                 THE OTHER HALF OF THE EQUATION
                    PC-BASED READING SYSTEMS
                      A COMPARATIVE REVIEW
                        by David Andrews

     From the Editor: David Andrews is the Director of the
International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind at the
National Center for the Blind. In the August, 1993, issue of the
Braille Monitor he offered his evaluation of stand-alone reading
machines. This is what Mr. Andrews now has to say about PC-based
reading systems:

     In mid-1993 the International Braille and Technology Center
for the Blind conducted comparative reviews of stand-alone
reading machines--that is, computer-like devices that scan
printed pages and turn their contents into synthesized speech. At
that time we found that for simplicity of operation and ease of
comprehension of the spoken word, the Reading Edge was probably
the best buy. If, on the other hand, the user needed to read more
complex documents with difficult layouts and a range of font
sizes and print clarity, An Open Book was probably the best
choice. This summary of our evaluation results is oversimplified
and does not take into account the fact that updated software for
a third machine, the Readman, is now available, which might
change our conclusions if the assessment were repeated today.
     Now we have completed reviews of the three major PC-based
(as opposed to stand-alone) reading systems sold today for use by
blind people. We will review all three in this article: An Open
Book Unbound from Arkenstone, Inc.; OsCaR from TeleSensory, Inc.;
and the Reading AdvantEdge from Xerox Imaging Systems, Inc. One
additional system has been shown at the past two NFB conventions,
the Rapid Reader from Blindness and Visual Systems of Baltimore,
Maryland. We ordered this system over a year and a half ago and
still have not received delivery. It is impossible to review a
system which you don't have and unwise to recommend a company
with such unreliable business practices.

               What is a PC-Based Reading System?

     A PC-based reading system is similar to a stand-alone
reading machine in that it scans the page (takes an electronic
picture of it), analyzes that picture, and converts the text on
the page into synthesized speech. Unlike a reading machine, a PC-
based reading system, however, can do other things because it is
based on an existing computer. All of the systems reviewed here
require at a minimum a 386 computer with at least 8 megabytes of
memory and adequate hard disk storage space to store the program
and scanned documents. We recommend a minimum of twenty-five
megabytes of free hard disk storage as a starting point. More
free space is desirable since documents, image files, and swap
files can get quite large.

     While a 386-based computer will do the job, a 486 will be
better, and a Pentium-based system will be better yet because the
reading process consists of three main steps. First, an
electronic picture of a printed page is taken by the flatbed
scanner. Second, this electronic image is transferred to the PC
and analyzed, and any text is extracted. Finally, this text is
converted into synthesized speech, refreshable Braille output, or
large print output by the user's access device. The second step,
the analysis of the image, is the difficult one--the one that
relies on the power of the PC. So the faster the processor, the
more quickly the analysis will take place.

     Using a Hewlett Packard Scanjet IIp flatbed scanner (the
most common scanner around today), the scanning phase takes
approximately fifteen seconds. A faster computer will not speed
up this step. On the other hand, the page analysis can take
anywhere from a second or two to several minutes. Factors
affecting the length of time include the speed of the computer,
the quality of the printed page, the amount of text on the page,
the number of fonts employed, the size of the print, the presence
or absence of graphics, the complexity of the layout, and more.
Processing times on a 386 computer will seem painfully slow when
compared to a fast 486 or a Pentium. We found that, when we used
a ALR Pentium 90 with thirty-two megabytes of RAM, most pages had
been processed and were being read before the HP scanner had
returned the scanner head to the home position, and no page
analysis took longer than about ten or fifteen seconds. If you
are going to do a lot of reading, get the fastest computer you
can afford. You will spend much less time waiting for the
computer to process pages. With the use of the new Pentium
computers, the scanning stage, not the analysis, becomes the
time-consuming step. It used to be the other way around.
     For most people there are a number of advantages to using
PC-based reading systems. If you already have an adequate
computer and an adaptive access system, it saves money. If you
wish to scan documents and save them as files for archival or
editing purposes, then PC-based systems have an advantage over
dedicated reading machines. PC-based systems allow you to use
whatever access device or devices you already have--speech
synthesizers, refreshable Braille displays, or large print
display software and hardware. With most systems it is even
possible to use multiple display methods simultaneously such as
speech and refreshable Braille, or speech and large print. If you
already have an adequate computer and an access device, it is
clearly cheaper to purchase a PC-based system. Even if you don't,
but you are prepared to shop wisely and take advantage of falling
computer prices, you can still save money starting from scratch
with a PC-based system rather than investing in most stand-alone
reading machines. Moreover, you will have a fully functional
computer that can be used for other purposes such as writing,
doing your finances, or accessing the information superhighway.
Finally, when manufacturers update their systems, PC-based
reading systems are easier to upgrade than most stand-alone
reading machines.

