Shivan Mahabir Athanasia (Tania) Kalaitzidis Danny Villaroel Reginald Coupet Assistive Technology, Accessibility, and 3D Printing Overview

3D printing Accessibility Assistive Technology What we will be discussing

Handheld devices Hardware Software A piece of equipment used to increase or improve access for students with disabilities Assistive technology can be: What is assistive technology?

Kurzweil 3000 – Reading and writing ZoomText – Screen magnification Dragon Naturally Speaking – Voice recognition Assistive Technology Software

Kurzweil 3000 is a reading and writing software that assists students with learning disabilities. Reads text aloud while highlighting each spoken word. Users have access to dictionary, thesaurus, pronunciation and note- taking features. Kurzweil 3000 v. 14

New look to the interface Kurzweil 3000 v. 14 New Updates

This new look can be accessed by updating the current version you have or by doing a fresh install. New Brainstorm and Draft templates All previous features rearranged You can revert back and forth between interfaces Kurzweil 3000 v. 14 New Updates (continued)

ZoomText is a magnification software that enlarges content on the screen from as little as 1.2 times incrementally up to 60 times. Magnification can be used in conjunction with speech output. ZoomText 10.1

Magnifier tab controls text and screen magnification Reader tab controls document reading tools and voice programs Tools tab controls camera functions and voice recorder ZoomText (continued)

Students can write essays by dictating text into any Windows based program, such as Microsoft Word. Navigate the computer screen by simply speaking into a microphone. Dragon Naturally Speaking

Need a user account when using Dragon The more you use Dragon with your account, the more accustomed it gets with your voice, resulting in better accuracy Dragon Naturally Speaking (continued)

Professors and staff in higher education need to make sure that course content is made accessible so students with disabilities can access them. Importance of Accessibility

Universal Design ensures all students have access to online content Creating accessible materials can benefit those: – With a broad range in ability or disability – With different learning styles – Who are English as Second Language students Accessibility as Part of Universal Design

Little use of color Use sans-serif fonts Provide alternate text for images Use descriptive link rather than just the url Avoid using text boxes Use headings to ensure proper order Microsoft Word Accessibility

Font size 32 for slides main points Avoid too much text on one slide Check reading order of text boxes in slides Ensure reading order of each slide is logical Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibility

OCR – optical character recognition Provide alternate text for images Provide tags Ensure correct reading order for tags PDF Documents

Provide captions and transcripts to video and audio files Captions are text versions of dialogue and non-verbal sounds in multimedia Subtitles are not captions! Video/Audio Accessibility

One to three lines of text Viewable for three to seven seconds Caption non-verbal sounds When there is more than one speaker, identify who is speaking Do not caption stuttering or hesitation Captioning Guidelines

MovieCaptioner – QuickTime based – Can caption video and audio files – Convenient editing features – Loop feature – Can import and export transcript files – Available for both Mac and PC Captioning Software

You can add captions using your YouTube account Can export the captions as a transcript Free! YouTube Captioning

3D Printing Overview

Developed in the early 80s by Chuck Hull 3D printing allows a user to turn a three dimensional digital file into a physical object Stereo lithography Apparatus (SLA) – uses laser with liquid photo polymer. The laser turns the liquid into solid. What is 3D Printing?

Example of SLA

Video on SLS

Example of FDM

Students that are blind/low vision Students that are visual learners Students with learning disabilities Kinetic learners (touch-oriented) Faculty Everyone! Who Can Benefit in Higher Education?

Things to Consider

It will take several weeks to become familiar with 3D modeling tools such as SketchUp or Blender. To become proficient, it will take half a year with practice, trial, and error. Requires Time

3D printers tend to be very noisy Can be distracting if placed near a high traffic area Avoid bright lights and moving/shaking surfaces. Location Printer

Cost vs. Benefit

Printing Services Each item printing will cost substantially more Items printed by professionals so quality will be better Ideal for when you want to print a high grade object that will be used frequently In-House Initial cost will be high. Save in the long run if used frequently Ideal for project that will revolve around working with multiple students/faculty In-House vs. Printing Services

3D ProParts (owned by 3D systems) Stratasys Shapeways 3D HUBS Sculpteo Printing Services

3D Scanner to Scan Physical Object

See if your campus or a local organization has a 3D printer to try out and get a better feel of the technology. Focus on creating the models and not so much the printing aspect. Find a student who could possibly benefit from the use of incorporating 3d models. Work with their professor to see if a structure or two could be created to aid the student. Recommendation

The Future