robertj@tekgen.bv.tek.com (Robert Jaquiss) (05/13/91)
Index Number: 15517
This article is reprinted with the permission of Linda Helgerson,
President of CD-ROM ENDuser, Disc Magazine, and CE-ROM End User.
It is intended for the use in the CBFB magazine. Any other
reprinting must be authorized by Ms. Helgerson.
CD-ROM FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED
by Dr. Peter S. Gold
Last weekend, I went to the Library of Congress in Washington,
DC to help a friend research information on starting a small
business. I was impressed with the enormous size of the facility and
resources available, and I couldn't help but feeling a bit sentimental
standing inside this great facility in our Nation's Capital. The
library was equipped with the latest information systems technology
for searching the literature, and the reference librarians were
helpful and well informed. I was told that special arrangements were
available for graduate students and others doing research; it was
possible to place books on reserve, and even to be assigned a shelf
where reference materials could be set aside for your work.
I explained to one of the librarians that I wished to make
arrangements to check out books so I could read them on my low
vision reading system I had at my home. I was informed that
materials could not be checked out from the Library of Congress.
The only option I had available was to contact a public library and
arrange to have materials transferred, where I could then check
them out. I realized that having books transferred between libraries
was impractical, as it would take several weeks before I received
the materials. I was also informed that there was equipment for the
blind available in the library. As I informed the librarian, "but I'm
not blind," I realized that the Library of Congress had no means for
providing access to their resources to the partially sighted, a
category which includes many elderly persons.
Some of you are wondering if I am aware that there is a
section of the Library of Congress devoted to the blind and reading
impaired. The Library does have a special section which contains
selected books and materials recorded on tape. However, throughout
the Library, there was not one closed circuit low vision reading
system for the partially sighted or reading impaired, to provide
access to the majority of library facilities.
The point of my story is that it is important for the partially
sighted, blind and reading impaired to have information access
capabilities equivalent to those available to persons with normal
vision. Access to information in terms of one's professional career,
personal growth and overall quality of life is, and should be
considered, as important for persons with visual limitations as it is
for members of the rest of society.
The potential appears to exist for CD-ROM technology to
improve not only information access for those with normal vision,
but also offer very attractive solutions for the visually impaired.
To promote such an effort, I will attempt to provide an
understanding of the world of the visually impaired, describe
advances in technology that have already been made for aiding low
vision and provide an introduction for future articles which will
examine in detail what, in the long term, the CD-ROM industry can
contribute toward this effort. I expect that the long term results
will be astoundingly gratifying.
There are over two million people in the United States who are
unable to read standard newspaper print without the aid of special
low vision equipment. These individuals have visual limitations that
are not fully correctable with ordinary eye glasses. Their reduced
vision is generally the result of defects in structure and function
of the eye, visual pathways, or visual centers of the brain.
Ordinary eye glasses correct refractive errors and cannot completely
compensate for these types of problems.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, these individuals do not all
fall into the same category in terms of their visual limitations.
There are several classifications of sight impairment including
partially sighted, legally blind, functionally blind, visually impaired
and partially sighted and legally blind. Persons are considered
partially sighted if their corrected visual acuity does not exceed
20/70, but they have more than light perception. Persons are legally
blind if their visual acuity in their better eye with correction does
not exceed 20/200, or if the maximum diameter of their visual field
does not exceed 20 degrees. The category of functionally blind
applies to persons who are either totally blind or able to determine
the direction of a light source. The term visually impaired includes
persons that are either functionally blind or partially sighted.
Persons are considered partially sighted and legally blind if they
are legally blind but not functionally blind.
Myths that people who are legally blind cannot see anything at
all or that they might as well prepare themselves to be blind are
unfounded. Most people who are legally blind have quite a bit of
usable vision, and can learn to use their remaining vision with the
aid of appropriate low vision devices. Most can move about safely
and can successfully handle important daily living tasks. The
majority of individuals who are legally blind will continue to have
useful eyesight, and have a very small chance of becoming
functionally blind.
