Assistive Technology Resources
Depending on your needs, you may benefit from the following Assistive Technology resources.
Text to Speech
There are many free options to have your digital course materials read aloud. Please see some of the popular options below and be sure to make an appointment with our office to go over them in detail, if they would assist your in your learning.
- Microsoft Word 365 "Read Aloud": Read Microsoft documents aloud.
- Mac “Read & Speak”: You can have your Mac speak text on the screen whenever you press a keyboard shortcut.
- Natural Reader: Read PDFs and other documents right in your web browser. There are also apps for reading documents on your phone.
Voice Dictation
Voice dictation can be a helpful tool when trying to work on ideas for a paper. It can be enabled in Word, Google Docs, and other programs for free.
- Dictate in Microsoft Office 365: Use the Dictate button in the home ribbon.
- Voice Typing in Google Docs: Open a new document, select "voice typing" from the tools menu.
- Dictation in Pages on Mac: Select "systems preference", then "dictation and speech" and enable the microphone.
Phonak - Assistive Listening Device
Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs)
For people who are hard of hearing, an assistive listening device can be used in a classroom to amplify the voice of the professor. The system is an individual piece of technology that the student will use. It consists of a transmitter/microphone that the speaker will wear and a receiver/headphone that the listener will wear.
VLabs
UMass Lowell vLabs allows students, faculty and staff to access software that would normally only be in computer labs found on-campus. They can now be accessed at anytime from anywhere, including residence halls, libraries, and even from home. You now have access to any tool or application available in an on-campus lab on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone.
Downloadable instructions can be found on the UMass Lowell IT website. You will need your UMass Lowell credentials to log in.
Lecture Capture
Classrooms can be Echo360 enabled, allowing the class to be recorded. The student will then be able to log into their Echo360 account and see all of their courses and recordings. The recordings will have a transcript that can be searched and allow the student to jump to a specific part of the lecture. Faculty ultimately get to decide if it will be used in their class. Our office cannot mandate that a professor uses lecture capture.
Questions?
To discuss any assistive technology matters, please make an assistive technology appointment on the Accommodate website.