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We Recommend. . .

Looking for a quick list of applications that are user-friendly for students with disabilities?  DSS staff at Keene State College, the University of New Hampshire  and innov8 Educational Consulting, have compiled annotated listings of applications that can help students make a successful transition to being a college student

The sites are updated as applicable low-cost technologies emerge. Additional resources will be added to this page as we become aware of them.

DSS Office Recommendations

Keene State College (NH):  Office of Disability Services Assistive Technology Web Resources   Staff have compiled helpful lists of free and low-cost apps and technology in the following categories:  Reading, Writing, Hearing, Fin e Motor Dexterity, Communication, Digital Texts Support and Study Aids. Other sections cover built-in accessibility of Windows 7 and Mac OS X and extensions for Firefox and Google Chrome. The site is regularly updated.

University of New Hampshire: iPod, iPad & Android Apps for College Students Disability Services at the University of New Hampshire have compiled an annotated list of useful apps for college students with disabilities.  The site also contains a link to an Excel spreadsheet listing the apps in alphabetical order.   The spreadsheet is regularly updated and lists more apps than are displayed at the site.

inov8 Educational Consulting: There’s a special app for that – Part 9: Apps for college/university students with learning disabilities  The consulting company, inov8 Educational Consulting has a series of blog posts entitled,  “There’s a Special App for That” which features  resources for various disabilities  or other special needs.  Part 9 in the series discusses the increase in the number of students with learning disabilities in higher education  and reviews ten apps that can help students with learning disabilities.

WebAIM’s Hierarchy for Motivating Accessibility Change

Today, in every aspect of the post-secondary experience, institutions are employing technology.   Although innovation and equal access can go hand in hand,  designing  technology accessibly has not been commonplace.  Consequently, higher education has struggled with how to address issues of access for students with disabilities  while making use of the best of technology to provide effective and innovative instruction as well as access to an institution’s programs and services.

OCR has made it clear that using technology, especially emerging technology in a classroom environment when the technology is inaccessible to an entire population of individuals with disabilities is discriminatory.

More recently, the Resolution Agreement with  UC-Berkley, the compliance review of the  South Carolina Technical College System and the settlement  agreement with Louisiana Tech University, have each highlighted the obligation to ensure access. The message is inescapable — accessibility must be considered when selecting, implementing and  using technology in the classroom and elsewhere in the institution.
Continue reading “WebAIM’s Hierarchy for Motivating Accessibility Change”