Tuesday, April 5, 2011

ZoomReader not for the blind... Yet.

The latest combatant in the iOS OCR wars entered the fray as ZoomReader hit the App Store.

This app boasts a host of OCR features comparable to those offered by others, but it's accessibility is seriously lacking. The app functions well for low vision users as a digital magnifier, and passing well for them in the OCR department. (being totally blind myself, I have not tested this) My overall feeling with ZoomReader is that it appears to be a very useful tool for those with low vision, especially comparing it's $20 price tag to that of the CCTV units it can replace. The apps usefulness for the blind, however, is less than thrilling.

For now, the Geek's advice is to stick with other options such as Doc Scanner for it's plethora of output options, or SayText for it's accessibility and border/orientation detection. Whatever your choice, blind users should give ZoomReader a pass for now, but keep an eye out for future updates.


- Posted by The Blind Geek using BlogPress from his iPhone4 with Apple Voice Over!

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