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L&H ™ KURZWEIL 3000 SCANNING/READING/WRITING SOFTWARE

by Trevor Wilks, Manager, Adtech Centre, University of Newcastle

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

K3000 software is a self-contained scanning/reading/writing software application for people with a print disability. The major difference between K3000 and other similar adaptive software packages is that when documents are scanned into K3000 it displays an image of each page rather than just text meaning that graphics, photos, graphs, charts, cartoons etc co-exist with text. The text can then be read aloud by K3000's high quality synthesised speech.

K3000 is simple to use and has many excellent features which complement the softwares ability to provide synthesised speech and graphics in the one file. K3000 reading material looks exactly the same as the printed material. As such it is one of the most "inclusive" technologies available for students with a print disability. Students feel comfortable with the technology and less "different" then their non-disabled peers as a result of not relying upon plain text files and reading software to access their curricular materials.

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BACKGROUND

Many students with a print disability have had reservations about using scanning/reading software for different reasons. These include their personal level of computer literacy, especially when having to use two, or even three, different applications together before they can start reading, lack of access to accompanying graphical material and the inability to come to grips with computer generated speech. Kurzweil Educational Systems has produced a software package, which addresses some of these reservations (as outlined below) and provides students with an easy to use practical tool for accessing a vast range of reading materials.

User Profile

· Students with a vision impairment
· Students with a learning disability
· Students whose disability affects their ability to access printed material. This may include students with Cerebral Palsy or other types of manipulative impairment, a Brain Injury or students affected by medication.

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ADVANTAGES

Simple to use
K3000 is an extremely user-friendly piece of software. With a minimal level of training (10 min) a student can be using the software to scan and read curricular material. This may be all some students require from the program

High quality synthesised speech.
The "Real Speak" synthesised speech used by K3000 is considered to be the highest quality speech software currently available. The software offers the choice between Jane (British accent) and Jennifer (American accent). Using these two voices 90% of clients are generally extremely satisfied. For the other 10% K3000 has seventeen other voices to choose from.

Text Tracking
Whilst reading K3000 block highlights units (sentences or paragraphs) of text in one colour and tracks, in another colour, the individual words as they are spoken. This is extremely useful for all users, particularly those with a vision impairment or a learning disability.

Viewable graphics
As K3000 captures a digital image when each page is scanned everything that is on the print version is on the K3000 version. This includes graphics in black and white or colour such as diagrams, graphs, flow charts, cartoons etc. The image can be enlarged for students with a vision impairment or reduced to provide a contextual view.

K3000 has a unique feature that allows students to overlay text onto the existing page image. This allows students to label diagrams and answer questions directly onto the page and print the results.

Reading the Web.
Using K3000 in conjunction with Microsoft's Internet Explorer to read World Wide Web sites is an extremely simple process. Just by clicking on the "read the web" command in K3000 Internet Explorer is started and web sites can be accessed using speech feedback, block highlighting, word definitions and word syllables.

Audio Recording
Both analogue and digital audio recording can be done using K3000. Analogue recording to audiocassette is a simple matter of connecting an appropriate cassette recorder to the computers "sound out" jack on the sound card using the correct audio cable. It is then a matter of recording the material in "real time" as K3000 reads it. The main problem with this method is that a close eye needs to be kept on the cassette recorder for when the tape runs out.

Digital recording can also be achieved using the computers internal sound system and mixer in combination with a third party piece of software such as "Real Player" or "Sound Forge". This is quite a complicated process for basic computer users and as such we are recommending that if the creation of a digital audio file from a text file is the outcome required then "Text Aloud MP3" is the software to use.

Word Prediction
K3000 comes with a built in word prediction feature. Word prediction can be extremely useful for students who have difficulty accessing the keyboard. Before a student can use this feature successfully though they need to spend time getting use to the process and building a strong personal writing vocabulary.

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EXAMINATIONS/TESTS

K3000 is an extremely powerful tool when used in an examination situation for students with particular types of disability.

Different Exam Situations.

1. Multiple Choice - no graphical components

Paper: Create an RTF file from the original exam paper (either from a word processor file or by scanning the print copy) and use K3000 to read each question to the student. This is particularly useful for students with a vision impairment as their vision deteriorates throughout the exam.

Answers: Fill in a standard GPAS answer sheet,
Circle the correct answer on the paper copy.
Handwrite the answers on a separate sheet of paper
Mark the correct answer in some way on the RTF computer paper and print it out.

2. Multiple Choice - with graphical components

Paper: Create a K3000 (KESI) file from the original print exam paper and use K3000 to read each question to the student. Graphical components can be enlarged on screen and questions can be read using the synthesised speech.

