Sherwood Public Library is taking a tremendous step to help vision and hearing-impaired patrons of all ages to access technology and better utilize the resources of the Sherwood Public Library, a member of the Washington County Cooperative Library Services located at 22560 SW Pine St. Sherwood, Oregon 97140. Sherwood Library Foundation won a notable grant from the Network of the National Library of Medicine, Region 5 and the National Institutes of Health under an agreement with the University of Washington, to equip Sherwood Public Library with three computer workstations with specialized software and accessories for vision and hearing-impaired patrons.
One workstation is a new professional-grade laptop with specialized software to create an accessible workstation for vision and hearing-impaired patrons.
In addition to the laptop, the grant also funds adaptive technology for two existing desktop computers, adaptive mice, large print-high contrast keyboards and a Nero Braille keyboard. As well, specialized JAWS software (a trusted screen reader) will be installed on three workstations. Also installed on all three workstations will be the TypeAbility typing program which interfaces with JAWS and helps visually impaired and one-handed typers use a standard keyboard. All workstations are operating on Windows 11, which includes many accessibility options…