We set out with two essential questions:

1. How can we support the learning needs of students with blindness and low vision?
2. In the process, how can we be better teachers of all students?

I paired these questions because if we don’t apply what we know about the typical learning needs of students with blindness and low vision to our broader population of students, we miss an opportunity to critically reflect on our existing repertoire of teaching strategies. Indeed, we made several connections between learning needs and learning preferences during both webinars. For example, a typical accommodation for students with blindness is tactile curriculum materials, such as raised maps. Folks almost immediately recognized this as a universal design for learning (UDL) strategy in that it reflects the principle of multiple representations of information, in this case, both seeing and feeling the content of the curriculum. Another way to consider this is differentiation of the methods that we design for all students to process concepts and information.

In preparation for the webinar, Nancy and I had the fortune of interviewing a local middle schooler, Tyler, who demonstrated various ways that he accesses learning. We captured video of him and his TVI. These videos set the backdrop of the webinar as Tyler explained and showed us how he combines the use of his MLTI MacBook and his BrailleNote to accomplish collaborative projects with his peers, stay electronically organized, use accessible instructional materials that he receives in a timely manner (i.e., same time as his peers), and communicate with his teachers. Most enthusiastically, Tyler shared with us how he uses technology for social and recreational purposes, which included staying updated with friends on Facebook; watching video at YouTube; downloading music, video, and TV from iTunes; and communicating via Skype.

Here are the resources that were presented during the webinar, as well as shared by folks in the Chat Pod:

Maine AIM
National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM)
E-description of curriculum materials
How to access descriptions of NOVA programs
Bookshare
National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC)
American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Wordle of informal webinar transcription

Thanks to all who participated in last Thursday’s webinar, “Getting to Know VoiceOver.” Steve Sawczyn of AT Maine was our guest and provided a basic, albeit truly stellar, overview of VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader for Macs. More importantly, he gave us numerous take-aways for being better educators of all learners, including students who are blind or have low vision.

In Steve’s introduction, he explained that he’s been blind since birth and started using Apple computers in the 3rd grade when his teacher got a grant. In his own educational experience, the greatest barrier to learning has been access to information. Having to wait for materials to become available in alternative formats (i.e., purchased, converted, or transcribed), greatly disadvantages students with print disabilities. What has been the greatest contributor to access to learning? Steve cites technology from an early age as playing a large role in successful learning experiences. Even more important has been the ability to read Braille. He describes it as a “gift” he was given at an early age. He states, “It’s one thing to listen to text, such as by speech synthesizer or book in audio format, but another thing is to be able to read it in a way that you know what the punctuation is, understand the conceptual layout, flow of paragraphs…subtle things are lost in the translation to any audio format.”

Some anecdotes about *VoiceOver (VO)

• VO is “integrated.” That is, every Mac (Tiger and newer) has VO built in. You don’t need to install, download, or configure anything. It’s just there.

• In the past, Steve’s experience was to use “special workstations” or computers adapted with assistive technology for users with disabilities. Today, he can use any Mac, from his childrens’ laptops to trying out new devices at the Apple Store (a favorite pastime, apparently).

• VO- and non VO-users can collaborate because it is designed to be an accessible interface for everyone. The caption panel displays in text everything that VO is speaking aloud. VO can be used by sighted users with the mouse and trackpad and by VO-users via keyboard shortcuts and commands. This is due to the VO cursor, which allows control of what the user wants to access on the screen. As Steve explains, “Similar to the way a sighted user chooses to focus on specific content, VO gives me a conceptual overview of what is on the screen, and I can jump right to the area of interest. In other words, with VO you learn to use applications as a blind user the same way you would as a sighted user.”

• Braille devices are compatible with VO. For example, students who use refreshable Braille displays can connect their devices to their MLTI laptops and VO will produce output.

In summary, Steve convinced us that VoiceOver is a tool to improve opportunities for students with blindness and low vision to have the same access to instructional materials - and at the same time - as their peers. His hope is that all educators understand, even though they may not know how to use tools like VoiceOver, these supports exist to allow them to fully integrate students who are blind into the curriculum.

Steve can be reached at steve@atmaine.com

Sites shared during the webinar

AT Maine

VoiceOver in Depth

Apple Accessibility

Woopid video tutorial

Mac-cessibility Network

*Our coverage of VoiceOver is specific to Mac OS X Leopard, which is on the MLTI laptops.

VoiceOver is known as Apple’s built-in screen reader, but can be better described as an accessible interface for everyone. Not to be confused with text to speech, VoiceOver provides voice description of all onscreen elements, features a caption panel, and allows users to control their computer using only the keyboard. Our guest, Steve Sawczyn of AT Maine, will demonstrate why VoiceOver is a tool that all educators should get to know. Most importantly, we’ll discuss how we can improve our UDL practices by understanding the unique learning needs of students who are blind or have low vision.

Please join us Thursday, December 10, at 3:15 or 7:15 pm (or both!). Click on the WebCasts tab at the top of this page to find links for registration and directions for joining the webinar.