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Low Vision AidsWhich low vision aids best suit an individual is dependent on their own specific diagnosis and preferences. Large well spaced print can be helpful to some people with aniridia. large print is considered to be anything above 14pt. some people will prefer a font size larger than this. People with low vision tend to prefer type faces such as Arial. Another good font is APHont, a type face which was designed specifically for visually impaired readers. You can download APHont free at http://www.aph.org/products/aphont.html Paper should be nonreflective, and the colour of the paper and the letters should contrast well (e.g. white paper black letters).At School Work sheets, copies of teachers notes when the student is unable to see the white/black board and over head projector sheets should be available in the student's preferred format. magnifying glassesMany people with low vision use magnifine glasses to read. These come in all shapes, sizes, and strengths. Monoculars and BinocularsBinoculars and monoculars can help visually impaired people see long distances. Here are some examples of when a monocular can be useful. Reading the text about displayed items for example in museums
CCTVCCTV is a special TV that you place your books under and it magnifies your pages. A CCTV can be helpful for reading particularly reading small print, accounting and other math work and map reading. Audio books and spoken informationAudio books can be a benefit as the do not require the reader to concerate hard of the words on a page. They can also be good for bedtime long journeys. Audio books can be used in a few different ways. 1) Just listening to the book. This may be the technic used if it is a book for leisure rather than a class. 2) If you find it hard to concentrate on listening to what is being said for long periods of time, stop the tape every once in awhile and review what is being said. 3) It might be helpful to get a cope of the printed text and read as you listen, this will help you focus while and the tape means to do have to concerntrate to much on where you are in the book. 4) If you find it difficult to read with the tape, try a doodle pad. It would helpful if you draw pictures related to what is being said or patterns that don't have meaning. 5) If it is for a class it might be helpful to take notes while listening The best way to keep your consentration of an audio book is to pick a book you enjoy. If what is being said isn't keeping you interested in listening it is possibly because you don't like the writing style of the author, the way it is spoken by the reader or you are not interested in the subject matter. There are many different audio libaries around the world for print impaired people. Here are a few. Some Give their members tape recorders so they can listen to them. Another idea is to use readers especially if you are a university student or some who needs to read a lot of information. ComputersA scanner can be helpful in that text and images can be scanned into a computer on which the user can choose how large they want the print or image, or they can have to computer read the text to them (if they have a screen reader facility) Srceen Magnifiers are programs which increase the size of either the whole screen, making only part of the srceen visable at an one time, or part of the screen, for example the area around the mouse. This is good when the person has some vision, but needs to sit back from the computer to maintain good posture. Screen readers are computer programs that either speak the whole screen, i.e. menus, and window text, or parts of the screen that the user indicates. Some programmes are a combination of the two, some are designed mainly for people with some sight who want a reader just for back up. Others are designed for people who find speech more usual. This type of software can be expensive, so you may want to try a screen reader before you buy. The Screen Magnifiers is a good website to learn more about accessible technology. There are also keyboard commands that can be used so that you can nagivate around the computer without using the mouse. Find out more about low vision products and services from the Aniridia Directory low vision page. |