Recently, VIPACE was featured in an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review
(Greensburg).  I was honored enough to be interviewed for this article, and
want to share it with you now.

This article can be found on the Tribune-Review's website at:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_80165.html

Special computers aid visually impaired

By Marjorie Wertz
TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Monday, July 8, 2002

Jack Petroy chose not to quit working when macular degeneration and angioid
streaks destroyed his retinas and robbed him of peripheral and central
vision 10 years ago.

Instead, the Greensburg resident took advantage of the services available
through the Westmoreland County Blind Association.

The association sent Petroy to Pittsburgh Vision Services, where he was
taught how to use a specially-programmed computer. Petroy also learned basic
Braille and practiced getting around on the streets of Latrobe, Greensburg
and Jeannette.

"Vision Services taught me the QWERTY system on the computer," said Petroy,
who had to retire after 26 years as a pressman at the Tribune-Review in
Greensburg. "When you hit a key, the computer reads it back to you. This
system enabled me to complete college."

QWERTY uses audiotapes with step-by-step instructions that come with the
software package. Petroy practiced the system at home.

"You have to adapt to it," he said. "You have to want to succeed at it. If
it weren't for programs like QWERTY and what the Blind Association has to
offer, I wouldn't be here."

Here is the Westmoreland County Area Agency on Aging where Petroy has worked
as a case aide for four years. It is a job he loves and one he couldn't do
without computer systems designed specifically for the visually impaired.

Because he cannot read black on white, his Spectrum CCTV enables him to
change the computer screen's background color and text color and size. The
system features a sliding table on which Petroy places a client's chart. The
table can be moved in any direction to enable him to read the text that is
transferred onto the CCTV screen.

"Whenever my eyes start hurting, I can switch to another color background or
change the color of the letters," he said. "I make the letters 2 to 3 inches
high. This enables me to read anything and to write. When I write, I look at
the screen, not at the chart."

He also uses a software package called ZoomText Extra that enlarges type
once he gets into a Windows program. His computer keyboard is set up
alphabetically and has large keys. The top row of keys is the numbers. The
second keyboard row starts with the letter A to J; the third row, from K to
T; and the bottom row has the letters U though Z.

"It's just a matter of learning it," said Petroy. "This keyboard setup is
easier for me to memorize and because I have to be about a foot away from
the screen, the software package allows me to see the type and what I write.
It would be impossible for me to do this job without this equipment."

According to Tim Miller, director of services at the Blind Association,
there are about 1,500 people in Westmoreland County who have 20/200 vision
and are considered legally blind.

"The majority of our clients are elderly so there is not a whole lot of
computer usage," said Miller. "If you have someone who isn't totally blind,
they'll give the computer a whirl."

The association has speech software and enlargement software available for
its clients.

"We have people come down and use the training tapes to see if it will work
well for them," Miller added. "You have to have some computer and keyboard
skills. There is very little computer mouse usage. It's more keyboard
functions."

The 47 members of Visually Impaired Pittsburgh Area Computer Enthusiasts, or
VIPACE, meet once a month to discuss new computer technology.

"Whenever there is a new piece of hardware or software that works with
computers, we give demonstrations," said Mike Gravitt, of Dormont, the
secretary for the organization. "We've also had some company representatives
show us the latest in speech recognition software."

Gravitt, a 26-year-old who has been blind since birth, has 20/400 vision
with contact lenses. He has a 10-degree field of vision and can only see
straight ahead. He has been involved with VIPACE for four years. The
organization was formed by Sabina Bilder and Willie Wilson at the University
of Pittsburgh in 1988.

"It's a good way to be aware of the technology that's out there for the
blind community," Gravitt said. "It's nice to get together and share
information and point out flaws to Web designers."

VIPACE members want Internet Web designers to make their pages accessible to
screen readers that read aloud the information displayed on a computer
monitor screen.

"If you have a very graphic Web page without any way of getting that
information without seeing the pictures, those sites are missing out on a
whole community of people," said Gravitt. "It's very important for Web
designers to make their sites available to screen readers."

The visually impaired can log on to Internet service providers through the
use of text-based communications software such as QMODEM and KERMIT. A
text-based Hypertext viewer like Lynx enables the visually impaired to look
at Web pages by reproducing the text onto the viewer without any change in
content.

Gravitt is employed by Bender Consulting Services in Pittsburgh as an
applications and software developer. He uses a screen magnification software
package that increases text and icons 16 times larger than normal.

"I have trouble reading black text on a white background," said Gravitt. "My
personal preference is a black screen with white text."

Although software packages for the visually impaired can be expensive, there
are ways to get funding to help pay for the equipment.

"The software is very difficult to get to function properly with the
computer, so there's a lot of work that has to go into development," Gravitt
said. "You can get loans or subsidies for equipment for work and through
vocational rehabilitation, you can get state funding for school or
job-related equipment."

There are also applications that use a flatbed scanner and software called
Optical Character Recognition for inputting printed hard copy information
into the computer to be read aloud and/or magnified using screen readers and
screen magnification devices.

For more information on services available from the Westmoreland County
Blind Association, call 724-837-1250. To contact VIPACE, e-mail Mike Gravitt
at [log in to unmask], or call 412-344-2313.

Marjorie Wertz can be reached at [log in to unmask] or (724) 522-2904.


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