Kurzweil 1000 and JAWS essentially you have 2 people talking.
We have Brad, who is visually challenged testing this out, but so far he
turns off JAWS and allows Kurzweil 1000 to do the audio output.

You could however , safe the converted file as text and use JAWS to open it
and bypass the audio out put of Kurzweil 1000.

We will be doing more experimenting and documentation this summer.

Kathy Konicek




>Could you comment on the use of Kurzweil 1000 and JAWS?  I'm interested in
>any discussion offered.
>
>Chris Bloss
>Assistant Professor and
>Instructional Services Librarian
>I.D. Weeks Library
>University of South Dakota
>Vermillion, SD 57069
>(605) 677-6615
>
>"When you absolutely positively need to know, ask a librarian."
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Kathy Konicek
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Sent: 4/20/2002 10:19 AM
>Subject: Omnipage
>
> >In researching PDF conversion, Omnipage 11 did come up as a possibility
> >for conversion of image pdf to text and audio
> >output.  Canada's  Accessibility organization gave it good reviews as
>well
> >as an OCR expert.
>
>
> >We choose to try Kurzweil 1000 due to the flexibility in licensing and
>a
> >few other issues. Testing Omnipage 11 along side Kurzweil 1000 is
> >something we may still be considering.  IF we have the resources this
> >avenue may be pursued.
>
>
> >  I would be interested in any one's comments who are using Omnipage 11
> > for the purpose of imaged based PDF conversions to OCR.-success or
>lack of.
>
>
>Kathy Konicek
>
>
> >Hi Axel,
> >
> >Yep to your first question. This is how it works:
> >
> >1. We open the E-Reserve PDF reading in Acrobat reader and check the
> >quality and the formating.
> >
> >2. Save the Pdf file to the hard disk.
> >
> >3. Open Omnipage 11 and set it to load file (as opposed to scan) - set
> >the formating to columns tables etc - and point it to the pdf file and
> >it OCRs page by page the images.
> >
> >4. Once the text has been extracted it can be read at a basic level
> >using the speech output built into omnipage 11 (very basic though) or
>be
> >saved as a WORDPAD RTF file for export to other programs like k3000 or
> >JAWS etc.
> >
> >This method seems to work well but is obviously not as good as being
> >able to extract text from within a program like K1000. I have been
> >assure by staf at Kurzweil that the K3000 will have this PDF facility
> >soon.
> >
> >Hope this helps.
> >
> >Trevor
> >
> >Trevor Wilks - Manager
> >Adaptive Technology Centre
> >Student Support Services
> >Student, Alumni and Community Services
> >University Services
> >Auchmuty Library
> >University of Newcastle
> >University Drive Callaghan
> >NSW 2308 Australia
> >Ph-02 49218684
> >Mobile-0418 753739
> >Fax-02 49217410
> >Email- [log in to unmask]
> >
> > >>> [log in to unmask] 04/17/02 09:22am >>>
> >Hi Trevor,
> >
> >I'm, once again, a bit puzzled, and I would like to ask you for some
> >clarification: What exactly did you mean by "Omnipage 11 ... will OCR
>an
> >image only PDF file."
> >
> >1. Can Omnipage access an image-only PDF file directly--without any
> >intermediate steps involving a printer and scanner?
> >
> >2. Or is Omnipage's access to image-only PDF files more indirect: first
> >print it and then OCR the print-out it as it is being scanned?
> >
> >3. Or is there a third meaning to what you said?
> >
> >The reason I'm asking is the response I got from a colleague to whom I
> >forwarded your contribution:
> >
> >She and her colleagues had looked closely at both Omnipage and Kurzweil
> >1000 and found that Omnipage is *not* similar to Kurzweil 1000 in the
> >way they are using it: They use Kurzweil 1000 without any scanner; they
> >have Kurzweil 1000 take an electronic image-only PDF file, OCR it and
> >audio-output the text. In my colleague's view, you can't do this with
> >Omnipage (not without a scanner).
> >
> >I look forward to your clarification.
> >
> >Axel
> >
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Trevor Wilks [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> >Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 12:50 AM
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: Docutek's electronic reserve product (ERes)--update
> >
> >Hi Axel,
> >
> >Our E-reserve just uses PDF format. Last year this was really
> >problematic and we had to test the Acrobat 5.0 OCR plug-in (Paper
