Access apps presentation

Editor's Notes

• #2: Free Portable Enabling Technologies Access Tools http://tiny.cc/accesstools EduApps http://tiny.cc/eduapps274 My Study Bar http://tiny.cc/studybar
• #3: 20/11/12 There are a number of ways of categorising assistive technologies but the one that has most direct relevance for teaching and learning is that developed by TechDis which maps the process of learning to the tasks needed to engage in the process to the tools needed to complete the tasks. When a student engages in learning a new subject they generally go through a learning process in which they first reflect on their current knowledge or skill, they then introduce and exemplify their new knowledge and skills. Students then test their new understanding by completing specific assignments. In order to go through this process of learning a student would have to interact with resources, record information and plan and write responses. Using this approach to learning we are able to identify seven genres of ‘Assistive Technology’ which may be used by the learner at any stage of the process. These genres include assistive technology ranging from traditional ‘Assistive Technologies’ such as alternative interfaces (tracker balls, adapted keyboards, screen readers) to less widely recognised (but much more widespread) assistive technologies such as visualisation tools – videos and animations. The full list includes reading tools, alternative interfaces, visualisation tools, recording tools, planning tools, communication tools and writing tools. The benefits of this approach are threefold: The focus is on learning not technology, disability or medical condition. A single category (for example read assist tools) may contain a wide range of alternative solutions ranging from high tech to low tech and even pedagogical solutions. A single technology may provide a solution for more than one accessibility need – for example the use of styles and outline in Microsoft Word can provide both a reading tool and a planning tool. Note the distinction between the traditional screen reader which we regard as an alternative interface, and text to speech which we regard as a reading aid. The former makes information on the monitor (including navigation, structural layout and text etc) accessible to a blind user. The latter makes the meaning of text more accessible to a print disabled user who can see the text but not make sense of the meaning. Note also that the same tool (for example alternative interfaces) may be used at more than one stage of the learning cycle.
• #6: Open office accessibility http://ui.openoffice.org/accessibility/
• #9: Who would benefit? ssOverlay can help individuals who find it easier to read information on a computer with a colour overlay or screen masking. ssOverlay can also help to reduce screen glare on older monitors
• #13: Getting started Install NVDA Make yourself comfortable by adjusting rate, pitch, volume, and even the language of the speech by: Control+Insert+Left/Right arrows -- navigate between available parameters (see below). Control+Insert+Up/Down arrows -- change a particular parameter, e.g. make speech faster or slower. You can save your preferences for later by: Pressing Insert+N to open NVDA menu. Choosing "Save Preference" from the menu. Please note: If you are installing the NVDA screen reader inside a virtual machine or your keyboard does not have an INSERT key, consider using software such as "Sharp Keys" to reassign the keys on your keyboard. Start testing web pages I've made a list of most essential NVDA shortcut keys below, which should give you a helpful reference guide. If you know your alphabet, you will have no trouble remembering them! Very important, do not use a mouse and turn off your computer monitor . With a little patience you'll be able to get the hang of it. Follow along with the example below to get started. Important to remember: NVDA uses a view, called "browse mode" to present web pages to the user, where: Screen reader intercepts arrow and some other keys (see below) to offer additional navigation operations for the user. NVDA "browse" cursor tries its best but may not always follow onscreen cursor, so do not trust your eyes -- trust your ears! NVDA uses "focus mode" when interacting with edit fields and ARIA-enabled DHTML widgets. NVDA will try to switch between "browse" and "focus" modes automatically when the user navigates with a tab key. The change between modes will be indicated by two distinct sounds. If NVDA does not change the modes automatically, press SPACE bar on an edit control or an ARIA-enabled widget to force the switch.
• #15: Click n Type – Guide to Its potential use with learners at: http://www.bltt/org/software/clickntype/index.htm MouseTool clicks the mouse for you. Carpal tunnel syndrome. Tendonitis. Who'd have thought that those tiny little mouse buttons could ruin your life? MouseTool: Clicks and drags the mouse Sends Left-, Double-, or Right clicks Knows which of these to send into which window Can be controlled by hotkeys you define Versions are available for Windows, and Linux. And, soon, for Mac OS X!
