• CD burners and recorders open new options for the blind and visually impairedcds image by Raimundas from Fotolia.com
  
  Advances in assistive computer technology have made CD use easily accessible to the blind and visually impaired. With increasingly widespread use of screen readers and speech synthesizers, blind and low-vision users can not only access and read resources on CD and DVD, they can also burn and record discs and create a hard copy in Braille of the disk's contents.
  
  

CD Burners

• CD burning software works with installed screen readers to capture and burn material to a CD-ROM. With completely voice activated and voice directed functions, screen reader technology allows users to burn CDs of their choice from any source available to the screen reader. A leading choice in CD technology for the visually impaired, Premier Assistive Technology's Premier CD/DVD Creator can automatically detect a running screen reader and send information to it, regardless of what version is being used, and alerts the user to actions as they are performed.
  
  

CD Recorders

• Hand-held recording devices with voice-activated technology allows users to record material from any external source to a CD. These recorders capture sounds via an external microphone, and this input is then captured on the CD. Recorders such as the Plextalk PTR-12, a successor to the widely used DAISY recorder, are made with the visually impaired user in mind. Handheld and completely voice activated and directed, these devices allow users to access all the functions of a standard recorder.
  
  

Braille Embossing from CD

• Braille embossing converts the contents of a burned or recorded CD to a Braille printout. Using USB connectivity, the embosser reads the contents of the CD and converts it to Braille. Braille embossing works with screen readers and also reads directly from CD-ROMs. Enabling Technology, a company endorsed by the National Federation for the Blind, offers a variety of Braille readers and embossers for individual and organizational use; some, such as the Romeo Attache, are lightweight and portable, while others are large enough to print magazine spreads with computer input via USB.