software for laptops

[james mckinlay]

hello all and a happy new year i was recently at the low vision clinic at gartnavel hospital in glasgow i have been advised to purchase software by the name of zoom text i am unsure if i would be able to seek some assistance from my college to use for the duration of my course. i have been struggling since september when my course started.

but it has got the stage where i am considering just using my laptop for any course work and to take notes in class.

id be grateful for any help thanks

james

[Andrew MacLean]

James

Go to see your college's disability officer (they have different names in different institutions, but your student adviser ought to be able to direct you).

Explain your needs. I found the Mac with universal access embedded in the operating system very helpful, but if you are used to running a Windows based system you may prefer to stick with it. Your college may be in a position to give you a laptop with the gizoms you need already loaded.

All the best, and a very good new year to you, too.

Andrew

[james mckinlay]

same to you andrew i have been using the various tools on windows xp to help assist me. and i have been making any notes i need to on my laptop in class. most of the tutors are very helpful and will provide me my notes on disk so i may tweak them to my liking.

KC aside i cant believe how easy i am finding the course work the 5 years of working as a support worker must have had some information drilled into my head. i am studying to become a social worker and when i pass i will become involved with sensory impairments and mental health i just have not decided yet which field as i have loads of experience in both fields from growing up with them. the KC and then my experience of having bipolar disorder.

thanks for the advice andrew all the best i will be using the forum a lot more than i have lol ive become a bebo addict it has taken over me with college folk.

[Andrew MacLean]

James,

All the best with your studies. When I lost my sight I benefited greatly from the help given to me by the sensory deprivation team at our local social work department.

I know that you will bring a great deal of insight and empathy to your work, whichever field of social work is fortunate to get you!

I had a bebo site for a short time, (the young folk here talked me into it), but I found it so bewildering that I cancelled it and retreated into the relative safety of my facebook page

Yours aye

Andrew

[Graeme Stevenson]

James

I do agree with Andrew that many academic institutions will offer great support to the visually impaired IF asked. So please ask the relevant person.Where do you study?Not only can they provide laptop support they can also print special exam papers and will also in some instances give additional time for exams or coursework.There are many support groups around in the Glasgow area so do not hesitate to ask for help.
Please keep us posted regarding your progress.
Best Regards
Graeme

[james mckinlay]

i study at cumbernauld college i am allowed extra time for course work and assessments, they provide me with all the things i need in large print.

some tutors give me it in power point format which is helpful i will discuss things with my course leader and ask about help. i will also go to a low vision clinic in my town.

thanks for the advice.

all the best

[rosemary johnson]

Hi james,
Thought I'd posted an answer here but it's vanished!!!
I've certainly heard of Zoomtext - it is one of the "big names" in access technology - that is, technology for helping people with vision disabilities (and some others, such as some forms of dyslexia) use computers.
It does screen magnification, colour scheme changes and some speech output, though it is not a full-functionality screen reader programme.
It is possible there may be copies - or a copy - on a PC somewhere in your college if you ask around.
alternatively, they may have one of the rival products - the "market leaders" about from Zoomtext are: Supernovq from a company called dolphin in Worcester, which is actually a combinaiton of Lunar magnification, Hal speech and a Braille input/output module; Magic, from Freedom Scientific, which does magnificationa nd works with the same company's Jaws screen reader; and Window-Eyes.
All these are for windows - Macs are getting in on the act, and the "vibuntu" (vi=vision impaired) version of the ubuntu Linux sounds very promising.
If there's a local branch of RNIB, or another Society of the Blind, you may be able to get a demo of any or all of these. If so, remember to ask them about training - unless you are very adept at learning new software as you go along, there is a great difference between buying a box of software product and getting to use it most effectively.
If they are suggesting it might help on your own computer, though, that's one thing you can weightup. But I'd be slightly (!! - at least slightly) dubious about buying it to put on a college computer - you might fall foul of lots of anti-virus, anti-hacking rules, and at best could find you've paid out for a licence and the installed copy you paid for has mysteriously vanished. Better to enquire if there isn't one already.
Good luck with it, and let us know if you try ZoomText or any other of the packages.
Rosemary

[pepepepe]

Talking of Lap Tops, I wish they still did the little joy stick in the middle of the keybroad which you could move around with just a finger as the mouse, instead of the touch pad they have these days. Even with out KC I liked the joy stick ! you know where you are !