Re: Onscreen OCR

  • From: "Gary King" <w4wkz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:20:48 -0500

Dave,
I usually use Kurzweil 1000 for PDF image documents, but I have run into a few 
of them where the security is set so high that they won't go to the Kurzweil 
printer without a password.

Gary King

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dave Carlson 
  To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 6:14 PM
  Subject: Re: Onscreen OCR


  Gary,

  You'll need to use Freedom Import Printer (if you have Openbook installed) or 
some other OCR. Does your Acrobat Reader have OCR or Text Recognition in any of 
its menus?

  Dave

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Gary King 
    To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; GW-Info 
    Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 14:34
    Subject: Onscreen OCR


    How can we get access to secure PDF documents that are just images of 
pages, or programs that have controls with graphical text labels, or perhaps 
even the actual titles on DVDs?  I guess these frustrations are responsible for 
a wish that I've heard from time to time on various lists that OCR could be 
incorporated into a screen reader.  I always thought this was just wishful 
thinking until I heard the June 23, 2009, edition of Innovations.  You can hear 
the program by going to The Global Voice at

    www.theglobalvoice.info

    and visiting the Program Gallery.  The last interview on this edition of 
Innovations was with a representative from Baum, a company in Germany which 
manufactures the Cobra screen reader.  I found the most interesting feature of 
Cobra to be it's onscreen OCR capability.  Pressing a key combination will take 
a screenshot of graphical text and pass it along to a dedicated version of the 
FineReader OCR engine, where text recognition takes place.  You can then read 
one of those secure PDF documents with images of text or interact with a 
program whose controls with graphical text have now been identified.  Nothing 
was mentioned about titles on DVD menus, but if they are displayed in a font 
that FineReader can recognize, then you should be able to access them as well.

    If onscreen OCR works well in practice, the question now is: Which screen 
reader company, GW Micro or Freedom Scientific, will be next to offer their 
users this new innovation in screen reading technology?

    Gary King
    mailto:w4wkz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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