‘Aspheric’ refers to a type of lens design. It is recommended for those high-powered reading and magnifying eyeglasses.
There is also an aspheric design for those who are very near-sighted and wear ‘coke-bottle’ lenses in their eyeglasses. You may also see hand-held and stand magnifying lens that are aspheric in design. Continue reading “Lens Technology: Aspheric lenses”
You think that it should be simple: aren’t all eyeglass lenses clear plastic: Most are, but there are several types of plastic, each with features that differentiate them by how they function. There are also glass lenses, which are only occasionally a first choice.
Once the eye doctor has written up a prescription for eyeglasses and you are sitting in front of the optician, he or she will begin asking you questions about lens-type preferences. The optician will often give suggestions as to the best lens material for you based on the prescription. They will usually educate the consumer as to the features that will be beneficial. Here are the basic types of lens materials: Continue reading “Eyeglass Technology: Lens Materials”
Low vision devices come in many forms. They can be optical, such as lenses, eyeglasses, and telescopes, electronic devices, such as video magnifiers, CCTVs, and digital assistants, or objects adapted for use by those who are unable to see details, such as those things that give audible cues or are labeled in large print. Continue reading “Low Vision Devices are More Than Just Magnification”
Near vision can be improved by strengthening the eyeglass prescription to magnify. The advantages of high powered reading glasses are that they can have a larger field of view and are hands-free.
Adapting to low vision should start with a comprehensive eye examination to optimize your vision with the best eyeglass prescription. This prescription is for distance and near viewing. What defines those with low vision is that even with the best prescription, they are unable to get perfect vision. More is needed. Continue reading “Eyeglasses Used for Magnification”
Hand-held optical magnifiers come in many styles, sizes, and magnification powers. Commonly, they are sold as either round or rectangular clear lenses, with a handle. Other types include small pocket magnifiers and a plastic ‘card’ style.
The actual amount of magnification that you get form a hand-held magnifier is variable and dependent on how you use it. Optical lenses have an optical property called focal length. If the lens is held above the page, at the focal length, you will get the magnification indicated by the manufacturer. If you hold it closer to the page, at a distance less than the focal length, you will get less magnification. Magnification is also dependent on whether you wear your distance glasses, your bifocals, or no glasses at all. Continue reading “Hand-held Magnifiers”
Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Text-to-Speech (TTS), and Speech Recognition Software (Speech-to-Text, STT)
These are three technologies that can be used to manipulate the printed word to make it more accessible for the visually impaired, the blind, and the print disabled.
This technology is the combination of a software program with either a camera or a scanner. The captured image or scan of text presented to the software appears like a bunch of lines and curves. The software recognizes these characters and reformates the text into a computer language and then presents it as the letters, numbers, symbols, and graphs that can now be recognized and manipulated by the user.
Once the text is converted by the OCR, with the help of additional software, the text can now be magnified, edited, exported, or transferred to another format, like text-to-speech.
This is not a new technology. It has been available to the blind, visually impaired, and those who are dyslexic as the ‘reading machines.’ These are text-to-speech hardware specifically designed to give those who are print disabled access to the printed word. The print is captured by either a camera or a scanner and then is read out loud.
Specialty devices for the print disabled:(this is not a complete list, only examples. I have no affiliation with any manufacturer listed here.)
Learn about electronic glasses with OCR/TTS technology: Comparison of 14 Electronic Glasses for Use as Assistive Technology for Low Vision
Software programs for computers and mobile technologies are familiar to us as ‘screen readers.’ This is often included as part of a computer or smart phone accessibility features.
TTS software can also be purchased and downloaded as part of an OCR/TTS software package. Is there an app for that? Of course there is. There are smart phone apps that you can snap a picture of some text, then activate the reader to have it read to you.
Best known to those who are print disabled are:
This is the talk-to-text software feature of computers and mobile devices which allows the user to bypass the keyboard and mouse. It serves two functions:
Most operating systems include speech recognition software as part of their suite of accessibility features. If you are someone who needs a workhorse dictation program for work or creative writing, there are voice recognition software programs that can be purchased. While operating system programs can get the job done, third-party voice recognition software tends to be faster and more accurate. That means that when proofreading your document, there should be fewer errors. If you have used the microphone on your smartphone to dictate a text messages, you know that there are frequently some laughable word errors.
Software and the hardware devices for OCR, TTS, and STT, which were primarily aimed at the blind or print disabled, are now mainstreamed. There exists many assistive devices for the blind and visually impaired with these technologies. Those devices common to most all of us , like the desk-top PCs, tablets, and mobile phones have incorporated apps which increases their functionality for both the sighted and the impaired.
