JAWS offers freedom

Thu., Sept. 21, 2006

Paula M. Davenport Staff writer

People with severe visual impairments can now send and receive e-mails, navigate the Internet and create documents and presentations at a new computer workstation in the Spokane Valley Library.

It’s all possible thanks to about $1,000 worth of voice output software, known as JAWS for Windows, purchased recently by the Spokane County Library District.

The workstation is available by reservation at the library’s Valley Branch, 12004 E. Main Ave. Access is free.

But those who’ve never used the program will first want to sign up for training, offered at no charge, by the Lilac Blind Foundation.

The software relies on a voice synthesizer to read screen text. Computer users slip into headphones for privacy. And they may choose one of eight different voices to read to them.

The software is scheduled to be installed in the Cheney branch by the end of the year. The program is not offered in City of Spokane libraries, which instead have a magnifying system.

John Croy of Spokane began using JAWS when it was first installed in the North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Ave., about a year ago.

“Everybody else is sending e-mail and stuff like that and I wanted to do it myself,” said the 57-year-old Croy, who’s been blind since birth. “I use it mostly for e-mail, word processing and to look for work.”

He grew proficient with JAWS by training with Russell Smith, a computer technician at with Spokane’s Lilac Blind Foundation. Smith began losing his sight in his 40s and is now blind.

Computer proficiency is an educational and cultural benchmark these days, Smith said.

“The computer is a tool to survive, to know what’s going on in the world. It’s not a toy. It’s not just a convenience. It’s a way to get around,” said Smith.

The JAWS program provides freedom for people who otherwise would always have to rely on others.

“It gives you independence,” Smith said. “I don’t have to grab a sighted person to read for me. I can do it myself.”

Learning the program takes time. But it’s well worth the effort.

“The more you want to dive into it, the quicker it’s going to come,” Smith said of the software’s learning curve.

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