[Athen] more than one question!

Nusen, Michael Michael.Nusen at ppcc.edu
Tue Apr 24 15:21:50 PDT 2007


RE Ques #3: the below posting is from
http://pakistaniat.com/2007/02/27/pakistan-internet-cafe-computer-softwa
re-for-the-blind-disabled/

Aqil Sajjad
Feb 27th, 2007 at 4:49 pm Quote
Thanks for this post Bilal.

However, I must clarify that my mention as the person who introduced the
software to Pakistan is not accurate. I was just one of the first people
to use it in Islamabad (simply because I was fortunate enough to have
the means to buy it), and naturally, people needing info about screen
reading software were often directed to me for their queries. So my name
just got mentioned rather undeservingly in that daily times report.

Anyway, the latest on the internet cafe is that it's up and running.
They are developing some training manuals for Jaws with instructions in
Urdu, which is really helpful for those who may not be too comfortable
with English. The response has been encouraging, and they are even
considering the possibility of holding some training workshops in other
cities once in a while.

Urdu software: yes, this is indeed a huge problem; what I understand
with my discussion with some cs people is that it's going to take a
while before we have an urdu speech program. The problem has to do with
the way Urdu is written, especially the fact that it does not have
vowels. But yes, I do hope that enough resources and effort is put into
it.

Eidee man, the open source community has not had much input in jaws and
windows eyes. These are purely commercial programs.
WinTriangle has been made an open source program, but not much has come
of it. So it remains the rather crude program that it has been for the
last 3-4 years or so, with a lot of room for improvement.

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Jean Salzer
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 12:56 PM
To: athen at athenpro.org
Subject: [Athen] more than one question!

Hi all,

I just met with some folks from a small, private college in the area.
They are interested in learning more about how colleges have
accommodated totally blind students with computer science majors. We had
some discussion of assistive technology, however, part of their concern
is the world of windows and graphics versus just 'code'.

Question #1 - is there anyone out there who has been able to accommodate
a qualified blind student through a 4-year degree program for software
engineering?

Question #2 - how well can the Tiger embosser and software work with
Jaws so the students can create tactile representations of the graphics
they'll need for coursework completion?

Question #3 - the students are siblings from Pakistan. Their principle
goal with regard to completing this degree is to create a screen reading
system similar to Jaws in Pakistani languages. Besides connecting with
Freedom Scientific, are there any other suggestions for achievement of
this goal besides them doing it themselves after 4-5 arduous years in a
software engineering program?

Thanks in advance.




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