Adaptive technology is the use of computer hardware and software to make the information that is accessed through a computer accessible to someone with a disability. There are many different types of hardware and software available to people with different disabilities. Here, I am going to focus on my disability, which is blindness. I became blind at the age of fourteen as a result of a VHL brain tumor. Since then I have learned a great deal about the importance and the power of computers. Without adaptive technology I would not have been able to access any of the information or powerful advantages of using a computer. There are three main categories of adaptive software. Screen reading software, screen magnification software, and reading systems.

Screen reading software is used to translate the information displayed visually on a computer’s screen into synthesized speech output. This allows a blind or visually impaired person to know exactly what is presented on the screen. Jaws for Windows is the leading screen reader. It is developed by a company called Henter-Joyce. Jaws is the most powerful and flexible screen reader on the market. It works with many popular computer applications and can be customized to work with many other applications.

Screen magnification software enlarges the information displayed on a computer’s screen. Typically, the enlargement is from 1 to 20 times the original size. This allows people with a wide range of visual impairments to be able to access the information they normally would either not be able to see or have great difficulty in seeing. One screen magnification program is called MAGic. It is also developed by Henter-Joyce. This product is fully compatible with Windows NT and is available in a preview edition for Windows 95/98. It is compatible with Jaws for Windows, which means that a visually impaired person can have both screen magnification and screen reading simultaneously. This is a great advantage to a low-vision computer user.

A reading system is a computer program, which allows a person to scan printed text and have it translated into synthesized speech. This allows the blind or visually impaired person to have access to printed materials that they are normally not able to read. A popular reading system is Open Book by Arkenstone Inc. This program allows a person to scan almost any printed text and have it read back to them. Open Book also allows a person to have the text displayed in a variety of colors and sizes. This lets the visually impaired person customize the way the text is displayed for optimum results.

All three of the types of adaptive technologies have allowed me to achieve independence. They have allowed me to have access to a world of information that I never would have been able to access. With the use of all these computer programs I am able to read my mail, surf the Internet, read and send e-mail, and read the Bible and many other books. Adaptive technology has allowed me to overcome the limitations of my disability.

Ed liked the products so much that he recently accepted a position on the staff of Henter-Joyce. For additional information on these products, see http://www.hj.com and http://www.arkenstone.org

As printed in the VHL Family Forum 8:1, March 2000. For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, editor@vhl.org. Further information is available from the VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org.

mystory