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Guide

Using assistive and accessible technology in teaching and learning

A guide to the assistive technologies that can support learners with special educational needs.

Archived
This content was archived in July 2019

About this guide

  • Published: 1 June 2014
  • Updated: 17 July 2017

Too much info?

See our quick guide on getting started with accessibility and inclusion

Assistive technology has undergone a revolution in recent years. There is a wide range of established commercial and free and open source software products available (such as screen readers, on-screen keyboards and spelling aids), as well as in-built accessibility features in computers and programs. 

More people use mobile and portable devices with assistive apps. One significant benefit of technology is the provision of a voice for those who are unable to speak themselves. Apps for tablet devices for example that use scanning and a touch screen interface can now provide this at a fraction of the cost of some of the more complex and advanced hardware technologies.

In this guide, we provide an overview of the types of assistive technologies available and how they might be used in a learning and teaching setting. 

Assistive technology or productivity?

Although we describe these tools as assistive technologies - a term familiar to disability professionals - we prefer to describe them as productivity tools and recommend they are promoted as such in your organisation. 

A learner with a hidden disability may not wish to be identified as an ‘assistive technology’ user but may be perfectly happy to be identified with a productivity tool.

 

Built-in productivity tools

Computer operating systems

The built-in accessibility features in Windows vary with the operating system – you can get a summary of accessibility settings on different Windows versions. Options are available to support magnification, colour/contrast changes, text to speech, voice recognition etc. Tweaking these options can make a productivity difference for any users

A similar range of accessibility features for Mac OS means that whether the student has a Windows laptop or Mac they should be able to optimise the default settings to make reading or writing more comfortable and efficient.

Browser extensions and plugins

Google Chrome, Opera and Mozilla FireFox can be extended with a range of free extensions known as plugins or add-ons. Find these in the Chrome Webstore, the FireFox Add-ons page or the Opera Add-ons page.

There are a wide range of accessibility plug-ins for FireFox, many of which improve reading comfort by changing colours or magnification. The University of Southampton’s ATbar plugin provides a suite of accessibility features.

Tools include text to speech, colour changing, page de-cluttering, speed reading, mind mapping, time management and even quality voice recognition. See the accessibility blog for details on specific recommended browser plugins.

Standard software

Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader have some excellent inbuilt functionality that can support print-impaired readers. Both Word and Adobe reader allow you to:

  • Magnify text and reflow it so it fits on the screen without left right scrolling: use the ‘web page view’ in Word or View > Zoom > Reflow in Adobe Reader
  • Change the background page colours
  • Use inbuilt text-to-speech (although you have to manually add the 'Speak' feature to Word’s Quick Access toolbar), which allow users to highlight text, select the speak button and listen to the content
  • Navigate swiftly to any point of a structured text document using the navigation pane (Word) or bookmarks toolbar (Adobe Reader)
  • Automatically scroll the page like an autocue (Adobe Reader)

Free and open source software recommendations

The listing below looks at tools to support different learner needs.

Under each need we cover a variety of platforms. Learners who can choose appropriate tools and strategies according to the device they are using can be more agile and independent than those who require a particular piece of software on a specific device.

Implications of free and open source software

Freeware (free software) is, as you may imagine, completely free of charge.

Free and open source software (FOSS) or free/libre/open source software (FLOSS) is distributed on licences that allow you to use and adapt the source code. In the case of FOSS, free refers to the 'freedom' to use and edit the program, but much of it is also available free of charge.

Before downloading any free and open source software or plugins we recommend keeping your computer secure using antivirus software1.

Many freeware and FOSS tools can benefit learners and staff, those with disabilities as well as those without. There are literally thousands of tools available, from software for designing accessible learning objects through to simple widgets and programs to help you find the cursor on your screen.

Pros and cons of FOSS tools

Advantages include:

  • Learners have the opportunity to try a wider range of tools since there is no financial commitment
  • Ability to use the tools at home, on work placements and in employment
  • Shorter learning curve as the tools are simple to use
  • Culture of active experimentation and independence
  • Access to user and developer communities with support and advice to new users

The disadvantage is that there is unlikely to be a great deal of technical support for smaller programs apart from a help file. Some of these tools have a ‘freemium’ model – you have the basic tool for free but have to pay to get enhanced functionality.

