Assistive Technology (AT) Resources

AT - Technology to Enhance Learning

Assistive technology is any device, software, or equipment that helps people work around challenges - Understood.org

By this definition, a laptop computer, smartphone, iPad, and tablet can be considered and used as assistive technology because they have built in capabilities, apps and/or software that enhance access and learning experiences, such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text, notetaking, time management, etc.

The information on this webpage is designed to help you understand how to use the built-in functionality of your devices for Reading, Writing, Notetaking and Time Management ... all things needed to be successful in college!

technology, electronic, devices — assistive technology

Reading Support

Reading may be supported by the use of Text-to-Speech (TTS), which is a type of assistive technology tool that allows people to listen to digital text read out loud. TTS may help students who struggle with reading, reading comprehension, writing and focusing.

Listed below are a few of the commonly used TTS that are built in to many of your devices:

immersive reader, canvas, text to speech

If your course instructor enabled the Immersive Reader in CANVAS, it can be used when viewing pages, assignments, course home page, and syllabus. Just click the Immersive Reader button in CANVAS.

The Immersive Reader in CANVAS offers a variety of features to enhance your reading experience:

Read text aloud
Change the speed of reading
Highlight sets of one, three, or five lines for greater focus
Change font size, text spacing, and background color
Split up words into syllables
Highlight verbs, nouns, adjectives, and sub-clauses
Choose between two fonts optimized to help with reading
Select a word to see a related picture and hear the word read aloud as many times as necessary

How to use Immersive Reader in Canvas?

To listen to specific text on a page, use the Select-to-speak feature:

Turn on Select-to-speak

At the bottom right, select the time. (Or press Alt + Shift + s)
Select Settings .
At the bottom, select Advanced.
In the "Accessibility" section, select Manage Accessibility Features.
Under "Text-to-Speech," turn on Enable select-to-speak.

Chromebook Simulator - Turn on select-to-speak

Select and hear text

Important: Depending on your keyboard, you can press the Search key or the Launcher key for some shortcuts. Both keys work the same

To select what text you’d like to hear:

Highlight the text and press the Search key + s.
At the bottom right, near the time, select Select-to-speak . Then select a line of text or drag the pointer over an area of the screen.
On a touchscreen: At the bottom right, near the time, tap Select-to-speak . Then tap a line of text or drag your finger over an area of the screen.

Your Chromebook will read the section aloud and each word will be highlighted.

To stop Select-to-Speak while it’s reading, press Ctrl or the Search key . You can also select Stop .

Tip: With navigation controls, you can pause and play, adjust speed, and skip lines of text.

Additional resources

ChromeVox, built-in screen reader, which will read full pages aloud
To change the language or voice of spoken text

Microsoft Office

Immersive Reader - in Word for the desktop, macOS, Web, and iPad. Listen to text read aloud and/or adjust how text appears by modifying the text spacing, color and more.
Read Aloud - a built-in text-to-speech feature in Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

Pages (MAC)

Choose Edit > Speech > Start Speaking

PDF

Adobe Reader (free) Windows, MAC
- Open PDF with Adobe Reader
- Click View, then Read Out Loud
  - Activate Read Out Loud
- go back to View, then Read Out Loud
  - Select either Read to End of Document or Read This Page Only

Previewer (built in for MAC)
- Enable Speech
  - Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Accessibility, then click Speech.
- Select the “Speak selected text when the key is pressed” checkbox.
  - By default, speaking is enabled when you press Option-Esc.
- To have your Mac start speaking, press Option-Esc. To stop the speaking, press Option-Esc again.
  - If text is selected when you press the key, the selected text is spoken. Otherwise, available text items in the current window are spoken; for example, if Mail is the current window, an email message is read. If no text items are available, you hear a beep.

Live Text on iOS allows users to take a picture of textbook pages, handouts, flyers, posters, etc.,) and select and interact with the text in the image. After taking a picture press the live text button the text.

Live Text allows users to:

Copy text in images, paste it somewhere else and/or listen to the text with Spoken Content
Translate text in images
Search the web based on what is in the image
Make a phone call if there is a phone number in the image
Send an email if there is an email address in the image
Look up a location on Apple Maps if there is an address in the image
Look up words in the iPhone dictionary
Share the text with other people, via the iOS Share menu

Your iPad and iPhone has a built in text-to-speech that can read aloud text on your device. This means you can listen to the text in your emails, documents, webpages, etc.

