Accessibility Features on my iDevices

Using the accessibility features on my iDevice to complete assignments for my Masters course.

When I started this term I decided I wanted to use my iPhone to listen to papers using the text-to-speech feature in iOS. I did this by downloading the PDF version of the document, then uploading it to my Dropbox. On my phone, I then opened the PDF in iBooks and used the VoiceOver feature to listen to the document. This allowed me to listen to the papers while driving to and from school. This worked well for getting a general understanding of the topic, but did not allow for solid comprehension. The computer-generated speech was distracting to say the least, and hearing all of the citations also became annoying.

Next, I attempted to read the articles on my iPad using the highlighting features to mark important information that I could come back and reference as needed. Again, I had difficulties focusing while reading the papers on my iPad. The sound and banner notifications drew my attention away from my readings into emails, tweets and messages. These were difficult to ignore and I often found myself losing track, needing to reread sections in the paper. I ended up having more success when I printed off the document and highlighting using a marker.

Finally, I decided to use the voice to text feature to "write" this reflection. I have used dictation software before, with minimal success. Dictation is a skill, very different from writing. Needing to communicate punctuation can be difficult and cause you to lose your train of thought. Seeing the words appear, often incorrectly, was very distracting. I constantly wanted to stop and edit my piece of "writing." I found more success by not looking at the screen and dictating my ideas down and then going back and editing as needed later on.

These processes made me reflect on my current position as a Learning Support teacher at our school. We often use assistive technology as an adaptation to allow struggling students to be successful in their classes. Too often we have the students these tools with little to no training. Our district decided to purchase a district license for Dragon Speak, hoping that it would replace Educational Assistants as scribes for high school students during their Provincial exams. We did not have a lot of success with this process as the training piece was left out. The staff and then the students were given this piece of software without training them on how to use it. The students who had the best success with this program practiced using it for personal use first and then started using it in the classroom. As with most skills, practice allows the user to become more proficient.

I feel these tools, with the right training, could allow students to be more independent. Especially the students who struggle with reading and/or getting their ideas down on paper.

Text-to-Speech Feature

Speak Screen Feature