                      Why A Special System?

     In the International Braille and Technology Center for the
Blind, we are often asked, why do blind people need special
reading systems like An Open Book Unbound or Reading AdvantEdge?
Are they as good as the commercially available scanning products
used in most offices? The answers to these two questions are
related.
     Virtually all of the commercially available optical
character recognition (OCR) software--the part of the package
that extracts text from the page image--runs under Microsoft
Windows. Until recently blind people have not been able to run
Microsoft Windows. While there are now six Windows access
programs on the market (with others due out in the near future,
possibly even by the time you read this article), the programs
have some rough edges and are still experiencing growing pains.
Running an OCR system under one of them, while possible, would be
difficult or impossible for the average user. The access
companies (including Arkenstone, Xerox, and TeleSensory) have
taken commercially available OCR systems and written their own
control software that is speech-friendly. This is the software
through which you initiate scanning, set and change options, read
documents, etc. All of the companies use commercially available
OCR engines. Arkenstone uses software from Calera Recognition
Systems, which is also used in Calera's Wordscan Plus. The
Reading AdvantEdge uses the same engine found in Xerox Imaging
System's Text Bridge, and TeleSensory uses Omnipage Professional
Version 5 from Caere Corporation in its OsCaR product. So systems
for blind users offer the same OCR capabilities as their
commercially available counterparts used by the sighted but are
easier for us to use.

                        What Do You Get?

     Arkenstone, Xerox, and TeleSensory wish to sell you an
entire reading system, which includes a flatbed scanner, an
interface card that goes inside your PC, and a cable to attach
the two together, as well as all the software needed to control
the scanner, perform OCR tasks, read documents, and set options.
Each of the companies will sell you its software alone, which may
save you a few dollars. If this is the route you decide to go,
you must provide your own scanner, interface card, and cable; but
these are all readily available in the commercial marketplace.
     Below we will describe each system, its layout, and
operation. While not every feature will be mentioned or
described, we will try to provide you with descriptions of the
significant features and operations and to give you an overall
feel for the operation of the software. Many of the features are
similar, and all the systems scan fairly well, so some of the
differences are subtle.

                      An Open Book Unbound
                        Arkenstone, Inc.

