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Kurzweil 1000 is reading software that makes printed or electronic text accessible to people who are blind or have limited vision. It is the direct descendent of the first reading machine for the blind invented by Ray Kurzweil in 1976.
Kurzweil 1000TM is award-winning software that makes printed or electronic text readily available to people who are blind or visually impaired. It combines accessibility, communication and productivity tools to ease and enhance their reading, writing and learning experience.
The software speaks text aloud in a variety of natural-sounding voices that can be modified to suit individual preferences. In addition, it provides users with document creation and editing as well as study skills capabilities for note taking, summarizing and outlining text.
Kurzweil 1000 delivers quick access to a wealth of information including online books, magazines and encyclopaedias so users can pursue any reading interests. They can also take their reading wherever they go by sending files to Braille note takers and embossers as well as portable devices such as DAISY and MP3 audio players.
Kurzweil 1000 is easy to use for beginners, yet powerful and flexible for advanced users. With its wide array of useful features, users save time and gain independence – whether at home, at school, or at work
Kurzweil 1000 Version 10 brings a host of useful new features to the world`s most highly regarded reading solution for the blind and visually impaired.
Here are some of the highlights of the Kurzweil 1000 Version 10 new features:
Scanning and Reading
- Audio DAISY Document Creation
Read documents created with Kurzweil 1000 on your DAISY player or computer with DAISY software. With Type 2 DAISY file support, full audio and audible document navigation you can quickly access different parts of a document, such as table of contents, indices and bookmarks, and navigate the document easily.
- Updated High Quality Text to Speech from NeoSpeech
Listen to the best text-to-speech on the market with updated versions of the Kate and Paul VoiceText ™ voices from NeoSpeech.
- Improved Scanning and Recognition
Obtain better scanning and recognition results with Kurzweil 1000 Version 10 as it now incorporates ScanSoft OCR 12.6. In addition, a new noise filter option lets you ignore regions near the edge of a page that were incorrectly identified as text.
- Additional Options for Editing Recognized Pages
Edit recognized pages with ease as more options have been added to the Poorly Recognized Pages feature. First, pages may be sorted and filtered by their spelling percentage instead of their confidence level. Second, pages can be marked as having been edited, and the pages shown can be grouped such that edited pages drop to the bottom of the list.
Information Access
- Expanded Online Search and Retrieval
Kurzweil 1000 users can find the latest books quickly on Bookshare.org with their New Books section and Bookshare.org subscribers with institutional accounts can now download books for eligible students from within Kurzweil 1000. Also, Version 10 gives direct access to NFB Publications such as Voice of the Diabetic and Future Reflections, as well as Braille Monitor.
User Interface and Editing Enhancements
- Table Creation, Editing and Reading
Access and work with tables with ease. Create and modify tables using simple editing operations. In addition, users can convert blocks of text into a table and, conversely, turn a table into text. Table Reading has also been enhanced to provide easier access to table-rich content, especially from Web sources such as Wikipedia.
- Microsoft Word Conversion
Users with Microsoft Word can open and save any file format that Microsoft Word supports, making it easier to access and work with a wide range of files, in addition to the file formats currently supported by Kurzweil 1000.
Other enhancements to Kurzweil 1000 Version 10 include more ways to customize areas such as navigation and to control reading and message voices; as well as improvements in writing and editing, including keystrokes for proofreading and the ability to spell check a selection.
Kurzweil 1000 Version 10 System Requirements
- 200 MHz or higher Pentium processor. If you are using the VoiceText™ TTS, you’ll need 400 MHz Pentium II or faster.
- 64MB of RAM; 256MB is recommended if using VoiceText.
- At least 500MB of available hard disk space; and an additional 625MB if using VoiceText.
- CD-ROM drive.
- A compatible TWAIN scanner – see Compatible Scanners Page for scanner recommendations.
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster - compatible sound card with speakers.
- Full-size keyboard and/or a 17-button keypad.
- For Audio File Creation: MP3 encoder and/or media player.
- MP3 File Playback on Other Devices: MP3 player capable of playing multiple sampling rates.
- Floppy Disk Drive: For DECTalk option only.
- Operating Systems Supported: Windows® 98, 2000, ME®, XP®.
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