1. Access to Text using ICT for students with reading difficulties ICT and Inclusion March 2004

2. Scale of the challenge A significant number of secondary students have difficulty in reading textbooks Considerable staff resources are used scribing and reading in schools 8,235 students applied to use special arrangements in exams in 2002 5,614 students had specific learning difficulties, entering 28,082 exams

3. SEED Guidance on Preparing Accessibility Strategies “This guidance advises on: the legal position and coverage of this planning duty; the three strands which accessibility strategies must cover; the main processes local authorities and non- local authority schools should consider in preparing accessibility strategies.” http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publicatio ns

4. The Three Duties (p15) Access to the curriculum Access to the physical environment of schools Improving communication with pupils with disabilities

5. Access to the curriculum 40. “Pupils with disabilities should as far as possible have access to a full and broad curriculum, similar to that followed by their non-disabled peers. At the same time, many of these pupils may need additional support and/or different approaches to teaching to enable them to learn and to benefit from the curriculum. Clearly many adjustments to allow pupils to access a full curriculum will still need to be provided on the basis of individual pupils’ needs and therefore will continue to be made available through the SEN Framework or in response to the new Disability Discrimination Act duties.”

6. ICT and access to the curriculum 48. “In reviewing existing contracts and, if necessary, negotiating new ones, a commissioning body should ensure that: specialised items of hardware and software, such as an alternative keyboard, mouse or switches can be added easily; software needed by pupils with disabilities, such as speech output or screen magnification, can be installed; the full range of accessibility options within the operating system can be utilised, for example, to slow down mouse speed or keyboard repeat rate, or to enlarge screen fonts or reduce screen clutter; equipment can be placed in accessible locations, for example, so that wheelchair users can reach the keyboard and see the screen; access privileges are flexible enough to enable staff to make necessary changes to afford access (for example, to adjust control panels or save individual settings for specific programs).”

7. Improving communication and the delivery of school information 62. “The third duty requires responsible bodies to improve communication with pupils with disabilities. Responsible bodies should take steps to improve how these pupils can give their views on any issue about which they have an interest, gather in those views and consider them. Consideration should be given to whether class work or homework could be given in alternative forms and, also, consider how any homework, or other work pupils do in alternative forms, can best be marked/commented on by school staff. Pupils’ communication with teaching and auxiliary staff as part of their learning should also be considered under the “access to the curriculum” duty.”

8. Improving communication and the delivery of school information 64. “In particular, this communication duty covers the delivery of information normally provided to pupils in writing. This ‘school information’ includes any information given to pupils by the school, such as: handouts and worksheets, textbooks, timetables, handbooks, test and examination papers, posters around the school, information about school events. 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.”

9. Improving communication and the delivery of school information 65. “Information may need to be provided in alternative forms, such as: providing information orally (for example, to ensure that a pupil has understood information provided on posters or in their timetable), in Braille, in large print, in audio formats, through ICT, through sign language (either on video or by using appropriately qualified teachers or auxiliary staff) or through a recognised symbol system (such as Makaton). The responsible body should ensure that this information is provided within a reasonable time so that it does not place pupils with disabilities at a disadvantage in relation to other pupils. Therefore, demands would have to be anticipated in advance and school staff would need make sure that any materials to be provided in alternative forms, such as Braille, large print, audio tape, video signing and electronic files were provided for translation well in advance of the time when they will be needed.”

10. Barriers to Reading

11. Barriers to Reading The Text Size of print Volume & quantity Contrast & colour eg yellow overlay on books Quality of books / appropriateness language/vocabulary/context Interest and motivation The Reader Visual impairment & perceptual problems Physical access turning the page? Doesn’t like the reader Poor attention and concentration Poor word recognition Poor phonic awareness Comprehension World knowledge Effort > no fun > frustration Low self esteem & confidence

12. Making resources accessible 1.Use electronic texts, or scan paper resources into computer 2.Read electronic files using text-to-speech 3.Write/record work using specialist software: Spellcheckers Word prediction Word banks Speech recognition Study tools 4.Make resources and access software available throughout school network (c.f. Accessibility Strategy)

