Working with DSA (Disability Student Allowance) many suppliers provide useful resources and ways to meet your AT (Assistive Technology)needs. Text help provideras of ReadWrite have a DSA student pack which gives access to ReadWrite for Windows, Mac , iPad and Android devices and Google Chrome which is great for colleges and educational settings using one serial code to access any or all of these tools across your network. Simples!
Global Autocorrect from Lex Able Assistive Software Development is another DSA solution which tracks and instantly changes misspellings. You can try it for free at http://www.LexAble.com/Free-Trial.
MindMapping is an essential tool for Dyslexic users. Inspiration 9 and Mindview 6 are two examples that would help students to organise and plan their work in the simplest form.
On a different tack a company that is reaching out to change perceptions of Dyslexia in the general public is Novacroft. They want examples (videos) of inspiring stories of how dyslexics overcome their barriers. So if you have a video that shows this please contact them at http://www.novacroft.com
SuperNova from Dolphin Systems provides a magnifcation and scanning tool in its toolbox which can be used to enable the visually impaired to access reading material. It’s crystal clear and sharp imaging makes this an essential tool for VI. There is a trial version available at https://yourdolphin.com/products/all?id=4&z=0.
Spellex Dictation Gold provides help to those working in the legal and medical professions by providing enhanced spelling dictionaries for Dragon(tm) and Microsoft(tm) products.
Having a tool that records a lecture, talk or lesson is useful for dyslexic users. Often teachers speak way to much information for those who have processing of information issues. Two products that do this well are notetalker and sonocent. Both have apps that can aid recording, both use a tagging method. Notetalker advocate the use of a specialist external mike to enable accurate recording (see my previous blog).
Barclays Bank have made hug strides in making accessible features. They have a wrist band called bPay which enables the user to have contactless payment – useful for a wide range of disabilities not just visual impairment. It’s best feature is that you can use the band on any bank account and it works on a top-up system – there is an android and ios app to enable the system which gives useful information to the user.
AccessAbility Solutions 