Words via the dragon

Disabled students are receiving top priority at the University of Luton thanks to a new centre equipped with the latest technology.

The Disability Assessment Centre cost Pounds 108,000 to set up, with money from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the remainder from the university.

Up to 400 disabled students, including dyslexics, are expected to use the centre, which houses the DragonDictate package that allows people to talk to databases. There are screen readers and enlargers, voice recognition packages, text scanners and a Braille interface.