Welcome to the first in a regular feature which looks at assistive technology. In this section we will evaluate both new assistive technology products, and also updates to existing products. The aim is to inform of new developments and highlight useful features.

Paul ‘Hawkeye’ Guyver, our resident correspondent, takes some time away from his binary code and puts ClaroRead through its paces. This is a new product from Claro Software Ltd that offers an alternative to TextHELP products.

One to watch - ClaroRead

ClaroRead, released earlier this year, is a product designed to support the use of IT on computers. However, its potential benefits to people with specific learning difficulties are clear.

Claro Software designer Paul Blenkhorn is already well known for his work over the last 20 years in the field of computer accessibility for the blind and visually impaired. The development of ClaroRead marks an expansion into a wider field of assistive technology.

So what about the product?

At first view it is easy to see comparisons between TextHELP Read and Write and ClaroRead. The toolbar of ClaroRead is very familiar in its design, and contains features similar to many contained on the TextHELP toolbar (albeit with slightly different names). I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing - as someone who has worked in the field of assistive technology (AT) for a decade, one of the things I have found frustrating when using / demonstrating AT is variation in user interface between similar products. From the student perspective there may be an advantage in this similarity as well. It is not always the case that the AT software a student uses at home will be the same as that available at their college / university. One thing I didn’t like about the ClaroRead toolbar is that it docks to the open application rather than the top of the screen as with TextHELP. Personally I prefer the tool bar to be completely out of the way, ClaroRead tended to obscure my Microsoft Word tool bar when I evaluated it.

As with TextHELP, ClaroRead can be purchased at two different levels: ClaroRead and ClaroRead Plus. The main difference between the two being the addition of a scanning application in ClaroRead Plus.

The Features

Speech Features

As with TextHELP, ClaroRead allows the user to read from anywhere in Microsoft Word, and will read text on web pages. It is also possible to have menus items and objects read aloud by holding the mouse over them. The product comes bundled with RealSpeak text-to-speech voices so all those who lamented the demise of Emily or Jane in the most recent version of TextHELP will be pleased – they are alive and well and living in ClaroRead! It is also possible to use the software with other speech synthesisers to provide support for different languages.

I really like the onscreen tracking of text as it is read aloud by ClaroRead. I found it to be a lot easier to follow text with ClaroRead as compared to TextHELP. I also like the fact that it is possible to stop speech using the keyboard (ctrl) key, a feature common in assistive technology products for the visually impaired. Being able to quickly and easily tell the software to ‘shut up’ is just as important as getting it to read in the first place.

As with TextHELP it is possible to create digital audio files (in wav format) from onscreen text. My only criticism is that it is not possible to create audio files in different formats. Many people now have portable MP3 players, the ability to easily create audio files in this format would be helpful.

Font and Spacing Features

Claro Software have chosen to put control of screen font properties at the forefront of available options. While it is possible to do this from within Microsoft Word, creating a simple one click menu in an obvious location is extremely welcome.

Similarly, the control text spacing has been made easier by use of a simple menu.

Word Prediction

Personally, I have always found word prediction to be a problematic feature. While its use can undoubtedly of help to some users, I feel that often there has been an overestimation of its potential by others.

Word prediction in ClaroRead is quite basic, though there is potential to change some settings. One thing I didn’t like about ClaroRead word prediction is the prediction window which kept appearing / disappearing as I typed. Sometimes it obscured the word I was typing which was quite annoying.

Integration of Features – Check Features

A nice innovation of ClaroRead concerns the combining of proof reading support tools. There is just one button that provides a homophone dictionary, thesaurus and spellchecker, this helps reduce clutter on the toolbar.

The spellchecker provides descriptions of suggested words to help the user identify the correct option.

The homophone checker of ClaroRead is very similar the homophone detector in TextHELP. Both products will mark homophones in text, check homophones in text and provide alternatives with descriptions.

Talking Calculator

This feature of ClaroRead adds speech to the Windows calculator (basic and scientific). Speech echo of buttons is also available for those who find this useful. As with a number of features, this is not radically different from the talking calculator in TextHELP.

Scan to Text

Purchase of ‘ClaroRead Plus’ provides access to an additional scanning feature. With this it is possible to scan printed text directly into Microsoft Word. ClaroRead have chosen the Omnipage scanning engine for their software (TextHELP use the Fine Reader engine). Opinions on each of these engines varies, personally I don’t feel the choice of one over the other provides a significant advantage.

Pricing

It is impossible to talk about this software without considering pricing. While the software does not contain all of the features offered by TextHELP Read and Write, it contains many of the most important ones. A huge selling point of ClaroRead must be its price (ClaroRead Standard £119 +VAT, ClaroRead Plus £159 + VAT). ClaroRead Plus is approximately £80 cheaper than TextHELP Read and Write Gold, this can not be ignored when considering this type of assistive technology.

Final Thoughts

I must say that generally I was quite impressed with ClaroRead. It contains many of the most useful features of TextHELP Read and Write, at a much lower price. The user interface is friendly and uncluttered. For the first release of the product I must say, the folk at Claro Software have done a good job; remember ClaroRead version 1 is up against TextHELP Read and Write version 7. While there are a couple of shortcomings, generally this is a good product.

Having competition between similar products can only be a good thing, both in terms of pricing and also functionality / usability.

Let battle commence…….

For more information:

Claro Software Ltd

Premier House

Room 31

Church Street

Preston

Lancashire

PR1 3BQ

Tel: 0870 760 5877

Fax: 0870 132 7471

email: info@clarosoftware.com

www.clarosoftware.com