Google Docs and Accessibility, Part 4: The Other Stuff

Other Stuff? What Other Stuff?
In the Google Docs app grouping at the time of this writing there are a few other capabilities: Drawings, Collections, and Forms. We're going to tackle all three today.

Google Docs and Accessibility, Part 3: Presentations

Here we are again, looking at the accessibility of Google Apps (the Presentations section, this time) and how it can both be a benefit and a barrier for students with disabilities. This has become quite a hot topic since my last post, as the National Federation of the Blind has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the inaccessibility of Google Apps for users with vision impairments. I will leave you (and the DOJ) to make your own judgements about what should happen in this case, but thought I'd mention it as we move along. After all, looking for information on this complaint is how some of you landed here to read this post. Quite a few of you, actually, according to Google Analytics.

Meanwhile, back at the farm...

Google Docs and Accessibility, Part 2: Spreadsheets

Google Spreadsheets has become much more feature-rich since its inception. It is now possible to do many of the things you'd do in Excel - including formulas and charts - with this free webapp. It has many of the same benefits and drawbacks that I highlighted last time about Google Documents. However, Spreadsheets does have some of its own unique benefits and barriers.

Google Docs and Accessibility, Part 1: Documents

Here's the dealio. Google Docs, at this point, incorporates word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and drawings. It's a big chunk 'o stuff, and frankly, I doubt anyone's got the patience to read through a blog post that covers the accessibility of them all. Today's post will tackle just Documents, the word processing portion of Google Docs. I'll get to the others in turn. (If you have a burning desire to hear about one of them next, just drop me a note in the comments!)

Keep It All Organized with Google Calendar

Last week, I posted about the benefits and barriers of Gmail for students with disabilities. This week's topic is Google Calendar- a webapp I love, love, love. Once again, we'll be taking a look at the ways that Google Calendar can make life easier for students with disabilities, as well as some of the need-to-know accessibility info.

The Disability Skinny on SOU's Gmail Switchover

In December, SOU switched student email accounts from NetMail to Gmail. Hopefully, this is not news to you, dear student, what with the news broadcasts and on big honkin' banners on campus.

The switch affects more than just which email service you use, however. SOU students now have a huge number of tools and resources in the Google Apps for EDU umbrella, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Talk. Personally, I'm thrilled about this development. GoogleApps gives us opportunities to work, organize, study, and communicate in ways we couldn't even begin to do with our older systems. I'm eagerly awaiting the faculty/staff switchover during spring break.

Every change brings both new opportunities and new challenges for people - with and without disabilities. Over a series of blog posts, we'll be taking a look at the opportunities and challenges that GoogleApps present for students with disabilities. Today, we start with Gmail, Google's flagship app.

Making the Switch

There are oodles of great guides to using Gmail out there, so I'm not going to duplicate them. Instead, I'll point you to:

• the GAapps SOU page for some handy how-to-switch and how-to-use resources
• some helpful guidance on using Gmail as a universal inbox
• the Lifehacker guide to controlling your email
• Google's Top 10 Reasons to Use Gmail

For some of you, being able to use the keyboard to access Gmail's functions is critical; for others, it's just darn handy. There is a list of keyboard shortcuts from Gmail help, but I really like the way that HTS Tech Tips' keyboard shortcut list is organized.

The Bottom Line: Gmail Accessibility

Let's face it, nothing has perfect accessibility for all users, and Gmail is no exception. Fortunately, Google employs accessibility rockstar T.V. Ramen, so there is actually some thought put into it! If you're interested (and a little geeky), check out Google's statement about Gmail accessibility. I'm going to hit the highlights here of accessibility barriers and any recommended workarounds.

• AJAX scripting and screenreaders: Some of Gmail's advanced features require scripts that throw screenreaders in a bit of a tizzy. Workarounds: use the plain HTML view, learn to use the standard view with a screenreader, or use a familiar email program to retrieve your email (MS Outlook, for example)
• Color contrast and glare issues: For some students, the white page background creates reading difficulties, and for others, color contrasts need to be set in certain ways to allow students to read the material. Workarounds: Gmail has great customizability. Use Themes to control how Gmail appears and make it easy to read.
  

Unique Ways GMail Benefits Students with Disabilities

• The aforementioned keyboard shortcuts
  
• Simplify your inbox and reduce email clutter - use filters
• Highlight those messages you really need to see! - use labels. You might, for example, create a bright red label with a star for anything from Financial Aid or Disability Resources. Just a thought, y'know.
• Conversation view also reduces email clutter and makes following what's happened so far much, much easier. This is the default view, so you don't need to do anything to make it happen. Follow the link to find out how to turn it off and see individual emails all by their lonesomes again.
• Auto-saving as you write emails means that what you've written will never disappear with a power surge or outage!
  

