SCANNING PENS

The Office of Disability Services has Scanning Reader Pens available for check out. These pens provide a valuable resource for students who do not want to be connected to a laptop to listen to text and a valuable resource for students who many not have computer or laptop and need to hear parts of their textbooks or class handouts.

The Office of Disability Services encourages you to take advantage of this technology and become familiar with all the tools it offers.

Office of Disability Services + tlmarzewski@asub.edu + 501.882.8863

Introducing the C-Pen Reader, a scanner pen about the size of a chunky highlighter that you use to scan a line of text on a piece of paper or book. The office has Reader Pens and Exam Pens to check out for use.

The pen connects to ear buds that allow you to listen to the text you have scanned! The Reader Pen is a life-saver for those who struggle from reading difficulties such as dyslexia. The Reader Pen is a portable, pocket-sized device that reads text out aloud with a human-like digital voice.

Benefits of the Reader Pen

• Portable and goes where you go
• Listen to words off a page, quickly and independently
• Built in dictionary to look up words you don’t understand
• Scan, store, & transfer to a PC or Mac to listen to later

Benefits of the Exam Reader Pen

• Portable and goes where you go
• Listen to words off a page, quickly and independently
• Perfect for students that only want to hear specific words or specific questions

OCR Engine

C-Pen Reader contains a high accuracy OCR that enables you to capture and save quotes and other text of interest instantly. The text is saved in text files which is then easily transferred to your computer. Extremely handy if you are a student or if you just want to save some text of interest. Simply use the pen to scan a word, a paragraph, or why not full pages. It´s easier than you think!

Text to speech

Use C-Pen Reader to read printed text for you! C-Pen Reader features a high quality naturally speaking voices. Use it to listen to pronunciations or to help you read in general. Why not really benefit from the OCR and capture larger amount of text which C-Pen Reader reads for you while you follow the text in the text book visually? More senses = better learning!

Dictionary

Not sure about a word? C-Pen Reader contains high quality electronic dictionaries. Capture the word(s) and they are located in the dictionary for you. It´s an instant experience. C-Pen Reader also remember words that you have looked up and keep the history available for you.

USB drive

C-Pen Reader also double as a USB drive. 1GB user space is available. Most likely enough to store a backup of your documents or other important files. Connect it to a USB port on your MAC, Windows or Linux computer.

Compact

The C-Pen Reader is small, portable, and light making it easy to carry with you anywhere you like to read.

Tips for Scanning

• Place the document to be scanned on a flat surface.

• Hold the pen just like holding a common pen. When the scanning trigger pin is pressed (lightly) towards the paper the scanning light will turn on. Without rushing it, start moving the pen along the text line as soon as the scan light is lit up. The scanning process will go on until the trigger pin is released.

• Ensure the angle between the tip and the surface is in the range of 70-90 degrees, in order to enable the scanning light to turn on and to get high-quality images.

• In order to ensure a complete recognition, place the tip of the scan pen at the location about half a word in front of the first word of the text when starting scanning, and lift up the pen at the location about half a word after the last word when finishing scanning.

• During the scanning process, you may scan the text from right to left or from left to right.

• The scan pen can only recognize one text line at a time. You may not scan another row until the current row is recognized and displayed. Please align the text line to be scanned to the center of the pen’s Scanning Window. Avoid twisting the pen while scanning and avoid excessive up/down movements.

• Don’t push the Exam Reader too hard towards the paper surface. Carry out the scanning operation at a stable speed. The recommended speed is 8-10cm/s.

• When scanning a form composed of cells, avoid scanning the border lines of cells if possible, especially avoid vertical part of the cell frame.

• The C-Pen Reader can scan words with sizes ranging from 7.5pt to 21pt.

• Text vs background contrast is important. Note that contrast between text and background may be low even if they are different colors that are readable by human eye.

Tisha L. Marzewski

Coordinator of Disability Services

Email: tlmarzewski@asub.edu
Website: http://www.asub.edu/student-success-center/disability-services/accommodations-and-services.aspx
Location: ASU Beebe, West Iowa Street, Beebe, AR, USA
Phone: 501.882.8863