Esempi di
applicazioni
Talking Scale uses WinWedge
Enriching the lives of people with
disabilities by providing meaningful employment choices is the
mission of the Opportunity Development Centers, Inc. The Opportunity
Development Centers, Inc. (ODC), with offices in Wisconsin Rapids
and Marshfield, Wisconsin, is a not-for-profit organization which
provides vocational services to adults with disabilities. The
services offered by ODC are funded by the revenue generated from
their contracts with area businesses and from grants and donations.
ODC is the second largest employer in Wisconsin Rapids, employing
approximately 300 people. ODC has an integrated work force of
disabled and non-disabled individuals. They also provide their work
force with job placement assistance and employment choices in the
community.
One of ODC’s specialty areas, the
Ship Shop Bulk Mail and Fulfillment area, completes mailing and
fulfillment services to over 200 businesses. Most of the business is
local but they do have customers as far away as Colorado.
Within the fulfillment area, orders
for catalogs, price lists, catalog sheets and other sales literature
are requested by customers on a daily basis. The ODC employees then
calculate the number of items to be distributed by weighing the
items. Additionally, within the retail paper packaging area,
employees weigh quantities of paper to be shrink wrapped and
distributed to stores for the paper companies.
The Talking Scale
In order to provide access to a
greater variety of jobs for employees with visual impairments,
learning disabilities and cognitive disorders, ODC developed a "talking
scale" system to expand the opportunities in their Ship Shop. The
talking scale offers visual and audible readouts that make it
possible for visually impaired employees to accurately weigh
materials for packaging.
The talking scale system utilizes a
Detecto 2235-20 Counting Scale with RS232 output, manufactured by
McMaster, Chicago, IL. The scale is connected via serial cable to a
Toshiba Notebook with 16 megs of RAM and a PCMCIA serial adapter.
The Notebook is running Windows 3.1. The weight and count readings
from the scale are transferred to Notepad for display using WinWedge
for Windows Standard version (WinWedge) from TAL Technologies, Inc.
(800-722-6004, www.taltech.com). WinWedge simulates keyboard input
and automates the data entry from the scale. The scale data is
audiblized by two software programs, Dectalk Express and WindowEyes,
programs designed for the visually impaired by GW Micro, Fort Wayne
IN.
The scale operator wears headphones
to hear a voice output of the number registering on the scale,
enabling the operator to adjust the weight accordingly.
Bill Pickett, 37, Wisconsin Rapids,
blind since the age of 21, is the first ODC employee to be trained
on the scale. He has worked for ODC since 1991. To perform retail
packaging for Wausau Papers, Pickett uses an adjustable "spoon" to
remove a stack of paper from a bulk pile and place it on the scale.
Guided by the scale’s "voice", he is able to quickly add or remove
the appropriate number of sheets of paper before adding a cover
sheet and sending it on its way on a conveyer belt. Pickett said he
typically handles 438 packages in a four-hour shift and previously
performed mainly assembly work.
"I like doing the scaling," he said.
"It’s a little more challenging."
The system was developed by an ODC
volunteer who requested anonymity, said Carol Ulrich, vice president
of program services, who assisted with the development of the
system. Funding for the equipment came from a grant from the
Wisconsin Knights of Columbus.
ODC plans to adapt more of its
equipment to offer its employees more job variety and skills
training. ODC hopes that other organizations can implement similar
talking scale systems to broaden opportunities for visually impaired
employees.
Benefits
- Offers expanded variety of jobs
to visually impaired
- Easy to use
- Transparent to user
- Data accuracy ensured for sight
impaired learning disabled individuals
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