Elizabeth,
When I was in the same situation you are in, trying to figure out what
equipment is best, I contacted the Technology Center at the National
Federation of the Blind (phone 410 659-9314) The Technology Center has
'one of each' piece of equipment you might use and the director of the
Center can give you feedback on each of them. The good thing about the
Technology Center is that the people there are impartial, they aren't
trying to sell you something.
Many of the synthesizer companies have demo tapes of their equipment. Other
companies will have ddemos you can listen to on the phone. One
consideration in choosing equipment is the tech support from each company.
Some will leave you
hanging, others have great support. I have used ASAP for DOS and JAWS for
Windows and I like them both.
As for buying the equipment, you can buy an 'off the shelf' computer and
order the adaptive equipment that you decide you want directly from the
suppliers.
Good luck, JODY
"WE MUST BE THE CHANGE WE WISH TO
SEE IN THE WORLD" --Ghandi
Jody W. Ianuzzi
55 Castle Street
Keene, NH 03431
[log in to unmask]
(603)352-6790
Fax (603) 352-7471
----------
> From: Elizabeth Layton <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: The envelope please!
> Date: Sunday, February 08, 1998 10:19 PM
>
> OK, folks, I reckon pretty much all the responses I'm likely to get to
> my call for votes on the 'best' technology out there are in by now and
> its time to make good on my promise to share the results. Fact is,
> there were no winners. There couldn't be any winners for the very good
> reason that my attempt at a poll was flawed. I asked the wrong
> question. The more than a dozen people who graciously responded
> anyway were not slow in pointing that out: There is no 'best' program
> or software; there is only what works for you. There is no substitute
> for hands-on experience of the various systems to learn which one that
> might be.
> Unfortunately, my own experience has been that that is easier said
> than done. Although I live in one of the country's larger metropolitan
> areas, I had no idea how to find a demo of any of these things. Some
> people had heard of them but no one knew how to go about buying them
> (as if one could afford them in the first place...). Thus, from
> frustration, I threw my delimma at you-all. What I really wanted to
> know was, what has been your experience with this stuff and how do I go
> about making sense of all these packages? What I should have asked
> was, which of you has needs which parallel mine (Oh yes, Elizabeth, ask
> another easy one!) and what do you use and how well does it serve those
> needs?
> That said, you gave me a lot of useful information. I heard good
> things about Open Book, JFW, Vocal Eyes, Windows-Eyes , DecTalk
> Express, DoubleTalk and a pretty wide variety of other names I'd never
> heard of. I found it interesting that there were no real pans. No
> one said, "X" is a lousy system; don't touch it with a 10-foot pole. I
> think that, more than anything, convinced me that each has its own
> merits, that users of these aids are-- more than heavy-handed me--well
> aware of this, and that I've just got to try them myself. Special
> thanks to Kelly for referring me to her organization's newsletter at
> city-net.com and, especially, to whoever it was who pointed me to a
> vendor list at www.nyise.org/vendors.html.
> In point of fact, the Colombia Lighthouse found the time the other
> day to return my call and was able to refer me to one salesman in the
> area, with whom I have a demo appointment late this month. I will thus
> probably buy the Kurzweil 3000 (formerly , I'm told, called OMNI 3000)
> because the salesman will hopefully remain close by to help me with the
> inevitable bugs. Yes, Willie, after all the literature, after all the
> brain-picking and even the electronic harrasment inflicted on you folk
> on the list, It probably all comes down to the availability of local
> support.
> Thanks to all of you who let me bounce my thought processes off you
> for your patience and responsiveness. Wish me luck.
> Elizabeth
> 'Oh-for-a-magic-feather' L.
|
