STUDENTS at a Worcester school have been testing out new pieces of assistive technology.

Optelec, a company that specialises in tech that helps people with visual impairments, showcased some of its new products at New College Worcester (NCW) last week.

The students were able to test and give their first impressions on a handful of low vision magnification products.

Many NCW students are lovers of technology - as part of the NCW curriculum, they learn how to use a range of different speech software to suit their differing experiences and preferences.

Optelec’s OrCam READ is able to take a photograph of a piece of text and read it back to the user, while the tablet products act as a magnifier so that larger print can be read on screen.

Students Amelie and Tom particularly enjoyed trying out the DaVinci Pro, which magnifies on a much larger scale both photos and in live mode.

NCW is a residential school and college for blind and partially sighted young people aged 11 to 19. It accepts students with a wide range of vision impairments including some with additional needs such as hearing impairments, autism or limited mobility.

It aims to maximise educational outcomes for all visually impaired children and to give each student the life skills needed to lead independent, productive and fulfilled lives.

Optelec has been developing products for visually impaired people since it was founded in 1975 by Dutch optician Frans Tieman, when he made a video magnifier for a customer who could no longer see with glasses.