Ginger Spell on Disability 411

Several years ago, I read a passage that has stuck with me and become my own day-to-day mantra: “There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. It is only when we fail to learn the lesson that a mistake occurs.”

That thought also echoes the adage of, “If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got.”

With those ideas in mind, let me ask a question. What do we learn from proofreading with a spellchecker? When we use most spellcheckers, we get the screen popping up the correct spelling of words, one word at a time, with no real feedback on what we’re doing wrong. If we’re not learning from our mistakes, er lessons, then we are destined to repeat them.

So, how about a spellchecker designed not to look at just the single word and be a preventative measure, like most are today, but instead, looks at the whole sentence and contextual use of the word, and seeks to teach the user where he is making errors?
And, what if this novel idea worked as a plug in for Microsoft Word, easily the most-used word processing program?
And, best yet, what if it were free?

If this sounds like an interesting tool, then check out the latest episode of the
Disability 411 podcast.
In Episode 58, Beth interviews Miki Feldman-Simon of
Ginger Software,
The company which has developed Ginger Spell, the very spellchecker that I just described above. It is marketed for being a “new technology for people with dyslexia.”

It doesn’t correct just spelling mistakes. It also corrects misused words, basically words that are spelled correctly but not in that context. How we do it is we look at the context of the sentence. The software uses breakthrough technology that looks at the context of each sentence and works out what the writer or the user was trying to write according to the context.

At the moment we correct spelling and misused words, but in the beginning of next year we’ll also be correcting grammatical errors which will make a huge difference to people making not just spelling mistakes but say, people for whom English is a second language who make a lot of grammatical errors.

What the software also does by correcting the whole sentence, it’s making the whole way people work a lot more efficient. Instead of going back and looking word by word, it is much faster to correct full sentences. So, if it takes someone an hour to write, and this is the feedback we’re getting from users right now, instead of it taking them a half an hour or an hour to write a few sentences before, it’s very quick and very efficient. you click one button and it corrects all of the mistakes within that sentence. You click another button, it corrects all the misused words and you just continue working.

It’s just a much better way to use the time and the accuracy is a lot higher than any other spell checker. If you really have difficulty writing and you make unusual spelling mistakes, which a lot of people who have learning difficulties or who have dyslexia do, normal spell checkers can’t correct the unusual mistakes that they make. Our software, because it looks at the context of the sentence can correct these unusual mistakes at the sentence level. It’s much more accurate and it’s much faster and easier to use.

The learning of lessons comes in reports that Ginger Spell will generate. This is where Ginger Spell is different by offering lessons, not mistakes. The user can learn where and how he is creating errors and, once these areas are identified, can work to fix these in the future.

To use the Ginger Spell plug in, the user will need to set up a log in account. That lets the program generate the individual report for that particular user, which can make this a very useful tool for university writing labs, or even for student computers operated by the DSO.

Does this sound like an interesting tool? Check out the link above for the D411 show for more of the interview with Miki. Also, go to the Ginger Software page to download and try out Ginger Spell for yourself.

And, remember…, no more mistakes, only lessons.

Ghotit offers free tool for students with dyslexia

Get it? Ghotit? Good!

The
Ghotit
software is a free application, which is web-based for now, and may be useful for students with dyslexia or related disabilities.

Ghotit offers unique writing and reading online services for people who suffer from dyslexia, dysgraphia or people who are not native-English speakers.

The program appears to be a souped-up spellchecker. The designers are continuing to implement advances under the hood to make the application more robust. Recent additions to the features of this browser-based application include compatibility with Apple’s Safari 3.1 browser and text-to-Speech service. (At this time, the TTS is only availble using the Internet Explorer browser.)

And,
A Ghotit plug-in version,
is coming soon which will let the tool run within the application the student is using, instead of requiring a browser window to be open as well. According to information he’s received from the developer, Lon Thornburg reports that this version will be free as well. (See Lon’s post for more information on how to obtain this future version at no cost.)