Gmail Settings & Labs for Accessibility

Settings, like in every other program, allow you to customize how Gmail works. Gmail Labs are experimental features that you can add on without waiting for program updates. I'll highlight some here that have particular interest for students with disabilities.

Settings

• Number of conversations per page: Set this at a low number (25) if you get overwhelmed by the amount of info on a page or scrolling is difficult. Set it at a higher number (50 or 100) if mobility or dexterity impairments make loading another page cumbersome.
• Keyboard shortcuts - sayin' it again! This is where you actually set to allow them.
• Undo send: Do you tend to send without really thinking it through, or without actually attaching the attachment? Enable this to allow you to pull a sent message back if you do it quickly

Labs

• Google Calendar gadget: I'll be discussing the neato-keen benefits of Google Calendar in the next post. Adding this lab puts a small calendar right into your email page, so you always know what's coming up.
• Auto-advance: brings up the next email after you archive, delete, or mute one. Saves a couple of clicks
• Custom keyboard shortcuts: (gahhh, am I bringing up keyboard shortcuts again??) If you find that Google's pre-assigned shortcuts interfere with other assistive tech you've got installed, change the shortcuts to ones that don't cause problems

Stay tuned for the next post, which will give you all you need to know about Google Calendar. In the meantime, if you have questions you'd like answered or features I've missed, please hit up the comments.

Exciting Development for Notetaking: Livescribe Pulse pens available

I'm always on the lookout for new and better ways to remove barriers. You may remember I posted (read, gushed) before about the Livescribe Pulse pen. We've run a pilot program with some students who replaced the traditional notetaking accommodation with the Pulse pen.

They loved it. If it works, I reasoned, we should try it on a larger scale! So that's what we're doing. We now have 25 Livescribe Pulse pens in inventory to loan to students who would otherwise be receiving notetaking accommodations. Some use it as a simple index to notes, some will use it in conjunction with PowerPoint slides from class... but there are other uses, as well. Rather than writing about it, though, I think I'll just show you!

Pencast description of Pulse pens for notetaking at SOU

Livescribe notetaking accommodations SOU
brought to you by Livescribe

Audio study guide example (from Livescribe)

Creating audio flash cards (from Livescribe)

Just as in everything else, one size does not fit all... the Pulse pen is not right for everyone. Students who are Deaf, have significant vision loss or mobility impairments may not benefit from using it. If you're uncomfortable with technology and that would present an additional barrier for you, this may not be the best choice. However, for some students this is going to be a huge barrier-buster.

Questions? Comments? Shout 'em out in the comments space!

Never Wonder How to Use AIMS Again: Tutorials

The tutorials are up! The tutorials are up!

If you've wondered how to use AIMS, then wonder no longer. We've got video tutorials to make life easier for you. These tutorials cover everything from logging in for the first time to changing your accommodation requests to scheduling testing. Each is a step-by-step, narrated, and captioned screencast. Watch for them to be embedded in AIMS in the not-too-distant future, giving you a quick reference exactly when and where you need it! Here's a sample of what you'll find:


Other video tutorials, including how to use a number of assistive technology tools and info for faculty, are in the works.

New News - AT and Our Landmark Summer Program

Just a quick note this time.

SOU and Landmark College are partnering to offer a high school summer program for students with learning challenges. There's a great article about it (especially the assistive technology aspects!) in today's Ashland Tidings.

To find out more about the program, check out Landmark's site.

See, told you it would be quick.

Accessible Surveys from Survey Monkey?! Really!

Woohoo! Survey Monkey recently announced that they have made their web survey templates compliant with Section 508.

Why is this such a big deal? Well, most survey tools are not designed for accessibility for people using assistive technology. In fact, most make it darn difficult to complete a survey using AT, especially using screenreaders. By actually gaining 3rd-party certification of their compliance (from RampWEB Accessibility Consulting group), Survey Monkey has demonstrated a commitment to hear from everyone, not just people without disabilities.

Again, woohoo! And thanks to Sean Keegan and Jayme Johnson from HTCTU for the heads-up.

This means, my friends, you have no excuse for ignoring those survey invites in your student email from Student Affairs and other groups on campus that really do want to hear from you. You now have access to a voice and a vote as to what happens on campus. Don't let them pass you by!

