iOS 8 Checklist and Resources

Apple has released iOS 8, the new version of their mobile operating system that runs on iPads, iPods, and iPhones.  I just wanted to post some quick links to some good documents from the Ablenet website about new features in iOS 8 that might affect people with disabilities.  I have also posted a good checklist to look at before you make the decision to upgrade or stick with iOS 7 for a little while longer. 

Click the links below:

iOS 8 New Accessibility Features

iOS 8 Upgrade Checklist

Thanks for reading!

How to enlarge font size on an iPad or iPod

Check out this nice article for a great tutorial on how to make a lot of the text on your iOS device easier to access visually.

SoundingBoard-Easy (and free) AAC app for iPad

Sometimes, you don't want an AAC app that comes with thousands of buttons and lots of complex menus to have to learn.  Sometimes, you just want to quickly and easily create a board with a few pictures for your emerging communicators.  And sometimes, you don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on an app that you're not even sure will work for your student.  If any of those "Sometimes" applies to you, then you might want to check out a FREE app from Ablenet called SoundingBoard.

SoundingBoard is an easy to use app that lets you quickly make communication pages (or "boards") for students.  These boards can be linked together to make a more complex communication system, or can just be selected as needed based on the setting and task.  The AbleNet website describes the app this way:

SoundingBoard is ONLY available for download at iTunes stores.

SoundingBoard transforms your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch into the latest in communication technology. In just minutes, you can create custom boards using AbleNet symbols or your own photos.

• Create boards with up to 20 message locations
• Virtually unlimited capacity; create boards for any situation
• Use the built-in AbleNet symbol library for instant access to hundreds of symbols
• Record messages of virtually any length for each symbol
• Use your own photo library for even greater flexibility and options
• Take your own photos using your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch and use them in a board immediately*
• Increase the physical size of the boards by using the iPad

If you haven't checked out this free resource yet, you should add it to your AAC toolbox.  It is a great app to have for many different situations.  My only caution about "build your own pages" apps is that, for students who have a lot to say, it may be a very frustrating experience to only be able to say the things my teacher and SLP get around to programming for me.  For those kinds of students, you may want to check out a more fully featured AAC app.

2 new fully featured AAC apps for Autism: AutisMate and Avaz

When most people think about AAC and the iPad, they usually think about Proloquo2go.  It is a great app that offers tons of preloaded vocabulary, along with a highly customizable interface to support lots of different levels of communicators.

  I have recently learned about two other apps that share many of the features that make Proloquo2go so popular.  They are called AutisMate, and Avaz.  Both apps are designed for students with autism, but would support many other students with cognitive and communication impairments.  It is always good to have options when individualized supports for students, and I hope this info will help you expand your AAC toolbox a bit today!

First, let's talk about  AutisMate.  It costs $149.99 and is available on the Apple app store.  This app is a unique blend of visual behavior supports and communication.  The AutisMate website says:

AutisMate is an iPad app for autism that improves communication and social and behavioral skills (life skills) for individuals with autism by reinforcing autism treatment through a comprehensive approach, offering all of the Visual Supports, including Visual Scenes, Visual Schedules, Video Modeling, Visual Stories and Grid-Based AAC.

The idea is that, since communication and behavior are so intertwined, why not combine them into the same app?  The interface is clean and easy to use, and the visual supports are great.  Check out the AutisMate website to see some great videos of the app in action.  I have also included a video demonstration by a mother of a child with autism showing how she uses the app at home.



Next up is the Avaz app. It costs $99.99 and is available on the Apple app store. Unlike AutisMate, which is a hybrid between a behavior and communication app, Avaz is an AAC app designed to rival Proloquo2go.  It offers many really nice features, including:

• 3 levels of vocabulary (500 - 5000 words)
• Easy customization
• Multiple types of vocabulary and communication strategies, including Core Words, a Keyboard with word prediction, a Mistake button, an Alert button (for getting someone's attention), and Grid based AAC.
• Can start with only 2 buttons on a page and grow from there.
• Can hide buttons and zoom in on buttons when tapped
• High quality voices
• Automatically tracks how the app is used during a session (instant data collection!)
• Lots of ways to adjust and change settings based on the student.

 This looks like a great app, with lots of great features, and at a very reasonable price for an app of this caliber.  Check out the Avaz website for more info.  I've also included a brief 1 minute video overview of the app for your enjoyment.