Open Settings .
In Settings, select Accessibility from the list
On the Accessibility screen, select Spoken Content
On the Spoken Content screen, select Speak Selection and Speak Screen to set the toggle switch to On
- Speak Selection allows you to tap and hold any text until the selector tool appears
- Speak Screen allows you to swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen to hear the content of the screen.

Resource: iPad user guide; iPhone user guide

VoiceOver is a built in screen reader for your iPad and iPhone. VoiceOver uses gestures to help people who cannot see the content on the screen or find buttons they are looking for. When rolling a finger over different objects, VoiceOver will read everything on the screen. A double tap will open the object. Learn more - VoiceOver on an iPad and VoiceOver on an iPhone

Turn VoiceOver on or off

Note: When using VoiceOver, VoiceOver gestures must be used to navigate the iPad.

To turn VoiceOver on or off, do any of the following:

Activate Siri and say “Turn on VoiceOver” or “Turn off VoiceOver.”
If you’ve set up Accessibility Shortcut, triple-click the Home button or top button (depending on your iPad model).
Use Control Center.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver, then turn the setting on or off.

From the Apple menu , click System Preferences

Click Accessibility
Select Speech
- Select the voice that you want to use
Select the “Speak selected text when the key is pressed” check box
- By default, your Mac speaks text when you press the keyboard shortcut Option - Esc. To set a different keyboard shortcut, click “Set Key to assign a keyboard shortcut”. This will be the shortcut you use to hear text read aloud

VoiceOver is a built-in screen reader on a MAC. VoiceOver enables users with visual disabilities to control their computer using a rich set of keyboard commands. VoiceOver speaks descriptions of items on the screen and can be used to control the computer using only your keyboard.

Turn VoiceOver on or off on Mac

Press Command-F5. If VoiceOver is on, pressing the keys turns it off.
Use Siri. Say something like: “Turn VoiceOver on” or “Turn VoiceOver off.” Learn how to use Siri.
If your Mac or Magic Keyboard has Touch ID, press and hold the Command key while you quickly press Touch ID three times.
Choose Apple menu
> System Settings, then click Accessibility in the sidebar (you may need to scroll down). Click VoiceOver on the right, then turn VoiceOver on or off.

Learn more about VoiceOver on a MAC

Narrator is a screen-reading app that's built into Windows 10.

Two ways to start Narrator

Press the Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter together to start Narrator. Press these keys again to stop Narrator. On many keyboards, the Windows logo key is located on the bottom row of keys, to the left or right of the Alt key.

- or -

Press the Windows logo key + Ctrl + N to open Narrator settings, and then turn on the toggle under Use Narrator.

JAWS Software

JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is a screen reader that provides speech and Braille output for the most popular computer applications on a PC for users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. JAWS allows users to independently navigate the Internet, write a document, read an email and create presentations.

NVDA is a screen reader that allows blind and vision impaired people to access and interact with the Windows operating system. NVDA is a free download. (Note: NVDA is only available for PCs running Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 and later.)

N V D A - free screen reader

Download NVDA

The Chrome web browser has a variety of extensions that support Text-to-Speech

Read Aloud
Readme
Read the Web (free with a Kurzweil 3000. Add the extension and use your Kurzweil 3000 user name and password to log in.)

To listen to text content on a Firefox webpage, click the Read Aloud icon on the Firefox menu or press the F9 key to activate.

When the Read Aloud feature is activated on a Firefox webpage, the Read Aloud toolbar will appear, click Listen or press the key command N

Immersive Reader in Microsoft Edge can help improve reading comprehension and enhance learning by simplifying web page layouts and allowing readers to customize their reading experience in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Enter Immersive Reader (F9)

There are multiple ways to active the Immersive Reader function:

Press the F9 key to activate Immersive Reader, or
Click the Immersive Reader icon, or
Highlight text you want to listen to, right click and select Read Aloud selection.

Read Aloud in Microsoft Edge allows the Microsoft Edge browser to highlight text, auto-scroll and reads PDFs, eBooks, and webpage content aloud to you.

There are multiple ways to active the Read Aloud function:

Use the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + U to activate Read Aloud, or
Click the Read Aloud icon, or
Highlight text you want to listen to, right click and select Open Selection in Immersive Reader

CCC Document Converter

Sensus Access - Upload one or more files or simply type in the text you wish to have converted. The converted file will be delivered to your email when complete.

