PnC Net

PnC Net is software that provides people with low vision the same power to use the Internet that fully sighted people have. You can easily read the daily newspaper, get up-to-minute stock quotes, make travel reservations, purchase goods, get information on almost any topic, and participate fully in the World Wide Web!

PnC Net enlarges the Internet screens and speaks the text, all with easy to use controls.

For example, Internet Explorer® controls for accessing the Internet (shown below) require good vision to see the menu selections and good eye-hand coordination to position the pointer in 2-dimensions on specific spots and click the mouse button. Internet Explorer’s web page presentation doesn’t speak, and a portion of the screen is taken by the controls at the top, leaving only a part of the screen to display the web page.

 

 

PnC Net’s controls display menu selections in a simple list (shown below), called "Pick ‘n Click" (PnC).

 

 

The text can be enlarged as needed. Each menu item is highlighted and spoken with the arrow keys, a simple one-dimensional mouse movement, or by typing the first letter of the item to be highlighted. Selection of the menu item can be made with either a key or mouse button. Tests with people having low vision indicate easier and faster operation with "Pick ‘n Click controls.

PnC Net’s web page presentation (shown below) enlarges the web page a desired amount on the screen and reads the text aloud. As each word is spoken it is also highlighted. Page layout is preserved and lines are word wrapped to reduce the necessity for left/right movements to keep the text on the screen. The text is read down each column correctly.

 

 

Features of PnC Net are:

• Simple to operate – only two keys, in addition to the mouse or arrow keys, are needed to operate PnC Net!
• Web page layout is preserved, with pictures enlarged, or not as desired, and enlarged text word wrapped.
• Speech can be made to start at any selected point.
• Links can be downloaded by pressing the Tab key to select the Link, then pressing the Enter key.
• Pop-up windows can be automatically closed or not as desired.