     Arkenstone calls its PC-based system "An Open Book Unbound"
to differentiate it from their stand-alone product, which is
called "An Open Book." The two products are virtually identical.
An Open Book Unbound software-only package costs $995, while the
software with a Hewlett Packard Scanjet IIIp scanner costs $1590.
     The Open Book Unbound system differs in one major way from
its competitors. It takes direct control of your speech
synthesizer or Braille Display and does not use your existing
screen-review program or Braille-display control software. An
Open Book Unbound actually runs under Microsoft Windows Version
3.1, although the user is never aware of this fact. The system
provides him or her with speech-friendly or Braille-friendly
prompts and output and takes care of all matters dealing with
Windows itself. This is the reason, though, that conventional
DOS-based access products are bypassed. Consequently, you must
use a speech synthesizer or refreshable Braille display supported
by Arkenstone. These include synthesizers in the Accent, Apollo,
Double Talk, and Keynote Gold lines, as well as all of the Blazie
products and the Audapter, DEC-Talk PC, Echo, Infovox, Sounding
Board, and transport. 
     The Artic SynPhonix line is not supported, although drivers
have been promised since the beginning. Jim Fruchterman,
President of Arkenstone, has assured us that Artic drivers are
near completion. He says that they are waiting for software from
Artic Technologies that supports indexing--a way for a
synthesizer and its control software to communicate with each
other about what each is doing. He further says that Arkenstone
has hired a consultant to create its own software in the absence
of software from Artic Technologies. Supported Braille displays
include models from Alva, Baum, E.H.G., Frank Audiodata,
Pappenmeier, TeleSensory, and Teiman. Fruchterman says that any
Braille display that doesn't shut down when Windows is invoked
should work. Further, any large-print display system that works
with Windows should also work. Fruchterman says that they have
made changes to support the Zoom Text product from AI Squared.
     An Open Book Unbound is controlled by using a series of
menus. The functions of the system are normally controlled by
using keys on the seventeen-key numeric keypad found on the right
side of standard 101-key keyboards. Choices on Open Book menus
are accessed by using four keys on the keypad, which represent
arrow keys. The user moves up and down between items much as with
many PC applications. Once an item is selected, its individual
choices are accessed by using the right and left arrow keys.
Choices are made by hitting what is called the Select Key, which
is the five key--the one with the raised dot in the middle of the
numeric keypad. The system has Beginner, Intermediate, and
Advanced menus. The Beginner and Intermediate menus do not make
all options available to the user and may be useful to the new
user since there are fewer choices to confuse him or her. The
sub-menus of the main menu include Read a Document; Library
Options (where documents are stored, converted, and exported to
floppy disk); Scanning Options (where contrast, page size, and
the like are controlled); and Open Book Options (where you choose
the menu level, set voice characteristics, exit the system,
etc.).
     One drawback to this system, as it is currently designed, is
that it takes a number of keystrokes to change some items. One
must select an item, move to an individual choice, select that
choice, and then press the Escape Key the proper number of times
to back out of the menu system. Unlike An Open Book, An Open Book
Unbound can also use regular keys on the alphanumeric keyboard.
You can, for example, hit "O" for Open Book Options, "s" for
Scanning Options, etc. You can also use the regular Escape Key
for the Escape function and the regular Enter Key as the Select
Key. The use of the regular keyboard is especially appreciated
for typing document names, which is a tedious process at best on
An Open Book Unbound. Once you know the system, these shortcut
keys do help immensely. 
     An Open Book Unbound has three basic modes: the Reading
Mode, the Scanning Mode, and the Control Menus. When reading a
document, one has to hit the Escape Key to leave the Document
Reader prior to hitting the Scan Key to scan another page. Since
the Scan Key is a dedicated key, it should be possible to go
directly from Reading Mode to Scanning Mode at any time, but it
is not. In fact, it should be possible to Scan at any time you
are in the system. Jim Fruchterman, President of Arkenstone,
assures us that this and other problems will be addressed in an
upcoming Version 3. We were also assured by Arkenstone that some
of the command awkwardness and oddities would be addressed in
Version 2.0, which did not happen. In fact, changes have been
promised since version 1.1. It is beginning to look as though
changes will never be made and as though the longer the time and
the more systems sold, the less likely are interface changes.
     An Open Book Unbound does have the ability to control
contrast automatically. A Hewlett Packard Scanjet II or III
series scanner is necessary to use this feature. Arkenstone was
the first to offer this feature, and it generally works well and
is very useful. You can also control the contrast manually for
problem pages. There are a hundred levels of adjustment available
when you choose a custom setting. There are also settings for
Normal Contrast, Darken Page, and Lighten Page. The unit can also
determine the direction in which the print goes on the page and
read it, no matter what its orientation. This is a great
time-saver for a blind person working alone. While it adds a few
seconds to the recognition process, it is well worth the time to
most of us, and the feature can be turned off. Different voices
can be assigned to indicate normal, underlined, bold, and italic
print. A different voice can also be assigned to the Menus.
     The Arkenstone software also has provisions for batch
scanning--that is, one can scan (take pictures of) a number of
pages all at once, then have An Open Book Unbound do the
character recognition at a later time--like when you are at
lunch. This feature can be valuable for big jobs, on slower
computers, or to people with automatic sheet feeders.
     Once any text is scanned and recognized, it is automatically
saved on the computer's hard disk. It is then possible to name a
document and save it in a category. The software comes with a
number of categories already set up, such as bills, books,
brochures, general, letters, manuals, and recipes. It is possible
to establish your own categories as well. The software should,
however, be able to save or export files to a floppy disk. A
number of steps are now required. 
     In addition to batch scanning, An Open Book Unbound can scan
and recognize a page, then read it or use the Quick-Speech Mode,
in which speech is supposedly generated faster. However, it does
not work very well. It is choppy and doesn't save much time.
While the initial speech starts more quickly, the pauses and
general choppiness use up any time savings.
     The software can save files in a variety of word-processor
and other application formats--over fifty-five of them. One
useful and unique feature of An Open Book Unbound is the ability
to adjust the speed of reading on the fly, while it is reading a
document, without losing your place.
     On the whole, installation is not a problem with this
software, with two possible exceptions. The drivers for a number
of speech synthesizers are on a supplemental disk, which you must
put into the disk drive when prompted. You must then type in the
name of the proper driver, including any serial port needed. If
you do not know this information exactly, you can't proceed.
Second, the installation of a flatbed scanner will be a problem
to some. For more information see the "Strengths and Weaknesses"
section at the end of this review.
     The software comes with an adequate manual in print, on
tape, on disk, and in Braille upon request. The system also has a
key-describer mode, which will be useful to new users, and the
help system is good.


                              OsCaR
                        TeleSensory, Inc.

