COMPUTERS The Michigan Daily Tuesday, March 26, 1985 Page 5 Special computers aid the visually By SCOTT JOHSTON and LEO SHARKEY Many technical advances have been made to remove barriers for handicapped people. In many areas changes such as low curbs or braille control panels on elevators are easily seen. Now progress is being made in bringing the computer to the handicapped students. Here at the University, the Computing Center is involved in assembling various pieces of specialized equipment into a workstation for the visually-impaired. , GORDON BRESEDEN of the Computing Center Staff is coordinating the efforts to build this workstation. Breseden, who himself is legally blind, began working on the idea as an independent project and was later hired by the Computing Center to further develop the workstation. Breseden currently uses an IBM PC-XT that is equipped with a software package called PC-LENS by Machine Evolution Corporation. PC-LENS allows a partially- sighted person to use a very large color monitor to display enlarged text. Since only a portion of the text may be displayed at once on this monitor, PC-LENS allows the user to move the display window over what would be displayed on a standard8 0'x2 5 monitor. In the case of totally blind users, the Computer Center has available a Cybertalker attached to a terminal. The impaired Cybertalker is a Votrax-based synthesizer. The Cyber- talker's voice quality is remarkably good, though it soun- ds as if it had a thick Norwegian accent. The Cyber is currently installed in the Union computing station in the consultant's office. AT PRESENT, all of the various equipment is not available in one location. The Computing Center plans to have the Cyber and the large monitor with PC-LENS sof- tware integrated with a Zenith Z-150. The workstation will be available at NUBS computing station in a few weeks. After initial testing and evaluation the Computing center will move the workstation to the 4th floor of the Undergraduate Library. The Computing Center plans to add another such workstation in the near future. Also in the works is the purchase of a braille printer, which will print both text and braille, graphics. Along with workstations targeted at the visually-handicapped, the Computing Center is con- sidering plans for developing aids to students with lear- ning disabilities such as dyslexia. Funding for the project is provided by the Computng Center and the National Science Foundation. IBM has loaned a computer to Breseden for the program. The Computing Center hopes to acquire additional funding for further research into aids for handicapped children. Gordon Breseden of the Computer Center Staff demonstrates a special terminal for the visually impaired which enlarges the characters on the screen for better visibility. BEATING THE APRIL RUSH Tax programs lend a helping hand By PATRICK HAGGOOD It's almost April, yet there is still a dark cloud looming over to foil the warming rays of spring. That's right, its tax time. Every year its the same thing with' piles of receipts and the trusty old calculator on your desk all poised for an expectedly formidable battle HOWEVER, AT least for computer owners, there is an alternative for this. With one of the tax help programs on the market and with good planning, time spent preparing your return can be kept to a minimum. On the market today there are many program that computer owners can take advantage of to help compute their taxes. Many include routines that will allow you to output the final calculations directly onto your tax return. Many include an option to retain a record of your deductions and income, and automatically enter these into your return computations. There are many different tax' programs on the market, and expec- tedly, each offering many different features.' One program, "Swiftax" by Timeworks, was hailed as "the most user friendly program used" by Chelsea Software{ of Ann Arbor. However, user friendlyness often comes at the sAcrifice of flexibility. THE PROGRAM does not allow listing of items for computation and in- 1040 US .Inolr * lInoe Tex u, 1 84 -F- F- serting the result onto the proper line of the tax form (which is usually the most confusing part-of a return) and there's no built in calculator function. The program explains many different tax laws and procedures on screen and in the manual, so you can evaluate the legality of that questionable deduction you made, or even make you aware of a deduction that you didn't know about. Other programs, such as Ksoft's "Tax Return Helper" and "Tax Com- putation" contain features such as prin- ting out finished tax forms and enabling you to keep a record of your expen- ditures during the year on disk, thereby enabling you to reduce most tax com- putations to simple "yes" and "no" an- swers. WHEN CONSIDERING the former, you must realize that Federal Law prohibits you to file a computer- generated return (but they send us computer-generated checks!) Therefore, ydur printed out form would be for your personal use. One final feature you will want to look for when purchasing a tax program for your computer is availability of yearly updates. The United States' tax system isn't the most consistent from year to year. Many different software com- panies offer yearly updates for fees ranging from $10 for L.J. Fisher's "It's Tax Time" to "Swiftax" 's $24 off. Some simply offer a certain percentage off, depending on how much the tax laws change from one year to the next. Finally, when making your purchase, you'll want to consider the time and money that you will be putting into the tax program. As with any new piece of software, there is a certain amount of time you are obligated to spend with the software to learn its capabilities. And when considering price, is it worth twenty to fifty or more dollars to save a little time? COMPUTER SERVICE Commodore, Osborne, Apple, Atari, IBM. Monitors, Printers, Disk Drives ANN ARBOR MUSIC MART 336 S. State 769-4980 One thing to consider, especially for these year-long tax record programs, is whether you are committed enough to do the tasks necessary to properly im- pliment the program? Just like the many different check- book balancing programs out on the market today, the program is no good if its not used properly and often enough to substantiate your investment. 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