Code Factory releases DAISY reader for Symbian mobile phones, includes 30-day free demo

Wow! The tech staff at Code Factory never slow down. They've released a DAISY reader for mobile phones such as those from Nokia that are running the Symbian operating system. They promise that a version is on the way for Windows Mobile as well.

This news is a great innovation in several aspects.

1. Allows people with print disabilities the ability to access DAISY documents and books on their mobile phone without needing to purchase some other, free standing hardware device


2. one of the most usable features the product offers students is it allows them to place bookmarks for specific locations, including the ability to include voice annotations to accompany the bookmark


3. Does not require a screen reader to operate, but does work in conjunction with either the Mobile Speaks screen reader or those produced by other companies
4. Includes adjustable font and color configurations, maximizing usability by users who are dyslexic


5. Automatic unpacking of books from Bookshare.org, eliminating the need for a seperate unpacking utility.

Below is the Code Factory press release which I've copied from the email announcement. Or, go to the
Code Factory page
for a version that includes working links.


--
Caroline Ragot - Marketing Director
Tel. +34 93 733 70 66 - marketing@codefactory.es
Mobile DAISY Player V2.0
Mobile DAISY Player V2.0, the only DAISY Book reader for Symbian 9 Phones is available!
Download the free trial
Barcelona (Terrassa), August 8th, 2008
Code Factory, the world's mobile accessibility provider, today announced the release of version 2.0 of Mobile DAISY Player, the only DAISY reader to work with mainstream mobile phones.

This release is just one more way in which Code Factory shows its commitment to enabling reading on a mobile device as an easy and pleasurable experience.

"We at Code Factory have always realized that mobile devices have the potential to give blind and visually impaired users unprecedented access to reading material wherever they are”, explains Eduard Sánchez, Code Factory's CEO. "Mobile DAISY Player has a unique role to play in allowing access to books from many different sources on many different mobile phones. A short time ago, a blind or visually impaired user was at a distinct disadvantage in that he/she had to carry large Braille volumes, many cassette tapes, or a specialized player if he/she wished to read on the go. With Mobile DAISY Player, however, a blind or visually impaired user, with a DAISY book, has an even more portable method of reading than his/her sighted colleagues, since he/she can carry many books on a mobile phone which he/she would be carrying in any case."



Why is Mobile DAISY Player unique?


• Mobile DAISY Player V2.0 is the only accessible application which reads DAISY books on Symbian Mobile Phones. A version compatible with Windows Mobile devices will soon be released.

• Reading books in Mobile DAISY Player V2.0 is very easy: simply create a folder on the memory card, usually known as (E:), called "books", and copy each of the books into a subfolder of that books folder. Book content is generally either downloaded from the web or available on CD, in either case, copy all of the book contents into the destination folder.

• Includes support for DAISY 2.0 and 3.0 formats, allowing access to a wider variety of content and providers.

• Automatic unpacking of Bookshare.org books, making it unnecessary to install and run a separate application just to decompress Bookshare files.

• You can record your own voice annotations as bookmarks within the content. These voice notes will appear in the bookmark list, and the sound recordings will be heard automatically when the book is in normal playback mode.

• Configurable font sizes and screen colors have also been implemented to provide maximum readability of on-screen text, especially for dyslexic persons.

• Mobile DAISY Player can be used with or without Code Factory’s world-leading screen reader, Mobile Speak. When combined with Mobile Speak, Mobile DAISY Player becomes a fully-accessible e-book solution, providing speech feedback of the screen prompts and menus as well as speaking the book contents. For those users who do not need a full-fledged screen reader, Mobile DAISY Player can still take advantage of the Nokia’s built-in text-to-speech support on S60 phones to read text content. In either case, Mobile DAISY Player is an independent product, and is licensed separately from Mobile Speak.

