Assistive Technology Service in Library

The Assistive Technology Service is located on the ground floor of the James Hardiman Library and is a space available only to students registered with the Disability Support Service.

There are three sound-proof booths, each equipped with a computer and a height-adjustable desk.The booths have a capacity of one student and can accommodate a personal assistant if pre-arranged with DSS staff. The booth can be booked up to three days in advance and students requiring specific software applications have priority.  Please use this link to reserve a AT Booth 

 

Assistive Technology help point

 

Weekly Sessions available online

Our weekly sessions will resume for Semsester 1 of the Academic year 2023/2024.

If you encounter problems with Microsoft office files, Blackboard, email, echo smart pen, text help or have specific questions about how to perform certain features, then this is your one stop shop.

This is NOT a training course but an opportunity to work on your own files in the Assistive Technology Training Area with a tutor on hand to help you with your queries. 

How to make an appointment

Please contact the Disability Support Service at disabilityservice@universityofgalway.ie or phone 091 492913 to arrange an appointment with the Assistive Technology Officer.

Assistive Technology Equipment

Students have access to a range of software and hardware devices depending on their needs:

Read & Write 

Provides literacy support to assist students with reading and writing.

 
Caption.ed

Caption.Ed provides you with highly accurate captions and powerful note-taking for any live or pre-recorded media.

  • Caption.Ed allows you to watch any video within your Google Chrome or Edge Chromium Browser with real-time captions and receive a full transcript for the video.
  • Transcription of any video/audio
  • Request a account here if you are registered with Disability Support Service
  • To find out more watch the video here

 

 caption.ed
Smartpen 

Records audio and written material.

  • Record everything you write, hear or say
  • Replay your lectures by tapping on your notes
  • Transfer your notes and audio to your PC 
 

Dragon Naturally Speaking
Voice recognition software.  Allows you to:

  • Train the PC to recognise your voice
  • Dictate essays and documents onto your PC instead of typing
  • Use your voice to manage a PC
  • Dragon Naturally Speaking V16 
 

Digital ‌Recorder

Provides high-quality digital recording.

  • Replay your lectures in MP3 or WMA format
  • Transfer your audio files to your PC or laptop
 

Grammarly Premium Account

 

BookShare

UK education collection opens up the world of reading for learners with print disabilities.

Books are “accessible,” which means you can read our books many different ways.

  • Listen to books with high-quality text-to-speech voices
  • Hear and see highlighted words on screen
  • Read with digital braille or enlarged font
  • Will contact publisher on your behalf if item not in catalog
  • Read directly from your Internet browser
  • And more!
 Bookshare Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)

MindGenius

Mindmapping software that supports student with course works

  • Use it for taking notes in class, creating quick to do lists, and anywhere else you require a fast, intuitive method to collect ideas and information and think things through.
  • The process of building a mind map and disseminating information can help build understanding on any topic
  • can be used to help classify information and work out the information to be included in essays and projects
  • ability to add colour and graphics aids memory recall for all students
  • good motivating tool for those who do not enjoy writing
  • Allows students to see all the information in context, with words, pictures, links, etc.
  • Supports personalised learning to complement different learning styles
  • Download instructions
  • Getting Started with MindGenius

 

MindGenius Logo
 Glean

Notetaking web-app.

  • Glean is a google chrome browser-based note-taking tool, which can be used online or offline
  • You can add slides, Import Audio and it even has a transcription feature meaning you can convert your audio to text at the click of a button
  • Getting familiar with Glean! Visit the Glean Skills Portal to learn more
  • How to use Glean with online classes
Glean logo

Free Educational Technology and Accessible Format Resources

Text to Speech and Proofreading tools:

Ginger

 

Grammarly

 

Rewordify 

  • Rewordify.com is powerful, free, online reading comprehension and vocabulary software: Download
  • Rewordify.com simplifies difficult English. Enter hard sentences (or whole chapters) into the yellow box at the top of the web page. Click Rewordify text, and you'll instantly see an easier version, for fast understanding. The reworded words are highlighted— click them to hear and learn the original harder words.
 

