Tag Archives: scanning

KNFB Reader app – Take a photo then have text read aloud

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KNFB iphone app

knfbReader by Sensotec nv – View of the iPhone screen with a scanned document and output

I received a free version of the app through my role on the British Dyslexia Association’s New Technologies Committee and I love it!  For my own personal use (dyslexia rather than VI), I’ve historically relied on apps such as Prizmo or ClaroSpeak (with OCR addon). I started using this app a few months ago and for me this app is a big step up for two reasons:
1. Exceptionally fast user experience
2. Exceptional accuracy

1. Exceptionally fast user experience

The app’s purpose is essentially the same as Prizmo / ClaroSpeak (with OCR addon) / CapturaTalk.  However, the main advantage for me is that the time from snapping the photo and to starting to hear it being read aloud is a couple of seconds on my old iPhone 4S, and instantaneous on my iPhone 6.  They do this by:
a) Having an auto-read function, so as soon as it has text from the photo it reads aloud to you, without you having to press another button.
b) Starting to read before the whole page has been analysed.  As soon as it’s recognised the first sentence it starts to read that aloud.

The user interface is really nice – open the app, hold it above the page and press one button!  Then sit back and relax while the page is read to you.  This is a big plus for day-to-day use.

2. Exceptional accuracy

From my non-scientific playing with the app, the OCR accuracy appears to be at least as good as (and I think better than) ClaroSpeak’s OCR addon, and it is much better than Prizmo.

So money-no-object it wins hands down for me – an ideal example of an app that does only one thing and does it very well. Cost £79.99 for the iPhone
Neil Cottrell
LexAble

Using C-pen 3.5 to collect journal notes

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C-Pen 3.5I have been using a C-pen 3.5 for collecting printed notes that can be stored for assignments. It works well with Bluetooth and a Windows computer – You can run the pen over the print quite quickly and it will appear in whatever document you are using.

I have found it works best on high contrast black print on white paper or vice versa. The smaller the font the slower you need to scan. If you use a ruler or hard edge against the side of the pen you get a more accurate result and can scan across the page at a faster rate.

Luke – ECS

TextHelp for writing and proofreading; scanning plus adding comments.

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manuscript in word“Text to speech is really useful when you are writing and proofreading – it makes me stop when I leave out words and when I create words that don’t exist.,  I was given TextHelp Read and Write Gold and I use the scanning for my manuscripts.  Add the picture to Word and make comments in the margins.”

Becky  – Medieval Renaissance Culture.

Adobe PDF to Word for text to speech and annotation

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TextHelp scan document“Reading is big issue for me – I find it hard to concentrate on the content so I have to scan in documents so I use a program to read them back to help me focus and absorb more information. Quite often I download E-Journals and they are all set up in PDF format. But, when I come to use the software, it is quite hard so then I transfer it to a Word document.  It is much more user-friendly.

Basically, I have been used to using the software for TextHelp Read and Write [Gold] (YouTube video) and in that program you can scan the document – you can scan the PDF document and transfer it to a Word document” [This is also possible with ClaroRead (YouTube video)]

Tom – Sports Science BSc Hons