FreedomBox Makes Internet and Other Applications Easy for Everyone

FreedomBox was started off as a solution for people with visual disability or low vision to access email and internet without any computer training. It also offers other services for more sophisticated computer users.

FreedomBox is a browser, a screen-access tool, a pocket-size computer, a chat room, a blog, a webpage-building tool, an easy mechanism to use RSS-feed services, a source of information, a means to link with people around the world having visual disabilities and much more.

The FreedomBox Network is the flagship product of FreedomBox. It enables users logged on the network to do almost everything on the internet- send and receive email, shop online, get updated on news, music, movies, visit  entertainment links and chat rooms, read and write blogs, enjoy other web experiences, all with unparalleled simplicity. Even a novice can immediately use and enjoy these features.

The first FreedomBox unit enabled users to access, navigate and manipulate material on the FreedomBox Network. The next-generation FreedomBox provided access to the FreedomBox Network and was a 2.0GHz computer with a 40GB hard-drive. The FreedomBox Passkey and Key to Freedom gave FreedomBox users accessibility to their accounts from computers anywhere.

The FreedomBox System Access feature provided access to programs like Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook Express, PowerPoint and Internet Explorer without the addition of any screen reader. This assistive technology also offers digitized speech through NeoSpeech.

Three unique features of FreedomBox are:

1. Third-party email
   This enables people to check for email in accounts other than FreedomBox and send replies that will seem to have come from the respective accounts.
    
2. CSAW
   CSAW (Community Supported Access to the Web) is an arrangement under which users, if they find any website having unlabelled graphics, can label them and make them suitable for use for people with visual disabilities.
    
3. Remote Control
   This enables people to control their home server from any other computer.

Using any of these devices any Windows-based PC can become an accessible computer. Any person with a visual disability can work on a computer anywhere and yet have access to his personal settings, notes, bookmarks and the like that find place in his personal FreedomBox. He can also have access to his home server through ‘remote control’. And the Key to Freedom provides him with ample storage space (512MB or 1GB) to load other materials. 

System Access however has a few inexplicable peculiarities. For example, the system gets locked if the browser is shut down and subsequently opened after working in Word. Some links often lead to error messages. FreedomBox occasionally crashes and the computer needs to be rebooted. Improvements have been however been made in the stability.

At present, this assistive technology product does not offer Braille support and is not available in other languages, but there are plans to include a Spanish version and limited Braille support. The product will be very suitable to Microsoft’s Vista.

Source: AccessWorld