Newly designed computers for the visually impaired have been tested recently by students, who gave the thumbs up Monday to the ” talking computers, ” according to the Ministry of Education which finances the program.

Chen Kuo-shih (??? [Chén Guóshī]), who recently received his Ph.D. in English from National Sun Yat-sen University and the author of a Braille English-Chinese dictionary, recalled that more than 20 of his classmates would take turns reciting English books for him every week when he was still an undergraduate. To complete his Ph.D. thesis, Chen “read” voraciously by hiring some of his classmates to read aloud his textbooks for him, at a cost of over NT$50,000.

Chen noted that a computer reading machine, which caters to the needs of blind people, would be a great help to visually impaired students of literature or history.

Elementary school student Wang Shih-ming received training in using a special computer for blind people and had a much easier life at school. Aside from being a straight-A student, he also used the Internet to collect information, book train tickets, or even arrange his travel itinerary online.

The new computers for the blind were designed by Tamkang University under the sponsorship of the education ministry. Compatible with Windows operating systems, these computers also have Chinese interfaces and can read aloud every word in a document or on a Web page. The education ministry hopes visually impaired students can utilize the new machines for studying and to enjoy the benefits of the Internet.

From Taiwan’s Central News Agency on August 31.