CDesk by Adaptive Voice

Last week I had a great opportunity to learn more about the CDesksoftware, developed by Adaptive Voice.  Luke Scrivens, Assistive Technology Specialist at the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind, spent some time, remotely, with me and facilitated an interactive tutorial on the technological capabilities of  CDesk Software for adults and senior citizens with visual impairments. 

Below is the interface for the CDesk Software:

AdaptiveVoice markets CDesk as being an easier software choice for users with low vision and additional intellectual and cognitive impairments.  It was also created for individuals with little to no computer  knowledge.  The interface is organized into 8 subsections: Word, Contact, Phone, Office, Email, Internet, Read/Scan and Media/Book.  The high contrast coloring and the simple text made navigating through the 8 menu items easy to access for a first time user with no physical or cognitive impairments.  One of the best features of this app is the speech recognition feature which is accessible in every application within CDesk.  Within the software, the speech recognition feature is referred to as"Peggy" and can be turned on and off as the user sees fit.  This is a great accessibility option for people with limited mobility who cannot easily access a typical QWERTY keyboard.  The user can easily access their e-mail, browse the internet and write a word document under the appropriately titled applications within the main menu.  The screen reader can also be accessed within these three applications of the software.  The most interactive and innovative highlights to CDesk is within the Media/Book application, which allows a user to search the Library of Congress  for Blind and Physically Handicapped's database of books in braille and audio recordings also  download the book directly from the Library of Congress database to their computer via CDesk.  The user can access their MP3 music files with in this application of the software as well.  Another key interactive feature is the user's ability to access SKYPE voice call and video conferencing simply through the CDesk interface  and CCTV/Camera.

Other features within the software:
Document Scanning
Internet Radio
Voice Recorder
Live
MP3 Player
Spreadsheets
Book Scanning

My two cents:
Upon first hearing about CDesk, I wanted to know what made it different from JAWS, ZoomText, Dragon and all the other products similar.  After reviewing its features with Luke and using the trial version, I can honestly say that what sets this piece of software apart from its predecessors is its intuitiveness and interactivity.  CDesk makes it easier for a person with low vision to access their favorite activities from a single interface, thus increasing the user's ability to read e-mails from friends, read best selling novels, surf the internet, chat with friends through social media, listen to music, balance their checkbook etc. CDesk is a piece of software that has the potential to greatly increase the quality of a user's life (e.g., the who purpose of assistive technology).  My only accessibility concern is wondering if a person who relies on switch access could use this piece of software.

Making the EDA Play App A Better Learning Tool

The EDA Play App continues to be a very popular app for children with visual impairments.  For a thorough review please check out Wonderbaby's iPad App Review of the app.  However, in this blog entry what I would like to do is break down a few key ideas on making it interactive for children with visual impairments.  As much as I think the iPad is a great visual tool to stimulate a child's functional vision or auditory scanning abilities, I think it is crucial that more educators and parents understand ways to make the iPad an interactive learning opportunity for children with visual impairments, no matter their visual and developmental challenges.

Here is a breakdown of the way the app works for those of you not familiar with the app from the apple iTunes store:

Description

The EDA PLAY application helps children train vision and fine motor skills. The options of image set-up and task levels enable children with special needs to work with this application.

The application was developed in cooperation with specialists in the field of visual impairment and caring for children with special needs. The application is designed to stimulate the child to watch the action on the tablet display in an interactive way and to complete the tasks. The visual and audio treatment of the application supports the eye-hand coordination. The Skills section records the work of the child with the application.

KEY FEATURES

- 4 task levels and 4 visual levels
The application can be set depending on the child’s individual skills.
The visual levels are manifested through the types of illustrations viewed (V1 – V4). The task levels are marked G1 – G4.


For students working in visual and task levels 1-3, consider using three dimensional objects to pair with images on the iPad screen: This will make the experience multi-dimensional for the child with visual impairments.  The child would actually be able to put his or her hands on a toy tractor, pig, or train.  The teacher or parent could use this learning opportunity as a way to illustrate how a train rolls, how many legs a pig has, or what the beak of a rooster feels like.  Additionally, for the child with motor impairments in an assistive mobility device such as a wheelchair, the teacher or parent could illustrate with the toy tractor or train how it rolls like the child's mobility device and then moves their child at the same time to increase the child's understanding of words like "roll" and "wheel."

