Technology levels the playing field
Assistive devices enable people with disabilities to use computers
Lorne Webber works at his computer as a reader turns the words on his screen into what sounds like a stream of gobbledygook.
Most of us read at about 300- 400 words per minute — Webber, blind since age 16, can crank up his Job Access With Speech (JAWS) program to 550 words per minute and still understand the apparent gibberish the digital voice shoots out.
“It’s like auctioneer speech. Nobody goes to their first auction and understands everything,” says Webber, an assistive technology specialist at NorQuest College who practised for years before he could reach his current, high-speed comprehension.
“Obviously, blind people were successful professionals before computers were around … but it was more difficult. They had to carry around big binders of braille. With cassettes, they had to keep hundreds of cassettes.”
That’s not the only equipment he shares with about 200 students who use his department’s services. Other items include a portable display that translates letters on his computer screen into a bar of braille, using magnets to create the configurations of six to eight dots that make up each character.
Each character costs about $600 to install. His device provides only 40 letters at a time.
Such issues have contributed to a decline in the use of braille over the past couple of decades, Webber says.
“You could make a very strong argument that, if you’re simply listening to words and doing everything through speech, you could be considered illiterate.”
Webber also demonstrates the HeadMouse, which replaces a regular mouse with one directed by an optical sensor that tracks a disposable metallic dot people can stick on their forehead, hat or glasses.
It allows someone with mobility challenges, such as a quadriplegic, to operate a computer.
“No matter what type of challenge you have, there’s some type of technology out there to overcome it or make it easier to interface with the computer. And with the computer, you have the whole world.”
He’s happy more items that assist disabled people, such as digital voice recorders and the Siri personal assistant program, are becoming standard equipment rather than expensive add-ons.
He’s currently working on a longterm project designed to let blind people understand the visual landscape by converting shapes into different sounds.
Even with all his high-tech expertise, Webber still relies on an oldfashioned white cane to get around.
“This cane here has a little wear and tear, but … it’s simple, it’s foolproof, it doesn’t take batteries, and it doesn’t break or have to be sent away for repair.”