How to Choose the Right MP3 Player for Your Visually Impaired Teenager
By Leventhal, Jay; Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, Vol. 202, No. 9, pp. 565-568Publication Date: September 2008
Article discusses MP3 players accessible to people with visual impairments. MP3 devices play music and other audio files as well as audiobooks in various formats, including Digital Audio Information System (DAISY) format. Accessible MP3 players discussed are the BookCourier and Victor Reader Stream. The BookCourier has 15 operating keys and, in addition to music and audiobook files, plays electronic files using the DoubleTalk speech synthesizer. It stores files on compact flash cards up to 4 GB and operates on 2 AA batteries. Headphones or external speakers must be used with the player. The Victor Reader Stream features controls that are designed to be tactile and easy to operate and has high-contrast keys and buttons. There are also audio indicators for all its operations. It features a 12-button telephone-style keypad. Other features are Rewind and Fast Forward buttons, a rechargeable battery, an external speaker, and an internal microphone. Unlike the BookCourier, the Victor Reader Stream plays downloadable books from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). The article cautions that iPods, the most popular MP3 players, are not accessible to people with vision impairments as they lack built-in speech and text enlargement functions.
Assistive Products Discussed: BOOKCOURIER
VICTOR READER STREAM
Published by: AFB Press (Website:http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=46)
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) (Web Site: http://www.afb.org )
Link to text: http://www.afb.org/store/product.asp?sku=jvib020906&mscssid=4XBPF64MDJRB9GD8PM4B5NVXTP0V9NF9
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number J55527
