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Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology available on campus

Available for all:

Available for User Groups:

Find out more about PC Lab locations and availability across campus.

Assistive software in departmental computer labs

Read&Write is available for download from Pegasus and can be made available on university-owned computers only.

MindGenius is available for download from Pegasus and can be made available on university-owned computers, as we have a take-home licence, it can also be installed by staff and students on home computers.

 

The concurrent licenced software, ZoomText magnifier/reader and JAWS screenreader, can be made available in departmental computer labs by contacting Information Services.

Assistive Technologies Room

The Assistive Technologies Room in the library also provides access to the following assistive hardware:

Assistive Software Training

Training is available for the assistive software used on campus. Classes are conducted in small groups and last approximately 2 hours.

Training is also available for other assistive software and hardware; please contact the Disability & Wellbeing Service to discuss your requirements.

Microsoft Learning Tools

The Microsoft Learning Tools set is natively built into Office 365 and Microsoft Edge applications, and help improve reading, writing and comprehension.

Immersive Reader

With Immersive Reader you can change page colour, set text spacing and read aloud text – including syllable description. Immersive Reader can be used as a productivity tool when managing a heavy reading load.

The following short videos are useful for getting started with the Immersive Reader:

The following two videos are part of a blog from Craig Mill's of CallScotland looking at supporting student with visual impairments but are useful for all: 

You can also access Read Aloud in Edge browser simply from the right-click menu. This is useful for reading PDFs.

MindGenius

An organisational tool which allows you to create mind maps (spider diagrams) easily, for essay planning and preparation. You can use MindGenius for many other study tasks including exam revision, to do lists, notetaking and group-work.

Mind maps can be exported to a variety of applications including Word and PowerPoint, so the effort you put into MindGenius not only creates a mind map but also gives you the starting point for your essay or presentation.

MindGenius is available for download from PEGASUS (http://pegasus.strath.ac.uk).

For more information and video on MindGenius features, you can see the MindGenius Education Resource Guide.

Free copy of MindGenius for students and staff

The university has invested in a take-home licence for MindGenius which allow staff and students to download MindGenius for their own use for free. Just log in to PEGASUS and go to the ‘Additional Services’ tab.  Look for the ‘Other Services’ section and click the link to ‘Available Licensed Software’. The download link is called ‘Mindgenius (Student Use)’.

For Staff, you will find ‘Available Licensed Software’ under the Information Services tab on PEGASUS.

Read & Write

REad&Write is a text-to-speech tool which you can use when reading text on your computer, for example, when writing an essay in Word, reading your email or researching on the Web.

Read & Write has a built-in dictionary to allow you to check on definitions as you read. If you get confused with same sounding words like "their", "there" and "they're" then the homophone checker could be useful to you.

Read & Write is available on computers within the university's centrally-managed labs and can be made available on any university-owned computer. 

Get Started with:

Training page for University students using Read&Write includes: Read&Write at University series - videos 

Earlier version Read&Write 11.5 videos includes:

Other Read&Write support

Read&Write Gold (for Windows) Training Guides

Read & Write is a Texthelp product. Link to Texthelp: Read & Write features.

You can also install voices to be used with Read&Write: Scottish voices - Stuart and Heather (free to HE/FE Education)

JAWS

JAWs is a screenreader which enables people who are visually impaired, or blind, to make use of a computer by reading aloud what's on the PC screen. JAWS gives the user a unique set of intelligent tools for navigating and accessing Windows applications, web pages and all screen content.

Students who require to use JAWS can be added to the JAWS user group, please Contact Us.

JAWS is a FreedomScientific product. Link to FreedomScientific's JAWS Headquarters

ZoomText

ZoomText provides magnification of text and screen reading to allow visually impaired students full access to Windows applications.

Students who require to use ZoomText can be added to the ZoomText user group, please Contact Us.

ZoomText  is an ai squared product. Link to ZoomText features on ai squared's website.

Kurzweil 1000

Kurzweil 1000 is a reading system which can read aloud text on the screen.  Kurzweil 1000 is designed for users who are blind or visually impaired and does not have a visual interface.

Students who require to use Kurzweil 1000 can be added to the Kurzweil 1000 user group, please Contact Us.

Braille Embosser

Braille embossers transfer computer generated text into a printed Braille output.  The Braille Embosser can be used to create Braille copies of your work, handouts or research.

CCTV's

CCTVs allow you to magnify the object or book you wish to look at on a larger screen. Just place a book or object on the movable XY table, and adjust the magnification level and display colours to the settings that are best for your eyesight. Your document is magnified and displayed on the screen.

You can find out about the specific CCTVs available by looking at the Assistive Technologies room webpage.

Alternative keyboards and mice

There is a selection of different keyboards and mice available for you to use, for example, large print, high-contrast keyboards and trackball mice.

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