A resource for Adult Basic Education teachers working with learners with vision loss.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Creating Large Print with OmniPage

One of the challenges of creating large print documents is getting the text into a word processing program so you can edit it.  If your students are only reading individual sentences or short paragraphs from textbooks, it is easiest to just type these into a word processing program.  But what if a student needs entire essays or novels in large print?  That's where OCR software comes in!

OmniPage is an optical character recognition (OCR) program.  This piece of software can take any scanned document, such as pages from your favorite textbook, and convert the scan to selectable text.  Once you have text, you can create large print, translate to Braille, or use a screen reader to listen to the text.

The video links below are a first attempt to create some training videos on how to use OmniPage.  Higher quality videos with better sound are soon to follow. 


Video Tutorial: Scanned files to changeable text.


Video Tutorial: formatting large print 

Reading -Braille, Audio, or Large Print?

Students with vision loss actually have several options for accessing print material in the classroom.  What they use depends on their skills, vision, and preferences.

Large Print

  • Large print should be limited to 28 point or smaller font.  If a learner needs print larger than 28 point he or she will struggle to read more than a sentence or two on each page and would be better off using another means of accessing text.
  • Use plain fonts without serifs, such as Arial or Tahoma.  
  • Do not use bold face.
  •  CCTV
  • You may want to experiment with light colored paper or colored filters to reduce eye strain.
  • Large print should not be made with a photocopier, which will create large but blurry letters that will be hard to see.
  • Large print should be created by typing or scanning text into a word processing program and then increasing the font size.
  • If you're hoping to purchase large print materials, keep in mind that standard sizes are 16-20 point font (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large-print).

Magnification

  • Magnifiers come in many shapes, sizes, materials, and price ranges.   Here's a small sampling from IndependentLiving.com.
  • Many schools or school districts have access to CCTVs.  These are large magnifiers that project the text onto a screen and allow students to zoom in and out. A CCTV reduces teacher time spent creating special materials but if a learner does not have one at home, he or she may not be able to study outside of class.

Braille
Embosser
  • Almost anything that can be typed into a word processing program can be converted to Braille with the help of a special software program and a larger printer-like machine, called an embosser.
  • Some programs create their own braille documents on site, while others rely on third party services like document services at State Services for the Blind in Minnesota.  Students who are clients of State Services can request books and other documents be translated into Braille for free.  The wait time, however, can be several months, so plan ahead!

Audio
Audio is increasingly the preferred method for accessing text.  Blind high school and college students can listen to their textbooks with an mp3 player or listen to readings using a screen reading program on their computer.  Some people also rely on classmates, family members, and paid readers to read some texts aloud.

  • Listening to Braille -a recent and controversial article in the New York Times Magazine about the decline of braille and the rise of audio "literacy."
  • Download a demo of JAWS Screen Reader -This demo version does everything that the regular version does but shuts off after 40 minutes of use.  If you restart your machine, it will work for another 40 minutes.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Talking Dictionaries Prepare Learners for Computer Use


Product: Franklin KID-1240 Children's Talking Dictionary and Spell Corrector


Price: $35-$50


Available: online from retailers like IndependentLiving.com and amazon.


What I like: 

  • clear computerized voice (students can begin getting used to the type digital voice that they will encounter when they begin computer training)
  • letter keys are arranged like a computer keyboard and say the names as you type so learners can teach themselves the location of the keys (also good preparation for future computer use).
  • The price is right.  Many students are able to afford a dictionary at this cost or State Services counselors are often willing to pay for one.
  • It has a headphone jack so that learners can work independently without disturbing other students.
  • definitions are simple enough for high beginning and low intermediate learners to begin to understand.
What I don't like:
  • There are no tactile marks on the keys to guide learners.
  • The built-in vocabulary and spelling games are largely unaccessible for visually impaired students.
How I use it:
  • As a stepping stone to future computer use.  Blind learners who have not yet attended computer training in an Adjustment To Blindness (ATB) program are not able to use computers during English class.  Instead, I provide those learners with a talking dictionary. Their first task is to teach themselves the location of the keys and how to enter words and listen to the definition.
  • As reinforcement for spelling and vocabulary.  Learners will use it initially to practice typing words they know and listening for the definition.  If it is a word from a spelling or vocabulary list that we are studying, I might ask them to listen for and write down the correct definition. The dictionary often gives multiple definitions for a word.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Vocabulary and Spelling Review Games

As ESL teachers, it is easy to fall in love with a few easy and exciting classroom games.  These are the games that get all your students fired up, shouting at the board, and using English is authentic ways.  However, when a learner with visual impairments enters the classroom, many teachers discover that their favorite games are not accessible to that learner.

So here are 2 games to try with your class:


Vocabulary Bingo
Materials: small flashcards (the size of business cards or smaller), a list of spelling or vocabulary words to review.

  • give each student several small flashcards.  The number will depend on how large you want your bingo board to be (9, 16, 25).
  • Have students choose words from a predetermined spelling or vocabulary list to copy onto the cards. Students who use braille can use a slate or Perkins Brailler to make the cards.
  • Show students how to arrange their word cards in a grid.  The order of the words should be different for each student.
  • Now begin calling off words from the list.  You can just read the words if the objective is sight-wording.  Or you can read only the definition if vocabulary review is the objective.
  • As a word is called, the student flips over that card, keeping it in place.  When a complete row or column of words is turned over...BINGO!
The game can be played over and over again by rearranging the cards and students now have vocabulary flashcards to take home or use in other classroom activities!
If you have existing vocabulary bingo cards, you might use this alternate approach only for learners with vision impairments.


Group Spelling Bee
This is an activity that my class does regularly to prepare for our weekly spelling test.  At first I thought it was going to be a very competitive activity but it turns out that we laugh more during this game than any other.  I also appreciate the level of focus and attention that it takes.  Everyone in the classroom has to be focused on a single task to make it successful.

Materials: a list of spelling words.

  • If students have not already had time to study the spelling words, offer a few minutes of independent practice time.
  • Ask everyone to stand up in a circle.
  • The teacher reads the first spelling word.  Students will take turns saying each letter in the word.  If a student makes a mistake, he or she must sit down and the next student starts again with the first letter of the word.
This activity works well with a medium to large class and requires the teacher to do some 'conducting' by pointing to each person when it is there turn to give a letter.  If a blind learner is not able to sense when it is there turn, the student next to them might be asked to touch their hand or shoulder to help signal their turn.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Storytelling with Toys

This week my ESL (English as a Second Language) class is studying family relationships (mother, father, sister-in-law, etc.).  And as often happens, my efforts to accommodate a blind learner in my class yielded a great multi-sensory activity for all my students.

As we moved from basic vocabulary into more complicated terms such as "stepson," "former wife," and "birth mother," I realized that it would be helpful to have some props to illustrate these terms.  With the help of a nearby thrift store, I came to class equipped with a large bag of plastic doll house-sized family members.

My students had a great time creating elaborate story lines about divorce, foster care, adoption, an even death with these plastic dolls.  They were able to use the dolls to demonstrate relationships and talk about sometimes difficult topics like mental illness (in one story the husband died and the mother suffered to the point of not being able to take care of her children who ended up in foster care).

The lesson was a great success because learners were able to demonstrate their knowledge of the vocabulary through physical manipulation of props -and laugh while doing it!

The next day, a blind learner used the dolls as props for illustrating her extended family.  While other students drew pictures of their families, she lined up and grouped the dolls to show her family.  Learners then walked around the room and introduced their families to one another.