Last year, Intel launched the Intel Reader. About
the size of paperback book, the Intel Reader has a
2-gigabyte storage capacity that can hold about 600
pages and images, or 500,000 text-only pages. It
also plays MP3s and can read aloud any text transferred from a computer. A portable capture station
lets you scan and store multiple pages from a book
or magazine. At the time of this writing, the Intel
Reader was being offered for around $900, which is
nearly $600 less than its original price.
Another device is the knfbReader Mobile, a
small scan-and-read device built inside a Nokia
N82 cell phone. Knfb Reading Technology, a joint
venture of Kurzweil and the National Federation of
the Blind, developed this accessible phone to help
people with vision loss read currency. It can also
read books and menus, but the display screen isn’t
as big as the Intel Reader. It costs $995.
Screen magnifiers
If you just want to read on your
computer or surf the Web, consider
a screen magnifier. The Zoom Text
magnifier/reader from Ai Squared is a
software program with both text-magni-fication ability and a speech synthesizer.
It starts at $395. Or try the free built-in
screen magnifiers already on your computer: Magnifier in Windows 7 or Vista
and Zoom for Apple’s Mac OS X.
Resources
Desktop video magnifiers
Optelec ClearView+, optelec.com, 800-826-4200
Human Ware SmartView Synergy,
Freedom Scientific TOPAZ,
freedomscientific.com, 800-444-4443
Handheld video magnifiers
Optelec Compact Mini, optelec.com,
Human Ware SmartView Pocket,
humanware.com, 800-722-3393
Scan-and-read systems
Freedom Scientific OpenBook with PEARL,
freedomscientific.com, 800-444-4443
Kurzweil Educational Systems Kurzweil 1000,
kurzweiledu.com
Optelec ClearReader+, optelec.com,
800-826-4200
Mobile readers
Intel Reader, reader.intel.com, 408-765-8080
KnfbReader Mobile, knfbreader.com,
877-547-1500
Screen magnifiers
Ai Squared Zoom Text, aisquared.com,
802-362-3612
Microsoft Windows 7, microsoft.com
Apple Mac OS X, apple.com
Suzanne Robitaille is the author of The Illustrated
Guide to Assistive Technology & Devices and
the founder of abledbody.com, a Web site on
disability news.
Our low vision feature is no longer printed in large type. If you are having difficulty,
go to www.nationalMSsociety.org/magazine and enlarge our PDF edition. OR
call 1-800-344-4867 and ask about enrolling in the free Kansas Audio-Reader
Network, so you can listen to Momentum articles on your telephone.
