[NJTechDiv] OpenBook

[Andy]

It depends on what you're trying to do. Most people seem to be using JAWS's OCR features. In general, JAWS's OCR features have just about replaced OpenBook. 

I think the initial rationale behind incorporating OCR into JAWS was to give users seamless access to inaccessible PDF documents, inaccessible dialogs, etc. From there, it evolved into a pretty stable and workable solution. You can OCR documents, scan documents and Word files and PDFs, etc. For bulk scanning and reading for physical documents, people seem to be using the PEARL camera. I have no experience with PEARL.

At one point maybe a year ago, Freedom Scientific was selling OpenBook licenses for somewhere around $50. When I asked them about abandonment, no one gave me a clear answer. I strongly suspect it has indeed been abandoned. There is a similar product on the market, Kurzweil 1000. I'm not sure of the status of Kurzweil.

What are you trying to do, though? I'm finding that Be My Eyes and Seeing AI are sufficient for OCRing physical documents.


> On Jun 21, 2025, at 8:04 PM, Brian Shell via NJTechDiv <njtechdiv at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> Does anyone know if OpenBook has been abandoned?  The last version I can find on FS website looks to be from 2018.  If OpenBook is no longer cool, tell me what is so I can get with the times!
> 
> Thanks,
> Brian
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