     TeleSensory, Inc., has just released Version 4.0A of its PC-
based reading system, OsCaR. This version offers a number of
improvements over version 3.0, including an improved menu
structure, better optical character recognition, and some
interesting new features, most notably the ability to correct
individual words while reading a document.
     The OsCaR software costs $995, and the system costs $1,595
with a Hewlett Packard IIIp scanner. Supported scanners include
the HP line; the GS Plus scanner from Datacopy, which is sold by
Xerox Imaging Systems; and two Panasonic models. OsCaR, which is
DOS-based, uses the facilities of your regular access system,
regardless of whether it is a speech synthesizer and screen
review program, a refreshable Braille display, or large-print
software. However, the system does work best with one or more of
TeleSensory's own products--Vert Plus, Vert Pro, Soft Vert,
Screen Power, Power Braille, or the Navigator. We tested the
system using Vert Plus and an eighty-cell Navigator refreshable
Braille display, and the system tracked the menus flawlessly. In
addition, the Braille display worked well and was always
synchronized with the speech. We found it enjoyable to use the
speech together with the Braille. The speech was good for long
listening, and the Braille provided accuracy and precision in editing.
     The menu structure and operation of the OsCaR are more
straightforward and easier to use than that of An Open Book
Unbound. The up and down arrow keys move between main groups or
among sub-menus and from item to item, while the right and left
arrows show the options within each item. Once you move the right
or left arrow to your choice, you don't have to hit Enter to
select it or Escape to leave it. You can hit the down-arrow key
to go to the next item. The previous choice remains in effect as
it was left. When you get to the bottom of a sub-menu, the
software beeps and wraps back to the top of that sub-menu.
Further, when you first enter a sub-menu from the main menu, only
the command letters are shown--that is, the first letter from
each choice on that menu. If you know your choice, you can type
that letter. However, if you are not sure, just hit the down
arrow, and the letters will be expanded into words as you move
past them. There are also function key choices to invoke some
common operations from most points of the program, such as F4 to
scan and F10 to quit.
     The first sub-menu on the main OsCaR menu allows the user to
modify settings that affect accuracy. These include single or
multiple columns; type of text (regular print, dot-matrix print,
or faxes); page orientation; contrast; etc. Having all of these
settings in one place is a good idea and a great improvement over
Version 3.0. The next sub-menu is Advanced Scanner Settings.
These include scanning mode, primary and secondary language
choice, scanning from or to images on disk, page borders, etc.
The secondary language option is an interesting innovation. It
allows you to install a dictionary for a second language, like
French or Spanish. If words in that language appear on a page
with English words, the accuracy of their recognition should be
improved by the presence of the dictionary. This feature should
be a boon to those who handle bilingual materials. 
     There are also primary dictionaries for U.S. and U.K. legal
and medical terms, which should help people working in those
fields. The Advanced Settings Menu is the place you can invoke
batch scanning, in which you can scan images of a document or
series of documents and do the recognition at a later time. OsCaR
has an interesting feature for this process. If you scan with
Batch Separators and put a blank sheet between the documents in a
large batch, OsCaR will break the individual documents down into
separate files. This feature would be useful to anyone reading a
number of small documents--a student with a series of handouts,
for example.
     Scan and Recognize is the next choice on the main menu. When
OsCar is set up to scan and read a page, it does one thing
differently from the other reviewed systems. It scans and
recognizes the top of the first page, showing you the first few
lines, and presents you with a sub-menu of choices which include
reading the entire page, continuing to scan additional pages, and
saving the current page. In some instances this is a useful
feature because it allows you to see quickly whether you are
getting useable text or garbage. However, there seems to be no
way to defeat this feature, and with those documents in which you
have no doubt about the useability of the scan, it can be
annoying.
     Next on the Main Menu is Convert. This choice allows you to
convert a scanned document to a specified file format. A full
complement of programs and versions of programs are supported
with over eighty-five choices. There is support for all versions
of WordPerfect, including those for the Mac and Microsoft
Windows; Microsoft Word (all versions); Lotus 1-2-3; Dbase;
ASCII; and much more. Output can even be sent directly to a
Braille translation program. Duxbury, Hot Dots, and Mega Dots are
supported. 
     The Files Menu is next. OsCaR allows you to do file
management from within the program--that is, to change
directories, copy and delete files, view ASCII files, save or
print files, and more. You can also run an external program from
this sub-menu, such as a word processor. Of course, you can also
specify what file will be loaded into the program as it runs.
These features work well and will be useful to some people.
     The next sub-menu retrieves and saves settings. The settings
file maintains the choices made in all the menu options we have
been discussing. It is possible to have separate settings files
for different kinds of work. 
     The next choice on the OsCaR Main Menu displays OsCaR
settings. This gives you information about what the system is
currently doing and about the page being scanned.
     The next-to-last sub-menu is Other. Here you can halt
scanning, erase the current page, or manage your custom
dictionary. If you encounter a word or phrase regularly that the
system has trouble dealing with, you can enter it in the Custom
Dictionary to improve the speed and accuracy of recognition. The
final choice on the Main Menu is Quit OsCar.
     OsCaR comes with a good manual (available in print or
Braille or on disk or tape). The help system is context-sensitive
and quite good. The installation process was also easy to
understand and went without problems. The software is copy-
protected. It allows two installations. There is also an
uninstall process so you can move the software from one computer
to another, perhaps new, computer.

