Technology Resources and Ideas
We invite your ideas on how you use technology to do your work of serving in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here we bring together the ways you meet the challenges of ministry using technology.
We are not debating which products are better, but telling each other how we have used technology to carry out our ministry calling. You are welcome to correct or update information listed below by contacting us.
The first part of this page is a simple listing of the technologies under various headings, with links to descriptions and comments further down the page.
Note that we have another Optasia Forum page listing online and other resources you have used.
This is not a forum for getting help with your technology problems. There are e-mail lists that offer you the opportunity to solve problems and ask technology questions.
JAWS for Windows (Job Access with Speech)
Many commercial scanners are available that will be adequate for your purposes.
OCR (Optical Character Recognition Software) allows you to scan printed text, and have it translated into a digital file that the computer will recognize as words and sentences.
Open Book
This is Freedom Scientific’s product. I use it with an HP scanner and find that it operates with a high level of accuracy.
Voice Recorder – notes are stored on the voice recorder and played back through an earphone.
Description
JAWS allows blind and visually impaired persons the ability to access software applications and the Internet with speech information about what is on the computer screen. Produced by Freedom Scientific.
Comments provided here are the opinions of users who have agreed to share their thoughts here.
Description
Window Eyes allows blind and visually impaired persons the ability to access software applications and the Internet with speech information about what is on the computer screen. Produced by GW Micro.
Comments provided here are the opinions of users who have agreed to share their thoughts here.
Zoom Text originated as software for enlarging text on the screen, but has developed a speech component as well
Description
Produced by Freedom Scientific the Pac Mate is available with a Braille Keyboard or a QWERTY Keyboard.
Users can add a 20 or 40 cell Braille display to the Pac Mate.
The Pac Mate operates with the JAWS screen reading software, and uses Windows Pocket PC software so it includes Pocket Word, Pocket Excell, Internet Explorer and File Explorer, as well as calendar and calculator features. Users can add a wireless card for Internet access. Freedom Scientific has included their own text editor which overcomes some limitations in Pocket Word. The Pac Mate can be linked to a desk top computer with Active Synch.
Comments provided here are the opinions of users who have agreed to share their thoughts here.
I have been able to use the Pac Mate with a Bluetooth headset to listen to and speak (voice over) the liturgy, Scripture readings and sermon notes, as well as for leading meetings.
Description
Produced by Human Ware the Braille Note is available with a Braille Keyboard or a QWERTY Keyboard.
Users can add an 18 or 32 cell Braille display to the Braille Note.
Daisy books are the "second generation" of
recorded books, the first being tape recordings, and earlier vinyl discs.
The books are structured so that one can skip from section to section, access a
footnote in context or go directly to a page. When the book is played by
software on a computer, the full text of the book can be included with the
recording, the recording and the text can be read asyncronously.
The Library of Congress Division for the Physically
Handicapped, is migrating its tape collection to a daisy format. In other
countries, daisy books have been the standard for the last few years.
There are now portable devices that not only play the books, but allow
recording as well, and as part of the process allow up to 6 levels of heading
in the text as it is being recorded or editted. The whole bible will,
unfortunately not fit on one cd, although it will fit on a flashcard
Copyright 2007 OptasiaMinistry. All rights
reserved.