EdWord and EdWeb -OATS Forge

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From the Authors:

EdWord

EdWord is a simple to use, talking, symbol-word processor. It has the basic functionality of a word processor. EdWord can also be configured to produce speech and/or display text as symbols.

The user interface of the editor can be customised so that it meets the user’s needs. EdWord supports user profiles so that these customisations can be saved and used again without having to change the settings for each different user.

EdWeb

EdWeb is a simple talking -web browser that has the ability to present text as symbols.

 

EdWeb is closely related to the EdWord word processor and shares many of the features of that system.  This manual explains the functionality of EdWeb where it differs from EdWord, where functionality is the same, you are pointed to the EdWord manual.

About the project

The project was set up by Sense and UMIST in 2002 with the funding from the Big Lottery Fund.

The project's aim is to encourage deafblind people to explore their surroundings, learn to do their everyday tasks and help them access the information technology such as surfing the web and word processing.

The Department of Computation, UMIST, (now the School of Informatics, University of Manchester) created a series of specialist software for deafblind people and people with learning disabilities.

Sense has 50 years experience of working with deafblind people. Using this expertise, they were able to work with UMIST in making the software accessible and appropriate for deafblind people, and improve access to IT.

Sense has three ICT centres in the UK for deafblind people. The software has been used in these centres and this website now aims to make it available to a wider audience.

OATS Comments 

EdWord

This is essentialy a simple talking word processor with symbol support to which an on-screen grid of letters and words can be added.  The system is highly configurable.  The simplicity of the interface makes it very suitable for younger users who may be just starting to produce text with a computer.

 There a couple of things that would improve the program.

The program loads a screen reader and you can't switch it off so that it just reads what you have typed.

The Grid editor and Symbol libaray creator are separate utilities and would be better integrated into the configuration system.

When you create a new Symbol library from graphic files it does not put the library in the correct place for Edword to pict it up.

Edweb

This is a much more limited talking web browser that attempts to symbolise page content.  It cannot deal with complex pages lik the BBC and its greatest drawback is that you cannot follow links - you can only go to an externally editable list of favourites, which can be assigned picture or symbols.  Once a page has finished loading you cannot pause or stop the text-to-speech other than by going back to a previous page or to another on the favourites list.