Presented by Kristine Neuber Hello, I am Kristine Neuber. Welcome to Knowledge at Noon. Tools and Strategies for Using Electronic Large-Print Textbooks. Presented by Kristine Neuber

Quick Introduction Kristine & Grady I wanted to include a picture of my physical assistance dog Grady, because I want everyone to start out with a smile. I am currently working as IT Accessibiility Coordinator at George Mason University but started my career as a vision teacher in Brunswick and Stafford County before coming to Mason 20 years ago. I am excited to share some of the tips and tricks that can be used when using electronic large print and why it makes sense to move from hard copy to electronic when working with students with low vision. I am going to jump right in since we only have 30 min. Please feel free to submit questions. I will try to leave a few minutes to answer them at the end. Also, you can download the handout which summarizes what is presented In the presentation in case we don’t make it all the way to the end. Kristine & Grady

Advantages of Electronic LP Portable and Invisible Text-size, font and color contrast adjustable on the fly. Full color pictures, graphs Availability of text-to-speech - reduce eye-fatigue - increase reading speed. Works with existing technology tools Many of you who are vision teachers or have worked with students with low vision know how big the books are and how much students hate carrying them around and using them in front of their peers. Sometimes they are too big for the desk! One of the main advantages to electronic: Portable – they no longer need to be embarrassed and may even be able to read on the bus. Adjusting text size to what meets your student’s needs rather than what is standard, 18 or 24 Full color graphs! Not always available in hard copy For large amounts of reading, text to speech can increase reading speeds so students can get through faster with less fatigue You don’t need special technology to do these things, they are available in many tools you probably already have.

Recommendations for Fonts Because you have the freedom to adjust font styles and size, here are a few tips. Again, every student I different, but this information is helpful in general for students with visual impairments.

Software Features to Help Students with Low Vision Appearance Functionality Text-size (magnification) and font styles Color and Contrast Increase space Masking Text-to-speech Highlighting Notes Searching Dictionary Questions When using an electronic book file you have many software and features available depending on what you are using to view the book. Here I have categorized them into 2 areas: appearance and Functionality.

Large Print or Text-to-Speech? Learning to read/decode words. Analyzing charts and graphs Auditory processing difficulties Reading large amounts of information. Reading on the bus, in the car, etc Reading unfamiliar words Reduce eye fatigue Non-reader Many parents and teachers have questions about whether or not to use text-to-speech, especially with young students who may still be learning to read. When it is useful and helpful. Here are a few things to consider.

Microsoft Word Change Background color (contrast) Font Size & Style (ea vs ea) Line spacing Speak Tool (add under options) Text-to-Speech with VoiceOver (Mac) Many of you have access to Microsoft word, I hope. There are many things that are built-in to Microsoft Word tha.t will allow your students to read more efficiently.

TextHelp Read & Write Highlighting & Masking Note-taking options Text-to-speech Speech maker – Convert text to MP3 Text help is a very robust tool that is available in a lot of schools and provides a great deal of tools that could be very useful to students with low vision. It is often used with students with learning disabilities, but has wonderful options for students with visual impairments as well. - I would like to demonstrate some of the Word and Text Help Features now, using book provided by AIM-VA in Accessible Word format.

ZoomText Magnifier Reader Magnification Color Contrast Masking Text-to Speech Screen reader capabilities If you are a vision teacher and have students who use ZoomText, you are probably aware of the magnification, and color options available. I wanted to mention that there are also reading options, particularly if you have ZoomText Magnifier Reader available. One that I love to use with students for reading textbooks is Doc Reader.

Adobe Acrobat Pro & Reader Text-to-Speech tool Bookmarks Search Notes/Highlight Typewriter tool for completing worksheets Adobe Reader is a free tool. Perhaps not as robust as some of the tools we just discussed, it is freely available and has several tools that will allow students to take notes, fill in worksheets and even has a text-to-speech tool built-in. You can find that under the view menu.

Mobile Technologies Built-in Accessibility VoiceDream (App) Magnification & Text size Contrast Text-to-speech Braille capabilities with Bluetooth refreshable Braille Displays VoiceDream (App) Magnification Masking Highlighting

Assistive Technology Initiative George Mason University Questions? Kristine Neuber IT Accessibility Coordinator George Mason University kneuber@gmu.edu Assistive Technology Initiative George Mason University Fairfax VA 22030