Assistive Technology

GW Micro , the makers of the Window-Eyes screen reader, has teamed up with technology giant Microsoft to offer Windows-Eyes to Microsoft Office 2010 and newer users for free. Windows-Eyes can read elements on the screen aloud allowing the blind, low-vision, and print disabled to have full access to their Windows PC. Window-Eyes can also output on-screen content to a Braille display for users who prefer Braille. This new partnership will increase the affordability of Window-Eyes and allow more people to benefit from its features. Window-Eyes normally costs almost $900 while Microsoft Office costs far less. GW Micro and Microsoft believe this new partnership will allow millions of new users to access their computers using Window-Eyes. Rob Sinclair, Microsoft's Chief Accessibility Officer says the following about this new program, "By partnering with GW Micro in this endeavor we are demonstrating Microsoft's onging commitment to provide all of our customers with the technol...

If This Then That (IFTTT) is a simple app for iPhone and Android that allows you to automate simple tasks. If you want to email every picture you take to your grandparents or tweet about every breaking news story IFTTT can do it for you automatically. The IFTTT app integrates with many other apps and services which allows it to help with a variety of  tasks. IFTTT can integrate with reminders, contacts, photos, messages, Twitter, Google Drive, Facebook, Blogger, Evernote, and many more services. To start using the app you can choose from hundreds of pre-made recipes or make your own. A recipe could say " If I post a new post on Blogger, tweet its title and a link, "or  "when I arrive at school,text my mom" The app constantly checks your recipes and completes the action at the correct time. It reduces the need to do many monotonous tasks. It also bridges the gap between different web based services allowing you to spend more time using the services and less time ...

This week Apple announced a variety of new hardware and software products at media event. While Apple executives didn't devote stage time to accessibility announcements as they have in years past, the announcements still impact accessibility and assistive technology. Mac Apple previewed OS X Mavericks at their World Wide Developers Conference ( WWDC ) in June. This week Apple released the Mac operating system to the public and announced that it would be a free update. Like iOS 7, Mavericks includes some exciting accessibility improvements including enhanced dictation and Switch Control . Click to read more about each new feature. iPad The main focus of the event was updated iPads. Apple released a new full size iPad named iPad Air. The iPad Air is considerably thinner and lighter than the previous full size iPad . In addition to the slimmer design Apple included the new A7 processor which increases performance. The iPad mini was also updated to include a higher quality reti...

Apple's new and free Mac operating system called OS X Mavericks includes a new accessibility feature called Switch Control.  Switch Control allows switch users to navigate and use their Macs. Switch Control allows switch users to interact and control their Macs. Switch users are users who are only able to activate a few large buttons and who don’t have the ability to interact with the complexities of a keyboard or mouse.  For example, a quadriplegic may be able to activate switches mounted on their wheelchair with their head. Switches come in all different sizes and configurations but they give users who are unable to interact with the keyboard or mouse the ability to control their computers. It is exciting to see Apple continuing to improve OS X accessibility as well as iOS accessibility.  Switch Control on the Mac is  similar  to other switch interfaces and very  similar  to Switch Control on iOS 7. Click here to read about Switch Control for iOS...

Recently Bookshare's downloadable library of accessible ebooks reached 200,000 titles. The 200,000 mark comes just months after the 11th anniversary of the service. Bookshare books contain digital text and can be read with text-to-speech and synchronized highlighting. Text-to-speech paired with synchronized highlighting can help dyslexics with comprehension. Members can also read books on a refreshable braille display. As a result of funding from the United States Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs ( OSEP ) Bookshare is able to provide its services free to qualified U.S. students. For information on membership click here.  Members are provided with software to read Bookshare books on their Mac or PC but  Bookshare books can also be read on many other devices including iOS devices using the   Read2Go or Voice Dream Reader app. An Android app called Go Read is also available.

Recently Google added advanced voice search to the Chrome browser . Google's advance voice search feature was previously only available for Android and iOS , but is now available on Mac and Windows . The feature is similar to Apple's Siri ,but works on your computer as well as mobile devices. To access the feature, navigate to Google using the Chrome browser and press the microphone icon to the right of the search bar. Then you can search by voice and Google will speak back select results. I have found the voice recognition to be very fast and accurate. One of the most notable features for struggling spellers is that you can ask how to spell a word and then Google will speak back the correct spelling. Google will also provide spoken responses for many other queries as well. Watch the above video to learn more.

Google's popular Google Now feature may be coming to Apple devices if a leaked video is to be believed. Google Now is currently an Android exclusive feature but Google has brought flagship Android features to Apple devices in the past. One example is Google's advanced voice search that came to iOS last year. Google Now has predictive cards that provide information to users automatically. The cards gather information about a users search history and provide useful information automatically. Engadget.com was sent the video which was later taken off YouTube . The leaked video is visually similar to other Google promotional videos with lends credence to its authenticity. If the video is legitimate Google Now would be a great addition to Apple's mobile devices. Click read more to view another video about Google Now.

The eyes free typing app for iPhone , iPad , and iPod Touch called Fleksy is now free on the App Store . The app is able to predict what word you are trying to type even if you did not hit any of the right virtual keys. As long as you are close to the right keys Flesky is able to predict the word. Fleksy is so accurate you do not even have to look at your phone to type. Just like other keyboard apps on iOS Fleksy does not replace the default keyboard. Click here to read the full review. Click read more below to learn more.

Nuance's PaperPort Notes app for iPad received a major update. The highlight of the update is the ability to take a picture of text to add the text to your notes. The Optical Charactor Recongition (OCR) feature is slower than other competing apps but is accurate. The improved cameras on the newest iPads allow OCR to work well. To learn about the other features of the free PaperPort Notes app click here.   Click here to download the app. Click read more below to view screenshots of PaperPort Notes.

