Vision/Blindness
Resources for students who have Visual
Limitations or Blindness
Vendor Resources
Ai Squared: Zoom Text Screen Magnifier/Reader
P.O. Box 669
Manchester Center, VT 05255
Phone: (802) 362-3612
Fax: (802) 362-1670
LS&S:
Several products for Blind/Low-Vision and Hearing
P.O. Box 673
Northbrook, IL 60065
Phone: (800)468-4789
Fax: (847)498-1482 Maxi Aides, Inc.: Several products for Blind/Low-Vision,
Hearing, and Mobility
42 Executive Blvd.
Farmingdale, NY 11735
Phone: (800) 522-6294 - (To Order)
(631) 752-0521 - (For Information)
(631) 752-0738 - (TTY)
Fax: (631) 752-0689
American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.: Several
products for Blind and Low-Vision
1839 Frankfort Avenue
P.O. Box 6085
Louisville, Kentucky 40206-0085
Phone: (502) 895-2405
Toll-Free Customer Service: 800-223-1839 (U.S. and Canada)
Fax: (502)899-2274
Freedom Scientific
A variety of computer hardware and software for people
with low vision and blindness
11800 31st Court North
St. Petersburg, FL 33716-1805
727-803-8000 • 800-444-4443
Nanopac
Tulsa-based company that provides products and services
for individuals with disabilities who have a variety
of needs to include: low vision, blindness, reading disabilities,
physical access limitations, communication needs, hearing
impairments, and communication limitations. Products
available include devices such as reading machines, environmental
controls, voice activation, augmentative communication,
voice recognition, speech synthesis, text to speech,
switches and switch mounts, magnifiers, and door openers.
Sites that provide audio books, magazines, newspapers,
etc, for people with low vision/blindness and/or other
print disabilities
American Printing House for the Blind
Can download some materials free
if you can document that the student is “print
disabled.”
Audible.com
A fee is charged for each download.
You may be able to waive the fee if you document that
the student is “print disabled.”
Audio
Books for Free
Large selection of
books that can be downloaded free in MP3 format, or
you can convert MP3 files to CD’s for use in
car, computer, etc.
Books Aloud
This site provides a list
of books available free and on audio tape. Users must
meet eligibility criteria. Tapes will be mailed to
the user’s home free.
Nationally Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped
Loan program that provides print
material in audio or Braille format. Users must meet
eligibility criteria. Materials are mailed to the user’s
home free.
Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic
Loan program that provides print
material on audio cassettes or CD. Users must meet
eligibility criteria. Materials are mailed to the user’s
home.
Text Aloud
This site allows you to copy
and paste text into the program and then convert the
text into an MP3 file, allowing you to make e-text
into audio books that can be listened to on a computer
or portable MP3 player.
Sites that provide e-texts free to the public
domain
Electronic
Text Center
Infomations
Library of Congress
The
On-Line Books Page
The Plays of William Shakespeare
Project
Gutenberg
Worditude
Sites that provide e-texts for a fee
BookShare
You can subscribe to BookShare for
a $25.00 membership fee and then pay $50.00 per student/per
year to have access to e-texts for all current copyrighted
materials. You must document that the student has a
disability to join.
E-library
Another online source for locating a
variety of electronic texts and materials to include
books, newspapers, periodicals, maps, pictures etc.
E-library offers a free 7-day trial, or you can join
for @ $99.00 a year.
Freeware/Shareware
Anicursor (Windows)
Need enlarged,
animated, or leftie cursors? Download a wide variety
of FREE alternative cursors. Helpful for individuals
with visual difficulties.
Coloristic 1.2 (Win & Mac)
This utility will magnify the
area surrounding your cursor up to 32 times. You can
also take a snapshot of the magnified image or lock
the image. ($12.00)
New Vision
Technology (Windows & Mac)
This site has several
different freeware and shareware downloads for people
who are visually impaired including demos of screen
magnifiers, alternate mouse pointers, screen readers,
etc.
Big Books
A collection
of freely downloadable electronic 'big books'. Suitable
for young children or students with special educational
needs. Downloading the books can be a bit tricky, but
keep playing around. The key seems to be to create a
folder on your desktop (position your mouse cursor on
your desktop, right click, go to “new”, select
folder, name the folder), and direct the download to
this folder. When you unzip the application (see note
at top of this document about “WinZip), make sure
you select the “Browse” button and select
the folder you created. Open your folder, select the
icon that is labeled “index”. Select the
title of your book and click away.
ReadPlease
Talking word processor that
can be downloaded free.
Talking Box
Another talking
word processor that allows you to copy text, paste it
into a clipboard, and then click on the taskbar icon
to have it read aloud. It can also be used to provide
talking reminders such as the date, time, and other pre-determined
messages.
Talking
E-Mail (Windows)
Want to
listen to “E-Man” read your email to you.
TALKING E-MAILTM is a highly customizable, super cool
E-mail notifier that enables you to listen to your
incoming messages as they arrive, via animated characters.
Other
Oklahoma School for the Blind
|
