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SORTING THROUGH ELECTRONIC TEXT READERS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Presenters
Kelly Fonner
Educational & Assistive Technology Consultant
1508 Dodge Street
Lake Geneva, WI 53147
Email: kfonner@earthlink.net

Scott Marfilius
Educational & Assistive Technology Consultant
855 County Line Road
Bayside, WI 53217
Email: marfilius@rr.com

Text Readers have become very popular over the past 4 years. Originally created as reading support for individuals with vision impairment; they have been ported over to serve the needs of individuals who have difficulty with processing print visually in order to read.

The purpose of this session is to assist assistive technology service providers in finding a basis in which to compare these electronic text readers. Through discussion and demonstration of features, paired with description of use of these features, we hope to give participants a non-biased view of the products in this category.

Features to be demonstrated include:

• Auditory Features (voice, speed)
• Visual Features (text size, spacing, color)
• Dictionary, Thesaurus
• Highlighting text as it is read
• Masking
• Highlighting text for study purposes
• Extracted Text
• Color background
• Scanning Text
• Importing text

Products to be demonstrated include:

• EReader, CAST
• Kurzweil 3000, Kurzweil Educational Systems
• Read and Write Gold, Text Help
• Test Talker, Freedom Scientific
• Word Smith, Text Help
• WYNN, Freedom Scientific

Also, talking word processors with text reader features:

• IntelliTalk II, IntelliTools
• Write Away, Inclusive Technologies
• Write OutLoud, Don Johnston

Participants will receive a feature comparison chart and see demonstrations of the major products in this area.

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