a) An understanding of the constraints and benefits of different technologies
When I first arrived at UCL I was allowed money for decoration, new computers, chairs, and software, which was a great start. I based my selection around research into what most students were given through the DSA (Disabled Student’s Allowance) (example of report section) and also the statistics of the disabilities for the university (UCL student disability statistics). At the time, there were about 1500 registered disabled students, most of whom were dyslexic, so I concentrated mostly on this, software-wise. I purchased Read and Write, Inspiration, Audio Notetaker, and Dragon Naturally Speaking. For the visually impaired, I purchased Zoomtext and JAWS, and persuaded the RNIB to sell me a discounted ex-display CCTV. I also bought scanners for all the PCs.
These programs were the most widely used and from both personal experience as a dyslexic and also through all the work with my students and clients I found them to be the most intuitive and stable packages to use. Because these packages are licenced, it means that they are fully developed to integrate with the operating systems used. This also includes technical support when there are issues. Therefore this gave me confidence to roll this out knowing it would be a reliable service. This is a vital service when supporting students who need their assistive technology to function consistently. On top of this the University at the time would not support using free software. The criteria used for these purchases were the disability statistics of the University disabled student body at the time, (see above) the limited amount of PCs at my disposal, and the attempt to provide some software for all the disabilities discovered.
The constraint I found was that the desktop at the time had been modified for the University and therefore I could not just load the software on to it easily. I had to try to arrange for these to be packaged but in the long run it turned out to be easier for me to build my own machines with local copies of Windows and Office and configure the machines myself. Some software conflicted with others and so by configuring the machines myself I was able to make sure the software worked smoothly within the lab environment. For example, Zoomtext, Read and Write and JAWS had speech engine conflicts and therefore could not run together on the same machine. Also Read and Write did not work very well with Firefox due to the constant upgrades and patches that Firefox installs.
This software combination has worked well, however, having full access rights to these machines have also allowed me over time to makes changes and add additional software to meet the incoming students needs and requests.
b) Technical knowledge and ability in the use of learning technologies
I had over 19 years in total of working with students in education, the early part of the time spent teaching computer-based skills on a variety of platforms, before moving into the disability and assistive technology field. I was also a DSA assessor of the D/deaf, and later acting Access Centre Manager for a year. Because of this, I became familiar with the most common and effective packages used to support disabled users.
This knowledge lead me to choose the following packages:
Inspiration mind-mapping software. This was primarily designed for dyslexics who are not linear thinkers to plan essays, etc. visually. I have used this for other disabilities, and now also do general group training at the Institute of Education (IoE), as it can benefit anyone.
TextHelp Read and Write text-to-speech software, with study skills support. This program was again designed for dyslexics but works for many other disabilities, and also for those with English as a second language. It reads text while underlining the sentence in one colour, and the individual words in another colour as they are read. R&W 11 Certificate for training
This helps the dyslexic user proofread their work, because the multi-sensory system helps to understand the text as it is, and not what the user may think it says. This also works for reading documents and for revising, as this multi-sensory approach helps to hold the data in the user’s memory, as dyslexics often have problems with short-term memory. I also recommend the use of this for those who are on medication for mental health challenges, as many mental health problems tend to slow down thought processes, and make it hard to concentrate and retain data. People who suffer from eye-strain and headaches can also benefit from not having to stare at the screen. It can also be used to create sounds files that can be loaded onto phones or MP3 players to aid study or provide an alternative format for disabled users. I used this program to create a sound file for users to help set up their workstation and chair.
I learnt how to use this program in several ways. One was formal training for the exam, one personalised, through my dyslexia tutor, and the rest I learnt through using it and exploring other solutions and what other dyslexics showed me.
I teach one-to-one sessions in Read and Write and Inspiration, and also give general open access group training sessions at the Institute of Education.
JAWS screen-reader for the blind. This was usually recommended under DSA, but recently I have seen more overseas students using NVDA, which is free, so again I have had to rethink how the computers are set up.
I also purchased the following, Dragon Naturally Speaking, Audio Notetaker and, ZoomText , but like all of the assistive technology programs, I show people what these programs do, and we discuss the best way (if any) with which they can use them. I tend to call assistive technology the ‘Marmite World’, as it is often a case of ‘you either love it or you hate it’.
There was a lab of 7 PCs, and at the time that was all I had access to, so I had to work out the best software distribution for the users based on the statistics at the time. I also had to take into consideration the conflicts of some of the software packages, such as ZoomText and Read and Write – which used the same voices as the default, and if you had both programs working at the same time, they would both fail and have to be uninstalled and reinstalled again. Similarly, ZoomText’s and JAWS’s older versions used to have a conflict, and thus could not be installed together.
Learning the basic of Jaws has been very useful. It allows me now to be able to test accessibility of websites, software and resources. It also helps me to demonstrate accessibility issues to others, such as the drop- ins I support where staff bring materials to be checked and I can show them how a screen-reader views them. Many people haven’t seen a screen-reader before so it gives them a greater understanding of the problems faced by a blind user. This along with the screenshots I send them helps them to makes changes much easier. These drop-ins along are designed along with sessions on creating accessible content and short talks on the new EU Directive on Web Accessibility are designed to prepare staff to meet the requirements of this law.
This Camtasia testing film is just a snippet of testing of this site I carried out using JAWS screen-reader.
I also gave an all ISD Staff talk 10th July 2019 using JAWS and Camtasia films to show issues with Moodle, and Turnitin. Moodle and JAWs film, Turnitin and JAWS film.
At present, I am working on a guide for disabled users of Microsoft Teams. We are going to be rolling it out across the University and I want to be able to give users the best way to access it based on their disability. As Teams works very differently on different devices and is not consistent, this work is a ‘magnum opus’.
