
Ask HN: Software for helping visually impaired persons? - adamwi
My dad is slowly going blind due to macular degeneration (basically the nervcells in the retina slowly dies, starting in the macular region). He still has ok vision but starts to have real issues reading longer texts, long term he will go completely blind.<p>I&#x27;m now looking for software (preferably open source) that can help him when using the computer. Main use case is being able to retrieve larger quantities of information (e.g. emails, news articles, etc) either by magnifying some part of the screen or by reading out the text loud.<p>Current solution is using a large &quot;analog&quot; magnifying glas in front of the screen, feels like there should exist a better solution. Long term it would be preferable if the solution can also assist him with navigating the web using audio.<p>Did some googling but mostly ended up on pages with more generic tips on how to adjust ambient lighting in the room etc. Any tips on where to look?<p>Grateful for the help!
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10dpd
What kind of computer does he have? Screen magnification software is built
into most OS's for free.

E.g. macOS:

[http://www.apple.com/uk/accessibility/osx/#vision](http://www.apple.com/uk/accessibility/osx/#vision)

Free screen readers:

VoiceOver (built into macOS / iOS)

NVDA: [http://www.nvaccess.org/](http://www.nvaccess.org/)

ChromeVox: [http://www.chromevox.com/](http://www.chromevox.com/)

~~~
adamwi
Thanks, looks like good free alternatives to start with! Any experience
regarding if macOS or Windows provide the better support? He is currently on
Win computer

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Davidbrcz
There are screen readers (text to speech generators), braille displays.

I don't know what is the status for fingerreader (
[http://fluid.media.mit.edu/projects/fingerreader](http://fluid.media.mit.edu/projects/fingerreader)
)

Also have a look at HandyDV Linux ([https://handylinux.org/index-
en.html](https://handylinux.org/index-en.html)). The aim is to offer for
visually challenged and blind people an accessible computer. A french guy is
beyond it and there is a kickstarter-like compain to support it (french page
about it [http://linuxfr.org/news/financement-participatif-de-
handydv-...](http://linuxfr.org/news/financement-participatif-de-handydv-
linux-et-sa-machine-a-lire), couldn't find anything in english).

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lovelearning
This article written by a blind developer was posted here some years ago. You
might find some good tips there about tools.

[Article]: [http://blog.freecodecamp.com/2015/01/a-vision-of-coding-
with...](http://blog.freecodecamp.com/2015/01/a-vision-of-coding-without-
opening-your-eyes.html)

[Discussion]:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8965048](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8965048)

~~~
adamwi
Thanks! Knew I had read it somewhere but could not find it when searching.

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scpotter
You're looking for accessibility tools. Modern desktop and mobile OSes have
these built-in, Google [whatever OS] accessibility zoom.

Open source screen reader: NVDA (www.nvaccess.org) Industry standard screen
reader: JAWS (www.freedomscientific.com/Products/Blindness/JAWS)

