ProcessText Group

Trial

Free 30-day trial (Price unavailable at the moment)

1.76

50 including English, French, German and Spanish

50 including English, French, German and Spanish

N/A

2011-09-01

ABC Amber PDF Converter is software that converts PDF files to other formats (HTML, RTF, DOC, MP3, XLS, MDB, TXT, WAV, DB, and others). ABC Amber PDF Converter does not keep the layout of the original file.

AbiSource Community

Freeware

Free

7.94

121 including English, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Russian

121 including English, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Russian

Windows 2000 or later, Mac OS X 10.2 or later, GTK+ 2.12 or newer

2011-09-01

AbiWord is a word processor that is very similar to Microsoft Word. In addition to the usual word processing options and features, AbiWord allows multiple users to work on a given file at the same time. This software also makes it possible to share files by hosting them on the AbiSource server.

RSC Scotland North and East

Freeware

Free

809

English

Depends on individual software

N/A

2011-09-02

AccessApps is a bundle of free tools separated into different categories that can be accessed from one window. The categories are "office", "planning & organization", "reading and writing support", "visual support", "keyboard/mouse alternatives", "browsers", "multimedia tools", "presentation tools", "utilities", "backup/synchronize", and "games".

iCITA

Freeware

English, French

English

Windows XP/2000/98/98SE/ME/NT4, Internet Explorer 5 and higher

2011-08-31

IE Accessible Extensions adds features to Internet Explorer to make it easier to view and navigate web content. It allows users to easily view the mark-up of a website, including headlines (H1 - H6), keyboard shortcuts (access keys), frames, and style-sheets.

Sensory Software International

Free

.5

English, French

English, French

Microsoft Windows 98/NT/XP

2011-08-31

Big Calculator is a “large on-screen” calculator for Windows. This is an ideal tool for visually impaired users who need to do simple calculations on their computer. It is compatible with SAPI 4.0 speech systems for screen-reading functionality.

RJ Cooper & Associates

Trialware (14 days)

US $39 or US $119

2-4 MB

Any

English

All MacOS except for OS X, Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP

2011-08-31

BIGGY and BIGGY Lite are two cursor enhancement packages that offer a wide variety of cursor modifications for both Windows and MAC operating systems.

K-NFB

Freeware

Free

26.8

14 including English, French, Spanish and Russian

Any (14 for the text-to-speech options, including English, French, Spanish and Russian)

Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP 1 Pentium 1 GHz or faster processor Minimum 1 GB of RAM 250 MB of free Hard Disk Space A Direct X 9+ compatible graphics card with a minimum of 128 MB of graphics memory

2011-08-31

Blio is a free eBook reader. It allows the user to change the size of pages, to zoom in and out, to take notes, to highlight text, and more. Blio can also read eBooks aloud using a built-in text-to-speech synthesizer and it can use any voice that is installed on the computer. The speed and focus of the speech (e.g., one work at a time, one paragraph at a time) are customizable. Blio is compatible with JAWS 11 and 12.

Microlink PC

Freeware

Free

0.75

English

N/A

Windows

2011-09-01

Colour Explorer is software that allows the user to change the default Windows background and font colors. Any application using these colors will be affected.

ACE CAD Enterprise Co. Limited

Inexpensive

CAN $155.99 (Software is available on the ACECAD Website)

109

English, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

Any

Windows XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X v10.5.x or later, USB port, CD-ROM drive, 32 MB of free hard disk space

2011-09-01

DigiMemo L2 allows the user to take notes which will be saved on the computer by using a special pen and tablet. Notes can be taken on any type of paper and can be saved directly on the tablet's internal memory or transferred to a computer. When pages are transferred to the computer, they can be edited electronically. An add-on can be purchased to convert handwriting into digital text.

