Accessibility in the Classroom:Empower Students with Accessible Technology

Welcome

Cheryl Woolwine - cwoolwine@putnamschools.orgAssistive Technology Coordinator for Putnam County Schools in Palatka FloridaFlorida Master Digital EducatorStar Discovery EducatorMicrosoft Innovative Educator

Accessibility in education

• Accessibility for all students, including those with disabilities and special needs

• A workshop for school leaders and teachers www.microsoft.com/education/enable/

This workshop presentation covers

Personalized Learning and Accessibility• The importance of accessibility• Impacts in the classroom• What is accessibility?Overview of Accessibility Features • Windows, Internet Explorer, Office• Try it outImpairments and Technology Solutions• Types of impairments Selecting Accessible Technology• Impact of accessibility on the role of different school stakeholders • Scenarios and accessibility solutions for students with different types of

abilities including special needs

Top 3 learning objectives1. Every classroom has a student who can benefit

from accessibility

2. Accessibility features in Windows and how to use • Personalization• Ease of Access Center

3. Where to find accessibility info for teachers• www.microsoft.com/education/enable/

Download Microsoft’s Accessibility: A Guide for Educators

Available for download Accessibility: A Guide for Educators

Personalized Learning & Accessibility

Every classroom has a student who can benefit from using accessibility

Every classroom has a student who:• Has a hard time seeing the board and can benefit from

making the PC easier to see

• Has a hard time concentrating and can benefit from making the PC less cluttered.

• Has difficulty hearing the teacher speak and can benefit from making the PC easier to hear

Accessibility empowers all students with accessible technology that enables personalized learning.

Impacts in the classroomPersonalized Learning and Accessibility• Personalized learning shifts the focus from what is being

taught to what is being learned—the student’s needs and style become central to the learning process.

• Accessibility in the classroom enables students of all abilities, special needs, and disabilities, to have the same educational opportunities.

Personalize the PC for students to:• Make it easier to see, hear, and use more comfortably• Support learning style differences• Assist special needs students• Save teachers time and effort

What is accessibility?

Accessibility

features

Assistive technolog

yCompatibility

As school leaders, increase awareness of accessibility solutions

All teachers• Help every teacher understand the basics of

accessibility and how to recognize students who need to personalize their PCs to make them easier to see, hear, or use.

Special education teachers• Ensure each special education teacher has Accessibility:

A Guide for Educators (www.microsoft.com/education/enable/) to help students with accessibility needs personalize their PCs to make them easier to see, hear, and use.

• Recommend Microsoft Accessibility Update newsletter to stay up to date on features: www.microsoft.com/enable/

Overview of Accessibility Features

Accessibility in Windows

Personalization• Display• Change colors• Sounds• Mouse pointersEase of Access Center• Get recommendations• Narrator• Magnifier• Zoom in Internet Explorer• On-Screen Keyboard• Speech Recognition• Windows Touch

Personalization• Display• Change colors• Sounds• Mouse pointersEase of Access Center• Get recommendations• Narrator• Magnifier• Zoom in Internet Explorer• On-Screen Keyboard• Speech Recognition

Control Panel

Control Panel: Appearance & Personalization

Personalization

Control Panel: Ease of Access Center

Centralized location to find accessibility optionsQuick start• Magnifier• On-Screen Keyboard• Narrator• High ContrastQuestionnaire to “get recommendations”Explore settings by categories

Magnifier in Windows 7

»

Magnifier enlarges portions of the screen making it easier to view text and images and see the whole screen more easily.

Magnifier in Windows 7 now includes full-screen mode, lens mode, and docked mode.

On-Screen Keyboard• Open Notepad then start On-Screen Keyboard and try typing

the date

Type using On-Screen Keyboard

Find out more: demo

Speech RecognitionSpeech Recognition in Windows 7 allows you to command your PC with your voice. Dictate documents and email and surf the Web by saying what you see.

Windows TouchWindows Touch works with touchscreens to enable students to tap the screen, scroll with a finger, and even finger-paint.Students can interact with the computer in a direct and simple way, using their fingers, instead of struggling with the mouse or a mouse alternative.

