inclusion

Colour-blind Web Page Filter

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:09:22 +0100

Here is one for "Web presence designers" - Designing for the colour-blind can be troublesome for designers who aren’t actually colour-blind.

How do we take into account accessibility when we do not suffer from the condition in hand?

Luckily, there’s a handful of accessibility “simulators” available on the web where a web page is rendered in a certain way. The Colour-blind Web Page Filter takes your website and filters it as if you were colour-blind.

The tool is still in development and can take some time for a render to become available for viewing. However, the range of colour filters available is fairly extensive, covering all major types of colour-blindness.

Visit http://colorfilter.wickline.org/ to access the Web Page Filters.

Vischeck

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:06:17 +0100

Vischeck colour blindness simulator...

Vischeck is a way of showing you what things look like to someone who is colour blind. You can try Vischeck online-

either run Vischeck on your own image files
or run Vischeck on a web page.

You can also download programs to let you run it on your own computer.

Daltonize corrects images for colour-blind viewers.

Visit http://www.vischeck.com/ to raise your awareness.

Your chance to help make exams more accessible at source

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 20:50:57 +0100

Alistair McNaught's blog entry explains it all; Ofqual has launched an open consultation on language accessibility in...

national curriculum assessment tests; and

general and vocational qualifications.

Your views are sought on two topics through a questionnaire: Deadline 15th September 2011.

Find out more from Alistair's Blog at http://blog.jisctechdis.ac.uk/?p=608, and follow the links to make your contribution.

Adding Transcripts

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 21:04:15 +0100

Providing a transcript – a textual version of a video and/or audio – increases accessibility of the content. Practitioners and/or learners who are deaf-blind can access the content by using a refreshable (dynamic) Braille display, which converts text into Braille.

Providing transcripts also has other benefits:

The text is then searchable by search engines.

People can double-check a point without listening to the audio/video again.

Some people prefer reading rather than watching a video; others prefer both.

Content is still available when the video is not; for example, currently Flash video can not be viewed on a iPad.

How do you acquire a transcript?

the easy one is the original script, used in the video/audio production; the transcripts for most of my blogcasts, vidcasts and radio shows are in my blog as posts.

the time consuming one is transcribing each word yourself;

use Dragon Naturally Speaking (quite expensive software), or similar software, to create transcripts; additional software may be needed to get the audio from video clips (Oxelon for example) and to convert the audio into appropriate format;(Audacity for example) e.g. Dragon Naturally Speaking works better with mono .wav files.
Note: this method tends to work better when only one person is talking.

Use fast, affordable, transcription services; two examples are...
- Visit http://castingwords.com/ to find out more;
- Visit http://speakertext.com/ to find out more.

Note: there are other similar Transcription tools.

Do you use any other tools or methods for creating transcripts? If so do let me know at jd@rsc-northwest.ac.uk.

Voicethread Universal

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:37:40 +0100

The very popular digital media discussion service VoiceThread has launched a new accessibility option called VoiceThread Universal.

VoiceThread Universal...

is designed for those who use screen-readers to access online media.

removes extraneous visual and text elements;

concentrates on providing clear and concise information;

makes it possible for more learners and more practitioners to participate in online conversations about media.

Note: VoiceThread is popular with educators because it allows learners to have conversations about media and it allows practitioners to deliver virtual instruction.

Visit VoiceThread Universal at http://voicethread.com/universal/ where, if you have an account, you can sign in to VoiceThreads (and/or sign up for an account).

To get started:

Select Go to My Threads;

choose a category to bring up a list of VoiceThreads, or choose "In my Groups" or "In my Organizations" to bring up shared VoiceThreads.
Note: You can always go back to the previous page at the bottom of the screen.

Once a list is selected, choose a VoiceThread to participate in.

From the Thread overview...
- start playing the VoiceThread from the beginning, or
- select a page of the VoiceThread to jump to.

When you’ve finished listening to comments, users can...
- select the "Add a new text comment",
- go to the Next slide, or
- return to the Thread overview.

VoiceThread Universal allows users to start or stop any comment or video by...

using their keyboard (when assisted access is enabled) or

clicking a mouse anywhere when the listed item space. You can also rewind or fast forward comment by pressing anywhere within the media.

