Cons: available only in Chrome browser and only in English 

Using a microphone to control the computer, open programs, and dictate text is a really nice tool for people who have a hard time with the physical touch of the computer.  

 

Using a microphone to control the computer, open programs, and dictate text is a really nice tool for people who have a hard time with the physical touch of the computer.  

 

Magnifier zooms in anywhere on the screen, and makes everything in that area larger. Magnifier can be moved around, locked in one place, or resized.

·         Set up High Contrast: Eliminates most screen colors and creates a sharper contrast between screen elements so that visually impaired people can see them more clearly.

·         Start Magnifier: Designed for the visually impaired, this option magnifies the mouse pointer’s exact location.

·         Start Narrator: Triggers a Narrator, who reads aloud any on-screen text. You can also choose to have Windows describe what is happening in a video if the descriptions are available.

·         Start On-Screen Keyboard: This setting places a clickable keyboard along the screen’s bottom, letting you type by pointing and clicking.

Dictation on the Desktop

Dictation is a speech-to-text software that gives users the ability to input text in any application using a microphone and perform basic text editing. This feature could help clients with upper extremity limitations and connective tissue diseases. Here are two ways you can start Dictation:

·         Press Windows Logo Key

+ H

·         Select the Touch Keyboard and then the Microphone

Additionally, there are a list of commands you can speak as well.  Here are a few:

Built-in features in Microsoft Office can help you make your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations accessible to individuals who are Blind or Low Vision. 

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote include an Accessibility Checker that finds some content that might be inaccessible to individuals with disabilities. A teacher, for example, can use the Accessibility Checker when creating content to see what accessibility errors occur and learn how to fix them.

If you are an Office 365 user, you will find it very easy to open and use the accessibility checker in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Look for the Check Accessibility button on the Review tab on the Ribbon. Click it to open the Accessibility Checker.

PowerPoint Designer—Often, students become so hung up on the design process when creating a PowerPoint presentation that the content itself becomes the secondary focus. PowerPoint Designer helps the user create beautiful looking slides without having to manually format pictures, create bulleted lists or place graphics. With an automatic image description service coming to PowerPoint early next year, photos that can be recognized with high confidence and the alt-text added automatically, allowing a screen reader to read the picture to the user. 

At Microsoft, they envision a future where people with permanent disabilities or situational limitations should have the technology they need to work efficiently and independently from any device. We, as OTA also want to be able to know about these tools to provide the best products available for our clients.  

·         Set up High Contrast: Eliminates most screen colors and creates a sharper contrast between screen elements so that visually impaired people can see them more clearly.

·         Start Magnifier: Designed for the visually impaired, this option magnifies the mouse pointer’s exact location.

·         Start Narrator: Triggers a Narrator, who reads aloud any on-screen text. You can also choose to have Windows describe what is happening in a video if the descriptions are available.

·         Start On-Screen Keyboard: This setting places a clickable keyboard along the screen’s bottom, letting you type by pointing and clicking