Note: Touch capability is dependent on PC hardware capability

Windows Touch

Find out more: demo

Accessibility in Internet Explorer

Accessibility features in Internet Explorer• Zoom in on a webpage• Select text and move around a webpage with a keyboard• Change the font size, formatting, and screen colors• Use the keyboard to surf the web• Keyboard shortcuts

Internet Explorer: ZoomZoom in on a webpage • To enlarge the view of a webpage. Unlike changing font size,

zoom enlarges or reduces everything on the page, including text and images.

Internet Explorer: Change text size

Make webpages easier to read by changing text size on webpages.

Accessibility in OfficeAccessibility features in Office 2010• Accessibility Checker• Add captions, subtitles, and audio in slides with

Sub-Titling Add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint (STAMP)• Use the Save as DAISY add-in for Word to convert files to

an accessible format

• Create accessible web portals • Use the Speak text-to-speech feature • Customize the ribbon• Use the keyboard to work with ribbon programs• Create accessible PDFs• Use Full Screen Reading view

Microsoft Office: Make sure your documents are accessible

Accessibility Checker in Word 2010, Excel 2010, and PowerPoint 2010 helps you identify and fix potential accessibility problems that would prevent people with disabilities from reading the file.

Find and fix accessibility issues in Word 2010 documents

Find out more: demo

Microsoft Office: Making presentations accessible

Add closed captions to video and audio files you include in your PowerPoint presentations. You are delivering a presentation and some individuals are not able to see details from the back of the room. You also want to be able to show certain students how to set up Internet Explorer to display larger text.

Adding Subtitles to PowerPoint

Find out more: demo

Working from anywhere: “cloud computing”

Office 365 for education gives educators and students access to world-class productivity solutions to help them succeed in school and beyond. Includes:

» Email & Calendar with Exchange Online» Office Web Apps with Office Professional Plus» Websites and Collaboration with SharePoint Online» IM & Online Meetings with Microsoft Lync

Office 365 and Live@EDUOutlook Web Apps

Find out more: tutorials

Impairments & Technology Solutions

Types of impairments/disabilities

• Vision• Learning • Mobility and dexterity• Hearing and deafness• Language and speech

Vision impairmentsIncludes• Low vision• Colorblindness• BlindnessAccessibility features in Windows and Office• Magnifier• Make text larger• Screen resolution• High Contrast• Narrator (blind)• Audio descriptions• Keyboard shortcuts• Reading pane in WordAssistive technology• Screen magnifiers• Screen readers• Braille printers, displays, and notetakers• Book readers

Five ways to make a PC easier for students to see

How-to article

Five ways to make a PC Easier for students to see

1. Make everything appear larger The ability to adjust resolution can help students who are just beginning to read, in addition to those who have difficulty seeing details on the screen.

2. Use the Magnifier Sometimes a student needs to magnify one thing to see it more clearly. You may have been using Windows for years without realizing that there is a built-in Magnifier which enlarges part of (or the entire) screen. You can adjust the Magnifier to zoom in at various levels and focus wherever you want to on the screen. Magnifier in Windows 7 lets you magnify the whole screen (full-screen mode) or just one part of the screen (lens mode), which is like holding a magnifying glass up to the screen. When you move the mouse pointer, the area of the screen that is magnified moves along with it.

3. Enlarge the mouse pointer You can change the look of your cursor so that it is easier for you to quickly and easily spot it on the screen and to follow its movements. In addition, you can choose to change the size of the pointer, select a new pointer style, or change the color of the pointer.

Five ways to make a PC Easier for students to see

4. Personalize the color theme Students love to personalize their PCs with their favorite colors or images. Help them select a color theme, such as a High Contrast Theme, that can make it easier for them to read text.

5. Zoom in on the web Sometimes the text and photos on a webpage are too small to read or see. Internet Explorer lets you quickly zoom in to enlarge the view of a webpage. Unlike changing the font size, which affects only the text on a page, zooming in on a webpage enlarges or reduces everything on the page, including the images. You can zoom from 10 percent to 1,000 percent.

