GRAPHIC ACCESS NEW TECHNOLOGY

THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT (NEW TECHNOLOGY) OPERATING SYSTEM, RELEASED IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1993, IS TOTALLY INACCESSIBLE TO VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS AND BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS. THIS OPERATING SYSTEM WILL BE IN MANY COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES FOR SCIENCE AND MATH COURSES AND WILL SEVERELY HINDER THE EDUCATIONAL AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE. THE GOAL OF THE GRAPHIC ACCESS NEW TECHNOLOGY (GANT) PROJECT IS TO MAKE WINDOWS NT ACCESSIBLE TO VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE. RESEARCHERS ARE DESIGNING AND DEVELOPING SOFTWARE THAT ACCURATELY MAPS THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL WINDOWS NT GRAPHIC DISPLAY TO THE ONE-DIMENSIONAL MEDIUM OF SPEECH. GANT USES AN INNOVATIVE MULTIPLE TASK APPROACH WHICH USES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PATTERN MATCHING TECHNOLOGY TO CONVERT THE GRAPHIC PATTERNS TO TEXT CHARACTERS ACCURATELY. THE GANT TEAM IS EXPERT IN THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE AIDS TO ASSIST THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED, IS FAMILIAR WITH GRAPHIC BASED OPERATING SYSTEMS, AND UNDERSTANDS THE NEEDS OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE. A SUCCESSFUL GANT SYSTEM ENABLES VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE TO USE THE SAME WINDOWS NT SYSTEM AS THEIR SIGHTED PEERS, ENABLING ACCESS TO MATH AND SCIENCE RELATED COURSES AND PROFESSIONS.