6 ms·

Ask HN: Software for helping visually impaired persons?

2 points by adamwi 10y ago

My dad is slowly going blind due to macular degeneration (basically the nervcells in the retina slowly dies, starting in the macular region). He still has ok vision but starts to have real issues reading longer texts, long term he will go completely blind. I'm now looking for software (preferably open source) that can help him when using the computer. Main use case is being able to retrieve larger quantities of information (e.g. emails, news articles, etc) either by magnifying some part of the screen or by reading out the text loud. Current solution is using a large "analog" magnifying glas in front of the screen, feels like there should exist a better solution. Long term it would be preferable if the solution can also assist him with navigating the web using audio. Did some googling but mostly ended up on pages with more generic tips on how to adjust ambient lighting in the room etc. Any tips on where to look? Grateful for the help!

10dpd 10y ago
What kind of computer does he have? Screen magnification software is built into most OS's for free. E.g. macOS: http://www.apple.com/uk/accessibility/osx/#vision http://www.apple.com/uk/accessibility/osx/#vision Free screen readers: VoiceOver (built into macOS / iOS) NVDA: http://www.nvaccess.org/ http://www.nvaccess.org/ ChromeVox: http://www.chromevox.com/ http://www.chromevox.com/
- adamwi 10y ago
  Thanks, looks like good free alternatives to start with! Any experience regarding if macOS or Windows provide the better support? He is currently on Win computer
scpotter 10y ago
You're looking for accessibility tools. Modern desktop and mobile OSes have these built-in, Google [whatever OS] accessibility zoom. Open source screen reader: NVDA (www.nvaccess.org) Industry standard screen reader: JAWS (www.freedomscientific.com/Products/Blindness/JAWS)
Davidbrcz 10y ago
There are screen readers (text to speech generators), braille displays. I don't know what is the status for fingerreader ( http://fluid.media.mit.edu/projects/fingerreader http://fluid.media.mit.edu/projects/fingerreader ) Also have a look at HandyDV Linux (https://handylinux.org/index-en.html https://handylinux.org/index-en.html). The aim is to offer for visually challenged and blind people an accessible computer. A french guy is beyond it and there is a kickstarter-like compain to support it (french page about it http://linuxfr.org/news/financement-participatif-de-handydv-linux-et-sa-machine-a-lire http://linuxfr.org/news/financement-participatif-de-handydv-..., couldn't find anything in english).
lovelearning 10y ago
This article written by a blind developer was posted here some years ago. You might find some good tips there about tools. [Article]: http://blog.freecodecamp.com/2015/01/a-vision-of-coding-without-opening-your-eyes.html http://blog.freecodecamp.com/2015/01/a-vision-of-coding-with... [Discussion]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8965048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8965048
- adamwi 10y ago
  Thanks! Knew I had read it somewhere but could not find it when searching.