Web Posted on: November 19, 1998

WINDOWS NT AND THE BLIND COMPUTER USER

David M. Tanner
State Services For The Blind
2200 University Avenue West
Suite 240
St. Paul MN 55114
(651) 642-0795
dtanner@ssb.state.mn.us

INTRODUCTION:

As more and more businesses move to Windows NT (R) the blind computer user may encounter a level of frustration in finding access technologies that they can use in this environment, and finding qualified persons to train them on the access technologies and the Windows NT (R) operating environment. This paper and the presentation will present an overview of current access technologies available in the Windows NT (R) environment and cover some of the features of each product.

An additional resource list will be made available at the presentation in order to assure that those participating in the session go home with the most recent and comprehensive list of available technologies and where to obtain further information, demonstration copies of software, and purchasing information.

SPECIAL CONCERNS FOR BLIND USERS OF WINDOWS NT (R):

Over the past several years it has become apparent that the blind computer user had to be aware that not all computer systems, video cards, video drivers, and sound systems are created equal when it comes to using them with a Windows (R) or Windows '95 (R) screen access software. With Windows NT (R) this concern goes even further as the user finds that things such as the revision date of files within the access package or the particular revision of Windows NT (R) being used may cause conflicts that make the access software unable to run without software patches, and special configuration of their system.

Additionally, because of the security built into Windows NT it is not possible to have an access product come up automatically when the system is booted, which means that the user must depend on the system to be left alone by other users so that they can be assured that their login without access technology will not be flawed or impossible.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SYNTHESIZERS:

As of the date of the preparation of this paper there is some limitations on what speech synthesizers will work in the Windows NT environment. In Windows 3.X Windows '95 and Windows '98 it was possible to use a wide variety of internal, external and software speech synthesizers. In Windows NT (R) only a limited number of external and software synthesizers work properly.

Those users who have been use to using an internal speech synthesizer will find that there are no Windows NT (R) drivers to support these boards, and that because most of the new computer systems are moving away from the ISA interface slot there is a very slim chance that producers of existing internal speech synthesizers will spend the time to develop Windows NT (R) drivers for synthesizers that soon will not be sellable.

The user who plans on using a software synthesizer should take special care to make sure that the software synthesizer that they plan on using works in the Windows NT (R) environment. At present AT&T's Flextalk version 2.10, Digital Equipment's Dectalk Access32 version 4.41, and IBM's Via Voice are the only released products that will perform in the Windows NT (R) environment with currently available speech output programs. Microsoft is developing a software synthesizer speech engine, and it is currently available as a public beta from HTTP://WWW.RESEARCH.MICROSOFT.COM as version 4.0 software developer kit beta 2. The suit includes a speech engine that works in Windows NT (R), Windows '95 and Windows '98.

BRAILLE ACCESS:

Many users find that it is easier to find and effectively use Windows applications with a Braille display. Some of these displays work on the pc's communications port and a few work on the pc's parallel printer port or with a interface card. At this time none of the available screen access packages are able to send their output to Braille devices attached to a parallel port or dedicated interface card. The list of supported Braille displays in Windows NT (R) is very short and includes only Alva and PowerBraille on the serial communications port for the most part. The user should check very carefully to make sure what Braille displays are available prior to making a purchase of such a device.

SCREEN ACCESS PRODUCTS:

JAWS FOR WINDOWS NT: Jaws For Windows NT version 3.20 is the current version of screen access that is the most widely used. This software is produced by Henter-Joyce Inc. (800) 336-5658, http://www.hj.com. This product supports all three of the software synthesizers listed above, and several external synthesizers connected to a serial communications port. The Alva, and PowerBraille Braille displays are supported for use on a serial communications port only.

Jaws For Windows NT supports a wide range of reading functions, and can be specially configured to work with a wide variety of Windows NT applications through the use of its' script language. However, it may not work properly with Microsoft Office '97 applications; in such cases the user may need to use Microsoft Office '95 applications in place of the Office '97 version. This problem should be eliminated with the release of Windows NT version 5.0.

HAL NT: Dolphin Access Inc., http://www.dolphinaccess.com, is the developer of HAL NT now shipping in version 2.01. HAL NT currently supports a number of speech synthesizers connected to the serial communications port and offers no software synthesizer support in Windows NT as of the preparation of this paper.

HAL NT generally seems to configure more simply in Windows NT and works with a wider variety of Windows NT applications without special configuration. But, the user will find that the rich list of reading features in Jaws For Windows is not as extensive in HAL NT. At this time HAL NT does not support any Braille displays.

OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION WITH SPEECH OUTPUT:

At the time of the writing of this paper only Kurzweil1000 from Kurzweil Educational Systems (800) 894-5374 offers a OCR product with speech output that works with the Flextalk software synthesizer in Windows NT. However, Dolphin Access Inc. has announced that their Cicero OCR package will be available in a Windows NT (R) version before the end of 1998.

SUMMARY:

Blind computer users have come to enjoy a wide variety of access products in Windows 3.1 (R), Windows '95 (R), and Windows '98 (R). The options are not as many, and may not be as robust in Windows NT. The user is well advised to choose their Windows NT access products very carefully after consulting with producers of all products available and having an opportunity to test those products with the application software that they expect to be using them with in their everyday use. By March 1999 these options may be more rich and may include more synthesizer and Braille display options.