Right now there are a lot of assistive technologies on the market that can be extremely beneficial for people with disabilities or impairments. Dealing with certain everyday tasks can seem like a simple thing for many people, but for others, items like a screen reader or vibrating alarm clocks can make a big difference.
A screen reader is a software program that finds and translates the text that appears on a monitor (or, in the case of a website, the ALT text behind an image) and sends it to a speech synthesizer. This can then reproduce the information orally or on a brail display.
Potentially, a screen reader can be a huge help for people who are blind, visually impaired, illiterate, or learning disabled. It can communicate not only text that appears on a screen, but also information in menus and navigation, so blind users can interact with various components and programs.
When you begin looking for a screen reader solution, you should make sure it has all the features you need and want. After all, nothing is worse than listening to a horrible, digital voice for hours on end. You should, instead, find a solution that offers a natural human-quality voice, a simple interface and method for installation, and, of course, you need to make sure it is something you can afford. There are many different solutions on the market and they come in a range of different prices.
Most of the vibrating alarm clocks on the market, however, were designed to help people with a hearing impairment. With this assistive technology, users can wake up on time without having to rely on audible systems. It may seem like a very small thing, but in truth, waking up on time is vital to starting the day right.
There are vibrating alarm clocks made for almost any situation. Bedside clocks are the most recognizable, but you can also find many models of travel clocks or vibrating watches that will help you wake up on time even when you are on the road.
There are even some vibrating alarm clocks on the market that include a range of optional features to help you get up on time. These could be simple things like bed or pillow shakers (mechanisms placed under the pillow or between the mattress and box springs) or other things like lamp flashers and the capability to blare an alarm at excessive decibels.
Whether your hearing or your vision has become impaired, there are many technologies on the market that can make it easier to deal with everyday tasks that others take for granted.