Consider the following toys to pair with this app:

Little People Farm

Fun Time Tractor

For children with low vision challenges working in visual and task levels 3-4, this app can also be very appropriate in teaching young children the proper way to use a low vision device such as a telescope or dome magnifier.  The teacher or parentcould set up app so the child must move the dome magnifier across the screen, such as in the image below:

For the child who is learning to use a telescope, the teacher might consider setting up the app at a distance so the child must scan the distance between two objects within the app using a telescope such as in the photo below:

If anyone else is using this app, I would love to hear your ideas.  These are just a few general ideas on what is working with a few of my clients.  As always, I would love to hear your ideas in the comments below or via email at julieann.johnson00@gmail.com

iOS Apps: Getting the Most Out of Guided Access for Users with Physical and Visual Impairments

As I continue to work with more and more students with both visual impairments and motor impairments, I have been finding it extra challenging to find ways to increase the visual targets of great apps such as Toddler Jukebox that offers a great array of familiar and unfamiliar children's songs as well the ability to for student to start and stop the music as he or she pleases. Many of my students were having issues being able to accurately choose a song on this app because of the size of the buttons and visual targets on this particular app. However, after becoming more familiar with the guided access and accessibility features of the iPad, I found a way to increase the visual targets for students that lack the fine motor and visual ability to pick a song on this app using the Zoom settings and Guided Access.

To increase the visual target size on this particular app:

1. Go to Settings

2. Click General in the left hand column

3. Scroll down  towards the bottom and click Accessibility

4. Under the Vision menu options, turn ON the Zoom option.

Zoom magnifies the whole screen.  To navigate the iPad once this feature is on:

• Double tap three fingers to zoom
• Drag three fingers to move around the screen
• Double tap three fingers and drag to change zoom

Now that the screen is zoomed in and buttons on the app are bigger, it is time to narrow down which songs, you would like the user to choose from using Guided Access.

To Turn on Guided Access:

1. Go to Settings
2. Click General in the left hand column
3. Scroll down towards and bottom and click Accessibility
4. Find the Guided Access option
5. Turn it to ON

Now your Zoom and Guided Access options are both on and active.

.

Go back to the Toddler Jukebox App

1. Activate Guided Access in the app by TRIPLE clicking the HOME  button
2. Draw a box around the part of the screen that you would NOT like your student be able
to activate.
3. Click START in the upper right hand corner of the screen when you have completed this step.

Now only the buttons that are not blocked are active for the student to activate.  In this situation,  I wanted the child to focus on activating the play button and the visual targets aka "song choices" in the lower part of the screen.

Triple click the HOME button to get out of Guided Access.

New "Scoops" for Kids with Visual Impairments

Hey Everyone!

I wanted to update you on the "Scoop It" resource page for therapists, families, and special educators working with children with visual impairments.  I have added some new resources toys, technology devices, and activities to the page over the last few weeks.  If you are perusing through this blog, take some time to go check out that page.  And of course if you have any resources or ideas that are worth "scooping" please share!

Scoop It

As a part of my Massive Online Open Course on Blended Learning, I have created a Scoop It page for parents, teachers, and individuals with visual impairments.

 The more I work in early intervention with new parents of children with low vision who have all these tablets and phones to access information, the more I feel that it is my job as a teacher and technology specialist to ensure that they are accessing *good* information about their child's education and special needs regarding their vision loss.

When I found out about Scoop It through this MOOC, I immediately created this page.
I have 4 topics so far and will add more as I see fit.  So far my boards are on Vision Stimulation in the Child's Daily Routine, Assistive Technology,  Apps for the Blind/Visually Impaired, and Literacy.

Organizing a resource board for parents to access is a great way to get the parents involved in their child's education and build a community of learning within a classroom or in my case, my region.

Accessible Youtube Website

Access Youtube

The Story Behind Accessible YouTube

 

I am super excited about this website!  I use YouTube quite a bit with my kids with visual impairments and cerebral palsy.  The fact that there is a resource out there that is beginning to think of websites that are universally designed for all speaks volumes!!  When I learned about this resource through Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology, I knew I needed to share it on this blog.

 

A more accessible Youtube means that more children with special needs will be able to access their favorite videos to an appopriate level of independence.

 

Please note, if you are working with a child that is accessing a computer with motor impairments, you might still need a switch interface