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Accommodations: Aids students with diverse learning styles, helping them visualize and organize ideas.

UDL Support: Supports multiple means of engagement and expression through visual representation.

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Accommodations: Assists students with ADHD, executive functioning difficulties, or organizational challenges in structuring information.

UDL Support: Promotes multiple means of engagement and expression, allowing customization of learning materials.

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Create a shared workspace

Open a Creately workspace and add your peers as collaborators with edit access allowing them to work on the graphic organizer with you in real-time.

Clearly define the purpose of the graphic organizer. This will help you determine the type of graphic organizer that will best suit your needs.

Gather all relevant information that you will need to include in the graphic organizer. This may include text, images, or data.

Choose a format for your graphic organizer. Some common formats include flowcharts, mind maps, timelines, and Venn diagrams. Each format has its own strengths and weaknesses, so choose the one that best fits your needs.

Create a basic structure

Create a basic structure for your graphic organizer. This will help to organize the information and make it easy to understand. You can select a graphic organizer template from Creately's templates library. If you are looking to create one from scratch, enable the relevant shape library and drag and drop the shapes to the workspace to start your graphic organizer.

Add the content to the graphic organizer. Be sure to include only the most important information and to use clear and concise language.

Make it visually appealing

Add colors to your graphic organizer from the preset color themes to highlight important ideas/ concepts and make them more presentable. Using built-in Google image search, you can quickly browse and add relevant images and graphics to your graphic organizer to make them more interesting and comprehensible. You can also drag and drop images from your own device.

Review and revise the graphic organizer to ensure that it is accurate and effective. Encourage others to provide feedback and make suggestions for improvements which you can do in Creately with @mention comments and discussion threads.

Keep the graphic organizer simple and easy to understand

Make sure that the graphic organizer is easy to understand and use for the intended audience. Once your graphic organizer is ready, you can export it in PDF, PNG, or SVG formats to share, publish, or print. Or using frames, you can even build a presentation flow right inside Creately and present your graphic organizers to others.

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Graphic Organizer Maker | Create a Graphic Organizer | Creately

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Create a shared workspace Open a Creately workspace and add your peers as collaborators with edit access allowing them to work on the graphic organizer with you in real-time. Clearly define the purpose of the graphic organizer. This will help you determine the type of graphic organizer that will best suit your needs.

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Accommodations: Aids students who lack fine motor skills necessary for pencil, paper writing. Also accommodates those who struggle to transfer thoughts to paper.

UDL Support: Supports multiple means of expression for students with fleeting thoughts to express comprehension of a subject or topic.

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Dictation is an assistive technology (AT) tool that can help people who struggle with writing. You may hear it referred to as "speech-to-text," "voice-to-text," "voice recognition," or "speech recognition" technology. It allows users to write with their voices, instead of writing by hand or with a keyboard. This can be helpful for people with dysgraphia, dyslexia, and other learning and thinking differences that impact writing.

Read more about what dictation technology is and where to find it.

Types of dictation technology

Dictation technology converts spoken words into digital text on a screen. With dictation, users can write words by speaking them aloud. They can also edit and revise by using their voice.

There are several types of dictation technology available.

Built-in dictation technology: Today, most devices have built-in dictation tools. This includes desktop and laptop computers (Windows and macOS), smartphone and digital tablets (Android and iOS), and Chromebooks (Chrome OS). If you have any of these devices, you probably don't need to buy special software. The microphone and the dictation tools come with the device, but you may need an Internet connection.

Dictation apps: There are many apps that can be downloaded for smartphones and digital tablets. One example is Dragon Anywhere (iOS, Android).

Dictation software: The most full-featured support comes in the form of software programs for desktop and laptop computers. These programs can adapt to how a person speaks. This makes them more accurate over time. Some dictation programs can also convert audio recordings into digital text. Examples of dictation software include Dragon for PC, Dragon for Mac, and WordQ SpeakQ.

Kids who struggle with writing can have a hard time with assignments like essays and papers - and even writing emails. Adults may struggle to write reports, emails, and other job-related documents. Dictation technology can help in several ways.

It's a workaround for poor handwriting. Users can rely on dictation to create text that's easier for others to read.

It can help with spelling. Users who know how to pronounce a difficult word can simply speak it, then see how it's spelled on-screen.

It can capture fleeting thoughts. People who think faster than they can write by hand or type on a keyboard can more easily get all their thoughts into words.

It can make the process more comfortable. The technology can support people who struggle with motor skills, including those who have trouble typing on a keyboard, especially for long periods of time.

