Posted by Craig Mill on the 24th November, 2022
Category Text-to-Speech
The online natural text-to-speech voices on the Chromebook have improved in recent years. The 'Select to speak' tool, gives learners the option to hear the text on the screen and highlight parts of the text to improve focus. Google is increasingly rolling out more natural voices, including v...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 22nd November, 2022
Category Visual Impairment Assistive Technology
Last week at CALL we had a demonstration of the OrCam products. I was initially sceptical at first as I saw the Orcam Eye at a conference a few years ago - it was attached to a rather long cable/battery pack and I thought it was a bit clunky. However, after the meeting I could see th...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 10th November, 2022
Category Text-to-Speech Dyslexia
In this article I consider the advantages and disadvantages of Immersive Reader and highlight some free alternatives. The popularity of built-in tools such as Immersive Reader (IM) and Read Aloud in Microsoft Word, Edge, Teams and OneNote can make a big difference to support learners with...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 9th November, 2022
Category Dyslexia
Not my words, but one of the many positive comments from participants who have completed the free 'Technology to Support Dyslexia' module. What is the Technology to Support Dyslexia module? Technology to Support Dyslexia is an online, self-study module that explores how techno...
Posted by Craig Mill on the 23rd August, 2022
CALL has developed a series of free professional learning modules for you to study at your leisure. The focus of each module is how technology can help learners with additional support needs, for example, pupils who experience literacy difficulties arising from dyslexia. The 4 modules comprise of: ...
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...
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