VoiceThread Universal provides a navigation system to return to the previous page or go back to the home page at the bottom of every page. When you are viewing a thread you can choose to go to the previous page, next page, or to the thread overview at the top of each page.

Create Visual Supports

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:34:10 +0100

Visuals Engine is a free useful resource from ConnectABILITY.

Visuals Engine provides six customizable templates for creating...

achievement charts;
choice boards;
schedules; and
story boards;

To use the Visuals Engine...

choose a template;
choose images or upload images for each box on the selected template;
type text, if required, to accompany each image on the template.

When complete, users can print their chart or save it as a PDF.

Note: ConnectABILITY provides, at the bottom-right, suggestions for using each type of visual chart for which they offer a template (See "Different uses"). One of their suggestions is to create a "token economy" board that contains images of the rewards learners can earn for completing tasks.

To find out more and/or to use this resource visit http://connectability.ca/visuals-engine/.

Dynamic Keyboard

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:46:27 +0100

The Dynamic Keyboard program provides a "reduced target" on-screen keyboard with word prediction; it is also free.

The keyboard offers a simple interface to enter text using reduced keys on the screen. Watching the video below helps potential users understand how it works; note - Dynamic Keyboard is being used by a typist using the (also free) myEye eye gaze tracking program.

Other Dynamic Keyboard access methods include...

Intellikeys;

a mouse or mouse emulator;

joystick;

track ball; and

head tracking.

Visit http://bit.ly/gqWT0S to download Dynamic Keyboard.

New accessibility add-in's for Microsoft Office 2010

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:49:51 +0100

I missed the Office Platform Team's release of two new Microsoft Office 2010 Accessibility Add-ins on March 17th, however, better late than never.

The two new add-ins are the...

Subtitling Add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint (STAMP); it helps Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 users add closed captions to the video and audio files that they add to presentations; boosting impact for those, in the target audience, with hearing disabilities.
It also enables video and audio in PowerPoint to be localised in different languages.
DAISY Consortium; Save as DAISY for Office 2010 enables Microsoft Word users to convert "Word Open XML" files to the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) format, which, in turn, powers digital talking books and compatible software & braille readers for those with print disabilities. This particular version now supports Office 2003, 2007 and 2010.

Find out about the Office 2010 Accessibility features, by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/office2010/.

RoboBraille

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:12:11 +0100

For those of you who are not aware, RoboBraille is an e-mail service which can convert digital text documents into either Braille or audio files. It is quick and easy to use RoboBraille.

Users simply send an e-mail with an attached text document to RoboBraille.
Shortly after, they will receive the document back from RoboBraille in the specified format - an audio file, for example.

The big plus - It is free for non-commercial users to use RoboBraille.

NOW - RoboBraille with a webinterface

There is now an alternative to the well-known e-mail interaction with RoboBraille, users don't need to keep track of all the different e-mail accounts, this makes it easier and faster to use RoboBraille.

Users can achieve the same results as before, simply by following a step by step guide.

Start by uploading a document;

Choose the format to convert to (mp3 audio, daisy full text and audio, document conversion, braille).
Depending on what format you choose, the site will expand and give you opportunity to either choose...
- language,
- contraction level or
- target format.
Finally, add the e-mail at the bottom of the page and

Press the submit button.

Users will receive an e-mail with the document attached, after a short delay.

Visit http://www.robobraille.org/Online to access the online RoboBraille.

Sensory World

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 22:48:58 +0100

The Elizabeth FitzRoy Support <http://www.efitzroy.org.uk/> is a national charity providing practical, tailored support for adults with learning and physical disabilities.

Their aim is to allow the people they support to...

live the lives they choose;
make their own decisions;
enjoy a full and independent life.

Many of the people supported are interested in ICT and using the internet. The aim of Sensory World is to create an interactive place for learning that is...

fun;
stimulating;
relevant;
appropriate; and
responsive.

In order to provide a familiar framework Sensory World is based on a house and garden; visitors explore different rooms and experiences.

A guide is available at http://www.sensoryworld.org/sensory_world_guide.pdf.

Visit http://www.sensoryworld.org/ to start your exploration.

Note: these resources are also ideal for Family Learning.