• Two modes of navigation: the normal reading mode and the virtual cursor mode. The normal reading mode is active when the book is in continuous playback mode, and is playing either audio or text content. When playback is paused, the virtual cursor mode is active, allowing you to navigate the text content of the book, if any, using the screen reader.

• Rewind and forward in cassette or digital mode.

• Mobile DAISY Player can be used with other screen readers, although other screen readers may not offer the same level of integration as Mobile Speak, particularly when reading text books. For example, all of the normal screen prompts and menus will be accessible within Mobile DAISY Player. However, other screen readers may not recognize the book text as a special type of content, and may attempt to read it at the same time as Mobile DAISY Player. For this reason, we recommend that users of other screen readers temporarily mute speech while in book reading mode, and then resume speaking when switching to other applications or when using the application menus. Mobile Speak does recognize the book contents and will mute itself automatically during playback.



Apart from all these unique features, Mobile DAISY Player V2.0 also includes:


• Variable playback speed allowing audio content to be reproduced faster or slower than the speed at which it was recorded without changing the sound’s pitch.

• Variable navigation levels (e.g.: by chapter and/or by page).

• Quick and easy navigation to any point in the book.

• Support for text-only, audio-only, or mixed-mode books.

• Ability to set bookmarks to favorite places in the content.

• Auto-bookmark and resume to last point in the book.

• Variable volume level.

• Customizable Text-To-Speech support via Mobile Speak.


Mobile DAISY Player 2.0 supports the following Nokia Symbian 9 phones: 3250, 5320, 5500 Sport, 5700 Xpress Music, 6110 Navigator, 6120 Classic, 6121 Classic, 6124, 6210, 6220, 6290, E50, E51, E60, E61, E61i, E62, E65, E66, E70, E71, E90 Communicator, N71, N73, N75, N76, N77, N78, N80, N81, N82, N91, N92, N93, N93i, N95, N95 8GB, N96.



Visit http://www.codefactory.es/downloads and install Mobile DAISY Player on your mobile phone and it will automatically work free for 30 days. While using a trial license, you cannot change the date or the time of the phone. Changing the date or time will automatically lock the trial license, without any chance to recover it. Please make sure that the time and date are set correctly on the phone before installing the software.


To buy Mobile DAISY Player, contact your closest distributor:
http://www.codefactory.es/en/purchase.asp?id=54


Don’t miss the Reading on the go competition, more than $20000 worth of prizes to be divided among ten winners. To learn more go to http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=251. To join the competition, go to
http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=251. To join the competition, go to http://www.codefactory.es/contest .
http://www.codefactory.es/contest .



About Code Factory
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Terrassa/Barcelona, Spain, Code Factory is the global leader committed to the development of products designed to eliminate barriers to the accessibility of mobile technology for the blind and visually impaired. Today, Code Factory is the leading provider of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and Braille interfaces for the widest range of mainstream mobile devices including Symbian-based and Windows Mobile-powered Smartphones as well as Pocket PC phones and PDAs. Its product line is the only one to support phones working on the GSM, CDMA and WCDMA networks. Code Factory's success lies in giving excellent customer support and in responding immediately to the needs of its end users.

Among Code Factory’s customers are well known organizations like ONCE, and carriers such as TMN, Vodafone, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and AT&T. The company also collaborated with leading TTS providers and Braille manufacturers, thus enabling Code Factory to provide excellent text-to-speech technology in many languages for Mobile Speak products, and to incorporate support for over twenty wireless Braille devices into the software.





For more information, feel free to contact Code Factory S.L.:


Code Factory, S.L., Rambla d'Egara 148 2-2, 08221 Terrassa (Barcelona)
Tel. +34 93 733 70 66, info@codefactory.es, www.codefactory.es
Code Factory, S.L. - 2008

Interesting, intriguing interview with Ray Kurzweil

It is early on Saturday morning and I’m buzzing. No, it’s not due to the second cup of coffee I’m enjoying right now. I awoke around 3 a.m. and tried without success to go back to sleep. Resigned to staying awake for a while, I grabbed the TV remote and began flipping through programs. There were a number of news talk shows airing the latest flap in the Democratic Presidential race and I finally found an episode of The Brady Bunch to dull my senses, hoping to relax me back to sleep. However, when that show ended, it was 4 a.m. and I began surfing channels again.

