Computers can be an effective teaching method for students with learning disabilities (LD). The use of mobile devices as education tools for students with disabilities has received considerable attention in special education recently. Parents, teachers, and professionals look for effective applications (i.e., apps) that meet the needs of their…

This article discusses the accessibility of two content management systems, Berkeley Electronic Press's Digital Commons and OCLC's CONTENTdm, widely used in libraries to host institutional repository and digital collections content. Based on observations by a visually impaired student who used the JAWS screen reader to view the design and display…

As assistive technology applications are increasingly implemented in early childhood settings for children who are at risk or who have disabilities, it is critical that teachers utilize observational approaches to determine whether targeted assistive technology-supported interventions make a difference in children's learning. One structured…

Searching for relevant information on the web is an important aspect of distance learning. This activity is a challenge for visually impaired distance learners. While sighted people have the ability to filter information in a fast and non sequential way, blind persons rely on tools that process the information in a sequential way. Learning is…

Voice recognition software is hardly new--attempts at capturing spoken words and turning them into written text have been available to consumers for about two decades. But what was once an expensive and highly unreliable tool has made great strides in recent years, perhaps most recognized in programs such as Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking…

This article describes a computer-based technology for generating speech called text-to-speech (TTS). This software is ready for widespread use by libraries, other organizations, and individual users. It offers the affordable ability to turn just about any electronic text that is not image-based into an artificially spoken communication. The…

NaturalReader (http://www.naturalreaders.com/) is a new generation text reader, which means that it reads any machine readable text using synthesized speech without having to copy and paste the selected text into the NaturalReader application window. It installs a toolbar directly into all of the Microsoft Office[TM] programs and uses a mini-board…

Assistive devices and assistive software make it possible for the impaired to use computers with all of its processing programs and to access the Internet. Assistive software and assistive devices are described that are specifically intended for students and adults who are blind or visually impaired, students and adults who are deaf or hard of…

Two contrasting additions to the online audio market are reviewed: "iVocalize", a browser-based audio-conferencing software, and "Skype", a PC-to-PC Internet telephone tool. These products are selected for review on the basis of their success in gaining rapid popular attention and usage during 2003-04. The "iVocalize" review emphasizes the…