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><A
NAME="other">6. Cognitive, Language, and Other Impairments</H1
><P
>Cognitive and language impairments include dyslexia and problems with; memory, comprehension, problem solving,
and written language.
For many individuals with cognitive and language disabilities, complex graphical displays and inconsistent use of words
can make using the computer more difficult.
A user with epilepsy can have a seizure from an application with blinking lights and animation. Most desktops now allow users to
disable animation. Web browsers such as Mozilla and Netscape allow users to disable graphics. It is important to
check the documentation for preferences that are available in the desktop environment you are using,
as well as any applications that are
used. This section discusses the tools that are available to aid users with these impairments:
</P
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><H2
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><A
NAME="AEN414">6.1. Assistive Technologies for Cognitive, Language and Other Impairments</H2
><P
>The following is a list of assistive technologies that can be helpful to users with cognitive, language, and other
impairments:</P
><DIV
CLASS="sect3"
><H3
CLASS="sect3"
><A
NAME="AEN417">6.1.1. Screen Readers and Speech Synthesis</H3
><P
>Screen readers with speech synthesis enable the system to read on-screen information and text out loud to the user. This
type of assistive technology can be particularly helpful to individuals who have dyslexia and other learning
disabilities. Although there are no screen readers available for the GNOME desktop, screen reader applications are available for
Linux in console mode that provide this functionality.</P
><P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
><STRONG
>Emacspeak </STRONG
>is a speech interface that will provide audio output for all text. The
program works in terminal and console mode and requires a software or hardware speech synthesizer. The downloads and users
manuals are available at:
<A
HREF="http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/raman/emacspeak/"
TARGET="_top"
>http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/raman/emacspeak/</A
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> The Trace Center provides information and downloads for various screen readers and speech synthesizers. More
information is available at:
<A
HREF="http://www.trace.wisc.edu/world/computer_access/unix/unixshar.html"
TARGET="_top"
>http://www.trace.wisc.edu/world/computer_access/unix/unixshar.html</A
>.</P
></LI
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><DIV
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><H3
CLASS="sect3"
><A
NAME="AEN428">6.1.2. Keyboard filters and Word Processing</H3
><P
>Keyboard filters and word processing applications that have word prediction and spell checking utilities can be an
excellent aid for users with learning and language impairments.</P
></DIV
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CLASS="sect3"
><H3
CLASS="sect3"
><A
NAME="AEN431">6.1.3. Speech Recognition</H3
><P
>Speech recognition applications enables you to control the computer with your voice rather than having to type or
write out the information.</P
><P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
><STRONG
>CVoice Control </STRONG
>is a speech recognition system that enables a user to connect
spoken commands to UNIX commands. More information is available at:
<A
HREF="http://www.kiecza.de/daniel/linux/"
TARGET="_top"
>http://www.kiecza.de/daniel/linux/</A
>. </P
></LI
><LI
><P
><STRONG
>IBM ViaVoice Dictation for Linux </STRONG
>allows the user to write documents using their
voice rather then a keyboard and can read the information back to the user. More information is available at:
<A
HREF="http://www-4.ibm.com/software/speech/dev/"
TARGET="_top"
>http://www-4.ibm.com/software/speech/dev/</A
>.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><STRONG
>Open Mind Speech </STRONG
>is a development project for
speech recognition tools and applications. The developers have established a mailing list for asking questions and obtaining
information at: <A
HREF="http://freespeech.sourceforge.net/"
TARGET="_top"
>http://freespeech.sourceforge.net/</A
>. </P
></LI
><LI
><P
><STRONG
>XVoice </STRONG
>enables continuous speech to text dictation for many applications. More
information is available at:
<A
HREF="http://www.compapp.dcu.ie/~tdoris/Xvoice/"
TARGET="_top"
>http://www.compapp.dcu.ie/~tdoris/Xvoice/</A
>. </P
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