Severe Visual Difficulties
Computers and other technologies can be a real lifeline for people with more severe visual difficulties. Often requiring a piece of specialist software such as a magnification program or screenreader, a computer can provide access to paper documents, the Internet, communication via email and loads more.
-
This is the area where you can find out all sorts from how to make menu text bigger and bolder to how to make your mouse cursor nice and big. Even if you use a magnification program such as Zoomtext or Supernova you should be aware of the accessibility options in Windows itself to allow you to balance the two together.
-
I have a little information on this leading screenreader designed for people with no functional vision.
-
I have a review of two of the most popular portable 'pocket' video magnifiers.
-
Many of my older students have complained that tooltips can really get in the way when browsing for files with Zoomtext or Supernova. This tip lets you download a file to your computer that'll safely solve your problem.
-
Check out all the options built natively into Microsoft Word to make text as visually accessible as possible.
-
Optical Character Recognition is the process of getting printed paper-based text into your computer to make it more accessible. Once text is on the screen it can be formatted and enlarged or read aloud.
The roadmap for this area
The Better Living Through Technology website is in development. Get news on updates made to the site through my free email newsletter.
- Screenreaders.
- Magnification Programs.
- More information on OCR.
- Examples of techniques used for pupils with severe visual and cognitive/physical difficulties.
