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For the past 4 years I have provided a freelance transcription service for blind and visually impaired students in higher education who are increasingly reliant on computers with speech output. I have provided such assistance for a number of students enrolled at The Manchester Metropolitan University following Humanities, Social Science, Community Studies, Law and Education courses.
I have been encouraged to extend this service elsewhere to students in these subject areas.
The student is often provided with a scanner and scanning software so that any document can be scanned and read out by a computer "screen reader". However, much of the literature made available to students: course notes, lecturer’s handouts, library books and journals - cannot be scanned successfully as a result of problems with recognition which the scanning software cannot remedy. These include unusual font type, print clarity, size, angle, narrow column spacing, diagrams, tables… the list goes on. I take these obstacles away and make such material readable for speech output - putting right any disjointed gibberish.
This problem often goes by unrecognised. In many cases, once supplied with the technology, it is believed that the student can ‘get on with it’. The student may believe this too - not knowing he or she can employ this type of support and that it can be funded by the Non-medical Helpers portion of the Disabled Students Allowance.
The Student passes on or sends me the material and I scan and edit it to a set standard or to the student’s own specifications. I can also reformat files provided on disk and edit files that, for example, may have tables or diagrams that need transcribing. The transcribed literature is emailed back to the student or returned on disk. The turn around time can be as little as 48 hours depending on the quality and quantity of the material.
The student does not have to have email and Internet access. The ‘On-Line’ emphasis is made in the hope that in the near future all blind and visually impaired students will have optional ‘on-line’ access in their homes/halls of residence as a matter of course. In the meantime a lot of exchanging of disks is expected!
Universities/Faculties/Departments may also wish to use this service to make their written information and promotional materials accessible and thus fulfil their access obligations as laid down by The Disability Discrimination Act.
Rob Hayward - Summer 1998
In the past first contact has come either from the Disability Adviser or the student. So long as there is confirmation that funding (usually from the Disabled Students’ Allowance) will be in place we can get started. If the student has optional units of study the sooner these are decided the sooner the course material can be transcribed. Course tutors should be made aware of this benefit and prior student contact encouraged.
If requested by the student, I can make contact with the department to get course literature released early and sent direct to VIOLET so it can be transcribed in advance.
To get in touch with VIOLET email me:
Library material is also transcribed. It is suggested that the student send me an accurate reading list. I advise consultation with staff, as it is often the case that certain pages and chapters need transcribing rather than whole books. Actual access to the source material requiring transcription can be arranged.
Braille and audio transcriptions can also be provided. Departments often request Braille copies of official documents and transcriptions of course information such as timetables, notices and fire precautions. On the part of the student there seems to have been much less call for Braille because of the convenience (and space!) that screen reader technology provides. VIOLET has been set up to facilitate this.
Because of the wide variety of material that is received rates vary from £0.75 to £5.00 for a page or 500 words. As a rough guide, material, once received and assessed can be graded using 5 broad bands. The contents of documents and batches of material often cross different bands. The majority of literature received falls into the first two bands. The 5 rate bands are as follows:
Band A:
Band B:
Band C:
Band D:
Band E: