Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology What is Assistive Technology (AT)?

Assistive Technology (AT) are solutions that help people perform tasks despite an accessibility barrier they face.  This could range from a software that reads your books out loud to you; to a setting your computer that makes text more visible. Some of these solutions take the…

Dragon Naturally Speaking

Dragon Naturally Speaking by Nuance has become the leader in Speech to Text and Speech Command. They offer several different products, each which have been enhanced to fulfill a specific need. It is important you review the specification of each product to choose the right one for you.

Speech Command

It…

Glean

 

Glean is an application that can be used from a computer or mobile device for recording lectures. Users can embed PDFs to accompany the audio recording. Students can add their own text notes alongside the recording and can highlight sections of the audio for future reference. 

 

If you are registered…

How to install Kurzweil's Read the Web

Kurzweil 3000 Read the Web Instructions for Google Chrome

1. You can install the Kurzweil Read the Web extension from the Chrome web store.
2. Click the blue “Add to Chrome” button and follow the prompts to install the extension.
3. After the extension is installed,…

How to use BigBlueButton with JAWS

BigBlueButton will appear in Canvas a Collaboration, and in Sakai as meetings. After you've clicked on join meeting, follow the instructions below:

1. The first thing you'll hear is "Join audio alert dialogue" . Click your tab key to select the Microphone or Listen only option.  Listen…

Kurzweil 3000 is an accessibility software designed to help students learn course materials in school. With functions such as text-to-speech, highlighting, and integrated note-taking and brainstorming, this assistive technology enables students with learning difficulties to fully engage in what they are learning and to focus on the tasks at hand.

<h2>Summary</h2> <ul> <li>Both offer text-to-speech, speech-to-text, OCR, and access to the cloud.</li> <li>Texthelp includes built-in math support, Kurzweil does not.</li> <li>Both offer Windows and Mac support; however, Texthelp offers better web and mobile applications.</li> <li>Kurzweil works better for reading Textbooks and PDFs while Texthelp is better at reading websites and EPUBs.</li> </ul>

Messenger Pigeon is a full-featured note-taking suite that utilizes human note-takers.

Overview of Recommended Tools Interacting with your Course Materials:

Our office provides both Kurzweil 3000 and Read&Write Gold as the recommended tool for interacting with the course content we offer you.

Comparison of Kurzweil and Read&Write

Based on Preferred PlatformPlatformRecommended OptionDesktopEqualMobileRead and…

Read&Write

Read&Write is a literacy software with text-to-speech and other note-taking functions to ease students' reading of text files and articles online. There are many features within this software that can help students write  their papers and read texts such as reading out loud, text prediction,  dictionaries…

Resources for Apple Users Mac OS- Laptop and desktop resources

If you are using an Apple laptop or iMac device the following items are useful for you to download and trial before classes start. Apple by default has many accessibility tools built into your device and requires no additional downloads. In some cases these tools are better…

Screen Readers

Screen readers are used by individuals who are blind or have low vision, to read and navigate their computer. Below are some common types of screen reading software:

 

If you are registered with the Office of Disability Services and looking to utilize this as an accommodation please be sure to speak with your…

Text to Speech Readers (TTS)

There is a variety of Text to Speech tools that allow students who have a difficult time reading print text to listen to their textbooks, webpages, or pdf files with little to no training required. Many of these tools are now offered free and require no subscriptions to use. 

Below are some of our…

Turnitin Accessibility Topics Turnitin Accessibility Topics 

(Information borrowed from University of Colorado Boulder's web site)

Service Overview

Turnitin is an originality-checking service that instructors can enable for assignments in Canvas. There are two layers of Turnitin that students can access: originality scores…

Using Zooms Automated Captions

Automated Captions are now available for all Rutgers Zoom accounts. Once activated by the host, all users will have the opportunity to benefit from this feature.

Activating Automated Captions

To activate the automated captions for users, the host will need to start closed captioning. To do…