WITH MICROCOMPUTERS

RECENT ADVANCES IN MICROCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGY HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS TO CONTINUE NORMALLY WITH THEIR EDUCATION. VOICE SYNTHESIZERS AND TEXT MAGNIFI CATION ENABLE HANDICAPPED INDIVIDUALS TO BEAR RO READ BOOKS,MAGAZINES, AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS WHICH ARE STORED IN D N DIGITAL FROM IN THE MICROCOMPUTER. THE RECENT INTRODUCTION OF A LOW COST, MANUALLY OPERATED, OPTICAL SCANNER HAS A TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL FOR ALLOWING VISUALLY HANDICAPPED PERSONS TO QUICKLY AND EASILY SCAN ANY TEXT OR PRINT DIRECT LY INTO THEIR MICROCOMPUTER WHERE IS CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO A FORMAT MORE ACCESSIBLE BY THEM. RECENT TESTS WITH PARTIALLY SIGHTED ADULTS IN FLORIDA SHOWED THAT THE OPTICAL READER NEEDS TO BE EQUIPPED WITH A DEVICE FOR HELPING THE THE USER TO ALIGN TEXT WITH THE SCANNER. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DESIGN AND BUILD A LOW COST, PROTOTYPEDEVICE WHICH REMOVES THIS LAST HARRIER FOR PARTIALLY SIGHTEDUSERS. THE DEVICE WOULD GUIDE THE USER IN PLACING PRINTED MATERIAL ONTO THE SCANNER, MOVING THE SCANNER HEAD TO THE DESIRE LINE, AND INDICATING WHEN THE END OF THE TEXT LINE HAD BEEN REACHED.