Before using FOSS tools, it is important you:

  • Check reviews – there’s a lot of dross as well as gold
  • Take care where you download from and stick to reputable sites or suppliers like PortableApps.com and www.eduapps.org, or academic products like www.atbar.org
  • Take care with download and installation – some downloads will offer to install or update additional tools like browser plugins or the download page will have links to unrelated products

Mobile phones and tablets

The combination of media recording and playback, web connectivity, inbuilt accessibility and a wide range of free apps make smart phones and tablets an ideal assistive technology for a very wide range of accessibility needs.

Built-in accessibility options

Built-in accessibility options are available for the main smartphone operating systems including Android, Apple, Blackberry and Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. These include colour changing, magnification, text to speech, word prediction and, for Android and Apple, voice recognition.

Apps

For more functionality there are a wide range of apps that can help with basic note taking and productivity (for example OneNote, Evernote, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox etc), e-book readers like the Kindle app (this has high accessibility on an Apple device) and a wide range of specialist apps. Have a look at the reading and writing wheel of apps or the Augmentative and Alternative Communication wheel of apps.

Inbuilt features

The inbuilt hardware features (sound recorder, video and still images) in mobiles and tablets can be used to great effect to support productivity with appropriate apps. These range from lecture capture to optical character recognition (OfficeLens) from photographs of text.

Web-based services

Alternatively use web-based services like SensusAccess, Evernote or GoogleDrive to turn images of text into editable text that can be listened to with text to speech.

Standalone software for PCs

Learners using a Windows laptop for most of their work can significantly improve their productivity using a range of free and open source software tools. Most of these will run happily from a memory stick and therefore can be used on other PCs as well - for example on a work placement, on a library PC or in an IT room.

These include tools to help with:

Text-to-speech

AMIS - DAISY format reader

This is software used to read Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) format books for blind and visually impaired learners. It is self-voicing which doesn't require screen-reading software.

DAISY enables navigation by audio and/or sight – see the Load2Learn video on using DAISY.

Balabolka 

This fully featured text-to-speech and text to MP3 tool is free to use with pre-installed computer voices (eg the default Windows voices or other free or commercial voices).

Users can adjust the text display then read aloud and save in most popular audio formats. Files can be split into more manageable ‘chunks’. Text can be highlighted as it is read, making it suitable for supporting reading skills.

See also DSpeech – similar functionality but a simpler interface.

Lingoes 

Dictionary with built-in word pronunciation. It provides contextualised examples of the use of the word in a sentence and can be configured to display the output in users preferred fonts and sizes to improve readability.

CaptiVoice 

A text to speech tool that can be used on all PCs and on mobile devices. Files and content can be uploaded and read as well as web and cloud-based content.

ATbar for Windows

Provides easy text to speech functionality.

Visual comfort on PCs

Desktop Zoom 

Has options to zoom an area around the mouse, create a fixed zoom window or zoom the entire desktop. 

Colours can be inverted for clarity and the original screen can be made transparent

ssOverlay 

Creates a coloured overlay for the whole screen and T-bar provides a translucent coloured block you can either drag around the screen or lock to your mouse.

Both can be downloaded as part of the MyStudyBar suite of tools from the Eduapps website.

Alternatively the ATBar from Southampton university provides colour overlay functionality as well as text to speech.

Writing support

DiCom provides word prediction with personalisation options. This can be a boost for poor spellers or slow typists. 
XMind is a freemium high quality mindmapping tool that allows files, images, links and rich text notes to be integrated into the mind map. The completed mind map can be exported as a structured web page for import to a wordprocessor for final edits.

Specialist tools - screenreaders

Screenreaders are one of the few assistive technologies which are not “productivity tools for all’. Learners with deteriorating sight may need support in making the transition to operating a computer by audio feedback alone. This is a daunting task but confidence can be built by using some of the free assistive technologies available.

By the time the learners require commercial screenreader tools a good deal of transferable skills and confidence can be built up.

