The Family Center on Technology and Disability
Assistive Technology Works
Magnifying Glass with Light-digital magnifier with flashlight
This free magnifying app may be very useful for kids (or adults) with low vision when print is too small or the room is just too dark. Just point the iPhone/iPad camera at whatever you need to magnify, move the on-screen slider, and the full screen display will enlarge whatever you are looking at up to 5X. If it is dim or dark, the iPhone/iPad LED light can be turned ...
Published: 2013 by Falcon in Motion LLC , Reviewed: May 15, 2013
Talking Goggles
Talking Goggles is an application for smartphones that uses the camera to recognize images and speak aloud what it finds. It recognizes logos, landmarks, books, products, artwork, text and more. It can be used as a scanner/copier. In video mode, it can 'watch' video and if it captures familiar images, can describe them aloud. Customizable features include using the LED light of a smartphone to illuminate images in dim light, ...
Published: 2013 by Sparkling Apps , Reviewed: June 12, 2013
10 Apps for Learners Who Struggle with Reading and/or Writing
This blog post from Paul Hamilton’s “Free Resources from the Net for EVERY Learner” focuses on free or low-cost iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch applications to help students who struggle with reading and writing. Hamilton has compiled summaries and links to information on GoodReader, Dragon Dictation, Nebulous Notes, CloudOn, Side By Side, Type on PDF, Idea Sketch, Text Grabber, vBookz PDF Voice Reader, and AudioNote. The majority of these are ...
Published: 2012 by Paul Hamilton , Reviewed: May 22, 2013
Exceptional Abilities
Exceptional Abilities is a blog written by a special education teacher who works with children who have disabilities ranging from moderate to severe and profound. She is also a parent of two children with mild/moderate special needs and the blog addresses various aspects of raising a child with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The blog's website provides many useful resources and links, including information about iPad and iPhone apps and assistive ...
Published: 2012 by Allie Rhodes , Reviewed: February 20, 2013
SpecialNeeds.com
This website is aimed at providing information to help people understand special needs. There are pages and pages of information for parents and professionals in a variety of formats. There are stories written by parents and discussions by professionals. There are book reviews, information on events and conferences, podcasts, and questions for the "Developmental Doc". Topics covered include diagnosis and the feelings of parents at the time of diagnosis, communication ...
Published: 2012 by SpecialNeeds.com , Reviewed: January 30, 2013
Tips for College Success by Nigel the Fox
This booklet with tips on how to succeed in college is a fun, cartoon-like way to get some valuable tips for students transitioning to college. There are 12 tips from meeting the professor before class starts to using technology such as audiobooks, PDF's, iPad, iPhone,and MacBook. Each tip provides an explanation, strategies for use, and links to resources when appropriate. Each tip also has a link to a "student" who ...
Published: 2012 by Amir Bar and CAST , Reviewed: November 13, 2012
Panther Dice
Panther Dice is a simple but powerful tool for inclusion of everyone in play. Built on the universal design principle that technology can be designed to work for a much wider spectrum of people and abilities, the Panther Dice app for iPad, iTouch and iPhone provides a game environment where just about anyone can be a full participant in any game that involves rolling dice. This app is one of ...
Published: 2012 by www.panthertechnology.com , Reviewed: October 11, 2012
Vision Assist
VisionAssist is a handheld electronic magnifier app that utilizes the iPhone, iTouch or iPad. It is designed to be a portable solution for people with low vision conditions. As users may often be carrying their iPhone or tablet, this is a very convenient app for those times when there is small print and/or a low light reading situation. The app can also be used with Apple TV and a television ...
Published: 2012 by Slinkyware , Reviewed: October 11, 2012
Accessibility Minute-Assistive Technology Tips and Tricks for Everyone
Accessibility Minute is a weekly podcast from the INDATA Project at Easter Seals Crossroads in Indiana. The weekly topics vary but all are focused on assistive technology issues and tips for users with a variety of AT needs related to vision, hearing or mobility impairments. Each segment is a minute or less and the shows are available to download online as MP3 files. The most recent podcasts can be found ...
Published: 2012 by INDATA Project at Easter Seals Crossroads, Indiana , Reviewed: December 03, 2012
James Nuttall Blog
Dr. James Nuttall worked at the State of Michigan Department of Education for 30 years. He worked in a variety of roles within the Special Education Unit. Born two months premature in Denver, he developed an eye disease associated with prematurity, retrolental fibroplasia (RLF), which left him legally blind. While in school he had difficulties learning to read. "On a sixth grade reading test I could read only 27 words ...