I then stumbled upon a program that instantly energized me. When I heard the host say that he had been trying to get his next guest on for the last ten years, I became curious. But, when he announced his guest’s name, I knew I was going to be up for awhile and was beyond going back to sleep. I got up and put on the coffee so that I could take it all in.

I’ll bet that my ears visibly jumped. I was immediately pumped up when I heard that Ray Kurzweil was the guest on the
Glenn Beck show
on CNN Headline News. This was a repeat of the show's original broadcast from the night before, Friday, May 30, 2008.

I don’t know if CNN airs entire one-hour shows such as Beck’s online, but if they don’t, they should make an exception for this one. It is a riveting exchange with this fascinating man. However, if you missed the program and cannot see it in any re-airing, you can
Read the show’s transcripts here.

If you are not familiar with his name, Kurzweil is an author, inventor, futurist, and man of many other appropriate titles, but most of all, I believe that he’s one of the smartest men of our time. His name is synonymous with assistive technology. One of the first pieces of AT that I purchased was a Kurzweil Reading Edge, a stand alone optical character recognition (OCR) scanner that sold for more than $5,000 in late 1994. I remember that being the year when I made that purchase, because I made it shortly after leaving the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center, which is where I first learned about that innovative machine.

Kurzweil is in high demand as a speaker at numerous conferences and events whose subjects range on a variety of issues from music to science. While the conferences might vary, his focus always centers on information technology. If you didn’t catch it in my recent post, He was one of the two noted keynote speakers at this year’s CSUN.

I mentioned that I had purchased my Reading Edge in 1994. That might have sounded like cutting edge technology for that year, but that invention was actually already two decades old at that time. Kurzweil invented the world’s first character recognition machine that was the size of a washing machine and sold the first model in 1976. Watch the interview or read that transcript to hear how that whole idea evolved. I think you’ll find it interesting.

(Extra credit if you can guess the name of the first customer of this product. Read to the end of this post for the answer.)

Later in the Beck show, Kurzweil demonstrated the latest incarnation of his reading machine, the
KNFB Reader.
He scans a document and lets the product do its thing, reading on the show for the entire world to see and hear. Kurzweil does promote the KNFB Reader for its dual purposes of assisting people who are both blind/visually impaired and dyslexic. To emphasize this aspect, he shows the phone’s screen to demonstrate how the words being read from the scanned document are highlighted, and how the highlights move as the speech progresses.

Thing about what that says. From a behemoth, washing machine model to a four-ounce cell phone that can be held in the palm of your hand in just over 30 years…Wow!

To understand the evolution of that OCR system is to understand most of what Kurzweil discusses. Exponential growth is key to understanding how things evolve in our world. Kurzweil is a highly intelligent man, but in this interview, he doesn’t come across as an overly intellectual person speaking in language that the layperson can’t understand. With Beck providing the questions, Kurzweil explains his understanding of life and technology in very understandable terms.

Don’t even get the idea that Kurzweil is one-dimensional. Kurzweil speaks of many things during this program and assistive technology is just one of them. I mentioned that he is a futurist. Don’t confuse that with some flaky person who says they are a fortuneteller. Futurists examine history, technology, and trends on several planes and make predictions from the understanding gleaned from that examination. Kurzweil’s been doing this for thirty years and has been pretty accurate on many fronts.

Here are a few points from this interview I find totally intriguing.

* Exponential growth is based on numbers doubling and the time needed to do this.

* The energy produced by the sun is more than 10,000 times to power needed to support our world today.

