Windows Light for the Visually Impaired with Speech and Braille Output in Chinese and English
This edition of Windows Light is a full-featured screen reading software developed as an assistive aid to help the visually impaired use the computer. It works by retrieving text displayed on the computer screen and reproducing it in speech and braille.
Languages Supported
This edition of the software provides speech output in three languages, namely Cantonese, Putonghua (also known as Mandarin) and English. It supports braille displays of different brands, including Power Braille, Focus Braille, Pagmate and other compatible braille displays for braille output.
Platforms and Applications Supported
The first version of Windows Light was released in 2004. Over the years, this software has gone through a series of upgrades and enhancements to keep pace with developments on the Windows platform and the wider use of alternative internet browsers. The current version, Windows Light 2018, provides screen reading features and functionalities in Windows XP up to Windows 10 (both 32-bit and 64-bit). It also supports Word, Excel and Powerpoint in Office Xp onwards up to Office 2013. For internet browsing, it supports Firefox and Google Chrome in addition to Internet explorer.
This is an Upgrade
This edition of Windows Light deploys the Nuance Scansoft Chinese text-to-speech engines (both Cantonese and Putonghua) for Chinese speech output. Because a license fee is payable for each copy of the engines, the download provided here is the latest upgrade rather than the full version of the screen reader. This means that before downloading and installing this upgrade, you must first have installed an earlier version of this software with the Chinese text-to-speech engines. To obtain and installation disk for such a version, you may contact Retina Hong Kong by phone at 852-27089363 or by e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Users of other mother tongues or who do not need to rely on Chinese speech for screen access may download the Translingual edition of this software from this web site.
Points to Note
l when installing this upgrade, make sure that the earlier version of the software is not running. For assurance of success in upgrading, it is good practice to restart Windows before executing the upgrade package;
l for full functioning of Windows Light in Windows 7 and higher releases, run it as an Administrator; and
l press the ctrl+Alt+h keys to get help when Windows Light is running.
Release Notes:
The current version is released in November 2018. The major improvements it brings relate to enhanced compatibility with and operability in the latest release of Windows 10. This current version is also made available in 2 editions, one for Windows XP and the other for Windows 7-10.
Download
Now that you have a good idea of what this software is all about, you may now download the latest upgrade here.