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http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/wr/story.html?s=v/nm/19990203/wr/ibm_1.html

Yahoo! News | Technology Headlines
Wednesday February 3 11:25 AM ET

        IBM Reaches Out To Blind With Talking Web Browser


SOMERS, N.Y. (Reuters) - IBM Wednesday unveiled a talking web
browser, opening the windows of the World Wide Web for blind and
visually impaired computer users.

The world's largest computer maker said the new software, Home
Page Reader for Windows, provides Internet access by speaking
aloud the information found on a Web site.

The software retails for $149 and is available in English, along
with the product's original Japanese version.

The software was developed with the help of a blind researcher
from IBM's Tokyo Research Laboratory.

Versions in other languages will be released this year.

More than 850,000 individuals in the U.S. are blind, according
to the National Federation of the Blind.

Home Page Reader uses IBM's ViaVoice Outloud U.S. English
text-to-speech technology and Netscape Communications Corp.
(Nasdaq:NSCP - news)'s Navigator to speak Web-based information.
A simple keypad allows blind users to interact with their
computers and easily navigate the Internet, IBM said.


    Copyright (c) 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.


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