Where print and audio meet, you can hear the light

How DAISY-compliant* digital voice recorders are helping people with impaired vision and dyslexia

Digital Voice Recorder DM-4/DM-5

Ever since Olympus invented the microcassette recorder back in 1969, it has strived to make audio recording easy and accessible to everyone. Olympus was also quick to recognize the potential benefits of portable recording to people with impaired vision, dyslexia, or other conditions that make printed material difficult or impossible to read, and has proactively worked to develop products that meet their needs. Today, a new generation of Olympus-developed digital voice recorders has been recognized for its usability and accessibility by both the Royal National Institute of Blind People in the U.K., and the National Federation of the Blind in the U.S.

*DAISY: Digital Accessible Information System

John Russo is a musician and sound engineer who lost the vision in his right eye at age 2 and the vision in his left eye at age 31. In addition to his career as a college instructor, he still finds time for music, and can often be found running the sound system for local bands on the weekend.

"Although music is my first passion, I work as a history instructor at a community college. I use Olympus voice recorders to capture important information during class lectures and faculty meetings.

"I think Olympus is certainly taking the lead in providing quality recorders that are accessible to blind and dyslexic individuals. I've used a lot of different consumer and professional audio equipment over the years, and have found that accessibility can be an issue. For example, I'm currently using a multi-track digital recorder to help a band called 13 Creek Crossing produce their first CD, and I often find myself wishing it had voice guidance like my DM-520 does.

"I was first introduced to Olympus digital recorders when I returned to college in the spring of 2007, and one of my counselors suggested that I try recording lectures using a new technology that offered better audio quality than cassettes. I eagerly agreed, and was soon provided by the Interdisciplinary Studies Department with an Olympus DS-20 digital voice recorder.

"Not only was the recorder's sound quality excellent, but it also offered voice guidance and voice control, both of which are a tremendous help to blind users. A year later, the Department provided me with a DS-50, which offered increased memory for storing more lecture and personal notes.

"I'm also eager to try out the latest models, like the DM-4 and DM-5, which support the DAISY standard for audio books. DAISY is a very important technology to blind and dyslexic people because it allows us to navigate books by page, heading, or chapter, and place bookmarks anywhere in the recording to enable immediate recall of the marked passages.

"The DAISY format also lets us enjoy and learn from books that are not available in Braille, and the navigation features make it possible to read and skim through books almost as fast as a person with sight. By combining DAISY support with high-quality audio recording and music playback, and making them all controllable via voice commands, Olympus seems to have come up with a convenient and practical tool that will put a library of books and music in the palm of my hand!"