Dolphin

Trial

US$ 1400 (Free 30-day trial)

567

English

English, Dutch, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Swedish

Microsoft Windows 2000 SP2, Microsoft Word 2000, Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 SP1, Microsoft XML 4 (if not already present on the system, this will be installed as part of the Dolphin EasyConverter installation), Pentium III 700 MHz or equivalent 256 MB RAM.

2011-08-31

As its name implies, EasyConverter is software that converts files from one format (i.e., DOC, PDF) to another, such as plain text (TXT), audio format (MP3), large print (DOC), Braille (BRL) or audio book (HTML or XML).

Dolphin

Inexpensive

US$ 55 (Free 30-day trial)

160

English

English, Dutch, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Swedish

Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7, Pentium II 400MHz or faster processor Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 SP1 or later, RAM - at least 64MB, 50MB of free disk space, 16 bit or higher graphic resolution, 800x600 or greater monitor resolution.

2011-08-31

EasyReader includes many tools to read text on the computer. The software can import text from different file formats (NCC, HTML, OPF, HTM, XML, EPUB, TXT), and allows the user to change font type, font size, font color, highlight color, etc. This software includes a text-to-speech synthesizer. The user can choose which voice the software will use as well as the voice's speed and volume. It is also possible to have EasyReader's menus read using the text-to-speech function.

Dolphin

Trial

US$ 295 (Free 15-day trial)

432

English

English, Dutch, Finnish, French, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Swedish

Microsoft Office 2000, 2003, XP. Pentium II 750MHz or faster processor, minimum of 256MB RAM - 512MB recommended, 125MB of hard disk space, 16 bit or higher graphic resolution, 1024 x 768 or greater monitor resolution

2011-08-31

EasyTutor is a toolbar with many features. With this software, users can scan their documents and make them go through optical character recognition (OCR). EasyTutor can read documents aloud using text-to-speech. It also allows users to save the speech output in audio format. EasyTutor also includes note taking software, an onscreen ruler, a feature to change the color of the screen, a tool to create accessible PDF files, a talking calculator, a spellchecker and word prediction software.

Innovative Rehabilitation Technology Inc

Inexpensive

US $49.00 (Free 30-day trial)

96

English

English

Windows XP/Vista/7, Pentium Class CPU 400 Mhz or faster, 128 MB of RAM, 100 MB of free hard disk space, 800x600 256 Colors or higher resolution, Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, Media Player 8 or higher, DirectX 8.1 or higher, SAPI 5 Text to Speech

2011-09-01

eClipseReader-EyeNet 4.2 is a DAISY book reader that uses the SAPI5 engine. This software also includes a text-to-speech enabled web browser.

Innovative Rehabilitation Technology Inc

Inexpensive

US $99 (Free 30-day trial)

70.3

English

English

Windows XP/Vista/7, 500 Mhz Processor, 512 MB of Ram, 150 MB of free hard disk space, SAPI 5 Text to Speech Engine DirectX 8.1 or higher, IE 6 or higher

2011-09-01

eClipseWriter Student-Teacher Edition is software that converts different files formats (DOC, DOCX, HTML, XML, RTF, Dtbook, TXT, PDF) to DAISY books. This software also allows the user to write text, convert files, and listen to the text using text-to-speech.

Astonsoft Ltd

Free

English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and others

English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and others

Windows 98/Me/NT/2003/XP/Vista

2011-08-31

Essential PIM is a software that allows users to import and export their data from Outlook, Outlook Express, Google Calendar and several other personal information managers. This is an ideal tool for users looking to switch PIM software. It also supports mobile platforms such as Windows Mobile and works with U3 (portable flash drive technology).

Tenebraex

Trial (30-days fully-functional)

US $34

English

English

Microsoft Windows XP, 2000 or NT

2011-08-31

EyePilot is a software designed to assist colorblind users interact with colour-based graphics, charts and pictures. It is an interactive floating window that the user can ‘layer’ over any window on their computer screen. It has four major functions, including: Gray: Isolates all instances of a single color by keeping everything that is that color unchanged and graying out all other colors. Flash: When any spot of one color is clicked on, this tool flashes as white or black all other instances of that color in the frame. Name: When the name of a color (red, green, orange, etc.) is clicked on in a list, this tool flashes as white or black all instances of that color in the frame. Hue: This tool interactively rearranges all the colors in the capture frame, allowing you to find a setting where the color information is more easily differentiated.

