Visual Impairments
Audio Output
IBM Screen Reader


The IBM Screen Reader enables people who are blind or visually impaired to become computer users through voice communication from the computer. The blind user hears the words on a computer display, the same words that a sighted person sees. Applications of theis technology have also been successful for persons with learning disabilities and deaf for oral communication.

Screen Reader provides access to IBM's Personal System/2 family of computers and selected members of the PC family IBM PC/XT, IBN PC/ST-286, IBM PC/AT). Screen Reader can be used in stand=alone, network or host environments.

By using Screen Reader's separate, 18-key keypad, the user selects those areas of the display to be spoken. In addition, the user may identify display areas to be monitored and spoken automatically when changes occur. Screen Reader supports a range of commercially available text-to-speech synthesizers.

Screen Reader is effective with a wide range of applications, from simple word processing to complex spreadsheet activities. Screen Reader is compatible with many popular personal computer applications - including DisplayWrite4, Lotus 1-2-3(R) and dBaseIII PLUS(TM) - which can help open new career opportunities for blind people with a variety of skills.

Innovative features such as Autospeak and Windows reduce dependence on sighted individuals. Whether in business, education, government, social service, health care or personal use, a blind person can now employ the productivity gains offered through the use of the computer. Screen Reader has undergone several years of extensive development and testing; blind IBN employees have been using prototypes sine 1984. The final design of Screen REader incorporatees their recommendations and insights to help people with vision disabilities benefit from its use.

IBM Special Needs Program
TMO, 3035 Center Green Plaza 2
Boulder, CO 80301
(880)426-3388