13. Sources of electronic resources Colleagues! – worksheets etc Commercial CD’s Web, eBook & electronic book sites –Project Gutenberg http://gutenberg.nethttp://gutenberg.net –Bookshare.org http://www.bookshare.org/http://www.bookshare.org/ –Stories from the Web http://www.storiesfromtheweb.org/sfwhomepage.htm http://www.storiesfromtheweb.org/sfwhomepage.htm –MAPE http://www.mape.org.uk/activities/bigbooks/index.htm http://www.mape.org.uk/activities/bigbooks/index.htm –BBC, BECTa, NGfL, LTS …. –See the CALL web site for more… Scanning paper texts into the computer

14. Text to speech tools are needed for… Reading documents and worksheets –e.g. in Word, PDF, Textease, AppleWorks etc formats Reading texts scanned into the computer Reading from the web So which program is best?

15. Some text-to-speech programs Talking word processors (TextEase, Write:Outloud, Clicker, etc) +Integrated speech, writing tools, cheap -Less common file format, no direct scan into them Specialist scan/read (Kurzweil, Read And Write Gold) +Integrate scanning, speech and tools in one program -Expensive Text or Screen Readers for reading Microsoft Word, or Adobe PDF, or web pages (Kurzweil, Read And Write, Penfriend, ReadPlease, WordTalk) +Read anything, need another program to scan into the word processor -Extra program, may add an extra reading “window”

16. Paperback scanned with FineReader OCR and copied to Textease (and then edited) Click on the text, then click on the Lips to read it. Text is highlighted as it is read. Colours and fonts are altered.

17. Text Readers for reading from Word, web etc Text Readers are designed for reading text Do not confuse with Screen Readers (e.g. Jaws) designed for visually impaired pupils Open and read files in different formats Highlight text within a document and read it Some text readers highlight the text in the document itself In others you must highlight and copy the text and it appears in a separate window

18. Some Text Readers CAST eReader  Reads documents, highlighted text, web pages and Daisy files. £147 PDFAloudReads PDF documents.Free, or £59 Max’s Sandbox Simplifies toolbar and adds speech to Word, Excel and Powerpoint. £4.75 per user online Penfriend W ord predictor with basic text reader.£60 ReadPlease Free basic text reader.Free TextHelp Read and Write 7 Good speech output; also has word prediction, spellchecker. £140 ScreenReader 4 Simple text reader – select text and click to have it read out. Free demo £30 WordTalk Adds speech output and talking spellchecker to Word Free

19. Word worksheet read with Penfriend Select the text, then copy to the clipboard to have it read out in the Penfriend window

20. Word file read with Read and Write 6 (MacBeth, downloaded from Project Gutenberg site) Click on the text and then click the Read button. Text is highlighted in the document

21. Word file read with WordTalk (Scanned with FineReader) Choose to read the whole document, or a paragraph, sentence or word. Then click on the text to have it read out.

22. SQA Exams in PDF: Pilot Trial A project to pilot electronic exams in a small number of schools, from October 2003 to March 2004 Funded by SQA CALL creates PDF’s of selected 2003 papers, with form fields for core subjects; speech enabled using PDFAloud CALL creates training materials Six schools use the PDF’s for revision & preparation Staff & students complete questionnaire to: –compare ICT with other techniques (scribe, reader etc) –measure/compare effect on marks/scores in 2003 diet –record staff time/training; student training; administration issues.

23. PDFAloud speech tools Form fields for answers Sentence being read and each word highlighted Exam from SQA in PDF, adapted with form fields for answers, and ‘speech enabled’ with PDFAloud

24. Scanning paper materials Kurzweil 3000 +Excellent fidelity; very easy to use; speech, spellchecker, word prediction and study tools; network version -Cost: £725 colour scan, £500 mono scan, £175 read only; saves files in Kurzweil format TextHelp Gold/Wordsmith +Scans into Word or Explorer; easy to use, speech, spellchecker, word prediction and study tools; network version -Cost £320/£265; Poorer fidelity than Kurzweil Standard OCR (Textbridge, FineReader, OmniPage) +Low cost (£50-£100); scans into Word/Internet Explorer; network versions -Poorer fidelity; requires other programs for speech etc