Dictation technology is a powerful tool. But using it successfully may take training and practice. There are commands that users have to learn. And some aspects of dictation can be difficult for people with certain learning and thinking differences.

Here's what you need to know:

When dictating, users need to speak clearly, at a steady rhythm and speed. They also need to pronounce words correctly. If the user mumbles, mispronounces words, or slurs words together, the dictated text might not be correct. This may pose a challenge for users who struggle with spoken language.

While dictating sentences, users have to say the punctuation mark. For example, the user may need to say "period" or "question mark" at the end of a sentence. (Punctuation can also be entered with a keyboard.)

In general, dictation is more accurate if users say whole phrases and sentences, not just individual words. While people who have slow processing speed or struggle with working memory may benefit from dictation in other ways, they may have trouble saying large groups of words at a time.

Editing or navigating a document with dictation can be hard. It requires the use of special verbal commands. For example, to delete the previous sentence, the user might have to say "select previous" and "delete that." To move the cursor, the user might have to say "move backwards 10 words." Or to start a new paragraph, they might have to say "new paragraph." A cheat sheet of common commands can help.

It may help users to start with an outline before writing with dictation. When people dictate, they can sometimes lose track of what they're writing about. An outline helps with organization and reminds the writer of what to say next.

Dictation users may find it helpful to first verbally compose what they want to say and then dictate. A headset microphone with a mute switch prevents the software from listening while the user "thinks out loud" to hear how their writing sounds.

Dictation can be used in combination with keyboarding. For instance, some users find it easier to write a first draft with dictation. But then they use a keyboard and mouse for editing adding punctuation, and moving around in a document.

As with all AT tools, dictation may not help with all writing struggles. And it isn't always perfectly accurate. Some people may do better with other types of accommodations for writing, like word prediction technology, graphic organizers, or having a scribe to write down what they're saying. Different types of tools are needed for different kinds of writing challenges.

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Dictation (speech-to-text) technology: What it is and how it works

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Dictation (also called speech-to-text, voice-to-text, or voice recognition) is assistive technology that helps with writing. Find out how it can help and get tips for using it.

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Accommodations: Aids struggling readers in hearing text so that comprehension and independent reading can occur. Allowing students to feel empowered and capable of independence.

UDL Supports: Supports multiple means of engagement and representation. Students can listen to a text and follow along or take necessary notes.

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At a glance

Text-to-speech (TTS) technology reads aloud digital text - the words on computers, smartphones, and tablets.

TTS can help people who struggle with reading.

There are TTS tools available for nearly every digital device.

Text-to-speech (TTS) is a type of assistive technology that reads digital text aloud. It's sometimes called "read aloud" technology.

With a click of a button or the touch of a finger, TTS can take words on a computer or other digital device and convert them into audio. TTS is very helpful for kids and adults who struggle with reading. But it can also help with writing and editing, and even with focusing.

TTS works with nearly every personal digital device, including computers, smartphones, and tablets. All kinds of text files can be read aloud, including Word and Pages documents. Even online web pages can be read aloud.

Dive deeper

Tell us what interests you

About the author

About the author

The Understood Team is made up of passionate writers and editors. Many of them have kids who learn and think differently.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Jamie Martin is an assistive technology specialist at the New England Assistive Technology Center (NEAT) in Hartford, Connecticut.

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Text-to-speech (TTS) technology reads aloud digital text - the words on computers, smartphones, and tablets. TTS can help people who struggle with reading. There are TTS tools available for nearly every digital device. Text-to-speech (TTS) is a type of assistive technology that reads digital text aloud. It's sometimes called "read aloud" technology.

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Accommodations: Allows students to submit work in different formats such as video and audio recordings for students who have difficulty writing and also allows the teachers to record themselves reading the prompt for text-to-speech support for those who are visually impaired.

UDL Support: Seesaw provides a variety of modes to submit work for all types of learners such as video and audio recording, drawing or submitting images, and written responses for more advanced learners.

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Seesaw | Elementary Learning Experience Platform

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Elementary Learning Experience Platform | Seesaw

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Seesaw is a Learning Experience Platform with 25M+ users, enhancing elementary education, engagement, and school culture while improving academic success.

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Accommodations: Provides a range of accommodations for students with diverse needs. Including; text-to-speech, customizable font and background and alternative formats.

UDL Support: Supports multiple means of engagement and expression through the availability of audio, braille, and large print formats as well as all of the customizable feautres.

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Bookshare | An Accessible Online Library for people with print disabilities

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Bookshare makes reading easier. People with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers can customize their experience to suit their learning style and find virtually any book they need for school, work, or the joy of reading.

