How Do Computers Help the Deaf and Blind?

Computers help the deaf and blind communicate.

Individuals who are deaf, blind or both use modern technology to help them access materials and communicate with others. There are computers and modern software that translate spoken words into Braille using plug-in refreshable Braille displays and speak for those who cannot, allowing the deaf and blind to read or hear online materials, participate in discussions and start spontaneous conversations with ease.

Talking Computers

In 1998, the researcher Krista Caudill at the University of Delaware who is deaf and blind began developing portable computers that speak the words she types. Since then, many computers have been made with speech synthesizers that talk, so blind users can listen to emails and online newspaper articles being read, among other things. Although in the past, computer voices sounded robotic, modern developers are working to make computer voices sound more human-like, according to "Scientific American," thereby giving the blind the most enjoyable auditory experience.

Hearing Computers

Caudill's systems and subsequent systems help the deaf communicate with others by deciphering the speaker's words and presenting them on the screen for the deaf individual to read. The deaf can then type messages, which the computer will play out loud for the listener to hear. Caudill points out that this aids students, such as herself, who rely on sign language and find spontaneous communication with nonsigners challenging. It also helps deaf students read lectures and communicate with their instructors during class time.

Braille Translation

Some blind individuals are also deaf and rely on Braille to read messages. Caudill developed software that translated words on the computer into Braille, which users can read using a specially designed display board called a refreshable Braille display. This allows those who are both deaf and blind to use the computer. In addition, this aids in human-to-human communication, as the computer can take the spoken words of one individual and translate them into Braille for the deaf-blind individual.

Braille Display

The refreshable Braille display is a device that deaf-blind individuals can buy and plug in to their computers with a cable. It has small metal or plastic pins that move into position to form Braille letters, which users then feel and read with their fingertips. The device translates text on the computer screen into Braille letters on the refreshable Braille display, as Accessible Technology director Sheryl Burgstahler, PhD, at the University of Washington explains. This computer addition allows the blind, and particularly the deaf-blind, to read from their computers using Braille.

Braille Products

Although the majority of blind individuals who use computers use keyboards without Braille, keyboards exist that include Braille lettering. Specially designed Braille printers allow blind users to print documents from their computers in Braille, as these printers punch the raised letters into thick paper. Burgstahler points out that for blind students who need to access syllabi and educational journals, some scanners now upload materials onto the computers and translate them into Braille, allowing blind students to read the documents on their computers with refreshable Braille displays or print hard-copy versions in Braille using Braille printers.

References

• Science Daily: Computer Interface To Help Deaf-Blind Community
• "Scientific American": Making Computers Talk
• University of Washington: Working Together: People With Disabilities and Computer Technology
• Deafblind: Information About Deafblindness
• American Foundation for the Blind: Refreshable Braille Display