impact is also important. "Because of this technology blind people can read and write independently. Through technologies such as synthetic speech, large print and scanners, we're now able to allow blind people read their own printed text." Installed in a library, for example, a scanner and speech unit would mean that a blind person could take any book from a shelf and read it.
Some 300 sites in Ireland have been equipped with adaptive technology. Some of theses are private and used by only one person, but others are shared by several people in a workplace or public area, bringing user numbers to 400. Another practical application of technology is the council's distribution of The Irish Times in electronic form which can be read back to the user.
This week's exhibitions (at the Royal Dublin Hotel tomorrow and the Europa Hotel, Belfast, on Thursday) will be a road show off equipment from the British company Dolphin Systems. Among the items being demonstrated are
. Voice synthesisers hardware which produces spoken output from on screen text.
. HAL A software screen reading system which links commercial packages with a voice synthesiser, so that the user can hear any text that is input or appears on the screen.
. Lunar A display magnifier, which increases the size of displayed characters so those with some vision find them easier to read. The latest version of Lunar makes the type in Windows programs up to 16 times larger.
. Lexis a computer scanner combination which allows hardcopy text to be read out. The paper text is scanned into the computer, where optical character recognition is used to turn the scanned image into ASCII text. The text can then be read back to the operator and stored on the computer for future use and editing if required.
. Talking dictionaries and encyclopaedias on CD Rom.
. Computerised braille production equipment which allows someone who does not know braille themselves to output braille text using a computer and braille printer.
In both centres the road show is open from 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. info Dolphin Systems, tel 0044 1905 754577, National Council for the Blind, tel 01 830 7033