Learning style differences and impairments

Includes• Dyslexia• Attention deficit disorders• Learning style differences• Learning a new language• Developmental delaysAccessibility features in Windows and Office• Eliminate distraction - make it easier to focus

and concentrate• Spelling and grammar checks• OneNote for staying organized, researching,

audio notes• AutoComplete (word prediction)• Speech RecognitionAssistive technology• Word prediction – ClaroRead, TextHelp Read & Write• Reading comprehension (Universal Reader)

Six ways to adjust the PC to make it easier for students to concentrate How-to article

Six ways to adjust the PC to make it easier for students to concentrate

1. Clean up and simplify the desktopIt may sound very basic, but cleaning up the clutter on the desktop can immediately help students focus better on the task of reading or typing. You can easily remove unnecessary icons on cluttered desktops.

2. Choose appropriate color schemes and themesFor students who have a hard time concentrating, color choices and visual themes can make a difference. Changing the colors and themes to something calming can support a student’s focus. You can create a calming theme in Windows or help the students create themes that work for them. Because each student is unique, he or she will have to experiment with the colors and themes that help them focus on reading and typing.

3. Use the whole screen to readRecent versions of Microsoft Word include a Full Screen Reading view that fills the whole screen, making it easier to see the text and helping to eliminate or minimize other distractions. Full Screen Reading view also helps to improve text resolution and display, making it more legible. By displaying a cleaner, less cluttered screen, Full Screen Reading view can help students focus on the information that they need to read for class. While in Full Screen Reading view, students can also highlight and otherwise mark up text that they want to focus on or remember.

Six ways to adjust the PC to make it easier for students to concentrate

4. Review work with spelling, grammar, and word choice toolsOne of students’ favorite features in Microsoft Office is the Spelling & Grammar checker. Students can check all spelling and grammar in a file and proof their text for possible mistakes. The Thesaurus feature suggests alternative choices when you click an individual word or phrase. Students can even use the Research and Translate features to help with their work.

5. Use Speech RecognitionMany students who have difficulty concentrating have a hard time writing and typing their story but can talk about their ideas. Speech Recognition comes in Windows 7 and Windows Vista and lets a student speak to the PC, dictating ideas or entire essays onto the computer. To get started, you need a headset (your laptop may have come with one) and about 45 minutes to set up Speech Recognition and to train the PC to understand the individual student’s voice.

6. Try Microsoft OneNoteThis versatile note-taking program enables students to easily take and store notes. Students can learn a lot about organization from outlining and highlighting. OneNote offers both of these capabilities, plus it lets students mark notes with a variety of visual cues. And, because students can enter audio files and images into their notebooks, they don’t have to rely on text alone for information.

Mobility and dexterity impairments

Includes• Dexterity impairments – hand, wrist, and arm pain,

fine motor control• Gross motor impairments (Cerebral palsy,

multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries)Accessibility features in Windows and Office• Mouse settings – pointer size, speed, button

configuration• Keyboard settings – Mouse Keys, Sticky Keys, Filter

Keys• On-Screen Keyboard• Keyboard shortcuts• Speech Recognition• Windows Touch Assistive technology• Ergonomic keyboards and mouse alternatives –

joystick, trackball mouse• Keyboard filters• Alternative input – sip and puff, head mouse

Four ways to help a student control the mouse

How-to article

Four ways to help a student Control the mouse

1. Change how the mouse worksThe mouse can be customized in many ways to make it easier for students to use. For instance, you can swap the functions of your mouse buttons, make the mouse pointer more visible, and alter the scroll speed of the mouse scroll wheel.

2. Make it easier to find the mouse pointer Students might find the mouse more compelling to use if they customize the pointer. Another way you can help students learn to follow the mouse pointer is by making it easier for them to see it as it moves. There are visibility options that let you display pointer trails and an option that you can turn on to show the location of the pointer.

3. Adopt a new, smaller mouseFor some students, no matter how many adjustments you make to the mouse, it just won’t work well enough for them to learn with it. Smaller mice, designed for laptop users and mobile use, might fit the hands of young students better. And these smaller mice may be not only easier for them to control but also more fun for them to use.

4. Reach out and touchWith a touchscreen, students can interact with the computer in a direct and simple way, using their fingers, instead of struggling with the mouse or a mouse alternative.

