Visual Disability Technology - Kurzweil 1000 & 3000
Kurzweil Educational Systems offers two powerful products used in the Assistive Technology Center in the Main Library. These products, empower our patrons to take control over their reading and writing disabilities and build their confidence in accessing the resources of the library.
Kurzweil 1000 is reading software that makes printed or electronic text accessible to people who are blind. It converts a PC and scanner into an advanced version of the revolutionary reading machine invented by Ray Kurzweil in 1976.
This software turns text into a variety of life-like voices and does much more. Users can bookmark, make notes, skim or summarize text to aid mastery of concepts and details. They can modify reading speed, pitch, and emphasis to suit specific preferences and purposes. They can edit or create documents assisted by an audible dictionary, thesaurus or prioritized spell checker, and archive them using a simple file management dialog.
It also retrieves information online with features that simplify locating electronic books and magazines, and even encyclopedia articles from the Web. In addition, it takes reading on the road by sharing electronic information with MP3 players, portable note taking devices, Braille printers and conventional e-mail applications.
Kurzweil 3000 is a scanning, reading and writing solution for people with learning disabilities or reading difficulties. It is also useful to patrons with adaptive needs that prevent them the repetitive motion of turning pages.