Full-screen magnification on a budget: Using a hardware-based multi-display graphics card as a screen-magnifier

Abstract

Potentially, computers can balance some of the effects of visual impairment and provide equality of opportunity (Gerber, 2003). Students' individual needs entail that they and their teachers have access to a range of assistive technologies that may vary according to the task as well as to the learner. A dual output graphics card with a twin monitor set-up was initially used to broaden the assistive technology provision in the School of Applied Sciences, Centre of Excellence in Learning and Teaching (University of Wolverhampton). This was then trialled at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford and found to be a relatively inexpensive alternative to other magnification systems, relatively straightforward to use by teachers and students and also usable as a teaching aid. The technical aspects of the system and the trial with three students with visual impairment are described here with a view to indicating the potential for wider usage.

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