To provide information for both staff and student, I developed a disability resource website. Our system to start with was Dreamweaver, which I also had to learn, followed by the Silva content management system, which had so many bugs and problems.
I was invited to have a blog page in the Digital Education area and have started to add my AT news. I use this site to pass on information to the rest of the University about changes in the AT world, such as the discontinuation of Dragon for Mac (2018).
Over the years I have gained experience in creating Alternative formats scanned books, sound files, DAISY books, braille, and tactile diagrams. This example was part of a batch produced to help a colleague who asked for advice via the JISCMAIL email list which I am a part of. The response from them was
‘The diagrams arrived the day before I went on leave (they look brilliant!) so I sent them to our Learning Support office to look at and discuss with the student if they came in. We also have plans to start tactile printer shopping as this issue has really raised awareness of this, which is brilliant news. So thank you 🙂
You officially rock. I will pay your kindness forward in future :-)’
I believe in helping others when possible regardless of where they are from. The nice thing about the disability/assistive technology world is that many of us are the same that way and it keeps you feeling positive when the funding gets smaller and smaller.
Using assistive technologies to create alternative formats helps students to become independent learners and achieve an equivalent level of flexibility that other students, when studying, do not normally even have to think about.
I believe in self development and keeping up to date and regularly attend courses. Here are just some certificates and courses undertaken
( Wyvern CPD Course, ITIL Version 3, R&W 11 Certificate, OS X Training, Apple Certified Support Professional 10.3 certificate , Advanced Display Screen Assessment plus Future Learn certificate)
c) Supporting the deployment of learning technology
Due to cuts in DSA funding, and the constraints placed on educational establishments by the economic climate, I have had to look at other options to support staff and students.
Alongside Read and Write, and Inspiration, I have been instrumental in adding free assistive software to our system. As well as the cuts to the Disabled Student’s Allowance, there are a large number of non DSA overseas students who do not have money to purchase these sometimes expensive softwares. This way they can have access to software both via our network and to download to their personal computers. They can be downloaded from the links below.
Rapid set – colour and font change.
t bar – colour box to help you keep your place on the page.
vu bar – screen ruler.
Balabolka – text to speech.
Orato – text to speech.
SS Overlay – screen overlay.
Virtual Magnifying Glass – magnification software.
XMind – mind mapping –free version.
NVDA – screenreader for the visually impaired.
I put in a bid in mid 2017 to purchase Quickscan dyslexia screening software for the whole University to access. The save the issues, time and resources with packaging and deployment, I opted for the web version instead of the individual option which meant I had less hoops to pass through as regards to security, GDPR etc. I had various meetings with the Moodle team where we discussed deployment options and found the best solution to be a link on the student’s main landing page. (Quickscan email) The bid was successful in October 2019.
I will be the service owner for this and will maintain the usage records as well as being involved in the promotion of the new service. This will involve emails, demonstrations, newsletters and promotion within the Moodle environment. I will also be providing a guide to use, I have a draft copy already created.
This will save time and money where students and staff are concerned as there are a limited number of qualified staff available to carry out these screenings. This will leave the support staff more time to dedicate to the user’s needs.
Sadly this bid has taken over two years to come to fruition, what with changing staffing structures, I have had to restate my case several times over. This has had a detrimental effect on the service we had hoped to provide in the last year. Looking back, I think I should have chased it more frequently than I did, and minuted the meetings, instead of trusting others would remember what was discussed. Also keeping track of the changes of staff would have been helpful to the process.
Another service I deployed was the 121 Captions it provides live captioning for users via a Skype account and a URL which any attendee can access from their mobile device – again giving them anonymity. 121 also provides a transcript for anyone who wants it afterwards. They also use 1Fuzion which allows the tutor to run the captions across their presentation for all to see and for LectureCast to capture in the film. I used it recently to support the NADSN (National Association of Disabled Staff Networks – conference held at UCL in 2018) where I was the Assistive Technology Coordinator. Feedback on my involvement is given below.
‘Wow! What an absolutely awesome day we had on Friday! On behalf of NADSN, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to you all for all of your dedication, hard work, time, energy, enthusiasm and commitment to putting together such a successful event. You are all incredible! UCL have been an amazing host for the NADSN Conference and we have been overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness, warmth and generosity. Working with you all has been an utter privilege – you have redefined the meaning of teamwork! The volunteers were outstanding, especially Rex!’ H. Haroon – Chair of NADSN
‘Hi Michele,
I have been told by Stephen of your sterling efforts for this conference. Seems like you were the one who was holding the fort…Well done. Be very proud of what you have achieved.’ K. Parikh
This experience made me realise that I had more skills than I thought I had. I begun this project just organising assistive technology and ended up almost organising the whole event on the day; including providing first aid in one instance.
Another issue now is funding, and the changes, both internally to the university, and externally (DSA cuts). I have had, along with others, to look at free software to bridge the gap and offer different support. Juggling and haggling has now become the ‘thing’ of today. Having been successful in a bid for an automated book scanner, I sometimes offer other institutions the odd book or two scanned if they get stuck finding an alternative format, and have also shared resources in a couple of other ways.
Procurement is another complex area that I am involved with. Although the questions about accessibility have been there for a while; the weighting has been such that it had scored low against other areas and which in turn lead to challenges going forward with the purchase. In some cases it resulted in costing the University more money in modifications.
With new teams being created, and more access to the people heading procurement, this is changing and more direct and weighted questions have now been implemented and a committee that I am a member of has been created to improve this situation.
I have also in conjunction with another colleague put together a guide on web accessibility that will be used to help our staff comply with the UK adoption of the new EU Directive on Web accessibility.
I have already had positive feedback on my web accessibility guide from the Digital Education Team.