Colombia: Institute for the Blind Develops Accessible Information Programs
From: "INCIdencias" (inci@presidencia.gov.co), National Institute for the Blind (Instituto Nacional para Ciegos, INCI) , Colombia, No.9 November 2002
As part of their INCI DIGITAL program, the Technological Development Group presented a new CD with the main activities of the Institute in an accessible format for persons with visual disabilities.
Now persons with visual disabilities have more practical and free solutions to their information access problems, with the use of tactile and sound technology applications that make data easy to understand.
The following software has been developed:
The Sintext Word Processor
SYNTEXT is a multimedia information tool allowing persons with visual disabilities to accessed computer by generating, handling, transferring information with electronic devises.
This is a word processor containing the basic commands such as cut, copy, save, save as, and delete, appearing and operated under the requirements of W3C, with many accessibility features including screen contrast and font size.
SYNTEXT offers the possibility of changing the size of the screen, up to three times the size of the characters appearing on the screen. It also includes a Dictionary in Spanish which allows users to select from regular reading to Braille reading, an interactive tutor for mastering keyboard.
Developers hope to offer a Web Page Reader for the 2003 February version.
Software called "INCI Reader"
A very high percentage of literature circulating internationally is produced to be read in ordinary alphabet letters and numbers. Persons with visual disabilities have waited many years for technological developments to meet their reading, writing, and information handling needs. Now technology is responding, particularly through tactile and sound applications, open options like talking books, with both text and graphics.
The Group for Technological Development of the National Institute for the Blind, worked very hard in developing the "INCI READER", an information application which allows easy and effective unaided reading of talking books. The first version, called "DAISY", allows you to navigate through chapters, pages, or individual sentences. Another feature is that the application allows underlining. The developers hope to come up with an improved version by the 2003.
Visual Performance Evaluation Software for Children (for children with low vision, ages 3 to 8)
This visual evaluation software is based on the Visual Performance Test of Natalie Barraga. The purpose is to allow children with low vision to interact with the computer while being tested. The evaluation is conducted by means of a series of teaching tasks designed to be fun for children, like playing, while their visual capacities are observed and register for further analysis.
Each program includes a Data Registration Form, that is sent to the Institute after the child completes the test.
"Each Point" Multimedia Software
This educational multimedia software teaches about Braille, its history, its creator, and contains a brief description on how to use it, with instructions and exercises. The software is destined for parents, teachers, and people who want to know or reinforce their Braille skills.
The software also teaches how to do math operations, both in open abacus as in closed abacus. The arithmetic operations are taught with animated illustrations, developing functions, and evaluation results.
Please contact us at:
Instituto Nacional para Ciegos (INCI)
Grupo de Desarrollo Tecnológico
Carrera 13 # 34-91, Bogotá, Colombia,
Fax (571)2329076
Web Siteweb:
www.inci.gov.co
Boletín INCIdencias:
inci@presidencia.gov.co
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