Amy DiMola Assistive Technology Specialist Accessibility and Disability Services

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

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

Kurzweil 3000 – 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

 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

 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

 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

 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 s, browse the web ◦ Works with most Microsoft Office programs ◦ Dragon Dictate = Mac version

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

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

 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

 Kurzweil Educational Systems:  Adobe Reader :  LiveScribe (Smart Pens): us/index.htmlhttp:// us/index.html  Inspiration Software, Inc.:  Nuance (Dragon NaturallySpeaking):  Freedom Scientific (JAWS): page.asp page.asp  Windows Narrator: US/windows7/Hear-text-read-aloud-with-Narratorhttp://windows.microsoft.com/en- US/windows7/Hear-text-read-aloud-with-Narrator  VoiceOver:  TextHelp (Read&Write): America/our-products/readwritehttp:// America/our-products/readwrite  Claro Software (ClaroRead):