Atbar

  • ATbar is free and allows you to change the look and feel of webpages, increase and decrease font sizes, have text read aloud, use coloured overlays, readability and a dictionary to aid reading. Spell check forms and try word prediction when writing. It is a simple tool which is available for most popular browsers.
 

 Endnote Web

  • Automatically create website citations in the APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard referencing styles at the click of a button.
  • Visit website
 
Screen Reader for Visual Impaired

NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access)

  • NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) is a free screen reader for computers running on the Windows operating systems which enables blind and vision impaired people to use computers.
  •  Download from https://www.nvaccess.org/download/
  • Visit website

  ‌ NVDA Screen Reader

Apps for Smart Phone and Tablet:

ModMath

 Office Lens

  • Office Lens uses the camera on your phone to scan documents and allows you to save to your cloud storage accounts e.g. Evernote or share via email. Great for grabbing stuff for your projects from the library.
 
Notetaking Technologies:

Evernote

  • Let Evernote change the way you organise your personal and professional projects.
  • Dive in: take notes, create to-do lists, record lectures and save things you find online into Evernote. We’ll sync everything between your phone, tablet, and computer automatically.
  • To install Evernote on your computer, use this link: 
    Mac App https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/evernote-capture-notes-sync/id281796108?mt=8
    Android App from Google store.
  • Online Videos

 

Google Keep

  • Capture what's on your mind
  • Add notes, lists, photos, and audio to Keep.
Mind Map Software

Coggle

  • Online resources to Coggle is an online tool for creating and sharing mindmaps. It works online in your browser: there's nothing to download or update.
  • Just log in to start mind-mapping now!
  • Watch video https://youtu.be/YC4O4vb7IXo
  • Website can be found here https://coggle.it/

FreeMind

 
Screen Magnification, Alteration

Screen Tinter

 

T-Bar

  • T-Bar is a coloured bar which you can either drag around the screen or lock to your mouse. It can have ruled lines or not, depending on your preference.
  • The colour can be chosen from pre-defined options, then tweaked by altering the red, green or blue sliders to get the perfect colour, the transparency level can be adjusted, again to suit the individual.
  • All the settings are saved between sessions, so there is no need to readjust the next time you use it.
  • Download from http://www.fx-software.co.uk/tbar.htm (works on pdf)
 

ATbar

  • ATbar is free and allows you to change the look and feel of webpages, increase and decrease font sizes, have the text read aloud, use coloured overlays, readability and a dictionary to aid reading.
  • Spell check forms and try word prediction when writing. It is a simple tool which is available for most popular browsers.
  • Website can be found at https://www.atbar.org/
 
Mindfulness and Relaxation

Calm App

  • Meditate, relax, breathe & enjoy simple guided mindfulness stress reduction
  • Calm is a free mindfulness and meditation app that guides you through short meditation exercises.
  • It is available as a free app or as a website. You choose from several relaxing nature background scenes and then pick a 2, 10, or 20-minute relaxation session. A narrator guides you through the session, telling you to close your eyes, focus on your breathing, etc.
  • Visit the Calm website here.
 
Typing Resources
 

Microsoft Office – Online Tuition

  • The Microsoft Office suite is an essential collection of desktop applications that includes Word for documents, Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations, Access for databases, and much more.
  • Choose your version of Microsoft Office to begin learning today!
  • https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/subjects/microsoft-office/
 

Bookshare

  • All print-disabled students requiring material in alternative formats are recommended to register with NCBI Bookshare.  Bookshare Ireland has the largest accessible digital Library in the country and is currently funded by the Department of Education and Skills Register here

 

  Bookshare Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)

SensusAccess

  • SensusAccess is a document conversion tool that allows all staff and students to convert your readings and research into formats that you may find easier to work with, whether a Word file, e-book format, or MP3 file that you can listen to. 
 sensus access