                       Reading AdvantEdge
                      Xerox Imaging Systems

     The Reading AdvantEdge (pronounced advantage) is the PC-
based version of the Reading Edge, the company's successful
stand-alone reading machine. It uses the same OCR core
technology. However, unlike the Reading Edge, which strives to be
simple, the Reading AdvantEdge packs a lot of power and many
options into a conventional menu system.
     The manual for the Reading AdvantEdge is detailed and
straightforward. It will provide too much detail for an
experienced user but will be helpful to a new user. It comes in
print and Braille and on cassette and disk. The installation
process for the Reading AdvantEdge was easy to follow and went
well. We initially had some difficulty installing a GS Plus
scanner, which ultimately proved to be defective. The company
replaced it quickly and without questions.
     The Reading AdvantEdge will work with any access system,
since it is a DOS-based program. It supports two scanners that
Xerox Imaging Systems sells, the GS Plus and the SA4-3. The GS
Plus was originally manufactured by Datacopy, a company Xerox
acquired several years ago. Though the scanner has now been
discontinued, Xerox still has a number on hand and sells them at
a relatively good price. The other scanner Xerox sells is the
SA4-3. This is the large bookedge scanner that was used with the
old Kurzweil Personal Reader. The Reading AdvantEdge also
supports the Scanjet line of scanners from Hewlett Packard.
     The software-only version of the Reading AdvantEdge is
priced at $795; the price with a GS Plus scanner is $1,295; and
with a SA4-3 scanner the system will set you back a whopping
$2,995. Unless you need a bookedge scanner, get an HP scanner on
your own. The GS Plus scanner is slow, and with the drop in price
of the HP IIIp scanners, it is no longer such a good deal. The
list price for the HP scanner is $595, and a good shopper could
find it for $500 or less.
     The Reading AdvantEdge uses a conventional menuing system
with a Main Menu and sub-menus subordinate to it. In some
instances sub-menus go three or four layers deep. Menus are
navigated using up and down arrow keys or Tab and Shift-Tab keys.
With some screen review programs you get double speech--that is,
lines repeating themselves when the arrows are used. The use of
the Tab and Shift-Tab keys as an alternative prevents this and is
a convenience. There are also alternative keystrokes in other
places to avoid speech problems. Once you reach an item you wish
to change, the Enter key displays possible choices.
     Because of the number of sub-menus and, in some instances,
sub-sub-menus, it would take several pages to describe the
Reading AdvantEdge and all of its choices completely. Suffice it
to say, it is a powerful and complete text and imaging scanning
system with a full set of features and options. The software
offers the user many more options if needed or desired. However,
you do not have to delve into this complexity unless you wish.
     The Main Menu has seven choices: Scan, Batch Facilities,
Utilities, Applications, Options, Help, and Quit. The first
choice is Scan. When you press "S" or hit "Enter" to choose it,
the system says "scanning Idle Menu" and starts scanning. We find
this a little misleading. Reading AdvantEdge says "Scanning Idle
Menu" because you can do a few things while there--abort the scan
and enable or disable the Speak-Immediately utility. However, the
primary purpose is to scan, and we were initially confused by the
message, particularly in light of the fact that there is a long
pause before the GS Plus scanner begins. We would prefer a
"Scanning, Please Wait . . . " or similar message. 
     As mentioned above, you can have the system speak
immediately or go back later and read the scanned document. The
manual says that the reading may not be quite as accurate with
the Speak-Immediately utility because the decolumnization and
other page formatting steps may not be as accurate. We believe
that this is also the case with the other reviewed systems. Once
in the utility, you can move around using the arrow keys or Alt-
Key combinations. The utility also has the ability to search in
either direction for text strings.
     Next on the Main Menu is Batch Facilities. Like the other
reviewed systems, Reading AdvantEdge has the ability to scan
(record images of) the pages and process them separately. These
procedures are set up and initiated from this Main Menu choice. 
     The next choice is Utilities. This is where you save and
retrieve settings, read ASCII files, and do file management tasks
such as copying and deleting files. Applications is the next
choice on the Main Menu. the first application is the Text
Browser, a program which reads ASCII files. There are also four
blanks for plugging in the names of applications you wish to run
from within the Reading AdvantEdge. These could be a word
processor, Braille translation program, etc. You can also
automatically or manually specify a filename at the time the
program is loaded. You can invoke any of the applications using
Function Keys from anywhere within AdvantEdge.
     Options is next on the main menu. This area is probably the
most complex area of the system since some of the choices go down
several layers. There are sub-menus for Text Scanning Options,
Formatting Options, and Image Scanning Options. Under Text
Scanning Options, for example, there are sub-menus for
Recognition Options and Formatting Options. Under Recognition
Options you can set document type, brightness, text type, user
lexicon, language, questionable character threshold, eliminate
halftones, and maximum point size. This list of choices
illustrates the power of the system. The User Lexicon is a user-
defined dictionary for acronyms or other words that the system
might have problems with. The text type can be set to Alpha-
numeric, that is letters and numbers; Numbers Only; User Lexicon
Only; or User Lexicon with Numbers. For example, let us say that
you work in a warehouse and have to scan inventory sheets. You
could define the items you stock in a User Lexicon and set the
Text Type and Filter options so that only numbers and your parts
showed up in the scan. As you can see, there is lots of power and
sophistication in the software.
     Under the Page-Control Options, which is under Text-Scanning
Options, you can set Page Orientation, Document Feeder Presence,
Columns, Cropping Window, Units of Measure, and Width and Height
of the page. Some of these choices can also be set in other parts
of the software, such as in Batch Facilities, adding further to
the number of possible choices. 
     Under Formatting Options, which you recall is one of the
three main choices on the Options Menu, you can pick one of
forty-six possible file conversions. There is a good selection of
applications and file formats available. You can also control how
formatting information in the source document is handled in the
output. There are choices for centering, spaces and tabs, end of
line and end of page markup and many other things. The creative
hacker could tinker and perform some pretty specialized
formatting with these options. It would, for example, probably be
possible automatically to substitute the codes used by a Braille
translation software program for formatting information found in
a document. 
     The final choice on the Options Menu is Image Scanning. The
software handles TIFF and PCX files, and a full set of options is
available. The last two choices on the Main Menu are Help and
Quit. The help system is context-sensitive and complete.

