Presentation to Round Table on Information Access For People with Print Disabilities Inc. Annual Conference
May 2004 By Rob Fawell Technical Coordinator, Alternative Formatting Psychology Department University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba & Trudy Haak Disability Support Officer Student Services University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba
Title: Specialised CCTV for Visually Impaired Student Key Objective of Presentation
Showcase a specialised CCTV that has been designed, constructed and operationalised to meet the particular needs of a student with a severe visual impairment.
Introduction The presentation of a student with a severe visual impairment last year provided University of Southern Queensland an opportunity to explore resources that would adequately support this student. Fortunately, the previous manager of the psychology department’s computer labs had some experience working with visually impaired people in the community and was available to work with us. His creativity and ingenuity enabled us to provide workable cost effective solutions for this student. One such solution was a devise that would enable her to read more independently. Profile of Student and her needs The student is an international student with Stargardts Macular Dystrophy, a degenerative visual condition resulting in the loss of visual acuity or sharpness of vision, decreased color vision and small blind spots. Consequentially this student has very poor central vision and requires magnification of printed material to font size 36. She uses ZOOMTEXT on her laptop and required a devise that enables her to read printed materials such as correspondence from the university, library materials, newspapers etc. This enables her to quickly access materials when she needs to without having to rely on electronic print.
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Design and Construction Process Given that the student requires equipment to assist her with independent reading, we investigated available CCTVs. After trialing two stand mounted CCTVs, the student found that moving reading materials under magnifiers was cumbersome and did not meet her specific visual needs. Rob Fawell, our Technical Coordinator investigated other more cost effective solutions which would enable the student to read more effectively and assist her with toggling between a magnifier and her laptop. Consequentially, a camera/monitor reading facility has been designed, constructed and trialed using off the shelf components which are inexpensive, portable and intuitive to use. These components include a small camera placed at the end of a pantograph and connected to an LCD screen. Technical Description An LCD monitor (Panasonic Panaview model TX-LCD155 AU$450) was used as the display. This allowed for the connection of both computer and composite video inputs with a toggle between the two. A small monochrome surveillance camera QC3474 (purchased from ‘Vidcam’ AU$100) was mounted on a pantograph type apparatus, constructed in the USQ Science workshop by Oliver Kinder, approximately 50mm from the desk surface. The pantograph is mounted to the rear corner of a desk and has sufficient movement to cover a standard newspaper and is constructed with sufficient rigidity so as to support the weight of the users arm. Small focusing adjustments are required for varying text thicknesses. Demonstration of Equipment The CCTV will be demonstrated in conjunction with the use of a laptop. Operational Issues and Solutions This semester, the student commenced trailing the CCTV. She reports that she is gaining confidence with the use of the devise and frequently uses the CCTV to read printed material such as her texts, correspondence, learning materials etc. This has assisted her with reading more independently. Possible improvements of the device include making the pantograph height adjustable in relation to the desk. This would allow for differing levels of magnification. Conclusion This process has been a valuable learning exercise and required the cooperation of the student, technical staff and disability services staff.
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