Supported file types are .DOC, .DOCX, .PDF, .PPT, .PPTX, .TXT, .XML, .HTML, .HTM, .RTF, .EPUB, .MOBI, .TIFF, .TIF, .GIF, .JPG, .JPEG, .BMP, .PNG, .PCX, .DCX, .J2K, .JP2, .JPX, .DJV, .TEX, .ZIP and .ASC

Note:

File upload limit is 64MB
Uploaded files need to be of good quality in order to maximize conversion accuracy
Some file outputs may require additional editing after conversion
PDFs that are locked for security purposes will not be processed
Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The person using this equipment is liable for any infringement. This service is provided only for non-commercial instructional and educational use, and any other use is prohibited.

FREE Office 365 Account for VCCCD students

microsoft office 365, software, word, powerpoint, excel

Students of Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura Colleges, are eligible for a Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus account ... for Free.

Textbook resources

Bookshare® is a FREE online library with over 800,000 books, including textbooks and classroom resources for students with dyslexia, blindness, low vision, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers. Students can read books on virtually any device and customize their reading experience in ways that work for them.

Bookshare® membership must be confirmed by an authorized professional confirming a print disability that severely inhibits or prevents reading traditional print materials.
Contact an ACCESS counselor or the Alternate Media Specialist to determine eligibility.
Visit the Bookshare Learning Center for additional information and resources

VitalSource Bookshelf is an online bookshelf program that is used to download and access your purchased eTextooks.

eTextbook features include:

Economical - may be more cost effective when purchasing or renting an eTextbook through VitalSource
Instant Access - purchase and read your book immediately
Read Aloud - listen and follow along as Bookshelf reads to you
Read Offline - access your eTextbook anytime and anywhere
Study Tools - built-in study tools like highlights and more

The Ventura County Community College District (VCCCD) has implemented the Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC ) program at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges. Faculty have adopted and created hundreds of ZTC course materials, such as PDFs, websites, or materials embedded into the course within Canvas, to students  at  no cost and with low-cost print options.

Speech-to-Text

Speech-to-Text is the process of converting your spoken words into digital text. There are many different ways to refer to speech-to-text: dictation, voice-to-text, voice recognition or speech recognition. These terms all mean that you can write with your voice. You can speak your words and your words will be typed out.

Speech-to-text is useful for students who may

struggle with spelling (they can say a word and see how it's spelled)
think faster than they can write by hand or type on a keyboard
have mobility limitations that affect writing or using a keyboard

To turn on Dictation

On your Mac, choose Apple menu
> System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
Go to Dictation on the right, then turn it On. If a prompt appears, click Enable.

To Dictate text

Place the insertion point where you want the dictated text to appear.
Press the microphone icon , if available in the row of function keys, use the dictation keyboard shortcut, or choose Edit > Start Dictation.

Note: Press and release microphone icon to start Dictation; press and hold microphone icon to activate Siri (Siri must be enabled).
When the feedback window shows a microphone icon with a fluctuating loudness indicator, or you hear the tone that signals your Mac is ready for dictation, dictate your text.
To insert a punctuation mark or perform simple formatting tasks, do any of the following:

Say the name of the punctuation mark, such as “exclamation mark.”
Say “new line” (equivalent to pressing the Return key once) or “new paragraph” (equivalent to pressing the Return key twice). The new line or new paragraph appear when you’re done dictating. For a list of the commands - Commands for dictating text.

When you’re done dictating, press the dictation keyboard shortcut, the Return key, or click Done in the feedback window.

Open a new or existing document and go to Home > Dictate while signed into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled device.

Tip: You can also start dictation with the keyboard shortcut: ⌥ (Option) + F1.
Wait for the Dictate button to turn on and start listening.
Start speaking to see text appear on the screen.

Video Resource: How to use Dictation in Microsoft Word for the web

Open a new or existing document and go to Home > Dictate while signed into your Microsoft 365 account on a mic-enabled device.
Wait for the Dictate button to turn on and start listening.
Start speaking to see text appear on the screen.

Video Resource: How to use Dictation in Microsoft Word for the web

Dictate text

To enter text, tap the microphone button on your keyboard, then start speaking. As you speak, the text appears on the screen. To finish, stop speaking, then tap the keyboard button .

Available in Chrome browsers

To voice type in a google doc

Check that your microphone works. Microphone settings are typically in the System Preferences on a Mac, or the Control Panel on a PC

Open a document in Google Docs with a Chrome browser.
Click Tools Voice typing. A microphone box appears. When you're ready to speak, click the microphone.
Speak clearly, at a normal volume and pace.
Note: punctuation should be dictated as well.
When you're done, click the microphone again.