                        Scanning Results
     Now let's get to what most people consider the important
part of our testing: how accurately these software packages scan
and read documents. We have developed a set of standard documents
that we use to test optical character recognition products. Those
used here are the same as the ones we used in our previous tests
of stand-alone reading machines. These include a poor-quality,
dot-matrix printout--one produced with a 9-pin printer and bad
ribbon; a letter-quality printout; a laser-printed sheet with
different sized serif and sans serif fonts, ranging from six to
fourteen-points in size; a fax; a flyer from Egghead Software;
and a page from a bank statement. The flyer has three columns,
graphics, multiple fonts, and different colors and represents a
fairly complex page layout. We have added some additional pages,
which include letter-quality text skewed at an angle of five,
ten, fifteen, and twenty degrees to test how well the systems
read crooked documents. While these tests are not exhaustive
(they do not test how well the systems preserve formatting
information, for example,) they are practical. The test pages
represent a cross section of the kinds of documents each of us
wants to read.
     For these tests we have also instituted a scoring system.
Scanning most printed pages produces text that falls into one of
five possible categories: 
1. Garbage: random characters and indecipherable results.
2. Poor text: mostly garbage with a few understandable words
sprinkled randomly throughout.
3. Fair text: mostly understandable text, but still a relatively
high number of mistakes. Familiar or simple text can be followed,
but unfamiliar or difficult material or material with numbers or
computer commands may not be useable.
4. Good text: very understandable results with only a few
mistakes; problems may occur only with numbers or computer
commands and the like.
5. Excellent text: few if any mistakes, no more than one or two
per page.
     We scanned each page and assigned the appropriate number to
the results. For the typefaces page, which has ten print style-
size combinations, and the skewed pages, which have four results,
a result number was assigned to each combination or page; and the
resulting scores were added together and divided by the number of
items in the group (ten and four respectively) to determine the
composite score. We scanned each of these pages with each
machine. We started with the default settings and changed them
only if the results were bad or if there was a specific setting
for the type of page being scanned (fax or dot-matrix, for
example). So, unless otherwise indicated, brightness, contrast,
and print style settings are at their default or automatic values
for all tests.
 Finally, we scanned all pages with the Reading AdvantEdge three
times. Like previous systems from the company, the software does
better once it has trained itself on a page. Multiple scans
seemed to have no effect with An Open Book Unbound and OsCaR.
     To end the suspense, here are the scores. Then we will try
to explain the results. The winner, with 30.8 points, is
Arkenstone's Open Book Unbound. The second place system, with
26.8 points, is OsCaR from TeleSensory; and Reading AdvantEdge,
with a score of 22.8, came in third. While these differences may
seem significant--and there certainly were some notable
differences--we stress that our results should not be regarded as
the last word. Depending on the kinds of documents you regularly
read, these results may be meaningless to you. To be certain, you
should conduct your own test on all three machines, using a set
of documents you normally read.
     Below is a table listing the results for each machine and
test:

