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Generally speaking, I have never seen in person 

any type of AT (Assistive Technology).

I think that the video that we watched about 

"Ellen" was the first example of any AT that I 

saw in use.   So it was very informative and 

interesting to see that.  

Screen readers are programs that allow 

individuals with visual impairments, or reading 

disabilities to hear the text that is on a screen.  

These devices were originally used with simple 

text on a word processing document.   However, 

with the transition of text on Web sites it is a bit 

more complicated and expensive to caption the 

text on screen and relay that to text.   There are 

some readers out there that allow the user to 

caption and read out-loud the text on a website 

however they do range in price from $300 - 

$1500. 

The use of screen readers has tremendous 

possibilities for the visually impaired, and 

reading disabled population.   Teachers would 

be able to have students complete online 

homework, read online articles, and 

participate   in the same fashion as a student 

without those disabilities.   Screen readers such 

as 

"Spoken Web" and "Browse Aloud" have 

developed a live streaming program that 

streams news, weather, and business updates 

in screen reader fashion.   So there is a lot of 

possibilities for teachers with this type of AT.

The American Foundation for the Blind

http://www.afb.org/prodbrowsecatresults.asp

?catid=49

Wikipedia Screen Readers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_reader

Keyboard filters are programs that allow 

individuals who are not fast typists, or have a 

physical disability that makes typing difficult, an 

opportunity to type easier than before.

What happens is that the user would type a few 

letters, (or however many is desired), and after a 

few letters are typed the Keyboard filter offers 

suggestions for the user to select in order to use 

that word.   This saves time by allowing the person 

the ability to pick words to use rather than typing 

them.

When these are implemented in the classroom 

students that have disabilities are other typing 

problems can type faster than before.   This would 

mean less modifications could be used for students 

with this disability or problem.   We could maybe 

give the same type of writing assignments to 

students that could have access to this technology. 

Source:   Assistive Technology in Education Blog  

http://assistivetechnnu.blogspot.com/2012/06/key

board-filters.html

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