The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘Excel’ing in accounts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘Excel’ing in accounts

Staff Reporter

JAWS comes to the aid of visually-challenged persons

JAWS opens knowledge vistas for the visually-challenged
Kurzweil used to convert the printed word into speech

Photo: Nagara Gopal

Helpful Mate: A student of Devnar School for the Blind getting savvy with the computer. -

HYDERABAD: T. Rajasekhar Reddy is an ambitious youth determined to become a chartered accountant. He already finished professional competency course which is a pre-requisite for entering the Intermediate level of chartered accountancy. During the initial days, he found accounts and related subjects extremely difficult, not because he lacked in numerical ability, but due to his blindness.

“I carried a tape recorder to the classroom sessions. Listening to the recorder was my revision. While my classmates listened to the lecture only once, I could gain an edge over them by carrying it home,” he chuckles. However, that edge was not possible with accounts because the subject required one to solve various difficult problems to gain mastery.

That was when JAWS came to his rescue. An acronym of ‘Job Access with Speech’, it is a software to assist visually-challenged persons to work on Windows operating system. With each instruction and action clearly voiced out, the operating system is customised to the needs of the visually-challenged.

Problem solving

“I started using Excel sheet supported by JAWS to solve problems in accounts. Now, I am confident that I will be able to become a chartered accountant,” says Rajasekhar.

JAWS is one among the innumerable technological innovations opening the knowledge vistas for the visually-challenged. “We use about 20 such software applications in our school,” claims A. Saibaba Goud, Chairman of Devnar Foundation for the Blind.

Kurzweil is used to convert the printed word into speech. It reads the scanned print and converts it word by word. Open Book is Kurzweil’s improved version.

Zoom Text is an application to magnify the screen for a person with low vision while Magic Book is its improved version.

Maths Talk along with Scientific Note Book allows the user to learn about mathematical equations and also to create them by voice. TGD Pro is tactile software that assists the user to import graphics and maps or create them.

Text format

Printing dot-to-dot copies of Braille documents is now possible with Braille embossers. The copies can be scanned back into text format for a normal person through Optical Braille Recognition software. Mount Battern is an electronic variant of Perkins Brailler, a Braille typewriter.

Translation of voluminous books into Braille is an ordeal now effortlessly achieved by technological development. Duxbury Braille Translator and Win Braille are used to convert large data, whether from word processors, scanner or Internet, into Braille format.

“We use latest licensed software, whether donated or procured. Scanning text books and converting them into Braille format are done regularly. The aim is to put technological advancement to the best use,” Saibaba says.

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