Hearing impairmentsIncludes• Hearing loss and hard-of-hearing• DeafnessAccessibility features in Windows• Volume• Computer sounds• Text and visual alternatives

for sounds – such as captionsAssistive technology• Personal listening device• Headphones• Sign language translator

Four ways to make a PC easier for students to hear

How-to article

Four ways to make a PC easier for students to hear

1. Increase the volumeIt might seem obvious: If you can’t hear, just move the volume control button or knob for your PC’s speakers. But there are even easier ways to increase the volume of a PC. Many people aren’t aware, for instance, that you can control the speaker volume using the Windows operating system. The quickest way to change the speaker volume on a PC is to click the Speakers button in the notification area of the taskbar and then to move the slider up or down to increase or decrease the speaker volume. This adjusts the volume only for the program you are using.

2. Use headphones to decrease background noise Sometimes, increased volume still isn’t loud enough or doesn’t have enough sound clarity. And in some cases, the increased volume may interfere with another student’s ability to hear or concentrate. Students with auditory processing disorder (APD), who have a hard time recognizing subtle differences in sounds—even when the sounds are loud and clear—may be especially affected by a noisy classroom or computer lab environment.In these cases, it helps to plug headphones into the PC. Not only will the student receive greater volume and audio clarity, but also the distracting background noise will be removed, enabling him or her to distinguish sounds more clearly without distracting nearby classmates.

Four ways to make a PC easier for students to hear

3. Change the sounds on the PCSome students have trouble hearing high-pitched sounds. Others find it hard to hear low-pitched sounds. Many students associate certain sounds with other devices besides their PC and may have trouble identifying that same or a similar sound on their PC.To help these students hear their PC better, you can select the sounds that play when certain events occur on screen.

4. Use text or visual alternatives to soundsIf adjusting the volume and changing the sounds are not enough, consider revising the way the PC notifies students about events, such as the arrival of email messages or system warnings. Windows lets you choose to have text captions or visual cues replace sounds as alternatives for notifications. One example is to have a text caption or a flash notification—such as a flashing caption or window—appear when a new email message arrives or when a reminder pops up. Instead of a sound, Windows can give you a visual cue. This is also handy for classrooms or computing labs with a lot of PCs, when too many sounds could be a distraction to students.

Language/speech impairmentsIncludes• Delayed speech or inability to

speak• Inability to comprehend wordsAccessibility features in Windows• Narrator• Windows TouchAssistive technology• Augmentative

communication devices• Speech synthesizers• Touchscreens with audio

Five ways Microsoft OneNote can help students with dyslexia stay organized

How-to article

Five ways Microsoft OneNote Can help students with dyslexia stay organized

1. Take notes faster To take good notes, you have to record information fast. Commonly recommended ways to speed up note-taking include using shorthand or abbreviations and symbols instead of fully writing out words. These are difficult skills to master, and for students with dyslexia and dysgraphia (difficulty in handwriting), they can be especially challenging. OneNote not only lets students type notes so they’re sure to be legible later, but also it offers many additional ways to speed up students’ note-taking. This means that they can spend more time paying attention and less time worrying about losing the information they didn’t have time to record correctly or clearly.

2. Record audio and video notesLike patting your head while rubbing your stomach, understanding information while you are taking notes is not easy. Students can make an audio or video recording of a presentation from within OneNote while they’re typing notes. OneNote adds an icon in the note margin that students can click when they’d like to play back what was being said or shown at the time they took the note. Listening to the audio notes later, while reviewing their typed notes, can help increase comprehension. In addition, students can paste audio recordings of related information into OneNote (for example, an audio recording of an assigned book). Just like the text in OneNote, all audio recordings can be searched for specific spoken words or phrases.

Five ways Microsoft OneNote Can help students with dyslexia stay organized

3. Use visual cues to help you organize and remember informationUsing visual cues in a notebook can help students to sort through their notes faster and to better understand different kinds of information. For example, students with dyslexia can find and process information better by marking notes as definitions and by highlighting information. OneNote lets students highlight text and assign a variety of other colorful and distinctive tags to notes, such as To Do, Important, Question, Idea, Definition. They can search the notebook for a particular kind of tag, too.