Serendipity, get your OATS

Every once in awhile, I run across something that makes me smack my forehead and say, “Why didn’t I know about this before?!” Today was one of those days. I was cruising through the Net, looking for tools to include in my Technology for Learning class, when the skies opened, the sun shone, and a voice from my computer said, “Open Source Assistive Technology Software. OATS. Find it and you will be satisfied.”

Ok, that’s not quite the way it happened. Here’s how it really went down.

Reading through Ron Graham’s Access Ability blog (using my new friend, Google Reader), I learned about Ohio State’s initiative to put free assistive technology in their students’ hands. A Very Cool Project, I might add, and yes, I wish I’d thought of it first. Several of the open source apps they included looked like they had potential for my class, so I went cruising through the list.

Aha! Hidden away in their list was a program called T-Bar. The description was intriguing, so I went Googling for it and ended up at OATS. (T-Bar is no more, looks like, but the same developer did have one called Vu-Bar that performs what I was looking for. Dyslexics, check it out!) Oh my… an entire site of open source AT apps. That means FREE, for those who aren’t familiar with the concept of open source.

I should just go home now. I think I’ve earned my paycheck today - all by reading blogs and following the serendipity trail. Woohoo!

Time to get off your duff and take a class

Loyal readers of this blog (there are a couple of you, right?) will know that I really like playing with new technology. Those of you who’ve been in my office will know that I really like explaining how it can work for you. So here’s your opportunity…

Beginning Spring term, I’m teaching a 2 credit class called Technology for Learning. (That’s USEM 199 for those who want to find it in the class schedule right now.) This class is open to everyone and will go through a truly broad range of technology tools that can help you be a better student. Every student has to do some of these things at some point in each class:

• read
• write
• research
• math
• organize
• study
• network with others

This class will help you to do all those things in ways that work best for you! I’m designing this class under a Universal Design for Learning format, which means I’m going to make this class as accessible and usable for the largest number of people possible. (For example, one of the “readings” in the first week is an ASL video on multiple intelligences!)

I’m hugely excited about this class. If you have questions about it, please let me know. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thank you, U.S. Department of Education!

If you are eligible for alternate format text, I’ve got some very exciting news for you! The U.S. Department of Education has granted Bookshare.org a rather generous amount - $32 million, to be exact. Why is this important for you? Well, this grant allows all United States colleges and universities a free membership to Bookshare.org… and any student with a print disability now has access to free memberships through their college or university.

This means you can look for your own accessible format books, download them, and use them… all independently. Matter of fact, Bookshare even includes a free reader (Victor Reader Soft, which we have in several locations on campus) You never have to return these, and DSS’s only involvement is a once-a-year certification.
Ok, you know I have to say it… there’s advantages and there’s disadvantages to this little deal.

Advantages

• FREE BOOKS! As an obsessive reader myself with way more books than any human being should ever have to move from house to house…. I think this is huge. No membership cost, no software cost, no book cost… wow.
• Accessible books with great navigation tools. Bookshare.org’s books are in DAISY format, which works really well for people with visual impairments, learning disabilities, and mobility impairments. Find a specific page, find a specific phrase, read from front to back, jump around, bookmark, change the reading speed… anything.
• Hey, Braille readers - Bookshare.org has Braille-ready files (.brf)!
• Access to find books anywhere, anytime. No requests to DSS, no waiting period. Find it, download it, read it. That’s it.
• Newspapers and periodicals, too!
• Books for school, books for fun - all available to you. 35,000 of them and growing every day.
• Oh, and did I mention FREE BOOKS? And that you don’t have to purchase the book in order to download the accessible version? I think that means FREE BOOKS.

Disadvantages (relax, there’s not many of them)

• If you aren’t familiar with Victor Reader Soft, you will need to learn it. Not a huge deal, but there nonetheless.
• The biggest disadvantage is that Bookshare.org doesn’t have a huge textbook collection, so this won’t supply all of your textbooks. (Sorry, you’re still stuck with me. This at least gives you an option, though.)

What's New for '07-'08?

New Academic Year’s Resolutions

Everyone else makes New Year’s Resolutions, and never being one to follow a convention just because it exists, I’ve decided to make some New Academic Year’s Resolutions.

• I resolve to blog more often. (The nice thing about saying “more often” is that it’s nebulous and y’all can’t pin me down to specific timeframes.)
• I resolve - again - to look for more resources for math and science.
• I resolve to create more online training materials. I’m thinking about a Blackboard class for technology and disability.
  

New Stuff at SOU This Fall

This summer, once again, we’ve been busy re-imagining the student experience with SOU. And the results?