• #17: Who would benefit? Audacity can help everyone. Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. This could be useful to learners who record lectures and need to edit them at a later stage. For example, if you record lectures with a digital recorder you can download the recording into Audacity, and select and edit the important parts you want to keep. Audacity is a great tool for saving audio to multiple formats, including MP3 for creating Podcasts Comments from those who selected Audacity as one of their Top 10 Tools in 2008   * "Does everything you need to record and edit audio. Easy to use, another winner!" Karl Goddard * "who needs anything more complex or pricey?" Mary Cooch * "a wonderful user-friendly resource bringing podcasting to the people" Bill Miller * "open source Audio editing in an easy way. Gorgeous tool for all "sound experiments" Andreas Busing * "Audacity is still the best application I have found for simple recording and editing of audio. It just works." Jennifer Maddrell * "Audio is a versatile option for an elearning. With the free Audacity tool it is easy to produce, edit and publish audio as an MP3 or other file formats." Steve Rayson * "Audacity gave the PC community similar capabilities to Mac's GarageBand at no cost. I like having the ability to review and edit audio before I package it for podcasting" Britt Wattwood * "Audacity is easy to use for recording and editing sound files. It is a handy program for creating podcasts, especially for beginners in this area. " Patricia Donaghy * "Free and easy to create classroom podcasts and mp3s where the students get to hear, edit and publish themselves. Promotes ownership – extremely motivating." Kora Stoll * "In the past I used Sonic Foundry’s Sound Forge, but Audacity does everything I need. The large library of plugins add all the functionality I think I might ever need. It’s free and open source too" Charles Jennings * "I found it is very useful for sound editing. It supports variety of features for audio editing at no cost." N B Venkateswarlu Phil Bradley * "Why spend limited funds on a commercial tool that won't do all this free one does?" Ed Lamaster *." Pattie Mascaro * "Although I don’t use it very often, any time it comes to manipulating sound it quickly does the job." Kevin Jones * "Extremely useful and easy-to-use tool for editing audio. I have found it invaluable in the various multimedia projects I've worked on in college this year. I use the noise removal filter for reducing static on voiceovers that were recorded directly using the built in mic on my laptop - handy if you dont have a fancy audio recording booth. Of course using this method, you won't have superb audio quality, but for less formal requirements such as creating audio for college projects, it's ideal." Karen OBrien * "Amazingly powerful for such a small program. I use it almost everyday, even though I have access to much more powerful audio editing software packages." Jason Edwards * "a well focussed tool that academics and student can pick up easily. It's very portable and this is important for digital audio where many users want to work in private spaces" Andrew Middleton * "This easy to use FREE audio editing software is easy to use for podcasting and editing audio files. You will need the LAME Mp3 encoder if you want to export your audio files at MP3 instead of WAV - but it’s easy to download and install" Colette Cassinelli * "I use this tool whenever there is a requirement for audio recording or editing. It is such a useful tool and it's free!" Sathish Narayanan * "I recommend this open source tools to subject matter experts who wish to create podcasts and / or software demos when using a Rapid E-Learning approach. It's easy to install and use and enables SMEs and training professionals to create high quality audio quickly and efficiently." Michael Hanley * "I’m starting to do much more with audio, and Audacity really is a pretty incredible piece of free software." Jeff Cobb * " Free and powerful audio recorder and editor. Works with MP3's though you will need to download a copy the LAME MP3 encoder which will allow Audacity to import and export MP3 files." Rupert Russell
• #18: Open cam studio, define recordable area, move cursor add commentary Volunteer required, save avi file, ope file in windows movie maker, add subtitles et voila!
• #19: Mobile Prompts Inspired by Alistair McNaught Animated gif Work on most mobile devices No stigma attached to mobile learning most people have a mobile device discreet current portable 20/11/12
• #20: Applications Timetables Travel training Landmarks along the way Health and Safety Manual handling sequences, COSHH etc. Sequences Daily routines, specific tasks And, don’t forget…. Fun! 20/11/12