Like speech recognition software, OCR software is far from perfect. Add a scanner, and you're set. The needs of blind or vision-impaired users entail different technologies. AI Squared Inc. of Manchester, VT, is among those companies making adaptive technology products vendors for vision-impaired users. A research and resource center focused on technology and disability, it is part of the Waisman Center and the Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Vision impairment includes poor eyesight, blindness and dyslexia.
To some extent, the category includes most workers more than about 50 years old. Add to the category color blindness, which affects about 5 percent of the population and 10 percent of males at any age. It's a fact most software and Web designers ignore. According to The Lighthouse Inc. of NY, a vision rehabilitation organization founded in 1906, more than 10 million Americans have low vision, and 35 million have a diminished ability to distinguish between colors. No special adaptive technology is needed to make some aspects of the world of computers more accessible.