A freebie talking balance program (fwd)

From: David Andrews (dandrews@visi.com)
Date: Tue Apr 15 1997 - 20:54:49 PDT


Thought this might interest you.
David Andrews

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 17:18:55 -0400
From: LUNNEY@DELPHI.COM
Reply-To: "Equal Access to Software & Information:---- web:
     http://www.rit.edu/~easi" <EASI@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
To: EASI@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
Subject: A freebie talking balance program

We would like to announce to the members of this discussion
list the availability of a new computer program which enables
blind and visually impaired people to operate and read Ohaus
electronic balances. The program, which is called Talking
Balance 1, may be downloaded from the World Wide Web at the
following url: http://people.delphi.com/LUNNEY/ECUPGMS.HTM

A README text file which gives installation instructions and
more information about how to use the program is also available
at that web site. (For people who don't have access to the Web,
the authors will be happy to send the program on a diskette by
snail-mail.)

The Talking Balance 1 Program reads a balance through a serial
port, and displays the readings and instructions for the user
as synthetic speech and as large text on the computer screen.
The user may save balance readings in a disk file for later
analysis or for incorporation into a printed report. The
balance is tared (zeroed) and read from the computer keyboard.

The program runs under MS-DOS on an ordinary IBM-compatible
computer. The program will work with either an internal or
external speech synthesizer, including the Creative Labs Sound
Blaster sound card with the Creative Labs text-to-speech
engine, SBTALKER; or it can be run in the speechless mode. It
was designed to work with Ohaus CT and TP series laboratory
balances, but will probably read other Ohaus models as well.

Although it was written primarily for blind and visually
impaired students, the program should also be useful to people
who use wheelchairs: the large display is easy to read from a
seated position, and a keyboard is easier to operate from a
wheelchair than the switches on a balance's front panel.

This program is free software, and was developed in the
Department of Chemistry and the Science Institute for the
Disabled at East Carolina University under grants from the
National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and
Human Resources.

Margaret M. Gemperline, MS
(919) 328-1648 (voice)
(919) 328-6210 (fax)
chmgempe@ecuvm.cis.ecu.edu

David Lunney, Ph.D., P.E.
(919) 758-6453 (voice)
(919) 758-0967 (fax)
LUNNEY@delphi.com

Department of Chemistry
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858-4353



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