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A Quick Look at Assistive Technology at Edgewood College

A Quick Look at Assistive Technology at Edgewood College. Amy DiMola Assistive Technology Specialist Accessibility and Disability Services. What Are Students Using At Edgewood?. Text-to-Speech Programs Kurzweil 3000 Adobe Reader Smart Pens Thought Mapping Program Inspiration

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A Quick Look at Assistive Technology at Edgewood College

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  1. A Quick Look at Assistive Technology at Edgewood College Amy DiMola Assistive Technology Specialist Accessibility and Disability Services

  2. What Are Students Using At Edgewood? • Text-to-Speech Programs • Kurzweil 3000 • Adobe Reader • Smart Pens • Thought Mapping Program • Inspiration • Speech-to-Text Program • Dragon NaturallySpeaking • Screen Readers • JAWS • OS Screen Readers

  3. Text-to-Speech Programs • Used for reading PDF files and other file formats of books and exams • Used by students with a variety of disabilities; commonly dyslexia and reading-based learning disabilities • Also used as alternative for reading by people without disabilities; instructors have used it to grade papers • Two most commonly used on campus: • Kurzweil 3000 • Adobe Reader • Other programs students may be using: • Read&Write • ClaroRead • And many more

  4. Kurzweil 3000 • Kurzweil3000 • On computers in Learning Support Services and library • Reads PDFs, Word documents, and Kurzweil(.kesi) files • When you see “Audio exam” on letter from student about alternative exams, this is what they are using • Highlights as it reads; students can add notes and comments to the reading

  5. Adobe Reader • Free download from Adobe; is what you use to look at PDF files • Voices are slightly more computerized than Kurzweil • Does not highlight; students cannot add notes or comments; more difficult to navigate on the page

  6. Smart Pens • Electronic pen which can record while you write, then play back the recording from your written notes • Can load your notes and the recording onto your computer to review any time; make PDFs and “pencasts” to take with you • Alternative solution to note takers for some students with disabilities • Used by students without disabilities to take notes and by professionals in meetings

  7. Thought Mapping Program • Inspiration • Presents information in visual format; can make structuring papers and projects easier for those who need to visualize • Can turn visual map or diagram into a traditional outline • Useful for students with disabilities who have difficulty planning papers • Also useful for students who work better with graphic representations

  8. Speech-to-Text Program • Used by students with a variety of disabilities; physical disabilities, dyslexia, learning disabilities • Also used by students and professionals without disabilities as an alternative to typing • Dragon NaturallySpeaking • Use voice commands to open and close programs, create and edit documents and emails, browse the web • Works with most Microsoft Office programs • Dragon Dictate = Mac version

  9. Screen Readers • Instead of reading from specific programs, reads anything shown on the screen • Used by students with visual disabilities • JAWS • Included with computer operating systems (OS) on Macs and PCs

  10. JAWS • Compatible with Microsoft Office programs, instant messengers, WordPerfect, Adobe, Internet Explorer, Firefox and more • Very electronic voice • PC only

  11. OS Screen Readers • Windows Narrator • Free; in Ease of Access Center in Control Panel • Limited usability • VoiceOver • Really the only choice for Macs • Slightly more robust than Windows Narrator, but less robust than JAWS

  12. Links • KurzweilEducational Systems:http://www.kurzweiledu.com/default.html • Adobe Reader: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader.html • LiveScribe(Smart Pens):http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/index.html • Inspiration Software, Inc.:http://www.inspiration.com/ • Nuance (Dragon NaturallySpeaking):http://www.nuance.com/ • Freedom Scientific (JAWS):http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/jaws-product-page.asp • Windows Narrator:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Hear-text-read-aloud-with-Narrator • VoiceOver:http://www.apple.com/accessibility/voiceover/ • TextHelp (Read&Write):http://www.texthelp.com/North-America/our-products/readwrite • Claro Software (ClaroRead):http://www.claroread.com/

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