The partially sighted also do not all fall into the same
category in terms of their requirements for accessing printed
materials. Actually, there is a wide range of visual limitations
within this population and a variety of requirements for accessing
information. In order to read effectively, the visually impaired
require that printed materials such as textbooks, magazines,
newspapers and journals, as well as pictures and graphics be
transcribed into a format they can readily access. Accessible formats
include large print, braille, raised letters and graphics, readers, and
recorded media.
Several methods are available for transcribing printed
materials into one of these formats. These are electronic processing,
optical enhancement, reproduction of original materials and recorded
media. Electronic processing includes closed circuit television reading
systems for creating enlarged images of printed materials, tactile
devices for producing raised letters and braille characters and
speech synthesizers which output printed materials in the form of
synthesized speech. Low vision optical devices for reading text
include magnifying lenses and telescopic devices mounted in eyeglass
frames and high power hand held magnifiers. Braille and recorded
materials can be reproduced from the original text by a number of
methods including the reverse process used in manufacturing
microfilm, photocopier machines that enlarge images, and the
combination of laser and braille printers and software and printer
languages which output large print and braille characters. Printed
materials can also be read aloud by readers, and recorded on tape.
Low vision technology has improved dramatically during just
the past few years. Each of the methods described above is effective
in providing the visually impaired access to printed materials. The
choice of formats and methods employed for transcribing printed
materials are determined primarily by the type and degree of visual
impairment, perceptual strengths of each individual and objectives.
For each individual, there is generally not a single method that is
best for all low vision requirements. These individuals should not be
required to choose a single low vision option on which their
education and future depends, based on financial constraints of
agencies which regulate these funds.
Although each of these methods is effective in transcribing
printed materials, significant problems still remain with accessing
information. Limitations in current methods and low vision
technology exist in terms of timeliness, speed in which information
can be accessed, ease of use of equipment, user fatigue, distraction
caused by use of the device itself, adaptability of the equipment to
very specific low vision requirements and accessibility at a variety
of locations, including institutional and public libraries, job sites
and schools. For example, the ability to access and use information
in a timely and efficient manner is just as important as having the
means for creating a usable format. Currently, large print, braille
and recorded materials may require several months to be reproduced,
and arrive too late to be of real benefit. As I described earlier,
another example of this problem was the time required to transfer
printed materials between the Library of Congress and a public
library.
Limitations in low vision technology also contribute to the
problem of accessing information in a timely fashion. For example,
use of a closed circuit reading system requires that printed
materials be moved back and forth underneath a television camera
for each line of text. This movement adds significantly to the time
required to read text. In contrast, equipment utilizing CD-ROM
technology could display printed materials using a graphical user
interface in a variety of large font sizes, character spacing, line
spacing and text and background colors. Automatic reformatting and
set column width would allow an entire line of text to be displayed
at one time, by using multiple lines of text to accommodate larger
font sizes.
The introduction of CD-ROM and current microcomputer
technology could eliminate many of the current limitations in low
vision equipment and processing printed materials. CD-ROM offers the
means of moving data not just to personal computers, but through
PCs and into machines developed specifically for the visually
impaired, such as braille writers and speech synthesizers. Books and
materials on CD-ROM could be made available at institutional and
public libraries, and distributed to individuals at relatively low
cost. The use of CD-ROM could provide immediate access to
information in journals, textbooks, newspapers and magazines, and
provide the ability to the visually impaired to easily access and
search through large volumes of information.
Summary
In summary, current technology has made it possible for sight
impaired individuals to access standard reading material. The next
step in the evolution of this technology is to make the information
as easily accessible to these individuals as it is for the majority of
people with normal vision. CD-ROM technology may well represent the
avenue by which these advances can be achieved. The use of CD-ROM
technology in the development of low vision equipment will introduce
a new client base of over two million people to the CD-ROM industry.
The easiest and fastest way for these capabilities to be realized is
to have the CD-ROM industry contribute to this effort.
Peter S. Gold, Ph.D., is a Computer Scientist for an agency of the
Federal Government in Washington, DC.