Answers: Fill in a standard GPAS answer sheet.
Circle the correct answer on the paper copy.
Handwrite the answers on a separate sheet of paper.
Create a new RTF or Word Processing file and type the answers.
Mark the correct answer in some way on the computer paper and print it out.
If answers are required to be inserted on the print copy of the paper (for example labelling a diagram of a brain) use the "insert text note" feature to overlay text labels either in the answer sections or on the diagram and then print the results.

3. Short Answer

Paper: Create a K3000 (KESI) file or an RTF, depending on whether there are graphical components, from the original print exam paper and use K3000 to read each question to the student. Graphical components can be enlarged on screen and questions can be read using the synthesised speech.

Answers: If using an RTF file type the answers directly after each question and print results.
If using a K3000 file then it is quite useful to create a separate RTF file for the answers and then split the screen horizontally so that the student can have the questions being read to them in the top half of the screen and then write the answers in the RTF file in the bottom half of the screen. The computer being used in this situation may require a 17 inch monitor or larger for this method to be effective.

4. Essay

Paper: Create a K3000 (KESI) file or an RTF, depending on whether there are graphical components, from the original print exam paper and use K3000 to read each question to the student. Graphical components can be enlarged on screen and questions can be read using the synthesised speech.

Answers: Generally essays type answers would be done using the many writing features available in K3000. Speech feedback, background colours, font size & colour and line spacing can all be set to the needs of the student. Word prediction can be used if the student has been successfully using this feature in the past.

NOTE: Writing Features which may give students an unfair advantage in an examination situation can be turned off and password protected to ensure the credibility of results.

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DISADVANTAGES

Cost
The cost of the full Scan/Read version of K3000 is generally out of the reach of most students. Students may however be able to afford the read/write version of the software which will read material created using the full version of the software. If the institution the student is studying with buys the full Scan/Read version of K3000 and installs it on an appropriate computer with a scanner and a CD writer staff or students can scan material, copy it to CD and it can then be read on a home PC giving the students the flexibility which so many need to manage their workloads.

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TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

As stated in the "Advantages" above K3000 is exceptionally easy to use. A student with no computer experience can be scanning and reading in ten minutes or less. Training time will be longer if students wish to use the advanced features of the software.

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INTEGRATION/CONFLICTS

Seems to work well with Dragon Naturally Speaking Voice Recognition Software and Zoomtext screen magnification software.

ADVANCED FEATURES.

The K3000 features highlighted in this report are those that have been used extensively and effectively by students in a Tertiary learning environment. K3000 has many features which have not been mentioned here but are definitely worth investigating for students with a disability of all ages. The following link provides information about new features in the latest version of K3000 (version 6.0) as well as features of previous versions.
http://www.kurzweiledu.com/products_k3000win_features.asp

K3000 Data Sheet http://www.kurzweiledu.com/files/K3000%20v8%20Overview.f.txt

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USER COMMENTS

"I can read about six times faster than I could when I started Uni thanks to K3000."
History student with cerebral Palsy

"It's just fantastic for those 150 question multiple-choice exams. No more eyestrain, headaches or panic attacks. Just sit back and listen to K3000 read each question then the choices and its over before you know it."
Psychology student with a vision impairment

SOFTWARE MANUFACTURER

Kurzweil Educational Systems
http://www.kurzweiledu.com

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APPROXIMATE PRICE

K3000 Scan/Read/Write
This is the full version of K3000 which allows a user to scan text and images into a K3000 file (KESI) format, read these files, read RTF and HTML files (using Internet Explorer 5.0 or above) and write documents using speech output and other disability specific features.

COST = $2475.00 for the Scan/Read version (as at August 2000)

K3000 Read/Write only
The Read/Write version of K3000 allows a user to read previously scanned K3000 files (KESI) read RTF and HTML files (using Internet Explorer 5.0 or above) and write documents using speech output and other disability specific features.

COST = $720.00 for the "Read Only" version (as at August 2000)

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SUPPLIER

Spectronics
PO BOX 88
Rochedale
QLD 4123
AUSTRALIA
Ph: 07 3808 6833
Email: mail@spectronicsinoz.com
Web: http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/browse.asp?cat=14400

Hardware Specifications

Processor: 166 MHz (or faster). If using L&H™ RealSpeak™: 300 MHz Intel® Pentium III (or faster).
Memory: 32MB (64MB for Color Scanning). If using L&H™ RealSpeak™: 64MB (128MB recommended).
Hard Disk Space: 120MB to 150MB (dependent upon options selected during installation).
Video RAM: 2MB (or better).
Screen Resolution: 800x600 pixels.
Color Palette: High Color (16-bit).
Operating System: Windows®95, 98, 2000, Windows NT®.
Scanner: TWAIN compliant. Check scanner compatibility list at http://www.kurzweiledu.com/downloads_k3000win_scanners.asp
Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster® 16 or other 16-bit compatible sound card.
CD Drive: Required.
Keyboard: Required.
Mouse: Required.
Floppy Disk Drive: Required.

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K3000