Google Play Books is the Google's ebookstore and companion reader apps. The Android reader app was recently updated to include a text-to-speech read aloud feature. Click here to download the free app for Android. The text-to-speech voice is a little above average but gets the job done. The read aloud feature works with most books in the Google Play store. If you have an Android device be sure to check this app out. Click read more below to view screenshots of Google Play Books.

Google's recently update Google Voice Search is very useful and extremely fast. There are also a few tricks that can make the app even more useful. One trick is to ask Google Voice Search "how do you spell..." Google will quickly return the correct spelling of the word and speak the spelling aloud. Unlike Siri , Google Voice Search speaks the spelling back to you so you do not need to look at the screen. This trick is especially useful for people with dyslexia and people who are struggling spellers.

Apple's newly released iOS 6 includes a new improvements to Speak Selection that highlights words as they are read aloud. Click here to learn how to update to iOS 6. The new feature is available on any iPhone , iPad or iPod Touch running iOS 6. To access the feature go to settings > general > accessibility > speak selection. Once enabled simply highlight any text and press speak to have the text read with text-to-speech . Speak Selection is great for people with dyslexia or for reviewing documents.

Apple's new iPhone 5 and iOS 6 are out and include many new accessibility features. One of the biggest accessibility features of iOS 6 is called Guided Access . iOS 6 is the operating system that runs on the iPhone , iPad and iPod Touch. To enable Guided Access go to Setting > General > Accessibility > Guided Access . Guided Access allows an parent or teacher to restrict access to a single app. This restricts kids from switch apps to watch videos or play games. Guided Access also allows parents and teachers to block off individual buttons within an app. For example if an app have setting a teacher could block it off so the students could not change app settings. Guided Access is great for teachers, users with autism or users with ADD. Guided Access allows teachers to administer tests on the iPad without worrying about students looking up the answers on the internet. Watch the above video to learn how to use Guided Access . Click read more below to view mo...

Apple announced the iPhone 5 at an event today in California. The iPhone 5 includes and bigger screen, better camera, faster processor, thinner design and more. The iPhone 5 will run on iOS 6 Apple's mobile operating system which includes accessibility features such as VoiceOver , Guided Access and Speak Selection. Click here to learn more about  iOS 6 . The iPhone 5 will be available for pre-order on September 14th and for sale on September 21th starting at $199. Click read more below to view more images of the iPhone 5.

Today, Apple  announced that iOS 6 , the software that runs iPhone , iPad and iPod Touch, will be released on September 19th. The free software update will include new accessibility features such as Guided Access, Speak Selection with highlighting and improved Siri. Click here to learn more about Guided Access . iOS 6 will also include Made For iPhone Hearing Aids which allow hearing aid users to better use the iPhone. Along with accessibility improvements iOS 6  includes an updated maps app and more. Click read more below to view more images of iOS 6 from Apple.

Google's enhanced voice search that debuted in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is coming to the iPhone , iPad and iPod Touch in the coming days. Google announced that the Google Search app for iOS will be updated in "the next couple of day" to include the new feature. You simply tap the microphone and ask a question and the result is spoken back to you. The enhanced voice search is similar to Apple's Siri . Stay tuned to learn more about Google voice search and how it compares to Siri . Google says the following about enhanced voice search, "Often the most natural way to ask a question is by asking aloud. So we’ve combined our speech recognition expertise, understanding of language and the Knowledge Graph so that Voice Search can better interpret your questions and sometimes speak the answers back as full sentences. This has been available on Android for a few weeks and people love it." Click here to download the current version of the app. Update: The app has...

The BlackBerry Screen Reader is designed to make BlackBerry phones accessible to the visually impaired. BlackBerry Screen Reader is compatible with the BlackBerry Curve 9350, 9360, 9370, 9320 and 9220. Installation is complicated and may require the assistance of a sighted person. Unfortutantly , BlackBerry Screen Reader is not built into the phone. There are two methods for installing the BlackBerry Screen Reader. The first method is to visit this webpage from your BlackBerry. Another option for installation is to plug the BlackBerry into your computer and then install the Screen Reader. Connecting your BlackBerry device to your computer is the most accessible option for installation. Features Physical Keyboard Keyboard Shortcuts Speak Everything On Screen Free For Compatible BlackBerry Devices Once installed  you will be greeted with a solid Screen Reader that makes the BlackBerry accessible. The visually impaired user benefits from the numerous physical buttons, includi...

Today the Kurzweil 3000 firefly app was released for the iPad. Click here to download the free app. The app, firefly, is the iPad version of Kurzweil's cloud-based reader and file storage product. If you have a firefly account all of your saved documents will be available to read on the iPad as well as any Mac or PC. Watch the video above to see firefly in action. Click here to learn more about firefly. Firefly has many useful reading features, but will not replace the full desktop version of Kurzweil. Similar to the desktop version of Kurzweil , firefly highlights words as they are read, which makes following along easier. Firefly includes high quality text-to-speech voices. Users can adjust the text-to-speech rate and highlighting options with ease. The interface is extremely clean and simple to learn. The app can read documents with images and rich text formatting. Firefly is a simple and easy way for teachers to distribute accessib...

Today, Apple released a new app called Podcasts. Click here to download the free app. The app has a number of improvements including the ability to subscribe  to Podcasts from your device. Podcasts are a great way for people with reading disabilities or visual impairments to keep current with the news. Click read more below to see screen shots of Podcasts in action.