25. Standard OCR Programs -Textbridge, FineReader, OmniPage –Low cost; £40 to £90 –Scan direct into Word/Internet Explorer –Scan and copy into Talking Word Processors (e.g. TextEase, Clicker, Writing with Symbols, Write:Outloud –Scan and save in common formats; DOC, HTML, PDF –Image is less faithful than Kurzweil –Requires other programs for speech etc

26. Standard Grade English paper scanned into Kurzweil 3000 Click on the Scan button to scan it in. Click on the Read button to read it. Simple!

27. Standard Grade English paper scanned with Textbridge into Word. Speech output with TextHelp ScreenReader. Click on the Textbridge button to read it into Word. Use a Text Reader to read it.

28. 5-14 Test scanned with Kurzweil 3000 and Textbridge

29. Things to think about when scanning Don’t scan unless you have to – can you get the text electronically? Don’t scan directly into Word – check the text and think about whether you need to alter, edit or adapt the text

30. Copyright The Copyright Licensing Agency has introduced guidelines on Copyright and Visual Impairment to allow books to be made more accessible for people with disabilities. Provided that a person with a visual impairment, or other disability, which makes them physically unable to use a book, owns a copy of it, then it is possible to transcribe the book into a more accessible format without seeking special permission. This means that, provided a copy of the book is owned, it is possible for a school to produce an enlarged version, or to scan pictures and text into a computer to create a talking book for a pupil. Further details are available from the Copyright Licensing Agency web site: http://www.cla.co.uk/copyrightvillage/vpguidelines.pdf

31. Scanning issues Background and text colour Font, size, colour, letter spacing Line spacing Quantity of text per page Language and vocabulary Format – DOC, HTML, PDF, or copy into another program?

32. Reading the web – Kurzweil 3000 Read Only (£175) Good speech, good controls, simple. Doesn’t read ‘pop- up’ windows though, which can be a real problem

33. Reading the web – TextHelp ScreenReader (Shareware: free/£30) Simple, cheap and effective. Highlight text, click ‘Speak’, and text is read out either by the daft genie, or in a separate window. Doesn’t highlight on the page.

34. Web TTS tools ProgramRead from page Highlight in page Read in window Highlight in window Control and operationCost Kurzweil 3000YY--(Highlight) and click. Good stuff. Good voices. £175 Penfriend--YYCopy to clipboard. OK but reads in an extra window. Basic voices. £60 Reader?Free ReadPlease--YCopy, paste, then click. Extra window, clunky. Basic voices. Free Read and Write Standard Y ?YYYHighlight and click. Slow to start reading, highlight not well synchronised. Good voices. £140 ScreenReader 4Y-YYHighlight and click ‘Speak’. Simple and effective. Doesn’t highlight on page. Free / £30 BrowsealoudY---Point or highlight and click. Only reads ‘speech enabled’ sites. No highlighting at all. Free to end user

35. Talking browsers ProgramDescriptionCost pwWebspeakBrowser for VI – displays and reads text only – you don’t see the page itself, so it’s not suitable for sighted users Free IBM Home Page ReaderBrowser for VI – displays and reads the web page with the graphics. OK for sighted users. $117 Read eDidn’t work!Free Simply Web 2000Browser for VI – reads all elements from the page - irritating; also displays the page. Doesn’t highlight text in the page Free

36. IBM Home Page Reader Click on the text and it starts to read it out and highlight it. Good controls for speech.

37. Simply Web 2000 Click on the text here to read it. You can’t read by clicking on the page itself. Poor controls

38. Speech options Click to read a word Word highlighting Sentence highlighting No highlighting Max support Miin support

39. Summary More and more students in mainstream schools have reading difficulties Recent legislation and guidance requires schools to adapt materials or provide support ICT has the potential to give access to texts and learning resources There are a wide range of approaches and tools that can be used A thorough investigation of tools is needed before making a choice Implementing Access to Text through ICT must be done by the local authority, school and ICT Service– not just Learning Support