• JAWS went to a network version! Now, if you are a JAWS user, you can use it just about anywhere on campus. Not on Macs, obviously…
• Dragon is in the process of being updated. The adaptive stations in the library and main lab have the new version (9), and the AT Lab is next.
• Priority Registration is now available to eligible students online. No more picking up pieces of paper in the Access Center, heading over and standing in line… only to find out you need instructor approval for a class. Why is this in the AT blog? What better demonstration of how technology assists us than to use an online service to do something quickly and independently, and in our pajamas if we want to?!
• You can now access the request form for an accommodated test online. We’re working on some other very exciting changes in the testing process… keep watching for this!
• The new DSS Student Handbook is available for download from our website. This handy book includes procedures, form samples, resources, your rights and responsibilities… just about everything you could want to know. You can use any of your favorite assistive technology to access the handbook.
• We now have a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Coordinator, Ila Sachs. She and I work together on FM Systems, VRS, TTYs, and other hearing-related technology.

More improvements are coming. If you have ideas that you would really like to see implemented, tell us in the comment field!

New Function in an Already Fabulous Suite

Summary Tool

Ever wanted to skim an electronic document, without having to page through it? Now you can. Using the Premier Assistive Technology tools available on campus (Etext Reader, Universal Reader, Talking Word Processor), you can create a summary of the document with just two clicks. You can choose a percentage (default is 10%) of the document, or a specified number of sentences, and the program will extract a summary for you.

Benefits

• Finally, a way for people with visual impairments to skim a document!
• Get an idea of the content and style of the document before reading - a great preview or review method for studying.
• Use with the Talking Word Processor to summarize your own work; a good check to see if your structure is making logical sense.

Downsides

• Quality of summary varies greatly by author’s style and structure. This is, after all, and automatically generated summary, not one directed by human intelligence.
• Encourages the temptation to skim required reading only - not really read it. Use this as a study tool, not a substitute for real reading!!!

If you have questions about this or other assistive technology tools, use the comment field!

If You Want New Tools...

If you think that this blog has had an unreasonable focus on alternate format texts, there is a reason. The number of alternate text requests for this fall has been just unbelievable, and so my mind has been very much upon the world of creating audio, etext, and Braille versions of textbooks and other readings. So far, we’ve had over 60 requests for individual texts. Compare that to last fall’s 27, and you begin to see why I’m a bit consumed! (And thus why blogging has taken a bit of a back seat in the last few weeks.)

So the academic year is underway. Indeed, we’re almost facing midterms already! (Don’t you just love the quarter system and how fast it moves?!) Wondering what tools SOU might have to help you through the year? Wonder no more. We have a series of trainings that explains the many software and hardware adaptations we have available on campus. For more information about the tools we have, check out the AT Home page. For information about the training series, check out our Learning Opportunities page.
If you missed one that you really wanted information about, keep checking - we will be running this series again.

Braille Has Arrived!

Hooray! For the first time ever, we have Braille production capabilities on the SOU campus!

This summer, we purchased an Index Basic-D Braille embosser. As printers go, it’s really a beautifully engineered piece of equipment; quite sleek and impressive. Once we added Duxbury 10.6, an astoundingly quick text-to-Braille translator, we were off and running!

Literally, actually, as I quite amused the rest of the office by dancing around with the syllabus I’d produced, chanting, “I maa-ade Braille. I maa-ade Braille.” Truly, this is a big step forward for SOU, as previously we had to send all of our Braille needs elsewhere to produce.

Not only can we produce Braille documents, but we can also create certain types of tactile graphics. At this time, we’re limited to fairly simple picture graphics, but can do some pretty nifty graphs and charts. If you’re interested, drop me a line!

Welcome to the AT @ SOU Blog!

Welcome to the first post of the AT @ SOU blog! Expect updates weekly-ish once a month, depending on what’s going on and what’s new.

I’m hoping to use this blog to discuss aspects of assistive/adaptive technology in general and at Southern Oregon University in particular. We’ve got a lot of great stuff here!

In other new things, DSS just received 20 AlphaSmarts to add to our inventory. These great little word processors are light (only 2 pounds), quick, run about 700 hours on just 3AA batteries, and are extremely durable. I once had a rather large 8th grader deliberately sit on one, and it still worked fine! Some students have used these to take notes in class - great for when manipulating a pencil is difficult.
We are now offering the free use of AlphaSmarts to our volunteer notetakers! Notetakers can check out an AlphaSmart for - surprise - taking notes in class. They can then quickly and easily transmit those notes electronically. No more coming in to the ACCESS Center to use the photocopier. Students receiving the notes benefit too, as they won’t need to physically come in to retrieve their notes.