4. Use outlines and templatesAll students, and particularly those with dyslexia, can benefit from structured note-taking, such as the use of outlines and templates.Outlining is one of the most helpful features of OneNote. Each note you take in OneNote, whether it’s a paragraph or just a list item, is automatically entered as an element of an outline. Each outline appears in a container, surrounded by a thin line with a handle along the top edge. OneNote lets students create vertical or horizontal outlines, use bullets or numbers, expand and collapse outlines, move them around the page, and send them directly to Word.

Five ways Microsoft OneNote Can help students with dyslexia stay organized

5. Use the spell checker, dictionaries, and thesaurusOneNote has other great tools that support reading and writing comprehension, such as spell checker, dictionaries, and a thesaurus. In addition, OneNote 2010 includes Research options. Students simply type a word or phrase in the Search box, and OneNote brings related web sources, in addition to dictionaries and thesauruses, right into their notebooks. Having the information they’re researching displayed right next to their notes can help students stay on track.

Selecting Accessible Technology

Identifying who needs assistive technology

Personalization Day

Special Needs

Identified

Needs Assessment

Assistive Technology

Selected

All students personalize PCs to make them easier to see, hear, and use with Personalization and Ease of Access Center

A few students will be identified by teachers as having special needs that might benefit from a needs assessment

Accessibility consultant to conduct assessment and make recommendations

Accessible technology for special needs students

Identifying the right mix of accessibility solutions • Most students can benefit from using built-in accessibility features. • For students with special needs or disabilities, each student may need to use a

unique mix of accessibility features and assistive technology products.Needs assessment• Identifying the best accessibility solution often requires an in-depth

assessment to understand how a difficulty or impairment impacts computer use.

Find an accessibility consultant • Locate an accessibility expert in your school/district or local community (

www.microsoft.com/enable/centers/)• Many assistive technology centers and occupational therapists have

accessibility consultants to help individuals identify the right mix of accessibility features and products.

• Resources available» Assessment» Product recommendation» Lending libraries (try before you buy)» Training

Questions for school leadersPart 1 Do special needs teachers know who to go to for computer accessibility support for their students with special needs?• Microsoft offers resources at

www.microsoft.com/education/

Does your school technology plan include accessibility? • See Considerations for IT Technicians

Questions for school leadersPart 2Helping Teachers• Do your teachers know how to help students with mild

special needs adjust their PCs to make them easier to see, hear, and use? » Microsoft has tutorials that can help.

• Do teachers, IT technicians, and students have information about accessibility for the software they are using? » Microsoft has accessibility information for schools at

www.microsoft.com/education/enable/. • Do students and staff have the opportunity to personalize

their PCs to make them easier to see, hear, and use?» Consider a Personalization Day to let students personalize

their PCs and save their settings in unique profiles.

Good practice in schools

Create an accessibility team• Assign accessibility responsibilities to interested teachers,

special needs teachers, and an IT professional for technical issues.

• Ensure all teachers know who to go to if they notice a student who needs to make the PC easier to see, hear, and use.

• Distribute Microsoft’s Accessibility: A Guide for Educators• Identify an assistive technology expert in your community

to help with assistive technology assessments for students with disabilities.

Considerations for special needs educators

• Can you advise and show others how to use the Personalization and the Ease of Access Center?

• Have you been trained on how to use assistive technologies like ergonomic keyboards and screen readers in the classroom?

• Do you have a copy of Accessibility: A Guide for Educators you can reference?

• Do you know who in your school or district to go to if you have a student who needs additional accessibility support?

Considerations for IT technicians

• Ensure PCs are deployed so Ease of Access Center and Personalization are available to students.

• Consider allowing individuals to create a user account (rather than generic accounts) so their accessibility and personalization settings are saved and available when they log in with their user profile.

• Set up PCs with working speakers, volume controls, and headsets for student who have hearing impairments.

• Have a selection of ergonomic, comfort keyboard and mice available for students with dexterity impairments.

• Identify an assistive technology expert in your area to help with assistive technology assessments for students with disabilities.

• Implement web accessibility to ensure your school website is accessible.

Considerations for IT technicians

Scenario: IT technicians have many computers to manage and often lock Control Panel settings when creating group settings; however, this prevents teachers and students from adjusting accessibility and personalization settings in the Control Panel.Solutions: • Ensure PCs are deployed to allow Ease of Access Center and personalization

settings to be adjusted.