WebbIE

WebbIE provides a free suite of utilities designed for blind and visually impaired people to provide access to digital news sources such as RSS and radio, including a browser based in Internet Explorer which can display web page as structured text.

WebbIE displays the text of the page in the user’s choice of font with a simple toggle between the text view and the original page layout.

WebbIE helps users get familiar with the way webpages get presented via a screenreader.

Thunder

Thunder is a free basic screenreader available in several languages. It can navigate through lines and individual words with the keyboard cursor keys.

It works well with Windows 7, Vista or XP and integrates with Microsoft Word and WebbIE.

NVDA

Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) allows blind and vision impaired people to access and interact with their computers by providing feedback via synthetic speech and Braille.

NVDA is an excellent training ground for commercial screenreaders and can be run from a USB stick meaning it can offer independent access to computers that do not have a screenreader installed.

 

Footnotes

  • 1 This information is provided in good faith on the basis of positive experiences with the tools but Jisc can make no warranties as to the suitability of these tools for your systems nor be liable for any problems that may arise with their use

Institutional practice and accessible technology

Organisations may invest large sums of money in digital resources. In theory, these ought to be a significant part of your “inclusion armoury”, allowing users to access information in an accessible way.

Providing information in accessible formats is one of the key requirements of the equality act. However, lack of awareness or lack of training can turn an accessibility solution into an accessibility problem.

This section explores how organisations can turn their mainstream tools, technologies and practices into assistive technologies and productivity tools for everybody.

Documents and presentations

There are a few basic accessibility practices that can be taught in minutes but make a substantial difference to people with print impairment.

Our six tips for teaching staff, from our accessibility blog, explores this further.

Accessible spreadsheets

Spreadsheets can be daunting especially for people with dyslexia, dyscalculia, visual impairment or learning difficulties. But it is possible to make spreadsheets more user friendly.

Making use of the in-built functionality can help learners make sense of numbers. Microsoft Excel for example enables you to create engaging interactive resources for learners that represent numbers visually (such as graphs and charts) making them easier to interpret.

Useful shortcuts

When you are creating a spreadsheet for others it is worth knowing about some simple practices and shortcuts that make life easier.

These range from merging cells to help with layout through to naming sheets with meaningful names. You can also duplicate cells quickly or fill in ranges automatically and add simple formulae.

A navigation sheet can make it easier to find your way around complex data.

Creating accessible spreadsheets

Use colour or shading to highlight key areas and add relevant images. Add pop-up comments where appropriate to give explanations or instructions.

You can use data validation to reduce the likelihood of learners accidentally adding the wrong values and conditional formatting can help to highlight key values.

User tips

When presenting learners with large spreadsheets make them aware of pivot tables and how they can help to easily navigate complex data sets. 

When users are dealing with a large spreadsheet they can work more productively and efficiently if they know how to freeze panes, filter and sort columns. Although these are not specific accessibility features they reduce barriers for people who lack confidence or are easily overwhelmed by numbers.

Interactive spreadsheets

If learners collect results and add them to the spreadsheet, set up a graph to plot the values from the results table. As the data is entered learners will see the developing trends on the graph. This helps them move beyond numbers to what the numbers actually mean.

By using slider bars you allow learners to experiment with different values on a graph or in a formula. The use of 'IF statements' can allow you to create self-marking exercises and multiple choice exercises.

Spreadsheets don't suit all learners and they can cause problems for blind users so it is important to understand the primary teaching objectives of an exercise before adapting the resource. An interactive economics graph showing demand varying with price adds great value for a dyslexic learner but could be far more effectively explained to a blind person using pipe cleaners or Wikki Stix.

Useful links for documents, presentations and spreadsheets

  • Accessibility in Google docs, sheets and slides
  • Open Office accessibility features
  • Microsoft Office accessibility features

Learning platforms

Many things influence the accessibility of a learning platform or virtual learning environment (VLE). It is not just about technology; the way you use it matters too.

Our blog post on accessible learning platforms looks at four key areas; users, resources, activities and browser choices.

Creating guidelines

It is important to have guidelines for the accessibility of content uploaded to the learning platform but it is equally important that these guidelines encourage (rather than discourage) people to create and use digital content.

