Before the SEN & Inclusion Networking day in Nottingham with NAACE . If you are planning to go see you there! Otherwise consider booking yourself in – especially if you are involved in producing or working with Assistive Technologies. Go to NAACE’s site and follow the booking details:-

https://www.naace.co.uk/events/naace-networking-event-17062016/

Heart warming story of how a volunteer has been helping people for 20 years. Do you think you have the desire to be a volunteer? Do you have the knowledge to help someone gain a skill? Then do read on this link:-
https://www.abilitynet.org.uk/news-blogs/volunteersweek-one-volunteer-tells-20-years-service-itcanhelp-supporting-older-and

Anyone fancy a change of job? Then if you are a  SENCO or someone looking for a change from their current role in special educational needs this full-time role may be for you. Take a look at:-

Learning Support Manager, Defence College of Technical Training

On the 17th June Myles Pilling is taking part in the SEN & Inclusion event which is a joint intitative between NAACE, MirandaNet and Suppliers. Myles will be focusing on the recent project findings on apps for dyselxia and its implications for suppliers.  For more details of the event and booking information please go to:-

https://www.naace.co.uk/events/naace-networking-event-17062016/

The event will take place at :-

The Sir Colin Campbell Building, Triumph Rd
Nottingham, NG7 2TU United Kingdom

A new group I was unaware of ( being new to the world of AT in the workplace) was the Business Disability Forum. They have a wealth of information for supporting companies in becoming more accessible and by providing training events for those interested in subjects such as transforming the workplace into an inclusive building premise to inclusive service design. Take a look at some forthcoming events at:-

http://www.businessdisabilityforum.org.uk/training-and-events/events/ 

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.

This is a follow on from last weeks post about ATEC. Here are some of the products seen at this great event for Assistive Technology in Oxford.

Brain in hand (http://www.braininhand.co.uk)– is an app that helps the user monitor their anxiety and stress levels . Its use is in the workplace  to help people overcome barriers to engaging in work and to target support and intervention where and when its needed most.

ember- is a star college initiative using an app to support people with learning difficulties in the work place. It makes use of location -based technology to deliver bespoke training to the user. Contact dfinch@natstar.ac.uk  for further details. They hope to launch this in the autumn this year

Digital Accessibility Centre(DAC) are a welsh based non for profit social enterprise project. The aim is to audit and accredit companies and organisations for their disability awareness and inclusion. User testing takes place by disabled users and the idea is to provide a transparent and robust testing service that aligns with WCAG2.0 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. For more information go to :-http://www.digtalaccessibilitycentre.org 

For a range of assistive technology go to http://www.inasyst.co.uk . They have a useful catalogue and products that can help sensory and dyslexic users in the workplace. From text to speech to visual stress their is a plethora of products to choose from. In the same vein http://www.sightandsound.co.uk have a range of goods to help those with blindness or visually impairment. I like the RUBY handheld device whihc magnifies in crystal clear High Definition.

Finally, in this section – more to follow in future days – is Wyvern Training which now provides free assistive product training videos on their website portal. Go to http://users.wyvernportal.co.uk  for more information.

What a great day! And what a great event! It is also  good to see it being so well supported ! Well done Antony Ruck and the team. A really worthwhile day for both networking and CPD?

Barclays Bank – Paul

Barclays Bank have a new app that you can use for your banking needs . It’s called Launchpad – QRCode logon banking , thoughts and feedback on this app would be appreciated. Not sure if it’s android but I assume it is as they thoroughly test their software! Workplace adjustments – not just reasonable adjustments is a term I thought was useful to use. It gives the emphasis to the setting giving it more focus see approach. What is challenging to companies is that in Barclays case they use not the latest tech and Cisco systems so the need is to build bridges for flexible licensing, personal licenses. Holistic AT that makes use of videos would be great – see Wyvern learning or Sarah Jane-Peake’s site LaunchPad  for examples of this!

Stuart Edwards -Dept. of Work & Pensions

Access to Work is a not a benefit but an essential tool. 12,000 access to work applications. Small adjustments don’t lead to having large funds. Grants towards giving access tools. Not the whole thing! Mental health and learning disabilities will mean more impact into these areas. 62,000 per year by the end of this parliament. Personal budgets for the grants. New online form filling, data gathering. Making more decisions on line. These are just some of the main points from his keynote.
Some future tech that Access to Work are going to look into or keep an eye on:-

• 3D printing for kits needed
• Individual needs
• Driving less cars a game changer
• Holographic signers – interpreting the users gestures

Debra Charles – Novacroft

Massive skills gap by  2020 – business leader, true talent lying in society. Showcase what can be achieved. Being made to feel different impacts massively your life. One size doesn’t fit all ! Something amazing in everyone.

Changing perceptions to make a difference, about belonging. Look for people to help you. Words that cause damage were shown . Help people feel valued. Positive contribution. Talent and technology work together. Work in a different way. Building a team that has positive impact. Make an impact on society. Get lots of fantastic people together and make a difference. Creative, good, able. Small things make a difference .

#saynotonormal. – showcase in October. Children – mini clip to show a difference. Add it to the website. Create a toolkit for businesses and education.

Dolphin Systems
Supernova and camera use – straightforward and easy to use. One way communication only. Clarity is very good. Very sharp. Is there another product on the market that does this? Using a mobile phone camera can do this on an iPad for instance . But the quality will not be as good which necessary for the VI user. Another feature is changing the colour scheme to suit the individual user.

• Magnifier + speech ( version) – read and capture . It will OCR and use in word. Will speak it back to the user.

Claro Sotware

Claro ScanPen – not wifi dependent . Write about lighting and background paper issue.

Time to process information, audio allows more processing time

Simple software to use!
Claro Read software

Scan other file formats in

Scan from screen – text to speech . Select a area of picture to copy to the clipboard.

Office 365 plus pro free for students in university. Install office 365 for free for students ( up to 5 users).

Screen Rule – Screen tinting

ClaroRead for Chromebook ,chrome browser

The Edge – isn’t very accessible – chrome extensions into the edge browser by Autumn 2016

ClaroRead SE – simple , play,stop, toolbar . Makes it an easy tool for the user

Cloud access for different versions
Buying a key that last for a long time . Not subscription. More about upgrading potential. Remote configuration . Design to be user friendly especially for a DSA Assessor

ClaroPDF
Nice settings to change the background and provide tints

Annotation toolbar – highlight, draw shapes, provide notes. All compatible and therefore a useful research tool for students who are needing to look at source material

Appv. Virtual deployment tools for apps for iOS.
Notetaker

Conversor -Notetalker – takes an audio file of any talk or lecture. In order to do this you need a good external microphone to your smartphone,

Audio quality – directional conversor mm1 45,000

£21 on DSA for the app and microphone

Directional Wireless microphone – Bluetooth for lectures – removing background noise

Pairs for individual solutions

Battery pack booster for phone useage

External microphones need to be used with smartphones

More general hitting of information using bookmarking. Giving choice to the individual to choose the tool that best meets their need on the PC transfer software,

Compiling information into one place.

6-7 mins for a 45 min lecture

Nice idea for searching by word and a maths search tool.

Clear interface for editing.

Export into word (July) PDF now!
August – Notetalker transcription service @  24hr £12 per lecture I think.

Certified training programmers offered to DSA assessor and professionals  by Notetalker

I will write about some of the products I saw in a post tomorrow ! That’s all the keynotes and workshops I attended covered!