screen reading software for mobiles and PDAs

[bob]

On 3/30/06, mo.valli at bt.com <mo.valli at bt.com> wrote:
> All,
>
> Are there many of the above products available? Would appreciate a list. I must admit I didn't know of them until I listened to LARRY SKUTCHAN's podcast with Janina Sajka.

There are two commercial text-to-speech applications for mobiles that
I've heard of.  The one I know most about is Talks, which runs on the
Nokia series 60 range of phones. Actually it should run any Symbian
platform I would guess. If you're in the UK and ask a mobile phone
provider e.g. Vodafone for devices with text-to-speech, it's usually
Talks they try to sell you. If you want to try it, there's a free time
limited version available for download off the manufacturer's website:
http://www.nuance.com/talks/

On the PDA side, our department has (or rather had: it was stolen at a
conference) a Freedom Scientific PACmate PDA. Think of something the
size of a standard qwerty keyboard with an iPAQ hidden inside. The
display is replaced with Jaws text-to-speech software. It also has an
optional Braille display that plugs into the front of the unit. The
device has its problems: bulky, very expensive, and don't whatever you
do, let the battery run flat. But it does work. Well, if you think
Jaws works... The PACmate's web site is:
http://www.freedomscientific.com/

Bob Dodd
Accessibility Research Centre
University of Teesside
United Kingdom