Two Pilots

Free trial

US $30

English (UK), English (Australian), Dutch, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Norwegian, Swedish, Brazilian Portuguese, Afrikaans, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian

English (UK), English (Australian), Dutch, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Norwegian, Swedish, Brazilian Portuguese, Afrikaans, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian

Windows NT4/2000/XP, beta support for Vista

2011-08-31

Form Pilot is a form filler software. It allows you to scan a form and fill it out on your computer instead of using a typewriter or writing by hand.

CRÉATIE

shareware, free trial

8.58 MB

French

French

Windows XP/Vista

2011-08-31

This talking clock software announces the time at set intervals. It has 6 alarms that can play sounds, deliver customizable messages, or launch programs.

Kurzweil Educational System Inc

Trial

US$ 1495 (Free 30-day trial)

N/A

English

English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Finnish

1.3 GHz Pentium 4 or better, 512 MB of RAM, 2 GB of free hard disk space, Windows XP with Service Pack 3/Vista with Service Pack 1 or later/7, 4 MB or better video RAM, 1024x768 24-bit resolution or better, Mozilla Firefox 3.5 or later or Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or later

2011-09-01

Kurzweil 3000 is multipurpose software. It allows the user to open a wide variety of files (DOC, PDF, RTF, TXT, JPG, etc). Kurzweil 3000 can also perform optical character recognition (OCR) of the scanned file. The content of the file is now editable and can read using it's text-to-speech synthesizer. Kurzweil 3000 can also spell a word using text-to-speech or break it down into phonemes. It also includes word prediction software, mind mapping software, several dictionaries, translation tools, and other useful reading and writing tools.

LecShare Inc.

Inexpensive / Trial

US $39

English

English

Windows XP/ Vista, Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and Word 2000 or later, including Office 2007; QuickTime 6 or later; microphone and sound card (for audio recordings)

2011-08-31

LecShare Pro is a collection of tools for instructors who desire to render their PowerPoint materials accessible to everyone.

Premier Literacy

Trial

CAN$ 249.95 (Free limited use trial)

472

English

English, French and Spanish

Windows XP/Vista/7, CPU 1 GHz or faster, 512 MB of RAM, USB 1.1 or 2.0 compatible, Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, 1024 x 768 or higher resolution recommended

2011-09-01

Literacy Productivity Pack is an combination of different tools. Worksheet Wizard is used to create digital versions of work sheets to make them easier to edit. Write Now, another of the tools, is a word processor, spellchecker, and word predictor. Literacy Productivity Pack also comes with E-Text Reader, PDF Equalizer, Text-to-Audio, Universal Reader Plus, English Talking Dictionary, French Talking Dictionary, and Talking Calculator.

National Center for Accessible Media

Freeware

English, French

English

Windows 98/NT/2000/XP

2011-08-31

MAGpie is a freeware software package that allows authors to add captions to three multimedia formats: QuickTime, SMIL, and Microsoft's Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI) format. MAGpie can also integrate audio descriptions into SMIL slide presentations.

NASA

Freeware

Freeware

15.9

English

Any

N/A

2011-09-01

MathThrax is software that displays the results of mathematical formulas in charts. This software is compatible with most screen readers.

Design Science

Inexpensive

US$ 57 (Free 30-day trial)

5.96

English

Any

Windows XP/Vista/7 or Mac OS X 10.4.9 Tiger or newer, including 10.7 Lion

2011-09-01

MathType is software that allows the user to write mathematical formulas on the computer. This software integrates with most word processors as well as some specialized software (e.g., Maple). MathType allows the user to save formulas and reuse them.

