How to Use iOS 6 Speak Selection With Highlighting

Apple's newly released iOS 6 includes a new improvements to Speak Selection that highlights words as they are read aloud. Click here to learn how to update to iOS 6. The new feature is available on any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch running iOS 6. To access the feature go to settings > general > accessibility > speak selection. Once enabled simply highlight any text and press speak to have the text read with text-to-speech. Speak Selection is great for people with dyslexia or for reviewing documents.

Typ-O App Review

Typo-O is a word prediction, spelling and text-to-speech app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The app costs $14.99 and requires iOS 6. Click here to view the app in the App Store. Typ-O is simple and easy to use. To get started just start typing, Typ-O then predicts the which word you are trying to type. You can touch the word to accept the predicted word or you can press on a speaker button to have the word spoken  using a text-to-speech voice. The word prediction is very good and can help improve spelling. Hearing the sentence read back to you using text-to-speech can also help improve grammar. Once you have finished writing you can send your text via email or text message. Typ-O includes a number of customizable setting to help improve word prediction accuracy. One negative of the app is that it uses text-to-speech voices from the internet which means if you are not connected to the internet you must use low quality text-to-speech voices.

Watch the video above to see Typ-O in action. Click here to download a lite version of Typ-O to try before you buy. Click read more below to view screenshots of Typ-O.

What is Guided Access?

Apple's new iPhone 5 and iOS 6 are out and include many new accessibility features. One of the biggest accessibility features of iOS 6 is called Guided Access. iOS 6 is the operating system that runs on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. To enable Guided Access go to Setting > General > Accessibility > Guided Access. Guided Access allows an parent or teacher to restrict access to a single app. This restricts kids from switch apps to watch videos or play games. Guided Access also allows parents and teachers to block off individual buttons within an app. For example if an app have setting a teacher could block it off so the students could not change app settings. Guided Access is great for teachers, users with autism or users with ADD. Guided Access allows teachers to administer tests on the iPad without worrying about students looking up the answers on the internet.

Watch the above video to learn how to use Guided Access. Click read more below to view more videos of Guided Access.

Create iOS Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are a tool for improving typing speed on your iOS device. To create a keyboard shortcut go to Setting > General > Keyboard > Shortcuts. To add a new short cut click the plus button in the top right. You can create a short cut to write "see you" when you type the letters "cu." You could also create a short cut for your email so you can enter your email quickly with just a few key strokes. Watch the above video to learn more.

How To Turn on Parental Controls on an iOS Device

The iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are great resources for many children and adults alike. If you want more control over what your child is doing while using their iOS device restrictions is the place to go. To enable restrictions go to settings then general and then restrictions. From there you will have to set a password so no one else can change the settings. You will want to make sure that you remember the password. Once you have typed in your password you can block access to different features such as the internet, downloading apps, deleting app, FaceTime, camera and more. These built in options are great for parents and educators who want more control over what children are doing on their iOS device.

To learn more and see step by step instructions watch the video above.  

TurboScan App Review

TurboScan is a app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The app uses the built in camera to capture a document and convert the image to excellent quality PDF files. TurboScan is $1.99 in the App Store. The app will not work very well with the iPad or iPod Touch because they do not have high quality cameras like the iPhone. The app has a simple interface that is easy to learn. It allows you to capture documents by taking a picture with your iPhone camera or import one from your album. TurboScan also has an option to take three pictures of the document for better accuracy. TurboScan also allows users to scan documents that are more than one page.

Once you have taken the picture of your document TurboScan detects the edges of the document and makes a PDF file. The apps has a few sharing options but not as many as JotNot Pro. The sharing include email and a really nice option called "email to myself" witch allows to quickly email your self the documents you have created.

Once you have your documents on your computer you can open them with Kurzweil to use all of Kurzweil's features such as read aloud and note taking. The PDF files created are crisp and clear.

Click read more below to see more pictures and videos of TurboScan.

Apps for Autism (60 Minutes)

60 Minutes featured communication Apps for iPad this week. Above is the full episode. Click here to read the full story. 60 Minutes describes the episode as follows,

"Autistic people whose condition prevents them from speaking are making breakthroughs with the help of tablet computers and special applications that allow them to communicate, some for the first time. Lesley Stahl reports."

Looktel Money Reader App Updated (Giveaway)

Today the Looktel Money Reader was updated to version 2.1. The new update includes bug fixes and makes the app available in Europe. Version 2.0 added support for the Euro, Pound, Australian dollar and Canadian dollar. The Looktel Money Reader can recognize any supported bill when it is in front of the camera The Money Reader will audibly say the denomination of the bill. The Looktel Money Reader is available in the App Store for $9.99. Click here to download the Looktel Money Reader. The Money Reader is can help visually impaired people quick identify the denomination of money anywhere. To learn more about the inaccessibility of paper money click here. To learn more about the Looktel Money Reader click here.

Giveaway

The makers of Looktel provide promotional codes to use as give aways on this blog. Sometime in the next 48 hours one promotional code will be posted on the Assistive Technology Blog. The first reader to redeem the code wins the app. Once one person uses the code it will no longer work. If you do not win the app is availabe by purchase.  You can find it by clicking here.