* Solar power technology is doubling every two years.

* We are only five years from solar power being more affordable than current coal or gas.

* We are only seven doublings away from solar energy being the dominant power supply for our earth.

If you can find it, do check out the interview. You’ll discover that there is a good discussion of health and the integration of technology with our bodies, as well as a good delving into the subjects of fossil fuels, computers, information storage, global economics, and even briefly touches on the applications of information technology as it applies to terrorism. You'll also learn a little bit about Kurzweil himself.

And, here’s your extra credit answer: Kurzweil sold his first character recognition machine to Stevie Wonder. The two forged a friendship from this that led to further collaboration. The offspring of this work was the invention of the world’s first electronic piano.

By the way, my coffee’s now all gone and I’m still buzzing.

Breastfeeding mom denied extra time

There is an interesting case being appealed before the National Board of Medical Examiners. This case is a gray area, blurred because it is framed by societal issues, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the health concerns of a nursing mother, playing out against the backdrop of the rigid enforcement structure of the Clinical Knowledge Exam.

Sophie Currier
Already has her Harvard doctorate and has followed that up with five years of medical training. The final barrier that is keeping her from having a hard-earned MD-Ph.D. is the aforementioned exam.
(Note: registration is required to read this Boston Globe article, but it is free and easy.)

To understand this case fully, you need to know that Currier is the mother of a still nursing, 7-week old daughter. According to the article linked above, “If she does not pump milk from her breasts every two or three hours, she could suffer blocked ducts, the discomfort of hard breasts, or an infection called mastitis.”

Currier is receiving accommodations for dyslexia and attention problems. This includes giving her double time for the nine-hour exam, letting her take the test over a two-day period. On the surface, this may appear to help ameliorate her problems, but it only doubled them, allowing her only the normally allowed break times each day.

She asked the board last week for extra break time to allow her to pump her breasts, but was denied. The board cited the Americans with Disabilities Act as their guide and told her that breastfeeding was not among the covered disabilities.

Yes, it is true that, under the ADA, pregnancy, lactation and related actions such as breast feeding and breast pumping are not covered by the law. However, what they are dealing with in this case are health concerns of the mother. Granted, the short time that she will be subjected to testing is not guaranteed to incur the possible adverse physical results that are possible. Still, there are health concerns that are not necessarily disabilities, no matter how temporary the condition is.

According to the article, “Forty-seven states have passed laws that protect nursing mothers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Many protect the right of mothers to breast-feed in public, and some exempt them from jury duty, where breaks can be few and unpredictable.” Unfortunately for Currier, Massachusetts, where her case is playing out, has no such laws at this time.

It is interesting that one of Currier’s advocates, Dr. Ruth Lawrence, is a chairwoman on the American Academy of Pediatrics. Here, a medical professional is speaking on Currier’s behalf against the medical testing establishment. Ironic, isn’t it?

“Lawrence said the nursing mother of an infant that age should pump at a minimum of every three hours, for about one half-hour each time. The academy recommends that babies be exclusively breast-fed for the first six months .”

It is understandable that the exam board is trying to avoid setting a precedent, but they need to use the ADA as a guide, not a rigid rule that does not allow for gray areas such as this. A warden once had a sign hanging in his office that read, “When the rules and common sense collide, common sense shall prevail.” Currier’s case is one where common sense should be victorious.


Additional Reading:
Here is a 2006 Boston Globe article about Currier, illustrating how she manages her busy and demanding
life while dealing with dyslexia and ADHD.

Irish web sites employing built-in assistive technology

There is an interesting bit of assistive technology news discussed in a news article on the Irish Developers Network web site. What I think makes it interesting is that the assistive technology is being promoted to be employed by the developers of the web content, instead of on the users’ computers.

According to the article, an Irish retail banking institution is employing
Browsealoud technology
on its web site.

