FLO Libguides: FLO Accessibility Toolkit: Assistive Technology

Screen Readers

Screen Readers are software that identify, navigate, and read media within web pages. Users can navigate Screen readers using the keyboard or voice, while media is read out-loud or provided as braille to the user (Gilbert, 2019, p. 125). Explore the following examples.

NVDA
"NVDA allows blind and vision impaired people to access and interact with the Windows operating system and many third party applications". NVDA is a free application, works with Windows operating system and several applications.
Narrator (Windows)
"Narrator is a screen-reading app that's built into Windows 11..."
VoiceOver (Mac)
"VoiceOver is an industry‑leading screen reader that tells you exactly what’s happening on your device."
ChromeVox (Chrome)
"Chromebooks have a built-in screen reader called ChromeVox, which enables people with visual impairments to use the Chrome operating system."
Orca (Linux)
"Orca is a free, open source, flexible, and extensible screen reader that provides access to the graphical desktop via speech and refreshable braille." See also Fenrir and Emacspeak.
JAWS®
"JAWS, Job Access With Speech, is the world’s most popular screen reader, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse."
ZoomText
"Magnifier/Reader enlarges and enhances everything on your computer screen, echoes your typing and essential program activity, and automatically reads documents, web pages, email." See Screen Magnifiers. See also Low Vision Solutions by Freedom Scientific.

Read studies about screen-readers access to data visualizations (Sharif et al., 2021; Fan et al., 2022).

Screen Magnification

Screen Magnifiers make reading your screen easier by enlarging media such as words and images. (Microsoft, 2020).

Magnifier (Windows)
"Magnifier makes part or all of your screen bigger so you can see words and images better." Since Windows 98, the Microsoft Windows operating system has included the Magnifier application.
Zoom (Mac, iOS)
"To set up zoom on your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings (or System Preferences). Click Accessibility, then click Zoom." The built-in screen magnification feature can be used at any time by holding the Control key and scrolling the mouse wheel to zoom in or zoom out. In iOS the built-in visual accessibility settings allow you to activate Zoom, a screen magnification tool that can be enabled or disabled by double tapping with three fingers anywhere on the touchscreen.
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Accessibility shortcuts - press Option (⌥), Command (⌘), and F5. On notebook computers with a Touch Bar, you might need to press the Fn (Function) key as well. On notebook computers with Touch ID, triple-press Touch ID. (If you press and hold the Command key while doing this, VoiceOver turns on or off.) To close the panel, click Done or click anywhere outside of the window.
Zoom in or magnify (Chromebook)
"You can change your screen resolution, zoom in, or magnify your screen to find items on your Chromebook screen better."
Font size and zoom (FireFox)
"The zoom controls allow you to increase or decrease either the size of a whole web page or just the size of all the text in order to improve readability."
Magnification (Android)
"You can zoom or magnify to see your Android device's screen better."
ZoomText
"Magnifier/Reader enlarges and enhances everything on your computer screen, echoes your typing and essential program activity, and automatically reads documents, web pages, email." See Screen Readers. See also Low Vision Solutions by Freedom Scientific.

Read what Lee & Ashok (2022) share about TableView+ - a browser extension that enhances usability. [add note about Window-Eyes and System Access; Pneuma Solutions in process]

Speech-Text Conversion

Text-to-Speech software transforms text in to an audible format.

Speak (Microsoft applications)
"Speak is a built-in feature of Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and OneNote. You can use Speak to have text read aloud in the language of your version of Office."
Spoken Content (Mac)
"If you have trouble reading text on your screen, you can have your Mac speak text whenever you press a keyboard shortcut."
Kurzweil 3000
"For those who are living with dyslexia, are English language learners, or blind and vision impaired, text-to-speech technology, like kurzweil 3000, boasts many benefits inside the classroom and out."
Text to Speech apps (Google Play)
You can find many text to speech apps for Android devices.
Text to Speech apps (iTunes)
You can find many text to speech apps for mac devices.

Speech-to-Text software transforms spoken language into text.

Voice typing (Windows)
"With voice typing, you can enter text on your PC by speaking. Voice typing uses online speech recognition, which is powered by Azure Speech services."
Dictation (Mac)
"With Dictation, you can dictate text anywhere you can type it. Turn it on in Keyboard settings—your dictated utterances are sent to Apple to process your requests."
Dragon speech recognition
"Take away the mechanical aspects of typing and let users create and edit documents, send emails, or search the web with unparalleled speed, ease, and comfort—simply by speaking."

Note Taking

Notetaking can take place in different forms using assistive technology from students in higher education to professional use.

Livescribe Smartpens
"Transform your handwritten notes to text and search through them, effortlessly. Store your notes on your favourite cloud service, and use Pencast to sync audio to your notes."
C-Pen
C-Pens are pen scanners designed for reading and learning.
Scanmarker
"Use Scanmarker to scan notes instantly to your computer, smartphone or tablet!"

Read Tucker & Zamfir (2022) about student perceptions on the help of Livescribe smartpens.

Further info

Further Info is a great way to continue to learn, develop accessibility skills, and raise awareness.

American Foundation for the Blind – Assistive Technology Products
"In this section, you will find a comprehensive listing of assistive technology products used by people who are blind or visually impaired organized by category."
Accessibility Heuristics, V1.4 10: General Rules of Thumb for Accessible Design [PDF]
Get guidance on how to create accessible content.
What Are Some Types of Assistive Devices and How are They Used?
See more assistive technology from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

References

Fan, D., Siu, A. F., Rao, H. V., Kim, G. S., Vazquez, X., Greco, L., O’Modhrain, S., & Follmer, S. (2022). The accessibility of data visualizations on the web for screen reader users: Practices and experiences during COVID-19. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS). https://doi.org/10.1145/3557899

Gilbert, R. M. (2019). Inclusive design for a digital world: Designing with accessibility in mind. Apress.

Kumar, L. A., Renuka, D. K., Rose, S. L., & Wartana, I. M. (2022). Deep learning based assistive technology on audio visual speech recognition for hearing impaired. International Journal of Cognitive Computing in Engineering, 3, 24-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcce.2022.01.003

Lee, H. N., & Ashok, V. (2022). Customizable tabular access to web data records for convenient low-vision screen magnifier interaction. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS), 15(2), 1-22. https://dl.acm.org/doi/full/10.1145/3517044

Microsoft. (2020). Use Magnifier to make things on the screen easier to see. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11542/windows-use-magnifer-to-make-things-easier-to-see

Sharif, A., Chintalapati, S. S., Wobbrock, J. O., & Reinecke, K. (2021). Understanding screen-reader users’ experiences with online data visualizations (The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility) [Proceedings]. ASSETS: ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1145/3441852.3471202

Tucker, L., & Zamfir, B. (2022). Student perception on the impact of the Livescribe smartpen as an accommodation. Universal Access in the Information Society, 21(3), 599-607. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-021-00806-2