Blindness Skills Specialist Program

LEA Information

What equipment or technology does a student who is blind or visually impaired typically use?

There is no standardized list of equipment that will adequately serve all students who are visually impaired.  The degree of vision loss and cognitive ability impact the choice of equipment used by a student. A teacher of the visually impaired can provide a technology and functional vision assessment to recommend what type of equipment is best suited for your particular student.  However, here are descriptions of equipment unique to the field of visual impairments:

Non-Computerized Technology includes:

Braille writer: A Braille typewriter used to manually produce brailed materials.

Slate n’ stylus:  A manual Braille note-taking device.

Abacus: A manual method of completing math calculations.

Talking devices can include calculators, thermometers, clocks, watches, and household items. 

Tactual devices can include a braille compass, tape measure, rulers, clocks, watches, and adapted household items.

Optical Devices: These are magnifiers or devices that are used to enlarge near or distance materials in the learning environment.

Closed-Circuit Television: This device can magnify a printed page through the use of a special television camera with a zoom lens and displays the image on a monitor. 

Computer Technology includes:

Electronic note-taking Devices:  These are small hand held portable devices that use a Braille or standard keyboard to allow an individual to input information. The information can be stored for future use or downloaded onto a computer.

Speech Software: Software that works in conjunction with a speech synthesizer to verbalize everything on the screen including menus, text, and punctuation. 

Speech Synthesizers:  This is a hardware device that will provide voice output on a computer.

Large Print Software:  Software that focuses on a single portion of the computer screen and enlarges it to a specified magnification.  (2x, 4x, 6x... etc.)  

Braille Translation Software:  This is software that can take material typed into a computer and translate it into the Braille code.  This translated material can then be sent to a Braille embosser for printing.

Optical Character Recognition Devices:  These are print reading devices that can scan the printed material and present it in spoken or text file format.

Braille Embossers:  These Braille printers come in a variety of styles,  printing speeds, and costs.

Refreshable Braille Displays: These devices provide tactile output of information presented on the computer screen. Refreshable Braille displays are mechanical and lift small, rounded plastic pins as needed to form Braille characters.