Cosmonaut-Wide grip iPad stylus for small hands or other motor impairments

My last post dealt with how switch scanning in the new iOS opens up the iPad to people who couldn't previously use it due to physical motor limitations.  In that same vein, I wanted to briefly discuss the Cosmonaut Large Grip Stylus.  This was designed to feel more like a dry erase marker than a traditional pencil style stylus.  I think it is ideal for young children who can't really grasp a smaller stylus yet, as well as for young children who have not yet learned to only touch the screen with one finger at a time.  They can grip the stylus and then the stylus becomes that one point of touch screen contact.  (We've all been frustated by trying to tap somewhere on the screen with one finger and accidentally doing something weird when another finger made contact with the screen at the same time).  This stylus may work as well for older students who have problems extending just one finger to tap a touchscreen, or who cannot hold a teeny little stylus, but could control something a little bit bigger.  You can get more information at
http://www.studioneat.com/products/cosmonaut

New Accessibility Features in iOS 7- Including Switch Scanning!

Apple has released their newest update to iOS, the operating system that runs their iPads, iPods touches, and iPhones last week.  For those of you keeping track, they have now updated from iOS 6 to iOS7.  If you've already downloaded the update, you've noticed that the look is very different, but the feel is still pretty familiar. (Note: Updating to iOS 7 will require some storage space on your device.  You may have to delete some things off of your device, perform the update, and then put those things you deleted back on your device.) There are several changes and additions in iOS 7, including several changes and additions to the accessibility options.  Some of my favorite are more and better voices for Speak Selection, better features in Guided Access, and, my personal favorite, Switch Scanning options!  This feature will allow people with motor impairments to access all aspects of the iPad and many of the great iPad apps.  To see a general list of what is new in iOS 7 accessibility features, click here.  To watch an excellent video overview of the new accessibility features in iOS 7, click here. 

Read on for more information about switch scanning:

Until now, many people with physical disabilities have been unable to interact with touchscreen devices, or their motor impairments have severely limited their ability to interact with the screen.  With iOS 7, these people can bypass all that junk that used to keep them back and can now access the iPad using 3 different methods:
1) using an external bluetooth switch
2) using the entire touch screen of the device as a switch
3) moving their head to the left and right (the front facing camera on the device watches your movement)
 You can also use a combination of switch options, such as using one bluetooth switch to scan through features, but using the touch screen of the iPad to go back to the home screen.

 (Note:  There is no way to plug a switch with wires into an iPad, so you will have to purchase a bluetooth switch to use with the iPad.  Click here for an earlier post about bluetooth switches and  iPad apps.)  

  You can set up the iPad for automatic switch scanning, where the iPad automatically moves the cursor from one choice to the next and you press the switch to select the option you want when highlighted.  You can also set up 2 or more switches to perform step scanning (i.e. one switch moves the cursor to the next choice and another switch chooses the highlighted option).  The head tracking option uses the front facing camera of the iPad and detects when you move your head to the right or left.  You have to move your head approximately 45 degrees either direction to get it to work.  When I played around with it, I had a hard time getting the iPad to recognize my right head movement, but the left head movement worked perfectly.  If you are trying to use this feature in extreme lighting conditions, it will not work very well either.  The switch options are highly customizeable.  You can set it up for very basic users, all the way up to neuro-typical kids with limiting motor impairments. 

I am really excited to see how these new features will open up the iPad to a whole new group of people who were previously held back just by their motor limitations.  To see an excellent video tutorial on iOS 7 switch scanning, including setting up your bluetooth switch and customizing all the settings, click here.  I would love to hear (in the comments) how your students and children are using this new feature.

FarFaria app for iPad: The Netflix/Hulu for kids books

A while back someone told me about a new iPad app called FarFaria.  It has been described by some reviewers as "A Netflix (or Hulu) for children's stories". I just recently got around to downloading it and playing with it a bit and there are some things I definitely like about it.  The app is free to download, but, in order to actually use most of the books, you must pay a $3.99/month subscription fee (roughly $48/year).  You do get to try it for free for 30 days.

  Some of the things I like about this app is that there is a wide selection of books in the Preschool to 2nd grade range.  The books are high quality, and many books come with a "read to me" feature that will read the book in high quality, pre-recorded human narration.  All of the books are developed specifically for the app, so you can't find your favorites from Barnes and Noble or the public library here, but most of the books are still very good.  This app is easy enough to use that a child could operate it independently, which would be great for self selected reading time in school and at home.  If you are willing to spend a little less than $50 a year for children's books, then this app might be for you. 

For a more in depth review of the app, check out this link.

Putting Tar Heel Reader books into iBooks with speech! (repost)

I am posting a link to a great blogger by the name of Jane Farrall, about putting Tar Heel Reader books into iBooks on the iPad.  Tar Heel Reader is a great source of simple, user generated books for all ages, and now the ability to use them with the iPad makes it even better.  There are also a few other Tar Heel Reader posts on Jane's Blog that you might want to check out as well.