The Browsealoud technology reads the web content aloud while also highlighting the word that is being read. This technology is being targeted towards users who have learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, as well as people who have mild vision impairments. The article also mentioned how those who spoke other languages could benefit from the software.

Additionally, the article also mentions other entities aside from the bank who have begun employing this particular software, which means it is not a unique quirk of implementation.

Some of the latest features this software allows the webmaster to consider:
• Dual Colour Highlighting making it easier for web users to read and interact online, thereby, improving comprehension.
• High Quality Voices, customisable by the webmaster and adjustable reading speeds to suit individual requirements.
• Online dictionary allowing Users to look up the definitions of words.
• Ability to save online content and listen to it offline through the MP3 facility
• Ability to have selected text magnified and read aloud to them.
• continuous reading option allows Whole pages read aloud at a time.
• Hyperlinks, HTML, Java and PDF documents can also be read with the technology.

There was also a strong statement about web accessibility which was made in the article, but was not attributed to any individual, so I’ll assume it was the opinion of the article’s author. It is a quote worth repeating.
“Website accessibility should be a concern for everyone, from public establishments to big and small corporations. Making sure that website visitors can access all information which has been carefully written and selected for an organisation’s website is of key importance in order to ensure that customers and clients are fully informed and receive the correct messages.”

I am an advocate for web accessibility and will speak up in whatever forums I need to do so to bring awareness to others. While the assistive technology this software employs is not new, and is not the first time I’ve heard of it being employed by the producer of a web site, it is the first time I have seen its employment on a large scale project. Maybe they have the right idea here. Make the content accessible in the first place. Granted, this software makes only the one web site accessible, but if all sites employed such insight, the entire web could be accessible.

Finally, while this software would bring access to the web, it would not make other assistive technology obsolete. There would still be a need to use magnifiers and screen readers to access other programs aside from the web browser. Still, it is a good innovation to see.

Article offers good information about managing dyslexia

There was a recent New York Times article about dyslexia which clearly illustrated the plight of a child struggling through, and ultimately learning the resources and tools to manage this disability. It also emphasized a point I’ve often cited, that a person with a disability does not function in a vacuum. In this case, the parents of the young lady with dyslexia were also impacted, having to learn the limitations of her disability and assist her, as she grew into an understanding and acceptance of her dyslexia and what it would take to succeed despite the dyslexia.

Aptly titled
A family’s experience with dyslexia,
The article aemphasizes some statistics about dyslexia and specific tools that this family used to manage the limitations.

Some of the statistics highlighted:

*Studies have shown that dyslexic students have significantly more academic and behavioral problems than children without learning disabilities.

*One 1996 study found that 2 percent of those with learning disabilities go on to a four-year college.

*Studies have also found that adult dyslexics have a lower satisfaction with health and friends, and exhibit more psychiatric problems than non-dyslexics.

*Fewer are employed and, even if employed, hold jobs that are part-time, minimum wage and unskilled.


Some of the tools discussed for managing dyslexia included the traditional electronic speller and word processer. However, the article also praised the use of tools such as recorded textbooks from
Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic
And also using the
Write:OutLoud
Computer Program.

Aside from providing a good discussion of the progression of understanding dyslexia and what it would take for the young lady to manage it, the article paints a clear picture of what advances the skills and tools brought her in terms of comprehension and the decrease of time needed to complete her reading and writing projects.

The article offers a good general discussion on dyslexia and research currently underway to understand the cognitive functioning that goes on during reading. It also shows what a strong will and determination can bring when augmented with the right tools.

Personal footnote:
I believe the PDF Equalizer I wrote about yesterday would be another great tool to put in the tool box for a person with dyslexia. This program’s ability to convert pdf files into mp3 files would serve the same function for a student reading pdf documents as those served by the RFB&D textbooks. There seems to be a growing use of pdf documents, especially for official government reports and the like, and this would only empower students’ when researching information for class projects and papers.