Accessibility: Assistive Technologies
Assistive technology is a catch-all term that describes tools to help make computer use easier for people who have some kind of disability or impairment that prevents them from using computers. Types of assistive technology software include:
- Graphic organisers: Tools that use visual symbols to express knowledge, concepts, thoughts, or ideas, and the relationships between them. Graphic organisers provide a visual aid to facilitate learning and instruction and are very useful for students with dyslexia or dysgraphia.
- Screen reader software: Software used by blind or visually impaired people to read text displayed on a computer screen
- Screen magnification software: Software used by visually impaired people to enlarge the text on a computer screen
- Speech recognition software: Software that converts spoken into text and is used to provide hands-free control of a computer.
- Text reading software: Software used by people who have difficulty reading. This software will read text with a synthesised voice (and perhaps with a particular accent) and may highlight the word being spoken.
Click on a link below to for some examples of assistive technology software.
