Just to say some useful information has come through from Special World here is the link :-
Special World News – April 16
Author: AccessAbility Smyles
Specialist ICT SEND Consultant,
Committed Christian,
Loves photography and computing
Plays piano and guitar - both badly!
The C-Pen Reader
It’s a joy to recommend a local company near where I live! The C-Pen reader is a portable OCR scanner that can work as a file storage device, text to speech listening tool and audio recorder to name but a few. I suggest you check out their new website for what these pens can do. Approved for use in exams by the JCQ the exam pen will enable pupils to access exam papers for themselves. The pen allows a struggling dyslexic reader to have text decoded into speech by scanning a line of text. But the pen does much more than that and enables pupils to access definitions of words, store audio files, etc. A student on a course I was running the other day said she wished she had had one of these earlier in her career as its technology that really enables.
Microsoft Power BMI – graphical data
Microsoft’s Power BMI is a free add on to Office 365 users. It enables you to integrate project management tools amongst other things to allow you to analyse your information. I have just used it to integrate Insightly which is my free project management tool. I can see in a chart form how my opportunites & projects are doing and how many of them are converting into work.
Now I agree this isn’t specifically special needs and I am speaking to a much narrower audience. The reason being that professionals may wish to use these framework tools to ask more salient questions such as the progress on a project of new technology or teaching and to be able to analyse as a snapshot in time.
Great achievement for HelpKidzLearn
HelpKidzLearn have been given the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2016. Well done!
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Microsoft Dynamics CRM
I have just spent the last couple of days getting Microsoft Dynamics CRM setup. What is CRM? Well, to put it simply its your business management system. If you are a large organisation it will help your team to track and hold sales, store opportunities and develop new markets with you. It integrates the different operations of your company into one unified central tool. Customising and standardising your brand and making it more responsive by clever tracking tools. It’s early days for me and probably way to powerful for my operation!
For my small consulting business I use Wave for my invoices which also has a direct feed from my banking account so I can track my finances through the system. I tend to look at this daily so I have my finger on the life blood of my business , namely the cash flow! I also have Insightly which records my opportunities and ideas for future work. I refer to these from time to time when working on different projects. Both of these products are free whereas I don’t know what Dynamics CRM will cost me yet! Watch this space! I shall blog my progress.
Costs for using CRM are monthly – £40.50 for CRM Professional and £31.25 for an Add-On for Office 365. Somehow I think when my trial ends I won’t be continuing! This tool is for large businesses then this sole trader. An alternative , though not as comprehensive , is Microsoft Power BMI which I am currently integrating with Insightly – a free project management tool. Power BMI is free also and so attractive for those like myself who want to try out new technology tools.
What is DNS?
Well, came across this really helpful video in Microsoft’s support information which helps you to understand how DNS works. Click on the link below:-
Looking for free online AT training?
Today is the official launch of the completely free Wyvern Portal . The resource library with bideos and PDF’s cover all assistive technology. Why not take a look at:-
You create a free account and get using straight away – I will use this for my clients when recommending AT solutions as training is key to the success of any strategy you use with IT!
Strikingly – your one page website!
The above website I have just created using a simple web builder called strikingly.com . This is one I hadn’t heard of until today. I must say I find it easier to navigate that wordpress and as a current look which I have been wanting for a while. A scrolling down screen. Not too much information visible. And best of all a simple web address which is:-
If you are thinking of re-designing your website this is certainly one to consider for a simple look with just a few social media links and content. It is one I shall use effectively. Time to build and check the links – 1 hr – simples!
Also you can edit in iOS which something I can do in WordPress awkwardly ! But can’t when using my other favourite web building site Wix.com. Wix has more bells and whistles but I am liking what I am seeing here! Keeping it simple is good for business I think. What do you think folks?
Simple coding for Early Years, Primary & SEN
AAS & NSM Training & Consultancy are proud to announce one -day training that will take place this autumn on “Simple coding for Early Years, Primary & SEN.” Three locations around England & Wales :-
London: 21st September 2016
Manchester: 5th October 2016
Cardiff: 12th October 2016
The course is aimed to provide attendees with an understanding of t new computing curriculum and how it can be applied to pupils with special needs. For further details go to
HubPages
AccessAbility Solutions are on hub pages ! Yet another social media tool to see ! Go to AccessAbility4u
AccessAbility Solutions 