> >Capture 3.0) which was a unsuitable both to students and Library staff.
> >
> >This year we purchased Omnipage 11 which will OCR an image only PDF
>file
> >and we teach students to do this themselves. Its not always very
> >accurate depending on the quality of the original scanned material but
> >it seems to be working quite well.
> >
> >Trevor
> >
> >Trevor Wilks - Manager
> >Adaptive Technology Centre
> >Student Support Services
> >Student, Alumni and Community Services
> >University Services
> >Auchmuty Library
> >University of Newcastle
> >University Drive Callaghan
> >NSW 2308 Australia
> >Ph-02 49218684
> >Mobile-0418 753739
> >Fax-02 49217410
> >Email- [log in to unmask]
> >
> >Trevor Wilks - Manager
> >Adaptive Technology Centre
> >Student Support Services
> >Student, Alumni and Community Services
> >University Services
> >Auchmuty Library
> >University of Newcastle
> >University Drive Callaghan
> >NSW 2308 Australia
> >Ph-02 49218684
> >Mobile-0418 753739
> >Fax-02 49217410
> >Email- [log in to unmask]
> >
> > >>> [log in to unmask] 04/13/02 08:38am >>>
> >Hi there,
> >
> >Electronic library reserve systems continue to be a very problematic
> >with regard to accessibility. When, last fall, I talked to a
> >representative of Docutek, which I believe to be the leading company in
> >this area, my assessment of the situation was that this company has so
> >far not undertaken substantial efforts to make its products accessible.
> >In response to my recent inquiry (a few days ago), the Docutek rep
> >provided me with the attached document (a word doc containing a table).
> >It appears that Docutek has undertaken major steps towards compliance
> >with the Access Board standards with their e-reserve product (even
> >though the company's web site continues to be utterly inaccessible).
> >
> >Have any of you any comments on the accessibility of Docutek's ERes
> >product or of e-reserve systems in general?
> >
> >Greetings,
> >
> >Axel
> >
> >
> >PS: In my response to the Docutek rep, I included the following points:
> >
> >1. Would you please let me know when your company will have completed
> >the process of adding (meaningful) alt tags to non-text elements?
> >
> >2. 3. Unfortunately, your website itself is fraud with accessibility
> >problems. Users with screen readers are likely to hear the following
>(or
> >something similar to it):
> >
> >[INLINE] [LINK]
> >    [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE]
> >    [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE]
> >    [INLINE] [INLINE]
> >    [INLINE] [LINK] [INLINE] [LINK] [INLINE] [LINK] [INLINE] [LINK]
> >[INLINE] [LINK] [INLINE] [INLINE]
> >    [INLINE] [INLINE]
> >    [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE] [INLINE]
> >    [LINK]
> >    [INLINE]
> >    [LINK] [LINK]
> >    [INLINE]
> >    [INLINE]
> >    [LINK]
> >    Join the Docutek User Group! To join, simply send email to
> >    [log in to unmask] with the word Subscribe in the subject line.
> >      Copyright 2001-02: Docutek Information Systems, Inc.  All Rights
> >    Reserved.  [LINK]
> >
> >May I point out that the accessibility of a company's web site is taken
> >by me, and by many of my colleagues, as a first indication of how
> >serious this company is about accessibility for all.
> >
> >3. I'm still concerned about the optional DocuFax module. Speaking as a
> >librarian, and in general terms, any attempt to create a fully
> >accessible information system needs to consider not only the
> >accessibility of the web pages that lead up to the ultimately desired
> >information resource but also the accessibility of the information
> >resource itself. For e-reserves (and your product is no exception in
> >this regard), this is a big problem. Solutions are not that easy to
>come
> >by. (I don't think that fax-based systems could be part of the
> >solution.) But one thing, I believe, is for sure: Especially in an
> >environment that is more and more shaped by federal accessibility
> >requirements under Section 508 (in addition to ADA), the companies that
> >will develop a solution are going to have the edge over their
> >competitors (unless they do not care about doing business with the
> >feds).
> >
> >
> >
> >**********************************
> >Axel Schmetzke, Ph.D.
> >Associate Professor
> >Library
> >University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
> >900 Reserve
> >Stevens Point, WI 54481
> >[log in to unmask]
> >Tel: 715-346-4658