Correcting mistakes while voice typing

If you make a mistake while typing with your voice, move your cursor to the mistake and fix it without turning off the microphone
After correcting the mistake, move the cursor back to where you want to continue voice typing
To see a list of suggestions, right-click words underlined in gray

Using voice commands

Commands can be used to edit and format your document. For example, "Select paragraph," "italics," or "Go to the end of the line."

TIPS:

Voice commands are available only in English. The account language and document language must both be English.
Voice commands are not available in Slides speaker notes.

Resource:

speech-to-text, speech, text, dictation, voice typing, technology, electronic, devices — speech-to-text, voice typing

Smart device

Windows 10

MAC

Dictation on a Mac

Notetaking

Developing an effective notetaking process is a valuable and important skill for college students. Whether taking notes during lecture or while reading your course textbook, notetaking is the process of organizing information into an understandable format that will assist you in studying and the learning process.

Notetaking is a skill ... so it may take some time and may require some exploration as there are a variety of notetaking methods: outline, SQ4R, Cornell Method, Mapping Method, etc. And you may also find that you may utilize different notetaking processes/methods for different courses depending the subject. For example, the way you take notes in a Math course may be different than the way you take notes in your History course. And that is ok! The goal is to develop notetakings skills that work you ... notetaking skills that allow you to identify key concepts, main ideas and supporting details and organize that information in a manner that will aid your understanding, remembering and learning the subject.

Below are resources that may aid in developing your notetaking skills:

Be prepared for class

Review course syllabus
- understand expectations
- office hours
- attendance policy
- reading schedule
- due dates: assignments, exams, etc.
Prior to each class
- review notes and what has already been covered
- complete required readings
- re-read chapter summary
- identify vocabulary
- assess your understanding
- are there questions you have about the material?
- things you’re still confused about?
- write these down and bring to class
Arrive early and get a good seat
- reduce/avoid distractions
Interact with instructor; actively participate
- ask questions
- contribute with comments
Come organized with all necessary course supplies

During lecture

Actively Listen
- Focus on the speaker - give your undivided attention
- Don't prejudge or assume you already know the material
- Ask for clarification
- Listen for verbal cues and watch for nonverbal cues
- Listen for requests

After lecture

review notes after class
if needed, rewrite lecture notes
- fill in gaps from your memory while they are still fresh in mind
- rewriting provides an opportunity to (re-)organize your notes in a more logical or coherent fashion
  - make note of your questions and ask instructor next class

Taking notes while reading may help some readers process and understand the content more effectively. "Learning how to manage your reading and take effective notes can give you back hours of your time for studying." - University of Reading

Apps

Flexicil
MarginNote3

Time Management

As a college student, time management is an essential skill. "Time management is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between different activities. Get it right, and you'll end up working smarter, not harder, to get more done in less time – even when time is tight and pressures are high." - MindTools

Below are a few resources and techniques that may aid in helping you develop good time management skills:

Google Calendar
S.M.A.R.T Goals
FocusList (Apple & Mac)
Pomodoro Timer - Online
Mindful Browsing
Stay Focusd (Chrome)
Time Out (Mac) - Break reminder
ClearLock (Android)
Cold Turkey
Freedom - Block Distractions (Apple)
Hocus Focus (MacOS)

AT - Technology to Enhance Learning

Reading Support

Android

CANVAS

Chromebook

Documents (Microsoft Office, Pages on a MAC, and PDFs)

iPad and iPhone (Live Text)

iPad and iPhone (Spoken Content)

iPad and iPhone (VoiceOver)

MAC (speak selected text)

MAC (VoiceOver)

PC - Narrator

Screen Reader - JAWS

Screen Reader - N V D A

Web browser - Chrome

Web browser - Firefox

Web browser - Microsoft Edge

Text-to-Speech apps

CCC Document Converter

Document Conversion

FREE Office 365 Account for VCCCD students

Microsoft Office 365

Textbook resources

Bookshare

OpenStax

Project Gutenberg

VitalSource Bookshelf

Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) courses

Speech-to-Text

Dictation on a MAC

Dictation in Microsoft Word for the web (macOS)

Dictation in Microsoft Word for the web (Windows)

Smartphones and tablets

Voice Typing in a Google Doc

Video Resources for Speech-to-Text

Notetaking

Notetaking Apps

Notetaking Strategies - Before, During & After Class

Notetaking Strategies - while Reading

Time Management

Apps

Resources

Time Management spotlight

Shirley Ruiz

Share