Assistive Services & Technologies

Assistive Technologies

Common Accessibility Technologies

Thanks to advances in technology, there are an increasing number of tools available to students to improve their access to education. Below is a partial list of items that might be helpful in your courses here at Sonoran University. Please suggest any new items or needs that should be included below to accessibility@sonoran.edu.

General Resource Links

Adaptech Research Network - Group that has developed several resources and an extensive database of free and inexpensive adaptive technology.
Technology Resources for College Students with Disabilities - this guide provides a quick overview of the different common disabilities some college students have and the different resources and technologies available to them.
Ease of Access Center – Centralized location on a computer's Control Panel where accessibility settings and utilities can be adjusted.

Dictation/Speech-to-Text/Speech Recognition

Dragon Dictation (iOS App) – Speech recognition software that dictates words into text messages, emails, social media, or pastes into other apps and programs using the clipboard feature.
Dragon Naturally Speaking – a voice recognition input system for persons with manual (hand/arm) impairments or written expression learning disabilities. Users enter text with punctuation into the computer by speaking versus using a keyboard. Users can also control the computer’s operations with voice commands. This program requires a few hours of training, including building a personal voice profile and practicing to become proficient with a good degree of accuracy. Students can train this software on their home computer, save their voice profile on a CD or flash drive, and then load their voice profile onto another computer equipped with this software.
Voice Typing in Google Chrome – Students can utilize speech recognition within Google Chrome or Google Docs. Go into the Tools menu in the Google Chrome Browser, select Voice Typing, click on the microphone that pops up, and start talking. The spoken text will be entered into the typing field and mistakes can be corrected without moving the cursor.

Hearing Assistance Technology (HATS)

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders's (NIH) Assistive Devices page discusses the various devices available to help with hearing conditions.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) Hearing Assistive Technology page also explores various HATS devices and how they may be utilized to help you hear with the help of an Audiologist.
Hearing Assisted or Hearing Device Compatible Stethoscopes comparison - The Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses (AMPHL) offers a comparison of various stethoscopes to assist with hearing loss

Note Taking Support

Evernote – A one-stop place to collect notes, files, web clippings, and images with the ability to access them on virtually any device (the basic version is free).
OneNote – Take all your notes in OneNote by typing or writing with a touchscreen. You can import pictures, videos, web links, and other resources. Notes can be divided by classes and work by notebook, section, and pages and easily formatted. Search all notes across all notebooks to easily find information.
Sonocent Audio Notetaker Software – This program for Windows and Mac makes it easy to capture full recordings of classes and meetings and to work with the captured audio. The software records speech as a real, tangible thing, by visualizing audio as chunks, phrase-by-phrase making it easy to return to any part of the recording later. For more information see this video on how Sonocent works.
Live Scribe

Reading Support

JAWS – a screen reader for persons with visual impairments or reading disabilities. Text and links on the computer’s screen are read aloud.
Natural Reader – Basic text-to-speech program. Listen to PDF files, webpages, e-books, e-textbooks, office documents, and printed books. Includes magnification up to 72-point font or 200% and is available online or for download.
ZoomText – a screen enlargement software program that enlarges the entire computer screen by varying amounts and will also read the screen text aloud. ZoomText Magic is useful for persons with visual impairments or reading disability.
Kurzweil 3000 – a computer screen reading system that converts text material displayed on the computer screen to voice output for persons with a reading disability. Text can be displayed in various colors and words read can be highlighted as they are read aloud. Kurzweil 3000 will also convert text files to audio files in WAV or MP3 formats.
NVDA Screen Reader – NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a free, open-source screen reader built for Windows-based computers. Works with most applications such as web browsers, email, and Microsoft Office programs.

Vision Assistance

The Americal Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Assistive Technology Products page lists over 20 solutions and links to products to assist those who are blind or visually impaired. To view all solutions click review the categories in the right navigation bar. The solutions listed include mobile apps, braille technologies, lighting technology, screen magnifiers, and notetaking options.
Apple VoiceOver solutions - This link contains info on utilizing hearing, braille, magnifier, and spoken word technology on your Apple device for those who are blind, have low vision and prefer larger text or wish to customize their display to more easily navigate on their devices.

Writing Support

Grammarly - Grammarly eliminates spelling errors, writing mistakes, contextual errors, and poor vocabulary usage. Grammarly finds and corrects up to 10 times more mistakes than your word processor.
eType – This program auto-completes words as you type stopping spelling mistakes before they happen. The program integrates with Word, Outlook, Gmail, Facebook, and many more.
TextHelp Read&Write – a software program with an extensive dictionary, thesaurus, and word prediction features designed to aid students with composing, spelling, writing, and grammar. This program also reads the text on the computer screen and highlights each word as it is read.

Assistive Services

Distraction-Reduced Test Environment

Students easily distracted by auditory and visual stimuli may experience distractions to the extent that their ability to demonstrate their knowledge during a testing situation is negatively impacted. In such cases, students need a testing environment with fewer external distractions to devote their full attention to the content of an exam. A distraction-reduced environment has fewer external distractions so students can maximize their ability to sustain attention while taking an exam. Sonoran University cannot guarantee a distraction-free testing environment, only a distraction-reduced environment. Sonoran University can provide a distraction-reduced environment at the Sonoran University Testing Center.

Notetaker Accommodations

Notetaker accommodations can assist eligible students in analyzing and organizing information presented during live lectures, but are not intended to substitute the student's class attendance, participation in Team-based Learning (TBL) or hands-on sessions, or their own note-taking efforts. This accommodation is limited to live-in-person synchronous courses or asynchronous courses with faculty-scheduled group activities or recorded lectures where a transcript is not available or unable to be created. Courses where the professor only conducts independent coursework, clinical fieldwork, group projects, or one-on-one meetings, are not covered. Medical documentation should clearly identify the condition that impedes the student's ability to take effective notes. Notetakers will start at the beginning of a term for approved accommodations. Contact the Accessibility Office as soon as a notetaker need is identified.