Voice software

clarification about voice software
By voice software ...do you mean voice or speech-recognition software?


If so, your answer is Yes.

For example, Dragon NaturallySpeaking is available for pc laptops.

see the following hyperlink:

http://www.voicerecognition.com/solutions/government_solutions/


FYI, I see no reason that most software apps for a PC-styled tower, micro-tower and mini-tower PCs can't go on a laptop. Where you get into compatibility issues is with small hand-held devices and/or Mac computers or different OS software applications.

Usually the only issue with putting software onto a laptop is the processing power of the laptop which is usually a lot less than the desktop equivalent.
This is why things like so-called gaming laptops are so expensive.
They have excellent hardware, dual graphics cards, massive RAM etc... etc... and all that lot has to fit into something the size of a flat panel monitor and still stay cool !
Speech recognition software requires almost no processing power at all.
Basically the only programs that do require serious hardware are games, music production software and graphics rendering programs.
Anything else will be fine.

Voice software
I meant the software that visually impaired persons can use to hears their email, etc, read aloud to them.

different
that is a whole different kettle of fish:

In that case you would look for speech related software that are Speech Synthesizers and Text-to-Speech Software.

See the following hyperlink:

http://www.netserv.net.au/doonbank/speech.html

Be aware that in some cases there are software applications that couple the application with Unix and Linux OS, too (such as Emacspeak)

Also applications for languages other than English.

It's already built into Windows XP.
Start - Programs - Accessories - Accessibility - Narrator.
If you can't see it go to the Control Panel and look at the Accesibility Options.

The industry standard for the visually impaired is "screen reader" software called "JAWS" (there are a couple of competitors).

In my last job some of the programs I wrote were tested under JAWS. I was writing educational software under a government grant and this was a requirement.

I was given training and spent some time trying it out. Making internet content that is usable under the constraints of a screen reader is an interesting problem.