Posted by Craig Mill on the 17th August, 2022
Mark Up provides a variety of annotation features such as drawing tools, adding text, speech bubbles, shapes and more – great for expressing ideas, telling stories and to help develop creative skills. There’s even a ‘Magnifier’ to magnify or enhance parts of a photo. Whi...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 9th August, 2022
The Photos App for the iPad (and iPhone) has been around for a long time. But in a recent update, Photos has a new tool for reading text aloud from images. This is a great new feature for capturing text on classroom worksheets, flyers and other paper-based materials. In a previous blog po...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 29th June, 2022
Microsoft Editor is a built-in spelling and grammar checker available in Word and Word Online. But you can now download it as an extension for the Edge and Chrome browsers. What is Editor and how does it compare to other online spell checkers? Microsoft Editor uses Artificial Intelligence (AI)...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 15th April, 2022
Most modern phones, including Android and iPhones, have good quality cameras for taking close up and distance snaps. A telephoto lens on a phone can be used for capturing information on flyers, posters, and content on the class whiteboard. Using the free app Microsoft Lens, ...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 7th April, 2022
I’m writing this article in response to a query I recently received. I was asked for some advice on reading online news articles for someone with a visual impairment and struggles using a mouse. They had tried using the free Natural Reader (a text-to-speech tool) but the process of s...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 31st March, 2022
A question we often get asked at CALL is about converting paper or printed worksheets to digital format that can be read aloud using text-to-speech by a device such as an iPad or Android. Digital readable formats can be helpful to learners who have literacy difficulties, who are print disa...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 24th March, 2022
It’s life Jim, but not as we know it, so goes Spock’s famous Star Trek phrase (and song). But for the purpose of this blog, I’m referring to a text reader, but not a text reader as we know it! While preparing for a recent workshop on using ‘Technology to Support Learners with...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 24th March, 2022
I’m a touch-typist but I’m forever making typos (and the odd genuine spelling mistake) so I find spell checkers invaluable. Online spell checkers such as Grammarly and Ginger claim to use artificial intelligence (AI) to check spelling and grammar and offer alternative suggestions to mist...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 14th January, 2022
Small changes can make a big difference! In this new resource 'Using Microsoft Word to support learners with Additional Support Needs (ASN)' a series of short video guides explains how you can make small changes using Microsoft Word’s built-in tools to support learners with literacy di...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 5th November, 2021
I’ve had a few queries recently asking how to make PowerPoint accessible, particularly for learners with a visual impairment who use a screen reader. We have lots of resources on making Word accessible for example the YouTube video playlist on 'Creating Accessible Documents' and the po...
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