    

Accessible Combination Locks

Many combination locks are hard to use for people who are blind or have cognitive challenges. Master Lock has a few locks that are more accessible then conventional combination locks.

The first is the 1500iD lock which can be opened without looking at the lock. Conventional combination locks use a number dial that makes it impossible for blind users to open the lock. The 1500iD also only requires one hand to open so people with physical disabilities can more easily open the lock.

The 1525EZRC lock is designed for people with cognitive disabilities. The 1525EZRC lock features easy to remember combinations. The 1525EZRC lock looks identical to other locks so your valuables will be kept safe.

Voice Recording in Office 2010 & 2007

A feature in OneNote 2010 and 2007 allows users to take audio or video content while taking notes. The feature allows a student to make an audio recording of a lecture while still taking notes. The audio or video notes are then available for playback from within the notebook. The audio and video notes are time coded and allow you to hear what  the teacher was saying when you wrote a particular sentence. The functionality is similar to the function of Word for Mac 2011 and the Livescribe pen. OneNote is included in  Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 and 2010. Watch the videos above to learn more.

Using a Digital Camera As a Scanner in Kurzweil

Kurzweil 3000 is a great tool for reading text from the web or printed material. With Kurzweil you can scan a document and it will recognize the text (OCR) and read it back to you. If you do not have a scanner near by and need to read a printed document you can use a digital camera to import the picture to Kurzweil. Watch the video above for step by step instructions. When you open the JPEG file in Kurzweil it will recognize the text within the document and read it back to you. Also you can use Kurzweil's great annotation options to alter your document. When using this method the picture of the document must be clear with the document in the center of the picture. When using this method the OCR quality is below average but is still better than nothing.

SayText App Review

SayText is a free OCR app for iPhone that recognizes text within a document and reads it back to you with VoiceOver. The app does not work as quickly as the Intel Reader but is fairly quick. The app is very simple to use and does not include a lot of features. Focusing the text in iPhone camera is hard and requires a steady hand. The app includes an automatic image capture feature when the text is in focus. Make sure the camera flash is on to increase the image and scan accuracy. SayText is free in the iTunes app store so there is no harm in trying it out.    

Intel Reader Demo

Check out this video about the Intel Reader. This video shows some features of the Intel Reader as well the text recognitiond speed (OCR) and accuracy.  The Intel Reader is great for quickly getting text into an electronic document that can be read aloud. For more information about the Intel Reader check out one of these links. Intel Reader: First Impressions, Intel Reader Unboxing, Intel Reader Give Away, and Intel Reader.

Kurzweil 3000 Overview

Watch this 52 minute video to learn all about Kurzweil 3000, or read the summary below:

Kurzweil 3000 is writing and reading software that has many great features. Kurzweil is available for both Mac and PC, but the PC version has more features then the Mac version.  Kurzweil has optical character recognition. (OCR) What this means is that a document that is scanned can be read back to you.  As the words are read aloud, they are highlighted.You can turn off the sound if you just need help with tracking and not decoding.  There is an option to speed up or slow down the voice, and the pace of highlighting according to your preference. Kurzweil comes with a few computerized voices, but more can be added.


Once the document is scanned it can also be annotated with text boxes, highlights and circles. This allows you to do anything you could do with hard copy print material. Kurzweil is great for completing worksheets, tests and quizzes. If a document contains many blank spaces Kurzweil has a feature to add a text box on each blank. This feature can be found under tools and then fill in the blanks.

 Kurzweil is also great for writing. It has spell check, word prediction and web layouts. One of the best parts of writing with Kurzweil is that the text is read back to you, which is a great editing tool. Kurzweil has a built in dictionary for quick reference. Another handy feature is "read the web" this feature allows a web page to be read aloud with out copying and pasting the text in to Kurzweil. With read the web a toolbar appears with a read button a the bottom of your browser. To read the web simply select the desired text and press the read button. Kurzweil is a great tool for reading and writing. To learn more about Kurzweil, click here visit the Kurzweil webpage. For a video about Kurzweil's virtual print click here. Stay tuned for more Kurzweil tips, tricks and videos.

Intel Reader Unboxing

I just received the Intel Reader that I won from the Care Innovations Facebook contest. Click here for more information about the Care Innovations Facebook giveaway. Watch the video to see an unboxing of the Intel Reader and some additional information. The reader is very small and light but has extremely fast text recognition. It is powered by an Intel Atom processor which is the same processor that powers many netbooks. The software and hardware are easy to learn. The Intel Reader has very large buttons that are well spaced which makes navigation easier. The image capture is extremely accurate because of a five megapixal camera on the bottom. I have only had the Intel Reader for a couple of minutes but expect a full review later in the week. Until then click this link to check out an overview of the Intel Reader.

Intel Reader Give Away

Care Giving which is a partner of Intel and GE will be giving away an Intel Reader to someone on their Facebook page, stay tuned for details. The contest is not currently happening but check back for a post when it start. The winner will be the person with the most votes. The Intel Reader is a great assistive technology device that takes pictures of text and then reads it aloud. I will be doing an unboxing of the Intel Reader in the next couple days.