                             SCANNING TEST RESULTS
                              Open Book      OsCar       Reading
                                                           AdvantageLetter-quality 5 5 5Dot-matrix 5 5 4Fax 4 4 4Flyer 4 4 3Typefaces 4.8 4.2 3.8Skewed pages 4 2 1Bank statement 4 2 2Totals 30.8 26.2 22.8


     As you can see, all of the systems read the letter-quality
page perfectly. They also read the dot-matrix quite well,
although the Reading AdvantEdge stumbled a little, even though we
changed it to its dot-matrix setting and ran the page through
three times. All of the packages did pretty well with the fax,
stumbling a little on the letterhead and at the bottom. Each
received a score of 4. The Open Book Unbound and OsCaR received a
score of 4 on the Egghead Software flyer, and the Reading
AdvantEdge got a 3. They all had trouble at the top, but in
general it was possible to follow the sense. Overall, the Reading
AdvantEdge missed more words, which resulted in its lower score.
The type faces page had two columns, one of Roman type, one of
San serif type, ranging in size from six to fourteen points. In
general Open Book Unbound, which received a 4.8, read the smaller
sizes better and had no problems with decolumnization. The OsCaR
system got a 4.2 and had a little decolumnization trouble. It
didn't do as well with the smaller sizes. Reading AdvantEdge,
which received a 3.8, had some decolumnization problems along
with problems in the smaller print sizes, and it also stumbled
some right up through the Roman ten-point size, which the other
systems were able to handle.
     With its Version 2.1, Arkenstone says that it can handle
skewed pages up to fifteen degrees. We could only get it to
handle a ten-degree skew, which resulted in a score of 4. OsCar
was able to handle a five-degree skew, netting it a score of 2,
while Reading AdvantEdge couldn't read any of the skewed pages,
resulting in a score of one.
     Finally, there was the infamous bank statement. As you may
recall from the stand-alone tests, the results were
disappointing. This time An Open Book Unbound scored a 4. While
we would still not recommend using the results to reconcile your
bank account, it did read the majority of the information
accurately and did a considerably better job than the other two
systems, which each received a score of 2.

