Assistive technology is defined as any device or piece of equipment that helps bypass, work around or compensate for an individual’s specific learning challenges. For example, a student who struggles with reading but who has good listening skills might benefit from listening to audio books. Below are some useful kinds of assistive technologies.
Options for Finding Accessible Books
Bookshare
- Bookshare is an online resource of books, magazines, newspapers and textbooks for people with print disabilities. This is a free for students once you qualify to use its services. The books are in a special format called DAISY and can be read on an iPad using an app called Read2Go. Bookshare books can be searched and downloaded directly to the iPad using Read2Go. Learn about eligibility requirements for Bookshare at https://www.bookshare.org/_/membership/qualifications
Learning Ally
- Learning Ally provides audio books for individuals with print disabilities. Learning Ally is an eligibility based service whose qualifications closely match those of Bookshare. Books are also stored in DAISY format but they do not contain text. Learning Ally books must be sync’d manually using iTunes File Transfer. Many students like being able to listen to a chapter the day before the content will be covered in school. Learn more about this service at www.learningally.org