We explore this further in our blog post: rich media on your VLE – an accessible policy?

Accessibility testing

Accessibility testing is key.

If you are incorporating interactivity into your VLE, have a look at the Web2Access website which gives more detailed testing protocols as well as test results for a selection of Web 2.0 tools used in education.

Rich media as assistive technologies

Rich media - images, audio and video - can significantly enhance engagement and learning for many students.

Each type of media has its own “accessibility profile” which benefit some learners may cause a barrier to others. By ensuring that the key teaching points are available in text format (for example in the body text, captions, transcripts or subtitles etc) you can add maximum value to maximum number of people and make searching and navigation easier.

Images

Copyright-cleared images are easy to source from a range of collections including Pixabay, Flickr CC and Wikimedia Commons.

The accessibility of an image depends on technical factors (brightness, contrast, sharpness) as well as pedagogical factors (how effectively it is labelled, how well it is described, how it is integrated into a text/audio narrative).

If the key teaching points are available in captions, body text or alt tags then potential barriers are minimised.

Video and multimedia

Videos can stimulate discussion, clarify explanations or allow learners to record their skills and abilities.

Free tools and services such as Screencast-o-matic, TinyTake or Jing can help tutors/learners turn still images into narrated movie clips. PowerPoint 2013 or above has an automatic screen recording tool under the Insert options.

Supporting apps

Apps for tablet devices (e.g. EduCreations, Book Creator, ThingLink, Explain Everything) make it easy to create multimedia content with embedded video/images and raw videos can be taken on most smartphones. See this video example of a learner using Educreations.

Animation

Some processes which cannot be videoed can be effectively visualised using animation instead of using animated GIF files or PowerPoint animations.

Multimedia can add considerable value for a wide range of accessibility needs but may present barriers to those with poor sight or hearing. Visual formats also tend to be far less searchable and navigable than text. 

By ensuring that the key teaching and learning points of multimedia are covered in a summary, transcript or captions, you reduce potential barriers for everyone.

Free tools

Creating rich media and interactivity is no longer a specialist job requiring expensive training and tools. Free content creation tools such as Xerte toolkits and eXeLearning or bundled tools like Microsoft Office Mix and Sway, as well as a range of apps, allow staff or students to create sophisticated interactivities including quizzes with instant feedback.

Intelligent compromise

Some interactivities add a lot of value to one kind of learner but prove to be a barrier for another – for example dragging and dropping slope labels onto a contour map will be a fun revision tool for many learners but a barrier for a blind person.

You could adapt the coding to make it technically accessible but the resulting activity would require immense concentration and memory for a blind user – not at all a ‘fun, revision tool’. In circumstances like this it is important to get the balance right.

It can be appropriate to have 'partially accessible' resources on the network if they benefit many learners so long as an alternative resource (in this case perhaps a tactile alternative) is available. However, it makes little sense to waste the time of the developer and the blind student in making an inappropriate learning experience easier to access.

Accessibility is as much related to the pedagogical approach as it is to the nature of the resource. Being creative about different types of reasonable adjustment will allow you more freedom to be innovative with both the online and the offline experiences.

Alternative formats

E-books and alternative formats

Many organisations subscribe to e-book collections (for example through Jisc Collections). These can be easy routes to alternative formats provided that the following have been considered:

  • Accessibility was a feature in the procurement process (our blog post on checking the accessibility of your e-resources outlines the features to look out for)
  • The titles are integrated with reading/resource lists
  • Users are confident in accessing the accessibility options

Jisc help and expertise

We represent further and higher education institutions on the Publishers Association Accessibility Action Group and actively engage with the publishing community. 

We are also closely involved with the Right to Read Alliance and the RNIB Bookshare. 

Contact us if you have issues obtaining textbooks in accessible formats.

If you have difficulties getting a textbook in an accessible digital format see guidance on obtaining alternative formats on the Learning Apps website.

Specialist formats

In addition to a purely digital format, text can also be provided with synchronised, navigable audio (requiring no screenreader skills to access) or as a tactile format such as Braille.

