1. CALL Scotland and Books for All Dyslexia Scotland AGM 13th November 2010

2. Communication, Access Literacy and Learning School of Education University of Edinburgh
“CALL Scotland provides services and projects, working with all those involved in meeting the special needs of people who require augmentative communication and specialised technology.”
Established in 1983
Funded by Scottish Government Education Department (60%) and health department (5%), contracts with local authorities and research projects
CALL Scotland is a research and service unit within the Moray House School of Education. CALL is part-funded by the Scottish Government to provide a national centre of excellence in the application of ICT and AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) for pupils with additional support needs.

3. CALL Scotland Strategic Leadership Pupil Assessment and Support
CPD and Training
Information and advice: books, guides, resources, videos, web site
Loan of assistive technology
Knowledge Transfer, research and development
CALL provides:
Strategic Leadership
in the field of ICT and AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) to support pupils with additional support needs in Scotland;
working with for example, Scottish Government, local authorities, HMIe, SQA, Learning and Teaching Scotland and voluntary organisations such as Dyslexia Scotland, Capability Scotland and RNIB;
Pupil Assessment and Support
personalised assessment and support for pupils who may benefit from ICT or AAC;
CPD and Training
a programme of CPD courses held in Edinburgh;
or delivered locally in schools or local authorities.
Information and advice
books, guides, resources, videos, web site;
free personalised advice via telephone or .
Loan of assistive technology
loan of equipment for evaluation before purchase;
adaptations to equipment.
Knowledge Transfer, research and development
CALL is relatively unusual in that we seek to apply the results of research and development as quickly and practically as possible, for example;
by developing the Smart Wheelchair and then successfully transferring it to commercial manufacture with Smile Rehab;
by writing books (Personal Communication Passports, Listening to Children) and then publishing them ourselves;
by developing digital exam papers with SQA and then supporting their implementation in schools through a dedicated web sites and a programme of CPD.

4. Today’s Topic
Reliant on readers, Stuck with Scribes, or Independent with ICT?
or.....
How can I get the stuff I need in a format I can read and use?

5. EXAMS!!

6. SQA Assessment Arrangements
“Assessment arrangements should ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to show that they can achieve the national standards required for Units and Courses.”
Introduction to Assessment Arrangements
SQA, November 2008
SQA has policy and procedures for candidates with disabilities and additional support needs, including those with dyslexia, to demonstrate their abilities in SQA exams.

7. SQA Assessment Arrangements 2009
Requests for Assessment Arrangements made for 13,041 candidates (8% of candidates)
Requests made for 45,612 entries (6.2 % of entries)
Some background – numbers of candidates and requests for assessment arrangements in 2006 7

8. 2010 assessment arrangements
Extra Time
36,962
Digital Question Paper
2,001
Separate accommodation
28,689
Calculator
684
Reader
16,863
Transcription without correction
590
Scribe
14,313
PA referral
465
Use of ICT
7,622
Modified content
267
Prompter
2,404
Adapted certificate
139
Coloured Paper
1,964
Paper signed to candidate 52
Rest Period
1,636
Candidate Signs Responses 38
Enlarged Print
1,209
Live presentation 36
Transcription with correction
1,110
Braille 59

9. Curriculum for Excellence
'Our aspiration is to enable all children to develop their capacities as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society.' A Curriculum for Excellence: The Curriculum Review Group (2004).

10. How can you be a…
Successful learner - if you can’t access books and other materials
Confident individual - if you depend on others to read to you or write for you
Responsible citizen - if you don’t have access to information
An effective contributor - if you can’t find out what’s going on in your community or in the world at large

11. Money money money…

12. Costs of readers/scribes
16,868 reader requests; 14,313 scribe requests
~ 30,000 individual exams
~ 45,000 hours
Say average £20/hour for reader/scribe?
= £900,000
Say £10/hour for invigilator?
= £540,000
TOTAL = £1.35m in Scotland per annum
And nationally, it’s a bit shocking – is this really the best, most cost effective way to support pupils with reading and writing difficulties when there are clearly better, more independent and cheaper options? 12

13. SQA Digital Papers www.AdaptedDigitalExams.org.uk
Time for a joke?
PDFAloud speech tools
We’ve worked with SQA to develop digital exam papers. Pupils can type their answers and use text-to-speech software to have the paper read to them.
Sentence being read and each word highlighted
Form fields for answers

14. Adapted Digital Papers 2006-2010
These have been very popular in schools: many pupils prefer them to scribes and readers; staff like them because you need far fewer rooms, staff and invigilators, SQA like them because pupils are more independent.

