The major advantage of Texthelp 7 Gold vs
standard is the additional functionality to take a doc from paper to text to audio
in one interface. This works really nicely in conjunction with a digi player. I
think that the extra functionality is worth the money in the case of a DSA, but
you will have to weigh up which you can afford for general use. I am trying to go
for Gold for us.
I like the point about de-ghettoising assistive
software and making all staff and students aware of its benefits. Marketing strikes
again!
Daniel
From:
CAMPBELL R.G. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 30 July 2004 13:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Texthelp etc
I too have just started as an assessor,
but previously to this I was the IT tutor for the Disability Office.
I agree that textHELP is an invaluable
program to have. Rather than use the Gold version, we use textHELP v7 standard,
and use OmniPage Pro for machines with scanners attached. This also tends to be
what is recommended through Needs Assessments.
We have Inspiration on machines across
campus, and it has proved very popular with many students - not just those with
dyslexia, but the wider student population too. Again, Inspiration is commonly
recommended in reports.
With Mavis Beacon, we have had mixed
results. Students find some of the letters onscreen confusing - for instance,
'i' looks the same as 'l'. Also, depending on which version you have, there are
a couple of bugs: in the beginners level lesson 1, it throws in words such as
'autumn,' which it hasn't taught you to type, and if you fail the lesson at the
end of the beginner level, the program crashes.
However, we have also had students who
have found the program very helpful. We tend to recommend Accutype instead, but
I personally have no real preference for either.
----------------------
Becky Campbell
Assessment Officer, Disability Office, University of Wales
Swansea, Singleton
Park, Swansea SA2 8PP.
Tel: 01792 513000 Minicom/text: 01792 513100
Fax: 01792 513200 Email:
[log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/disability/
-----Original Message-----
From: Parrott,
Daniel [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:34
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Texthelp etc
Hi,
I have just started as a Disability Needs
Assessor too. Hope you are having fun!
As far as Texthelp is concerned, we have a
site license and I believe it is worth the money. We have some large 250PC IT
suites and without Texthelp, there are some students for whom the contents of
these rooms would be so many pointless whirring boxes! If you are pushed for
cash, you could buy texthelp standard for the site license and get individual copies
of Gold for scanner PCs (though I think only Gold has the useful text to audio
file feature, which is a pity. There is also a free download on the texthelp
site (called browsealoud) that will read back enabled web pages, but this
relies on the web designers to have bought the development end of the package
when designing their site (google, msn and bbc have, if you want to try).
As far as usage is concerned, we regarded
the purchase as anticipatory, so that any student can just walk in and go to
work without worrying. However, usage will depend on how well the software is
marketed....this is a problem for us at the mo, as the responsible department
is not particularly strong in this respect yet, but we are working on it! We
also had problems with Texthelp 6 being a bit quirky, but hopefully v7 will be
more mature.
Daniel
From:
Paul Smyth [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 30 July 2004 11:00
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject:
Hi to all,
I asked a question previously about IT equipment
in colleges and lots of you kindly responded.
As a new Disability Officer I am at present
trying to purchase some equipment for the college.
I have decided on the following: Texthelp
R&W Gold, Inspiration and Mavis Beacon.
Before I go ahead, I just wanted to check that
for those of you with this equipment, do the students actually use these
packages!!!? Is the feedback positive?
Also, has anyone tried the Txt Help GOLD? It is
very expensive and i do not want to waste college money.
Thanks, Paul (DO Richmond College)