Computer to speak Ukrainian

For many blind people, talking PCs with voice-recognition software are the only means of staying in contact with the rest of the world. A Ukrainian-language version will soon become available in our country, The Day was told by its creator, Oleh Kutishchev, a resident of Korosten in Zhytomyr oblast. This blind 31-year-old has spent several years developing this software.

How was the idea for this software conceived?

Kutishchev: I used my own experience. I started losing my eyesight in childhood, as my incurable eye disease progressed. I was practically blind by the age of 17. After boarding school I worked as a metalworker for the local Society for the Blind. I knew about English-language software for blind users and spent several years saving money for a PC. I even went into business, setting up a brokerage firm selling trucks. After I bought a PC, I started studying English software for the blind, literally by touch. I continued to study this subject in college. Today I am a postgraduate student at Taras Shevchenko National University. Most importantly, I’m working on software for blind users together with colleagues from the Window to the World Association for Blind Computer Users.

What problems did you confront when you were working on this software?

Kutishchev: Blind people all over the world can communicate using the JAWS English-language software. Until now you could only buy unlicensed Russian versions in Ukraine. They had many bugs and were clumsy. Last year, together with Window to the World’s vice- president Hryhoriy Yusim, we developed a Russian JAWS interface; blind users could now hear the text on the computer screen. I am now working on an updated language synthesizer compatible with Microsoft Windows, which will speak Russian and Ukrainian.

How many people need this software in Ukraine?

Kutishchev: Hard to say. Our program has been copied by some 500-600 blind Internet subscribers in Ukraine. Users in Russia, Germany, Israel, and the United States have also shown an interest in the Russian version of JAWS. Apparently this kind of software is in demand. Many blind people want to stay in touch with the world, and this voice-controlled software offers them this opportunity. The sad fact remains that the development of such software is not supported by the Ukrainian government, and so our nonprofit organization “Window to the World” blazed the trail.

We received permission from the US company Freedom Scientific to generate Russian and Ukrainian-language JAWS interfaces. We’re practically working on a voluntary basis, as most blind citizens of Ukraine are in the low-income bracket, so we distribute our software on the Internet as freeware. We will present our Ukrainian-language software in several days, and it will help hundreds of blind users maintain contact with the world.