Braille can exist in traditional print format or it can be delivered via small Braille displays. iOS devices such as iPads and iPhones have native support for Braille displays allowing text content on the screen to be read or written using a wirelessly connected refreshable Braille device

DAISY files consist of a highly-structured but highly flexible format that allows text to be navigated and read entirely by sight, entirely by listening or by a combination of the two

Producing small amounts of course material in either of these formats can be done with tools such as Robobraille but if a learner requires all their books in this format you’d be advised to get specialist tools and training or outsource to experience providers.

Working with specialist formats

As a general rule, the more mainstream a user's technology is, the more independent the user will be and the more sustainable their support will be. Nonetheless, for users with particular needs maximum benefit may require working with a specialist format.

These vary in the amount of commitment they require both from the user and the provider of support (public library, learning provider, or university). By definition, specialist formats will be more expensive to procure but they often provide a level of access and understanding which makes them very worthwhile.

Types of specialist formats

There are three main specialist formats in use:

Braille

Braille is a highly-specialised format requiring skill to create and to use. A small proportion of blind people are competent Braillers and for these users, Braille offers significant advantages over screen readers - the other main technology for blind users.

Braille allows users to skim a text by touch in a similar way a sighted person would skim a page by sight. It allows multi-tasking – for example speaking to someone on the phone whilst referring to notes. This is easily done with Braille in much the same way as a sighted user would read while speaking, but a screen reader user would listen to two sets of aural information – the phone call and the screen reader information.

Braille can be created in various ways – directly onto paper, via digital text to paper and via digital text to a Braille embosser. This is like a small keyboard with pins which dynamically pop up to create a Braille version of the digital text.

Braille works well for plain text, simple tables, music and simple maths but is much harder to use for complex tables or mathematical and engineering formulae. Learners wanting to progress to a higher level course may need to develop a deeper understanding of Braille to expand the range of their vocabulary.

Within educational settings, Braille works best as part of a hybrid solution. In some contexts, other formats will be more appropriate.

Tactile diagrams

For some concepts eg, graphs, snowflakes, jellyfish and maps - a simple diagram is a very economical way of communicating knowledge, allowing a grasp of the whole image as well as the various parts. In these circumstances tactile diagrams come into their own.

There is a spectrum of complexity in how diagrammatic information should be presented - the skill for a presenter is working out the most appropriate approach for the given circumstance and the individual user. Individuals have different sensitivities of touch so one user may need bar charts illustrated using Lego bricks whereas another may be fine with a Microsoft Excel graph printed out on swell paper.

For instant graphics, you can use German Film which creates a raised ridge behind a ballpoint pen or Wikki Stix – semi adhesive pliable wax coated pipe cleaners which create instant tactile graphs or diagrams. For high stakes images (eg, those a learner needs to pass an exam) you can order professional tactile images combined with multiple layers of information on a talking tactile tablet.

The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) provide transcription services in a variety of formats including tactile diagrams and images.

The international DAISY format

If you have listened to podcasts and unintentionally lost your place, it is easy to appreciate the frustrations of disabled people who rely on audio files where often this navigation is non-existent. The current DAISY format addresses these issues. It consists of a highly flexible synthesis of:

  • Structured text files (either the transcript of a human voiced talk or the original text of a text to speech mp3)
  • Audio files synchronised to each of these structured text elements

Depending on the software/hardware the DAISY files are played on, the user can either browse by audio only (navigating aurally by headings, subheadings etc) or read using synchronised text and speech.

The DAISY format is associated with blind people - it offers them a sensible way to ‘skim’ the contents of long audio files as a sighted person might skim a table of contents.

DAISY books can also be great for dyslexic people. The combination of text highlighting and audio can reinforce reading speed and confidence.

A range of tools can create DAISY content and you can play DAISY books on the free AMIS player. The features of the DAISY format are currently becoming mainstream via the EPUB3 format which is increasingly adopted by commercial publishers.

Learn how to use DAISY.

For detailed technical guidance on Braille, DAISY and other formats see the UK Association for Accessible Formats website.

Detailed technical guidance from the Benetech Diagram Center is also available on creating accessible diagrams in maths.

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