Blind and Vision Impairment: Screen magnification and reading software

Zoomtext and Magic are screen magnification/enchancement products that also offer screen reading functionality. These products acknowledge that some users have vision impairment will use vision for some tasks and hearing for others or a combination of both.

In addition to screen magnification other visual enhancements such as enlarging the curser and mouse pointer and adjusting the overall colour scheme to reduce glare are provided.

The screen reading offered by Zoomtext gives the user the option of using keystrokes or applying a setting that will allow text that the mouse is pointing to to be read.

Electronic magnifiers

Electronic magnifiers that come with a screen are also referred to as closed-circuit televisions (CCTV). These products typically have a large screen and camera under which the user places a book or page they want to enlarge and read. The text and images can be enlarged as well as the contrast, brightness and colour modified to best meet the user’s needs.

While large electronic magnifiers are not portable they are a good accessibility resources for libraries and home use.

Portable electronic magnifier for reading, writing and distance viewing

Being able to carry magnifier around with you that will magnify hardcopy while you’re writing on it as well as allow you to zoom in on information being written on a whiteboard is particularly useful. The Prodigi Connect 12 with distance viewing has a 12.2 screen and a mounting rack that allows you to do this.

Portable electronic magnifiers also come in hand held sizes that can be useful for reading smaller amounts of information.