In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

A MICROCOMPUTER-BASED ELECTRONIC DICTIONARY FOR BLIND PERSONS Alan G. Law and Glen D. Sandness Lexicographical information has been available in some written or printed form, to various groups in society, for several centuries. During the last few decades, probably all individuals in our society acquire some printed form of a dictionary early in their lives and, in fact, expect ready availability of a substantial (printed) data base through any school or library as well. With recent advances in computer-assisted editing and typesetting, complete and affordable dictionaries are widely available to any conventional user. Over the coming decades, the impact of computer-based technology and application is expected to play a fundamental role in the collection, publication, and use of lexicographical information. The evolution is, perhaps, well illustrated by the recent New OED project. With the traditional printed form, or even such an evolving electronic form, however, the needs of blind or visually handicapped users have, or can be, overlooked. There have been several laudable attempts in recent years to provide some dictionary facilities for unsighted persons in various ways: with the traditional paper medium, a Braille dictionary has been available in institutional environments for some time. Typically, this is a twenty-eight volume set that is expensive to acquire and bulky to store and whose use requires that a skill in at least minimal grade 2 Braille be maintained. With recent electronic technology, devices such as the Kurzweil reader have become available, too; this is expensive but effective hardware that can optically scan a printed page and convert the information to intelligible speech by means of a voice synthesizer. Recently, as well, we have seen the development of a fifty-five cassette form of a voice-indexed dictionary system, from Houghton-Mifflin's Concise Heritage Dictionary, through NLS/BPH of the U. S. Library of Congress. Each of these systems meets some, but not all, of the important requirements of a dictionary for blind persons: i.e., one that not only provides precise definitions, but 246 Alan G. Law and Glen D. Sandness247 permits convenient "browsing" for seeking/checking spellings of entries, without a need for specialized user skills or support. This paper describes just such a system developed at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan. The hardware is the commonly-available Commodore 64 microcomputer; the input device is the standard QWERTY keyboard, and the output medium is synthesized voice. The Mathesis Group at the University of Regina is an informal R&D group that adapts off-the-shelf, readily-available technology to expand educational or vocational opportunities for handicapped persons. Various programs during the last four years have included a micro-based system to support physically-simple, algebraic practice and manipulation, graphic and voice-synthesized support for Pictogram Ideogram Communication with mentally handicapped persons, and computer-voice support for tackling learning and practice in a first programming course. Funding agencies have included the Government of Saskatchewan, the Canadian Federal Government, and Provincial volunteer organizations. The microcomputer-based dictionary for blind persons has been under development for three years, with considerable input from sighted and non-sighted university students. The project, supported primarily by the I.O.D.E. organization in Canada, evolved from other Mathesis developmental work, through much interaction with students and professional individuals for identifying common uses and needs of persons wanting to employ a dictionary on a day-to-day basis. Major individuals' requirements of any lexicographical data base facility include a need to: (a) learn a correct pronunciation, (b) learn definitions, (c) browse for checking prospective spelling of a word, and (d) browse for seeking correct spellings. To develop a micro-based dictionary system to meet these needs for blind persons required considerable analysis, investigation, and consultation. A small experimental pilot system was first devised in BASIC on a SuperPET using a Votrax Type 'N Talk Synthesizer, since these pieces of equipment were already available within the Mathesis Group's 248 An Electronic Dictionary for Blind Persons environment at the University. This pilot provided much valuable experience and knowledge, and several important criteria were identified for the subsequent developmental hardware system: 1.It should use off-the-shelf and widelyavailable hardware. 2.It should be...

pdf

Share