Campus News - May 8, 2000

Alice Clark Room gives voice to the Internet
Visually impaired use software to listen to web text

By Carolyn Gonzales

PHOTO BY CAROLYN GONZALES Student Bruce A. Mattison in the Alice Clark Room. For a virtual tour of the room, visit http://www.unm.edu/~wzahner/alice.html.

For visually impaired students a quiet study space isn’t only important, it’s critical. These students use the Alice Clark Room in Zimmerman Library to listen to taped lectures, check a fact in a cassette version of the World Book Encyclopedia and even use Internet terminals equipped with JAWS or Windows Eyes, special software that provides a voice synthesized version of information presented on a computer screen. Bruce Alan Mattison, a visually impaired student in University College who is interested in pursuing a computing degree, says that the technology has come a long way. “We used to rely on Braille or readers – one volume is large, not easy to carry around. Other products like Reading Edge scan print and synthesize speech, but with JAWS and Windows Eyes, I can also use the Internet,” he says.

Both JAWS and Windows Eyes are expensive, about $800 for either software package, but they eliminate the need for additional sound systems because they operate off a sound card installed in the PC.

Mattison says that voice synthesizers usually produce approximately 200 words per minute (wpm). “Typical speaking speed is about 175 wpm, and with the synthesizers, the user has to adjust to the different synthesized voices themselves. With JAWS and Windows Eyes, you can adjust the speed as you become familiar with the particular voice,” he says.
As a student, this method of study requires more time. “Generally, professors will say that a student needs to put in 2 to 3 hours for every hour in class. Blind students need to put in 4 to 6 hours for every hour in class,” he says. Because of the concentration required to study this way, Mattison says, “External noise is very distracting. I do most of my studying here (Alice Clark Room) because they have the equipment and the quiet space I need.”

Mattison says that the libraries are crucial for students with many disabilities – those who are dyslexic and who are reading impaired use the facilities in Zimmerman. “Bill Zahner (assistant head of access services) says that the money for the new computer equipment in the Alice Clark Room came from library technology enhancement funds. Because there isn’t much commercial need for these types of special equipment, they are expensive. It’s all supply and demand. Fortunately, the library has invested in the equipment and the space because those services aren’t readily available across campus,” he says, adding that currently there are no CIRT pods set up with the necessary equipment, and the pod in Student Support Services is very heavily used.

As the use of Braille diminishes – the paper can only be punched on one side, making each volume large and unwieldy – students and other visually impaired people are relying more on electronic means of information access. Even other methods previously used, large print and opaque projectors, don’t provide the freedom of use electronic means offer. Mattison says, “The more the University accommodates the needs of the special student, the greater the numbers of these students who will choose UNM.”

Return to Index

The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico USA Copyright ©1998 The University of New Mexico. Comments to: paaffair@unm.edu

Campus News Public Affairs Department 700 Lomas NE, Two Woodward Building Suite 201 Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011 Telephone: (505) 277-5813, Fax: (505) 277-1981