Case Study: The Disability Network achieves greater independence and privacy for visually impaired users with ABBYY FineReader

World-leading OCR means greater independence and privacy for the visually impaired

The Disability Network’s Community Technology Center helps people with disabilities gain independence through assistive technology, but staff repeatedly faced a key barrier: inaccurate OCR made scanned documents unreadable by text‑to‑speech tools, preventing visually impaired users from privately and reliably reading mail or filling out forms.

By implementing ABBYY FineReader and integrating it with screen‑reading software and a programmable X‑keys strip, the Center turned paper documents into accurate, editable digital files that users can open and hear with a single keystroke. The result: clients like Jennifer can read private correspondence and complete forms independently, the lab now relies on FineReader for scanning needs, and staff report consistently positive outcomes.

The Disability Network

Carrie Baugher

CTC Coordinator