A couple of things you may want to consider here are that both Kurzweil and Openbook were developed specifically to facilitate their use by the visually impaired. You will of course pay a premium for this convenience, but you'll also get more than just one OCR engine as well. I believe both Kurzweil and Openbook make use of the Omnipage and FineReader OCR engines. As for being updated more frequently, yes they probably do have some versions that appear between the KW and OB releases, but you're also going to have to pay for most of the significant upgrades. The bottom line however, is that everyone's taste is different, and one size doesn't fit all, so take advantage of the opportunities provided by the trial software.
You can download a trial version of Openbook at- http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/openbook-product-page.asp You can request a Kurzweil 1000 trial CD-ROM at- http://www.kurzweiledu.com/products_k1000_demo.asp You can request to download a trial copy of Abbyy's FineReader- https://store.abbyyusa.com/cgi-bin/dlreg?ID=FR8TBUnfortunately, I don't believe that Nuance's OmniPage is available as a demo or trial.
Hth, Dave At 08:00 PM 4/17/2008, you wrote:
Hey all,I'm really considering getting a scanning program. I need some advice. Do you guys think I should go with openbook and kurzweil, or mainstream products like omnipage? I really like what I've read about omnipage, mainly that any scanner seems to work and it seems to scan better. I'm also certain that since omnipage is targeted towards a sighted market, it is updated more often. the price tag is also much cheaper. any advice on usability and accessibility or anything else I should be aware of? Thanks!To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank Email to bookshare-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the Subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.E-mail message checked by Internet Security (5.5.0.212) Database version: 5.09650 http://www.pctools.com/en/internet-security/
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