• Set up profiles so each time the students log in, their accessibility and personalization settings are saved. For shared PCs, consider a standard set of profiles. Example: » Profile name: LargeText» Basic features are already set up like fonts that are 16-point rather than 10-

point, larger icons, zoom in Internet Explorer set to 125%

• Depending on your Windows version, consider using ‘Roaming Profiles’ so user account profiles can be stored on a memory stick and transferred to any PC.

Resources: • User Configuration Group Policy Settings in Windows 7• Group Policy Settings for Control Panel | Display in Control Panel | Action Center |

Personalization

Accessibility in Practice

Scenarios for accessibility solutions

We’ll explore four scenarios for accessibility solutions: 1. Alex has a visual impairment and is colorblind2. Christina is hard-of-hearing3. Sam has muscle fatigue and wrist pain4. Mary has difficulty concentrating

Your task is to discuss and determine specific accessibility features that might help these students.• Where would you look for more ideas and information?• Who else might you seek help from to find accessibility

solutions for these students?

#1: Student who has a visual impairment and is colorblind

Accessibility solutions: • Try a High Contrast color scheme in Windows to make

the PC easier to see• Make text larger• Try Magnifier• Run the Office 2010 Accessibility Checker on Word files

sent to Alex

Student scenario: Alex has a visual impairment and is colorblind. He needs to have what he is reading on the computer enlarged or magnified, and he needs to rely on text, rather than color, for information.

#2: Student who is hard-of-hearing

Student scenario: Christina is hard-of-hearing so she needs to be able to adjust the volume on her computer. She uses headphones to block out background noise and increases the volume without disrupting other learners in the classroom. She also may need to watch parts of videos more than once to make sure she doesn’t miss anything that is being said.Accessibility solutions: • Computer volume• Change computer sounds• Text and visual alternatives for sounds – such as

captions• Headsets

#3: Student who has muscle

fatigue and wrist pain Student scenario: Sam has dexterity difficulties, including muscle fatigue. He needs to be able to limit the amount of keyboard work he does. Sam benefits from using Windows Speech Recognition to dictate large amounts of text for reports and uses an ergonomic Microsoft Comfort keyboard and mouse. Accessibility solutions: • Windows Speech Recognition• Microsoft Comfort keyboard and mouse

#4: Student who has difficulty concentrating

Student scenario: John has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) which makes it difficult for him to concentrate sometimes. He would benefit from reducing visual and auditory distractions while using the computer. He needs the computer to assist him in better focusing on reading and typing tasks.Accessibility solutions:• Clean up and simplify the desktop • Choose appropriate color schemes and themes • Use the whole screen to read • Review spelling, grammar, and word choices • Use Speech Recognition • Try Microsoft OneNote

Resources

Accessibility in educationwww.microsoft.com/education/enable/

Guide• Download Accessibility: A Guide for Educators

How to articles• Five ways to make a PC easier to see • Four ways to make a PC easier to hear • Four ways to help a student control the mouse • Six ways to help students stay focused • Five ways to help dyslexic students get organized

Accessibility features, tutorials, demosCollaborate with other educators about accessibility on www.partnersinlearningnetwork.com

Microsoft Accessibility• www.microsoft.com/enable/ • Accessibility demos www.microsoft.com/enable/demos/• Accessibility tutorials www.microsoft.com/enable/tutorials/ • Assistive technology products

www.micorsoft.com/enable/at/ • Accessibility at Microsoft

www.micorsoft.com/enable/microsoft/ • Accessibility resources in 41 languages

www.microsoft.com/enable/worldwide/• Accessibility features in Microsoft Products

www.microsoft.com/enable/products/ » Windows 7 » Windows Vista » Windows XP » Internet Explorer 9 » Internet Explorer 8

» Internet Explorer 7 » Office 2010 » Office Web Apps » Office 2007 » Office 2003

3 things to remember1. Every classroom has a student who can benefit

from accessibility

2. Accessibility features in Windows and how to use • Personalization• Ease of Access Center

3. Where to find accessibility info for teachers• www.microsoft.com/education/enable/