EncSoft

Inexpensive - Trial

$29.95 US

4.41

English, French

English

Windows XP/2003/Vista/7

2011-08-31

mgLaunch allows users to draw symbols using their mouse to launch their favourite applications. For example, drawing a letter Y could open an Internet browser. mgLaunch can be activated by mouse gestures, just moving you mouse pointer, drawing a letter shape or a symbol. When mgLaunch is activated, your favorite programs appear where your mouse is.

RSC Scotland North and East

Freeware

Free

135

English

Depends on individual software

N/A

2011-09-02

MyStudyBar is a toolbar that features several free applications. These are classified into 5 different categories. The "planning" category features Xmind, Sunbird and Hott Notes. The "reading" category includes T-Bar, RapidSet, Vu-Bar, and ssOverlay. In "writing" the user can choose between LetMeType, Lingoes, Balabolka, TinySpell, and RapidTyping. The "vision" category features Magnifier, Sonar, and Thunder. Finally, the "text reader" category features a text-to-speech engine.

N/A

Freeware

Free

0.22

English

Any

N/A

2011-09-01

Notalon is software that makes taking Cornell notes easy. This software automatically splits the page, making it simple for the user to use Cornell's system.

Oracle

Freeware

Free

150

Same as chosen installation package's language

145 including English, French, Spanish and Italian

Windows 2000 /2003/XP/Vista/7, 256 MB of RAM, 650 MB available disk space, 1024 x 768 or higher resolution with at least 256 colours, Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.5.x

2011-09-01

Open Office is very similar to Microsoft Office. It features Open Office Calc (similar to Microsoft Excel), Open Office Impress (similar to Microsoft PowerPoint) and Open Office Writer (similar to Microsoft Word). The Open Office suite also includes Open Office Base, which is a database manager, and Open Office Math, which specializes in mathematical formulas. Open Office files can be saved in all kinds of formats (DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, and more).

Premier Literacy

Trial (Fully functionnal but limited to 25 uses)

US $99.95

94

English

English

Windows XP/Vista/7, CPU 800 MHz or faster, 256 MB RAM

2011-08-31

With PDF Equalizer ML, the user can modify PDF files to add in or to retrieve useful information. This software can summarize the content of a PDF file by selecting only what it judges to be important. PDF Equalizer ML can read the text out loud using a Text-to-Speech engine. It can also export the text in WAV or MP3 format.

AKS-Labs

Inexpensive

US$ 35 (Free 30-day trial)

1.73

English

Any

Windows 9x/2000/ME/XP, 5 MB of free disk space

2011-09-01

PDF2TXT is software that converts PDF files to plain text files (TXT). This software does not keep the original layout of the text.

N/A

Freeware

Free

0.02

English

Any

Windows XP

2011-09-01

QuickRes allows the user to change the screen resolution from an icon in the system tray.

FX Software

Free

English

English

Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista

2011-08-31

This simple utility allows users to quickly and easily change the background and font colours of their systems without having to go through the Screen Properties dialogs.

Typing Tutor Labs

Freeware

Free

5.72

23, including English, French, Spanish, and Russian

23, including English, French, Spanish, and Russian

Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/7, minimum display area: 800x600, 256-colors or more, 25 MB of free hard disk space, 128 MB of RAM

2011-09-01

RapidTyping is software that is aimed at increasing the user's proficiency with the keyboard. Typing lessons are included with the software and the user can create new ones.

LiveScribe Inc

Inexpensive

US $99.95

N/A

English

Any

Intel-based Mac with OS X 10.5.5 or later, Windows XP with SP3/Vista/Windows 7, 600 MHz CPU or higher, 300 MB free disk space, Available USB 2.0 port, Internet connection, *The Echo smartpen only works with Livescribe dot paper

2011-09-01

The SmartPen Echo is a pen that has a built-in microphone. When recording a lecture and taking notes at the same time with its special paper, the written notes are linked to what was recorded at that time. The user can then listen to what was recorded by simply pressing the SmartPen against any written text. Recordings can be transferred to the computer through a USB connection. The SmartPen comes with its own software - LiveScribe Desktop - that creates a digital version of the special paper the user writes own. The digital copies work just like the actual pages in that the user can listen to what was recorded by simply clicking on any written text.