To read the post, click here.
To simply go to Jane's blog, click here.
To check out Tar Heel Reader, click here.

There's an app for that! But is it right for you? - NCLD

This is a great little article that one of my colleagues shared with me about choosing apps for educational use.  I think it shares some great tips for evaluating apps before you waste your money on something that doesn't suit your needs.

There's an app for that! But is it right for you? - NCLD

Abilipad- My new favorite writing app

There are a lot of really great note-taking and word processing apps available for the iPad.  These apps are great, but they work best for students who are already proficient at writing.  What I feel has been missing from my iPad experience up to this point is a solid app that helps students with the complex and sometimes difficult task of written composition.  To my delight, I recently learned about a great writing app for the iPad called Abilipad. This app has a lot of great features that make it a very nice adaptive writing tool for struggling or emerging writers. Those features include:
-word prediction (does a nice job with creative spelling!)
-auditory feedback (can be set to read aloud each letter, word, sentence, or paragraph as you type. Will also read your entire passage back to you. )
-easy and intuitive file management system.
-(perhaps my favorite feature) the ability to create and download custom keyboards with letters, words, phrases, or pictures!

All of these features make the writing process accessible for all developing writers.  With the ability to make custom keyboards, complete with pre-made word, phrase, and picture buttons, you could even use this app with emerging scribblers.  Also, the developers of the app have created a way to download and share custom keyboards made by other users from the Abilipad online keyboard library.  I checked out the library, and found something for everyone, even OT's and SLP's!

The variety and quality of features available in this app really makes it a stellar writing tool for anyone working with struggling or emerging writers.  I would really encourage you to check it out on the App Store.  It costs $19.99. For a more detailed explanation of the app, and to see examples of how it has impacted student progress, check out this great blog post.

Mobile Bookshare Apps for iOS and Android devices

Bookshare.org is a wonderful resource for students with print disabilities.  If you have not yet heard about what Bookshare is and how it can change your student's lives, please check out www.bookshare.org, or check out our Bookshare post. 

Students wanting to access free books from Bookshare on their iPad, iPod, iPhone, or Andoid phone or tablet can now do so with the help of a couple of nifty apps.  These apps will access the bookshare website directly from your device, download books directly to the device via wireless internet, and read them aloud using synthetic computer voices.  They are very easy to use and a great tool for mobile device users.

The Bookshare app for iOS devices is called Read2Go.  It costs $19.99 on the iTunes App Store and is compatible with any iOS device.  The app comes with high quality voices pre-installed.  You can change the font size and screen/text/highlighting colors, as well as the speed, pitch, and gender of the voice.  You will need to access a wifi network to download books to your device, but do not need to access wifi to read books already downloaded to your device.

One Caution: In order to use Read2Go, you will need to sign in using your Bookshare username and password.  This means that if students do not have an individual Bookshare account, they will need a teacher to sign in and download books for them using the Teacher's Bookshare username and password.  (Teachers, be careful with your password if using this option).  I have had several families who, once they purchased the app on a personal device, and got set up with an individual Bookshare account, take off and use the app completely independent of the schools, which can be a very powerful thing.

If you are an Android user, there is a free, open source Bookshare app called  GoRead.  The basic setup and idea is similar to the Read2Go app.  You will still need wifi to download books, but not to read, and you will still need a Bookshare username and password to use the app. 

There are still no direct solutions for reading Bookshare books on a Kindle, Kindle Fire, or Nook.  These three devices do not support the DAISY format and, (to the best of my knowledge) do not have DAISY apps available like iOS and Android.  There is a way to convert DAISY books to the Nook's ePub format using a $99 software program called DAISYtoEPUB.  Since the Kindle uses a proprietary book format, you have to then convert the Epub file to a MOBI file using a program called Calibre. or convert it to plain text (.txt) format.  Hopefully these devices will become more user friendly in the future for Bookshare members.

As always, please let me know about any problems or questions in the comments section, and thanks for reading!

Switch accessible apps (and switches) for iPad

For a long time now, students with limited motor abilities have been able to use accessibility switches to access computers, speak messages, and control their environment.  Switch users can now access the iPad as well thanks to the introduction of bluetooth switches and switch interfaces. The switches and interfaces connect to the iPad wirelessly via the bluetooth settings on the iPad.   I have included links to a few different sites where you can check some of them out.  There are other products available as well if you are willing to search for them.  The three products I have listed range in price from $100 to $150.  Each has particular strengths and weaknesses that you will  have to evaluate when choosing.