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Accommodations: Allows students to submit answers in the format that works best for them. Students can record the answer, video the answer, take a picture of the answer or type the answer. Teachers can also adjust the time for due date to allow extended time for any student that needs it.

UDL Support: Flip supports multiple means of engagement and expression through visual and audio representation.

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Accommodations: Offers both speech-to-text and text-to-speech for those with visual and writing impairments. It provides interactive reading notes and markup tools and comes with a browser extension tool so texts on websites can be read aloud.

UDL: Kurzweil was developed with UDL in mind. It makes reading, writing, and test-taking more accessible for all types of learners.

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Drive Meaningful Progress

Customizable tools in Kurzweil 3000 align with research-based learning strategies and provide support throughout the learning process. As a result, students are able to independently grasp and articulate concepts more effectively.

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text reader reading adaptive accessibility

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Assistive Learning Technologies & Literacy Software from Kurzweil Education

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Customizable tools in Kurzweil 3000 align with research-based learning strategies and provide support throughout the learning process. As a result, students are able to independently grasp and articulate concepts more effectively.

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Accommodations: A screen reader that assists students with impaired vision by using text-to-speech, reading PDFs, presentations, describing images, and any other scanned documents or Braille. It also uses keystrokes to help students navigate the internet and their computers.

UDL: JAWS supports students with impaired vision by reading out assigned readings, instructions, and assessments. Students can engage in the assignments without worrying about not being able to see the content.

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The Worlds Most Popular Windows Screen Reader What is a screen reader? A screen reader is a software program that enables a blind or visually impaired user to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer or braille display. JAWS, Job Access With Speech, is the world’s most popular screen reader, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. JAWS provides speech and braille output for the most popular computer applications on your PC…

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Accommodations: text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities for students with dyslexia and writing difficulties. Features like word prediction and spelling support benefit learners with various exceptionalities. Highlighting and annotation tools promote active reading, aiding students with attention-related challenges.

UDL Support: provides multiple means of representation, action, and engagement, fostering inclusivity in the learning environment.

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Your subscription means everyone can enjoy the benefits of Read&Write across all platforms including Windows, Mac, Google Chrome, Edge, iPad, and Android.

Our Learning and Training resources for each product can be accessed at any time on our website. Get up to speed with our software through our learning resources, then verify your expertise by taking part in our certification program.

Our support site gives you access to lots of common questions that other users of our software have about the technical stuff. If you can't find what you're looking for there, then our Tech Support team is on hand at support@texthelp.com 9-5pm every day to help with troubleshooting or technical problems.

We're always working on making our products better, so any improvements or enhancements are pushed out automatically to you, there's no upgrading to do on your part.

Plus, coming soon you'll get free access to the Texthelp Academy for how-to information, video tutorials, product webinars and lots more.

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assistive technology for special education

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Read&Write For Education - Reading, Literacy & Assistive Software

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Discover the literacy support software that's helping millions of students across North America to read, write and express themselves independently.

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Banks, S. (2023). Read&Write For Education - Reading, Literacy & Assistive Software. Texthelp. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://www.texthelp.com/products/read-and-write-education/

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Cambium Learning. (2023). Kurzweil Education. Assistive Learning Technologies & Literacy Software from Kurzweil Education. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://www.kurzweiledu.com/default.html

Creately. (2023, March 2). …. …. - YouTube. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://padlet.com/jocelynroslewicz/assistive-technology-recommendations-and-resources-mix8z3042xgodk3j/wish/2814601954

Flip Grid Team. (n.d.). Flip. Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://info.flip.com/en-us.html

Martin, J. (2023, March 2). Dictation (speech-to-text) technology: What it is and how it works. Understood. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://padlet.com/jocelynroslewicz/assistive-technology-recommendations-and-resources-mix8z3042xgodk3j/wish/2814602216

Seesaw Team. (2023). Seesaw. Seesaw | Elementary Learning Experience Platform. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://seesaw.com

Tactivo inc. (2023, March 2). …. …. - YouTube. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://padlet.com/jocelynroslewicz/assistive-technology-recommendations-and-resources-mix8z3042xgodk3j/wish/2814595334

The Understood Team. (2023, March 2). …. …. - YouTube. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://padlet.com/jocelynroslewicz/assistive-technology-recommendations-and-resources-mix8z3042xgodk3j/wish/2814602373

Vispero. (2023, March 2). JAWS. JAWS. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://padlet.com/jocelynroslewicz/assistive-technology-recommendations-and-resources-mix8z3042xgodk3j/wish/2814602727