Published: 2012 by James Nuttall , Reviewed: December 03, 2012
Perkins Scout
Designed by the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, Perkins Scout is a free database specific to information and resources for users who have visual impairments or blindness. According to the Perkins School website, the goal is for Scout to become “a centralized hub providing the most reliable and authoritative information about all aspects of living with blindness and visual impairments.” Perkins Scout is well on the way ...
Published: 2012 by Perkins School for the Blind , Reviewed: August 13, 2012
LookTel Money Reader
This app, by IPPLEX, for the Iphone allows you to use your camera to identify currency bills. It is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad. It requires iOS 4.0 or later. It uses Voice over to read the denomination of the bill and can do this in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Polish, Russian, Korean, Finnish, Danish, Swedish, ...
Published: 2012 by IPPLEX , Reviewed: September 26, 2012
Start-to-Finish Online Accessible Library
So much information is going to the ‘Cloud’ including Don Johnston’s Start to Finish books which have previously only been available on CD. This now makes them accessible to those who use Web-enabled mobile devices, iPads or computers. The collection is built on the same principles as the original Start to Finish collection where books are narrated by trained readers and are edited by speech language pathologists. The books are ...
Published: 2012 by Don Johnston, Inc. , Reviewed: September 24, 2012
Audio-Supported Reading for Students Who are Blind or Visually Impaired
This research paper defines and describes the use of audio-supported reading (ASR) to access text for students who are visually impaired or blind. ASR is described as a tool for integrating multiple pedagogies and teaching the skill sets most blind or visually impaired students will need to gain literacy. The paper answers several questions related to the theories behind the use of ASR to improve students’ reading skills and notes ...
Published: 2012 by Richard M. Jackson, Ed.D. (Boston College and CAST) with support from Ike Presley, M.Ed. (AFB) , Reviewed: August 14, 2012
Welcome to the Office of Disability Services Assistive Technology web resource
The Keene State College Office of Disability Services (ODS) has an extremely well-organized and comprehensive website on assistive technology and transition. The home page defines assistive technology and then provides critical information on preparedness for transition. It emphasizes that the students who negotiate transition successfully tend to be those who are on top of their technology needs and tools before they arrive on campus. It then goes on to offer ...
Published: 2012 by Keene State College , Reviewed: April 25, 2013
Speech Takes On Search Engines
The Speegle website features a digital voice that can read words typed into a search box. An article describes the benefits of text-to-voice technologies. Speegle is not meant to compete with screen reader programs or high-end text-to-voice tools. However, it may be an easy, free way to introduce professionals and parents to text-to-voice technology.
Published: 2012 , Reviewed: February 16, 2005
Helping the Blind and Visually Impaired
The website "Helping the Blind and Visually Impaired" at http://www.visuallyimpairedandtheblind.com was created by Christine Chaikin to help other web users with blindness or visual impairments find useful resources online. To encourage a sense of community, the site is screen reader-friendly and includes transcripts of interviews with notable individuals and categorized links to screen readers, employment resources, product vendors, and related publications and resource links. Helping the Blind and Visually Impaired ...
Published: 2011 by Christine Chaikin , Reviewed: December 06, 2011
AppleVis
AppleVis is a community driven website that was created to collect information on the accessibility of apps developed for Apple's iOS devices. Its goal is to be a repository of “guides, tutorials and tips that will enable users with vision impairments to get the most from their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.” The site is divided into six sections. The first is the app directory. In this section one can ...
Published: 2011 by AppleVis , Reviewed: February 17, 2012
Accessible Science - Life Science
This is a video tutorial presented by Kate Fraser, a science teacher at Perkins School for the Blind, which discusses how and why to make life science curricula accessible to students who have visual impairments. The video consists of eight short chapters that present different ideas about how to present science materials in multisensory ways. For example, Chapter Two talks about using a terrarium rather than an aquarium so that ...
Published: 2011 by Kate Fraser , Reviewed: November 28, 2011
Assistive Technology Blog
This is a general assistive technology blog that lists, describes and offers videos and step-by-step directions to implement and use a variety of AT tools. The comments about products are informative and give insight as to who would benefit from the identified tool. Each month, one to five tools or resources are discussed and information is given on cost and where to get the product. Although very general in nature, ...
Published: 2011 by Venky Rem , Reviewed: January 27, 2012