Information Accessibility for All
From: GovPro - October 2003

Although Stephen Rainard is blind, he operates a computer in his job with the
U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) in Cleveland, OH. Currently employed as a
transcriber with the VA's Vocational Rehabilitation and Education Division,
Rainard has held various positions with the federal government for the past
28 years. 

Rainard's blindness resulted from his premature birth, at which time he was
given excessive oxygen that led to a degenerative eye disease. His eyesight
progressively deteriorated, and he became completely blind by the age of 13. 

Nevertheless, Rainard learned how to type and keep pace with steady strides
in computerized technology. He notes that the advent of computers was a
monumental step in assuring typing accuracy. 

"I don't think people realize that before computers, for a blind person to be
competitive as a transcriber, the stress factor was at least twice [what] it
would be for a person who could see," says Rain-ard. The stress factor
related to not being able to proofread one's work to fix mistakes. 

Then, about three years ago, Rainard received JAWS speech synthesis software,
which reads aloud each word typed on a PC. The software provides an added
boost for typing accuracy. 

"Having a talking computer is an advantage that puts me on a more competitive
footing with my sighted counterparts," Rainard notes. "I'm able to control
the quality of my work more critically, especially with spelling and grammar
checks, and the quality factor goes up exponentially."  

For full article and graphics, visit:
http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.6yst.3.3rh8.4n37 (PDF)