15. Who uses Digital Papers?

16. 2010 requests by local authority
Fife
306
North Ayrshire 30
Dundee City
201
FE College 28
Edinburgh City
175
Angus 23
Argyll and Bute
122
East Renfrewshire 21
Aberdeenshire
115
Inverclyde 20
South Ayrshire
108
Aberdeen City 19
City of Glasgow
102
Shetland Islands 16
Dumfries and Galloway
South Lanarkshire
Perth and Kinross
100
Midlothian 14
Falkirk 98
East Lothian 13
Highland 65
Renfrewshire 12
Scottish Borders 64
East Ayrshire 8
West Lothian 59
East Dunbartonshire 4
Stirling 58
Eilean Siar (Western Isles)
Independent 55
North Lanarkshire 2
Moray 39
Clackmannanshire 1

17. ‘Top 15’ schools in 2010 Centre 2009 2010 % change
Queen Anne High School
122
233
91 %
Campbeltown Grammar School 37
230 %
St Paul's RC Academy 32
114
256 %
The Royal High School 82
111
35 %
Kinross High School 59
100
69 %
Stranraer Academy 62 89
44 %
Prestwick Academy 60
48 %
Ashcraig School 69
86 %
Mintlaw Academy 48 61
27 %
Bo'ness Academy 68 54
-21 %
Harris Academy 20 46
130 %
Holy Rood High School 30 41
37 %
West Calder High School 23 39
70 %
St John's RC High School 9 34
278 %
Peebles High School 35 33
-6 %

18. Successful learners? Confident individuals?
“We had 2 rooms set up with double sized tables to allow a comfortable amount of room for laptop and papers. Each candidate was allocated a table which was the same for each exam. All tables were numbered and we made use of screen dividers which created a booth effect and cut down distractions and gave a certain amount of privacy in the small classroom. We had 9 candidates sitting the exam in digital format and 2 writing in the same room for the Standard Grade English exam. Candidates names and numbers were on the desks, and times.”
Fewer staff are required than when using readers/scribes 18

19. Software for Digital Papers
To access the papers:
Acrobat Reader 8 or 9 (free)
To have the paper read out:
Adobe Reader Read Outloud (free) or
PDFaloud (£295 site licence from LTS) or
Another TTS program e.g. Read and Write Gold, ClaroRead, Natural Reader etc
Software required is free. Adobe Reader to open the paper; Browsealoud to read it out using the computer’s voice. You can also use Acrobat built-in Read outloud feature but it’s not very good.
You’re best with PDFaloud though – it has a better user interface, comes with good voices, can read any PDF (e.g. prelim papers you have made yourself), and it can read answers in answer boxes.
PDfaloud should be available to Scottish schools from Learning and Teaching Scotland soon (they’ve been telling me that for months though)

20. Past papers at home...

21. SQA Assessment Arrangements
Official policy and guidance
Digital Past Papers for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010
SQA’s Assessment Arrangements web site at has guidance notes, all the 2007 Adapted Digital Past Papers, and a list of the ADPs that were on offer for 2008 and whether they are question and answer format, or not.

22. If you need digital exams...
.... then you probably could also use ...
digital prelims
digital tests
digital textbooks
digital study guides
digital worksheets
digital homework
etc......

23. Improving communication and the delivery of school information
“Responsible bodies should ensure that any information that is important to enable pupils to learn or to be able to participate in school activities can be provided in an alternative form if the pupil may have difficulty reading information provided in standard written form.”
Scottish Executive (2002) Planning to Improve Access to Education for Pupils with Disabilities; Guidance On Preparing Accessibility Strategies. 23

24. So where can we get digital books and curriculum resources?
Sounds good? Where can we get these learning resources in alternative accessible formats?

