Adaptive Technologies

Disability Resource Services
165 Murphy Library • 608-785-6900 • ability@uwlax.edu

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has adaptive computer stations available for use by students with disabilities. The stations are located throughout campus for easy access. Adaptive technology allows a person to scan printed material and read that material via a computer voice, read word processing programs and the internet Following are some of the systems available at UW-L. JAWS - JAWS for Windows (JFW) is the world's most powerful screen reader application for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 or Windows 95, offering unparalleled access to most popular computer applications. JFW features fantastic support for Internet Explorer 4.01 or 5.0.

The feature "Eloquence for JFW" includes U.S. English, British English, Castillian Spanish, Latin-American Spanish, French, German and Italian.

JAWS®

JAWS for Windows Features:

Enhanced support for popular applications, including Lotus® Notes 5.0; Microsoft Office 97 and Office 2000; WordPerfect 8 and 9; Internet Explorer 4.01 and 5.0; Outlook 98 and Outlook Express; Eudora 4.0 and 4.1; Real Player Plus G2 and Real Player G2
Support for refreshable Braille displays, now including output in Grade 1 and 2
Easy access to the System Tray items in a pop-up list box
Option to speak changes to text styles when reading. Options include font, point size, bold, italic, underline, color, capitalization and repeated characters
New, more natural sounding Say All, Say Sentence and Say Paragraph functions
Automatic graphics labeler
Comprehensive help system, including complete on-line documentation, screen-sensitive and context-sensitive help
Powerful customization tools, including Dictionary, Configuration, Keyboard, Frame and Script Managers
Network authorization capability
Updated multilingual Eloquence software synthesizer
Support for the Microsoft Object Model and Microsoft Active Accessibility
Access to MS-DOS windows
Support for MS-SAPI 4.0 software synthesizers
Completely new Basic Training Cassette Tapes
Complete documentation, including Quick Reference Cards in print and Braille
Application-specific tutorials, including Internet Explorer 4.01, Internet Explorer 5.0 and Microsoft Word 8, available.
Enhances performance of MAGic 6.1 Screen Magnification Software (Windows NT, 98 & 95)

KURZWEIL 3000:

Kurzweil 3000 displays an onscreen version of any scanned printed material. Students can read along, take notes, and highlight right on the computer screen. Students can also type their papers in Kurzweil and hear them read back to them. Language tools like a dictionary, thesaurus, phonetic spelling tool, and word prediction provides additional support. With a click of a button, Kurzweil 3000 will also read aloud web pages, opening up a whole world of research.

Features and benefits:

Optical character recognition (OCR) allows virtually any document to be scanned, including color documents, and displayed onscreen.
Multiple dictionaries provide word definitions, synonyms, syllabification, and spelling to aid reading comprehension, word decoding, and writing tasks.
The suite of study skills features in Kurzweil 3000 allows users to highlight sections of text in different colors, take notes, and extract text to produce a study outline. A studentÕs learning is enhanced as a direct result.
Multi-sensory (auditory and visual) presentation of written materials benefits learning styles.
Dual highlighting of words in context as they are read aloud helps the student process words and concepts more easily.
Adjustable reading speed (words per minute) can be controlled for all auditory output
Spell checking and word-prediction help increase speed and accuracy of writing.
With Kurzweil 3000, poor or slow readers are less dependent on family members or tutors to access written materials.
Zone editor makes Kurzweil 3000 especially good at reading complex materials such as textbooks.
Displays and speaks Internet based documents, opening up a whole world of research.
Students create written materials faster and more easily with word-prediction and spell checking. Text is spoken aloud as students type. This helps them write more fluidly, while at the same time increasing accuracy in spelling and grammar.

Location:

Murphy Library (Computer Lab/Adaptive Technology Room) North Hall; Wing Communication Center; Cartwright Computer Lab

OMNI 1000 (also called KURZWEIL 1000)

The Omni 1000 from Kurzweil Educational System, is an advanced PC-based reading tool that converts the printed work into speech for people who are blind or visually impaired. Omni 1000 combines an accurate optical character recognition with a clear sounding synthetic speech. A JAWS software program allows reading of printed material from the Internet and Microsoft Office.

Location: Located in the Adaptive Technology Room of the Murphy Library.

INSPIRATION

INSPIRATION is a powerful visual thinking tool that helps clarify and organize ideas and information. Inspirations Diagram view makes it easy to brainstorm, plan and explain the interrelationships between processes, variables and events. Use it to create concept maps, process flows, knowledge maps, flowcharts and other visual diagrams. Inspiration's integrated Outline view helps create clear, concise written proposals and reports.

Location:

Located in the same sites as the Kurzweil, except not in the Adaptive Technology Room of the Murphy Library.

It is important that persons who plan to use the computer reader systems be adequately trained. You should inquire with your DRS advisor about securing training in the use of these systems.

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Contact Information: Disability Resource Services • 165 Murphy Library • 608.785.6900

ability@uwlax.edu