Published Friday, March 27, 1998, in the Miami Herald
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Blind get voice guide to Internet
By CHRISTINA A. SAMUELS
Herald Staff Writer
As Ivan Pineiro's fingers tap out commands on his computer's keyboard, an
electronic voice follows his every move, reading out the keys and the words
on the screen almost faster than the ear can hear.
The program that reads the text, WindowEyes, is one of the devices Pineiro
uses to teach his blind or reduced-vision students at the Lighthouse of
Broward County how to use Windows 95 or word-processing programs or even to
surf the Internet.
The graphics-intensive world of computers and the World Wide Web are not
closed to people who cannot see. The Lighthouse has bought several
high-powered computers, including the expensive voice-synthesizing
programs, to help teach its clients.
In coming months, the center also plans to buy better computers and install
high-speed telephone lines for Internet access.
The Lighthouse also has a low-graphics Web site, www.lhob.org, hosted for
free by Fort Lauderdale-based Safari Internet. Low-graphics Web sites are
easier for voice programs to read.
Though useful, the voice programs are not perfect, said Pineiro, who is
blind. They're expensive -- WindowEyes costs $595. And students have to
learn how to make sense of the jumble of words that spill out of the
speakers, picking out the ones they really need.
Explaining the action on the screen is another challenge.
"What's a `window' to someone who has never seen it?" Pineiro said.
Still, about 20 to 25 students a week visit the center for classes, knowing
that computer literacy is the key to a better education and higher-paying
jobs.
"It'll give you the opportunity to at least go out and try it," Pineiro
said. "Eventually, you can do things like somebody sighted would do."
Deanna Toca, a Lighthouse employee, is one of the students. She's learning
Windows 95 and Microsoft Word 6.0.
Her challenge has been a lack of computer experience. The voice synthesizer
on her computer speaks more slowly, so she can follow the commands. Pineiro
tells her she'll get faster eventually.
"Hard to imagine," she jokes. "You have to have really good listening
skills."
She has been taking classes since January.
"I need to learn it for the job, but I wanted to learn anyway," Toca said.
Pineiro taught himself how to use the computer, with the help of friends
and classes.
"I did a lot of improvising," he said. "It was sort of a little challenge.
I try to stress to the clients that even if the computer is not doing what
you want it to do, it's your job to make it do what you want it to do."
Elaine Morgan, a blind Lighthouse staffer who teaches Braille, is studying
for a master's degree at Florida Atlantic University. She scans textbooks
into the computer, then uses the voice program to read them. She takes
notes with a modified palm-top computer that reads what she types. She even
has her own Web page.
Computer literacy "is what enabled me to go back to school," Morgan said.
Computer knowledge can help reduce the high unemployment rate of blind
people.
"Braille and computers are the ticket to a job," Morgan said.
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