25. Book search Where from and what CALL Scotland (PDF)
Standard Grade Chemistry (Hodder)
CALL Scotland (PDF)
Standard Grade English Revision Notes (Leckie & Leckie)
Books for All Scotland Database (PDF)
TeeJay Level D Maths (TeeJay)
Books for All Scotland Database (Large print)
Private Peaceful (audio), by Michael Morpurgo
Calibre
Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer
Amazon (Kindle)

26. Books for All web site www.Books4All.org.uk

27. Digital books 5-14 test DOC with forms Heinemann maths TextEase
Harry Potter novel
Plain text from read with WordTalk
Royal Mail Book Awards book
Adapted PDF from publisher
ORT book
Scanned and made into a Clicker 5 talking book
Int. 1 Biology textbook
PDF (adapted) from Hodder Gibson
Digital books can also help: clockwise from top left:
Biology textbook from Hodder Gibson in PDF, being read out with PDFaloud. Also good for pupils with physical difficulties who can’t hold the book.
a Harry Potter novel downloaded as plain text from The Seeing Ear library and converted into Word for a dyslexic pupil to read with WordTalk.
First Aid for Fairies, which won the Youngers Readers 8-11 award at the 2009 Royal Mail Book Awards. The publishers provided us with a digital version which we adapted so that print-disabled children could read it digitally and take part in the awards.
A 5-14 test in Word format.
A Heinemann Maths worksheet created by Highland ATSS for pupils who have difficulty with pencil and paper.
A Biology homework sheet created by staff at Kinross High.
A prelim paper in either Word or PDF.
5-14 test
DOC with forms
Heinemann maths
TextEase
Biology Homework
DOC
Sample prelim
DOC

28. Digital formats and readers
Text to speech?
PDF
Adobe Reader (free)
Yes: ‘Read OutLoud’ is built in to Reader, but it is limited – try one of the others
DOC
Microsoft Word
No: try WordTalk (free) or another text reader
OpenOffice / Writer (free)
No: try a general purpose text reader
Daisy
Amis Reader (free)
EasyReader (£40)
Yes: both Amis and EasyReader have excellent text to speech
LIT
Microsoft Reader (free)
Yes: OK – better than Adobe Reader, say, but not as good as the Daisy readers

29. Some text to speech programs
Adobe Reader
Microsoft Word
Open Office
Web browsers
PDFaloud (£295 school licence) 
WordTalk (free)
Read and Write Gold (£320)
ClaroRead
(£49 - £159)
Natural Reader (free)

30. WordTalk
WordTalk is an award-winning FREE text reader for Microsoft Word, developed by Rod Macaulay at TASSCC in Aberdeen.
Download it free from CALL’s web site at
Now we’ll try listening to it using WordTalk, Rod Macaulay’s text reader for Word. See, much easier!
And you can get for nothing! How good is that? 30

31. The Scottish Voice http://www.TheScottishVoice.org.uk

32. Can’t buy it or find it? Make your own!

33. CLA Scottish Schools Scanning/Photocopying Licence 2009
“where an Authorised Person is visually impaired or otherwise disabled and by reason of such visual impairment or disability is unable to read or access a Licensed Copy...” the Licensee (the local authority or employee of the authority) may make a copy: “in any alternative format that is more accessible…whether in digital or audio format, large or small print copies…or in other formats”
You’re allowed to make ‘accessible copies’ of books, free of charge, under the the new CLA licence which now applies to any disabled pupil

34. Who are “Visually Impaired Persons”?
Taken to include:
blind and partially sighted people
those whose sight cannot be improved by the use of corrective lenses
those who are unable through physical difficulty to hold or manipulate books
those who are unable through physical difficulty to focus or move their eyes
Or who are physically unable to use published formats”
…blind or partially sighted (or physically disabled). But if you’re dyslexic, it’s illegal. How unfair is that!?

35. “or otherwise disabled”
“a person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”
s1, DDA 1995

36. Making accessible copies of books and other curriculum materials:
First, check the book isn’t on the CLA ‘list of excluded works’
The school must own an original copy of the book
If an accessible copy is commercially available, you must buy it – you can’t make your own
You do not need permission from the publisher or rightsholder
You must include a copyright statement.
You may add digital facilities for navigation and to enable access
These are the conditions.

37. Books for All www.books4all.org.uk www.adapteddigitalexams.org.uk
Here’s some sites where you can get more info.