I have been helping a neighbor here who has lost some of his vision due to diabetes. I found the BLIO e-book reader which will convert EBook text to audible words as well as be a good regular reader.
A computer store owner here in Winner found WebbIE which is a browser for visually-impaired. He also found Thunder which is a screen reader.
The WebbIE browser will switch view between HTML and plain text, enlarge text, and convert text to audio. link as plain text http://www.webbie.org.uk/
The Thunder screen reader will work with WebbIE, but will also read as audio, the text associated with computer screen icons. I have not fully tested these link as plain text http://www.screenreader.net/
BLIO is an ebook reader developed by Ray Kurzweil working with a society for the blind. It works well as a regular reader, but click one button and it will convert the Ebook text to audio. link as plain text: http://www.meetblio.com/download/
There are usually several versions of these programs. Some for network use, and some for unitary installation on flash drives. You may have to scroll down pages to find the download links. The problem I see with all of these is the install programs which may need good vision on even a large screen. Not a good combination with programs designed for the visually-impaired The latest version of BLIO requires the MS Net Framework and takes patience and some time to both download and install.
A commercial program Dragon Dictate also helps. It will convert spoken words to text which can be saved as files and/or printed, but making a required individucal sound profile is is coupled with counter-intuitive menus and status screens, and relatively small type even on a large screen.
I hope some of you will find these useful or be able to help get them working for somebody who is visually-impaired and/or may have hearing difficulty.
*** Stay tuned, and if you get WebbIE, you can listen to this wonderful prose--- Doug Wiken
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