                    Strengths and Weaknesses

     As we pointed out earlier, our scanning tests should not be
regarded as conclusive; you should certainly conduct your own if
possible. Each of the systems has its own strengths and
weaknesses. Further, there are other considerations, such as
price, special discounts, the reliability of your local dealer,
the equipment your friends are using, the access equipment you
have, your experience with systems at work, and more. 
     An Open Book Unbound from Arkenstone is relatively easy to
use. It is easy to set up and get into service quickly. This
reflects the stand-alone-reading-machine origins of the product.
The system did win our scanning tests, and in day-to-day use and
demonstrations with a variety of materials brought in by people
on tour, we have found the system to be slightly more accurate
overall. On the negative side, the menu system seems somewhat
cumbersome to use when making changes to the system, and your
speech synthesizer may not be supported, although most are. Also
it is not very easy to save and export files, and some may find
the Library system of pre-defined categories awkward or
restrictive.
     The OsCaR system from TeleSensory is particularly strong
when it is used with the company's own access systems. Everything
speaks well and is exactly synchronized. Overall, the system has
good accuracy, and the revised menu structure is an improvement
over version 3.0. The word correction feature can be quite
useful, as can the user dictionary and second language. On the
negative side, TeleSensory is a company in flux. The company has
changed management twice in less than two years, and rumors
persist that the blindness-products division will be spun off or
sold. Some people have reported support and service problems with
TeleSensory, though we have not had any such problems. If you ask
around enough, you will hear good and bad stories about any
company, particularly the larger ones. The representative in the
Baltimore area has been willing and helpful, although this varies
from place to place. Finally, it may take a little work to get
OsCaR or Reading AdvantEdge to behave with your speech system,
although on the whole they do well.
     Reading AdvantEdge is a sophisticated and powerful system.
There are dozens of settings that can be user-adjusted if you
wish, but they don't have to be. If you wish to tinker, this is
the system for you. While Reading AdvantEdge didn't do as well in
our scanning tests, it read basic materials well and would
probably do a good job for most users. Greg Guidice, marketing
manager for the product, reports that Xerox is continuously
working on optical character recognition improvements, which will
be offered as upgrades as they become available. On the down
side, the number of menus and choices may not appeal to everyone.
We found it easy to get lost at times. It can be difficult to
find one obscure setting if you are not sure where you are.
     Stephen Baum, the author of the software, has made a real
effort to ascertain what blind people want. He is, or at least
was, active on NFB NET, CompuServe, and other BBS's and tries to
respond to questions and input. He has also written some useful
utilities which have been released to the public domain,
including a program to identify money and a utility to strip
headers and footers from text files. Baum has left the company,
although he says that he still might be working with Xerox on a
consulting basis.
     One possible drawback with all the systems is the need to
install a scanner and its interface card. This can be tricky
because the interface is achieved by what is called a SCSI card,
(pronounced scuzzy) which stands for Small Computer Systems
Interface. SCSI adapters require their own memory addresses,
interrupts, and the like. Further, the memory space they use may
have to be excluded from the addresses controlled by a memory
manager such as EMM386 or QEMM. If this all sounds like Greek,
you will probably need some help installing your scanner. The
Open Book Unbound manual provides little assistance in this area
although there are some examples, and many dealers will do
installation for you. The OsCaR and Reading AdvantEdge manuals do
provide some assistance, particularly the Reading AdvantEdge
manual for the scanners the company sells. In fact, there is a
separate installation manual, which is available in Braille.
     As mentioned above, some dealers will help you with scanner
installation. If you don't know something about installing
expansion boards in your computer and about memory management,
you really should plan to seek assistance from a friend, co-
worker, or dealer.

                           Conclusions

     We are asked almost every day, "What should I buy?" Well, it
depends. As you can see from the above reviews, there are many
factors to be considered. There is no one system right for
everyone. That in fact is part of the reason that the National
Federation of the Blind created the International Braille and
Technology Center for the Blind. We have and use all of the
systems under one roof so that we can work with them and get an
idea of their individual strengths and weaknesses. We can then
write reviews like this one and help you decide what is the best
system for you.
     There has been more change in the scanning and OCR area than
in any other arena in the access technology field. Prices have
steadily dropped, both for stand-alone machines and for PC-based
systems, and the technology has improved dramatically. Overall,
all of the scanning results were somewhat better than those we
obtained a year and a half ago when testing stand-alone reading
machines with the same documents.
     The OCR field is in flux at present. In late November an
announcement was made that Caere Corp., the company that provides
TeleSensory's OCR engine, had bought Calera Recognition Systems,
the company that provides Arkenstone's OCR engine. Jim
Fruchterman, President of Arkenstone, admitted that they are
certain that they will get Calera's next upgrade, which will be
used in Arkenstone's Version 3.0, but after that they just don't
know. No announcement has been made about the future of Calera's
products and whether or not they will be maintained as separate
lines. What this merger means to us as blind consumers is
impossible to determine at this point.

                     For Further Information

     For further information or to find out who your local dealer
is, you can contact one of the following:

     Arkenstone, Inc., 1390 Borregas Ave., Sunnyvale, California
94089; (800) 444-4443 or (408) 752-2200.
     TeleSensory, Inc., 455 North Bernardo Ave., P.O. Box 7455,
Mountain View, California 94039-7455; (800) 227-8418 or (415)
960-0920.
     Xerox Imaging Systems, Inc., 9 Centennial Park Drive,
Peabody, Massachusetts 01960; (800) 343-0311 or (508) 977-2000.

     For further information or data on updates and recent
developments, you can also contact the International Braille and
Technology Center for the Blind. You can reach us at the
International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind,
National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore,
Maryland 21230; (410) 659-9314. You can also reach us through NFB
NET, our computer bulletin board system, by calling (410) 752-
5011. You can also reach David Andrews via Internet at 
da0011@epfl2.epflbalto.org.
     Reprints of the stand-alone reading machine reviews can
still be ordered in Braille or print from the NFB's Materials
Center or the entire Braille Monitor for August, 1993, can also
be ordered for $2, in print or Braille or on cassette or talking-
book disk. The Braille Monitor and the reprint can also be
downloaded from NFB NET.
