[Athen] Recommendations for a magnification product to enlarge the board for a visually impaired Student

[Julie Balassa]

We too use the Onyx although I'm not impressed with how fragile it is and how fragile its cart wheels are. We have requested some Zoom Twix units. We also use Elmo document cameras attached to a Dell monitor. We happened on this system when our Smart Rooms manager received the wrong Elmo document camera (supposed to mount in the ceiling and point down). The one he got had an inverted iris so it sat around for a while. We mounted it on a cart, attached a monitor, and viola, distance camera. Not sure of the cost off the top of my head but the college purchases them now since they go on the same PO as the docucameras.

jkb

From: athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Dan Comden
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 2:44 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network
Cc: Students with Disabilities
Subject: Re: [Athen] Recommendations for a magnification product to enlarge the board for a visually impaired Student

Hi Peggy

I have not implemented a portable video magnifier in some years. The last one we had, a Clarity Classmate, died a while back and has not been replaced.

I just saw a product last week that may fit the bill -- literally -- if the student is a ZoomText user.

AISquared is now offering (with the release of the newest version of ZoomText magnification software) an option to pair a webcam to be used as a video magnifier. They sell a mount and camera combination for $150.
http://aisquared.com/zoomtext/tour/camera/

Compare this with the usual video magnifier cost of thousands of dollars. Pretty cool stuff.

Other low cost options would be to use any video or digital camera with a laptop if it has zoom capability.

Otherwise, there are a number of products that provide distance viewing in classroom settings. They are purpose-built and the cost is significant.
Examples include Clarity Deskmate (http://www.enablemart.com/Catalog/Portable-Magnifiers/Deskmate), and SmartView Graduate (http://www.enablemart.com/Catalog/Portable-Magnifiers/SmartView-Graduate-Magnifier)

-*- Dan
On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 11:29 AM, Buchmiller, Peggy <PBuchmiller at columbiabasin.edu<mailto:PBuchmiller at columbiabasin.edu>> wrote:
Good Morning,
Our campus is looking for recommendations for a magnification product that your campus has used to enlarge the board in class for a visually impaired student . We are researching products on line but would like a recommendation for a product you may have used successfully on your campus for this situation.

Thank you,

Peggy Buchmiller
Assistant Dean
Student Programs and Support Services
Director, Resource Center
Columbia Basin College
509-542-4444<tel:509-542-4444>
pbuchmiller at columbiabasin.edu<mailto:pbuchmiller at columbiabasin.edu>


_______________________________________________
athen-list mailing list
athen-list at mailman1.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at mailman1.u.washington.edu>
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list



--
-*- Dan Comden                       danc at uw.edu<mailto:danc at washington.edu>
    Access Technology Center   www.uw.edu/itconnect/accessibility/atl/<http://www.uw.edu/itconnect/accessibility/atl/>
    University of Washington      UW Information Technology


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/pipermail/athen-list/attachments/20120203/c7646844/attachment.html>