RJ Cooper Bluetooth Switch Interface ($100)
RJ Cooper Bluetooth Super Switch ($150)
Blue 2 Bluetooth switch ($150, unique foot pedal design)


ONE IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SWITCHES AND THE IPAD:
 In order to use a switch with the iPad, you must be using an app that has been designed for switch access.  There are many apps, especially those NOT designed for special needs, will NOT work with switches, so keep that in mind.  More and more apps are now being designed, however, with switch access in mind, or plan to add it in at some future point in time.  Most apps that are currently switch accesible are cause and effect games and AAC apps.

Click here for a link to a great blog post and a really, really good list of switch accessible apps.

 RJ Cooper, who manufactures some of the products featured in this post, has included a list of apps that are either switch accessible right now, or looking to add it in the future.  Click here to see his list.

Speak Selection in iOS- Make the iPad read to you!

We know that the iPad can fling angry birds against the wall, take notes, play videos, and even speak for you, but one of my absolute favorite features built into the iPad is called Speak Selection.  When this feature is activated, the iPad will read aloud any text that you can select.  I have found it especially useful in Notes, Safari, Email, and Dropbox, but it is limited only to what text you can select.  It is especially useful when paired with the Reader function built into Safari.  (for more info, see my post entitled "A Cleaner and Easier Online Reading Experience...").

To enable the feature, tap the Settings app, and then tap General > Accessibility > Speak Selection.  Turn On the slider bar, and adjust the voice rate.  You only get one voice right now, but it is a good quality voice.  In iOS 6, you also get the option to have the iPad highlight words as it reads.  You also can choose different dialects, just in case you watched Finding Nemo the night before and just couldn't get enough of the Australian accent.

I have included two links to great YouTube videos explaining the feature.  The first video features the ipad, and includes info about the languages and dialects options.  The second video features the iPhone, but it works the same on the iPod touch.





I hope you and your students enjoy this amazing feature.  If you have success stories or creative implementation ideas, please share in the comments section!

Free iOS apps available today/ A shout-out to the UCET blog.

I have been a fan for a while of a great blog put out by the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET).  It is located at http://ucetnews.blogspot.com .  The UCET is an educational technology organization that consists mainly of regular education teachers, but has been expanding more into special education as well as technology continues to bridge the gaps between them.

One of my favorite features of the blog is that they will periodically list iOS apps (apps for iPads and iPods) that normally cost money to purchase, but are available for a limited time for free.  I will try to update this blog with links to the UCET blog when they post that info.  To see today's list, go to the UCET blog, or click the following link.  Two that caught my eye were a Cookie Monster app, and a great figural analogy app.

Check them out and bookmark the UCET blog if you like to keep up to date on the latest in educational technology.

Guided Access - iOS 6 accessibility feature

I will be the first to say that I love the impact iPads have made in education. I have, however, always been frustrated that it was so easy for a student to quit a chosen app simply by hitting the home button on the bottom of the device.  It can be VERY difficult to use an iPad effectively once a student figures out how easy it is to exit that math app and play Fruit Ninja instead!  It is also frustrating when a student keeps tapping the wrong place in an app (settings buttons, ad banners, volume switch, etc.) and disrupts the learning of himself or others.

With the upgrade to iOS 6, that problem has been solved for us!!  Apple has introduced an accessibility option called Guided Access.  Turning on Guided Access enables you to do two really great things:
1) Disable all the external buttons on the iPad, including the home button, volume buttons, sleep button, etc.  (no more hitting the home button to exit an app, changing the volume, etc.)
2) Disable certain areas of the touch screen when using a chosen app. (no more clicking on ad banners or in-app purchase buttons, etc.)

Click this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wSuL-1TZro8#! to see a nice 3 minute video about Guided Access, or read on for more info.

This feature is accessed by tapping the Settings app, then tapping General-Accessibility-Guided Access.  Once you tap Guided Access, you will turn it on, and set a passcode (you will need to remember this passcode to get OUT of Guided Access once you've started it).

Then, get into an app, and Triple-click the home button.  This will bring up the guided access set up screen.  (NOTE: Guided access only works when you are already in an app, you can't get to it from the home screen of your iPad).  You can then draw a circle around certain portions of the screen you want to disable, as well as turn on/off access to the hardware buttons, touch screen itself, and the motion capability (shaking or rotating the device).

Once you have selected your options, hit Start in the top right corner of the screen to begin guided access.  Now you will NOT be able to exit the app by tapping the home button.  You will have to exit Guided Access by triple-clicking the home button, entering the passcode you set in the Guided Access settings, and tapping End in the top left corner of the screen.

Here's the link to the video again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wSuL-1TZro8#!

This is available on all iPads, iPod touches, and iPhones that will support iOS 6.  The iPad 1 and several older iPods/iPhones will NOT support iOS 6.  You can see a full list of iOS 6 supported devices here (scroll to bottom of page): http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/