PYRAM

Inexpensive

US $74.99

English

English

Power Macintosh or PowerPC, Mac OS 8.1 and higher, 16 MB RAM

2011-08-31

SoftTTY is a full-featured TTY for the Macintosh. SoftTTY provides all of the features of a standard TTY device, plus it includes some value-added features such as a built-in electronic database of all conversations and an integrated phonebook.

N/A

Freeware

Freeware

0.89

Anglais

Any

N/A

2011-09-01

ssOverlay is software that allows the user to apply a color "overlay" on the screen. The color and opacity are customizable.

N/A

Freeware

Free

1.36

English

Any

N/A

2011-09-01

T-Bar is software that allows the user to mask part of the screen with a colored rectangle. The size, color, and opacity of this rectangle are customizable.

N/A

Freeware

Free

1.81

English

English

N/A

2011-09-01

TypeFaster Accessible is software that is aimed at making the user more proficient with the keyboard. This software also uses text-to-speech to read the letters that the user types.

UK Software

Inexpensive

US $14

6

English

English

Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP (home and pro), Sound Card, Pentium 120 MHz CPU, 16 MB RAM (memory)

2011-08-31

UK Speaking Clock is a multilingual speaking clock. Using over 50 digital and analogue skins, the clock can be customized to meet the user’s preferences. This clock can adjust the computer’s time settings via the Internet.

BMT Micro Inc.

Demo

US $30

English

English

DOS, Win95/98/NT

2011-08-31

VIEW is a file viewing utility for DOS. It allows you to view and print files in the following many different formats. It allows the user to view, convert, print, and save all types of common word processing file formats from DOS, Windows 3.x/95/98 - WordPerfect, Word, Ami Pro, Notepad/Wordpad, Windows Write, ClarisWorks, RTF, as well as HTML and ASCII/ANSI files. It is well suited for use with speech synthesizer software for users with visual impairments.

Vischeck

Free plug-in

$0

English

English

Microsoft Windows XP/2000, Macintosh, Linux

2011-08-31

Vischeck is a free plug-in for the ImageJ (Image Processing and Analysis in Java) image processing program from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). It allows users to test images for accessibility for users who are colourblind. It is similar to downloading a Photoshop plugin. Vischeck simulates how images will appear to individuals who are colour-blind. Also available from vischeck.com is Daltonize, an online web tool that will alter images by taking colours that are hidden to colourblind people and moving them to a range of the color spectrum where they are visible again.

Ryobi System Solutions

Free for individuals

English, Japanese

English, Japanese

Microsoft Windows XP/2000/Vista

2011-08-31

Visolve is a software to assist users who are to discriminate colors on their computer screens. Visolve works by transforming colours on the screen in the following ways: Red-Green transform -- transforms red colors brighter, and green colors darker, Blue-Yellow transform -- transforms blue colors brighter, and yellow colors darker, Saturation increase -- increases the saturation of all colors, Filters -- darken all colors other than the specified color.

FX Software

Free

Any

English

Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista

2011-08-31

Vu-Bar is an on-screen slotted ruler that is useful for users with dyslexia, or when they have tendency to skip lines or drop from one line to the next. This version allows the user to select the bar width, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of screen width and set the slot height to the required font size.

N/A

Freeware

Free

N/A

English

Any

Web Browser

2011-08-31

WordItOut creates word clouds based on the text the user inputs. The more frequently a word is found in the text, the bigger its font will be in the word cloud. In addition, word clouds can be saved as image files (PNG).