eLearning Accessibility & Inclusion

The IRISCOM was a cut down version of the bulky eye-tracking system

Back in the days when I was an assessor with AbilityNet I remember assessing a young man in his 20s who had received a brain injury after being attacked during a night out. As a result of the attack he was unable to move any of his limbs. His resulting brain injury incurred many of the attributes to ‘locked-in-syndrome’ (see previous article) but with the added stress of cognitive difficulties.

At that time there was very little about in terms of assistive technology to support him as he only had eye movement. A switch access system was unsuitable because he only had movement in one of his eyes. I tried the ‘Blink’ switch but with no success. However, the following week we received a visit from an American couple who had developed an eye-tracking system. It was big and bulky and took ages to set up.

The IRISCOM software - tracked eye movment

If you compare the systems that are available now, for example, SmartBox, (and the Grid 2) technology has really come a long way since then.

Although still expensive, systems such as Eye-Gaze, eg, MyTobi, are easier to use and provide the user with so many opportunities to access not only a computer, but as a communication device and environmental control.

It will be interesting to see how this area of assistive technology progresses.

Eye-Gaze systems such as the MyTobii provide a range of opportunities for users with physical and cognitive difficulties

French scientists are using electrical brain impulses to communicate via a computer

I highligted this article on the Inclusion Forum but thought it was worthy of a metion here, so apologies if you’ve already read it.

Controlling a computer with your mind is the sort of story you’d expect to read in a science fiction novel. But scientists in France have developed a computer system which can do just that. Using electrical sensors attached to the brain, the French researchers  are able to detect electrical activity in the brain and convert it to movement and communication via computer software.

There is however a serious side to this. Locked-in-syndrome can leave someone completely physically paralysed with their mental faculties still intact. Locked-in-syndrome happened to the French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby,  after he awoke from a coma caused by a massive stroke. Despite having no body movement, apart from the ability to blink his left eye, Bauby, with the help of an assistant managed to write his memoire The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

To read more about this exciting area of research and view the video select this link

I was so impressed with Sally’s (CALL Scotland) demonstration of Proloquo2Go that I thought I’d create something similar, bearing in mind I don’t have an iPhone or the Prologuo2Go software.

I’ll be the first to admit that it isn’t one of the best examples of mobile learning but on the other hand it only took about 10 minutes to create the content and transfer it to my mobile phone. The video isn’t particularly good quality either but hopefully it will give you the general idea (and GIFF only has one ‘F’ not two! ‘GIF’).

The first thing I did was to create the slides in PowerPoint. I’ve used the Widgit symbol set in Communicate InPrint to write the symbols but you could use any content.

It is possible to save your presenation in GIF format

Once you’re happy with your slides you need to create a folder on your desktop and save the slides in GIF format to create your animation. PowerPoint provides an option to save each individual slide as a GIF or a series of GIFs.

PowerPoint offers the choice between saving one slide or all the slides

The next stage is to import (or drag and drop) the GIF images (your PowerPoint slides) into UnFREEz, the open source GIF animator. You can download it from the EduApps site.

Remember to set the Frame Delay to a suitable time, for example 100 cs will be quite fast whereas 600 cs will run a bit slower. If you want to run the learning object in a loop check the Loop animation box.

GIFs can be imported or drag and dropped into the pane. UnFREEz is open source software.

Select the Make Animated GIF button and export it to a location of your choice, e.g., desktop, documents etc.

Finally, locate you saved GIF and copy to your mobile phone. Because it is an image it should play on most phones although it will look particularly good on an iPhone.

Alternatively, if you have a phone which runs Windows Mobile, you could export the PowerPoint to your mobile phone and run it as a presentation - although you’ll need to save the presenation as a ‘package’ or ‘exe’ so it will play on a range of devices.

To watch the video of the learning content on a mobile phone select this link

One thing I forgot to mention at last week’s ICT and Inclusion 2009 event, was something which Sally Millar of CALL Scotland demonstrated to me over a cup of coffee. I’ve never been a keen fan of the iPhone or iPod but I was quickly converted!

Traditional voice output communication aids (VOCAs) have tended to be very expensive  and bulky devices. Although many vary in portability, with some devices being smaller, lighter and less expensive than others, none compare to the latest VOCA, or should I say iPhone!

When I’ve worked with students in the past are VOCA users they are sometimes reluctant to use them out of embarrassment or because they are too bulky. But I think all that is about to change! is a cool application that many VOCA users would feel comfotatble using - I even thought about getting one myself to try out!

Proloquo2go

Proloquo2Go is an iPhone and iPod touch app which features a symbol based communication system. Proloquo2Go provides an inexpensive yet ‘cool’ VOCA system for people of all ages. Sally had her one secured in a pink case with an amplifer so sound can be projected in noisy environments.

Thanks to Sally for the impromptu demo.  

To find out more visit the Proloquo2Go site

To watch the introductory Proloquo2Go video clips select this link

Some of the delegates who attended the ICT and Inclusion 2009 event in Dingwall

Thanks to everyone who replied to my message of help and posted some answers on the Monkey!

I’ve just returned from 3 days of ICT and Inclusion 2009. The venues included Dingwall, Edinburgh (CALL Scotland) and Glasgow’s Caledonian University. As well as a mix of primary and secondary schools a large number of delegates also attended from further and higher education. For me personally, it was great to meet up with old friends and to chat about assistive technologies, particularly some of the new products.

Forcetenco demonstrated their new Tiger embosser which when connected to the IVEO Touchpad allows blind learners to have access to tactile learning material.

I also heard that the next version of Dolphin’s EasyConvertor, version 5, will include IVEO. This means that when a user converts a document to a digital talking book (DTB) the DAISY reader will alert the user to instances of when a graphic appears, ie, a graphic which can be colour printed via the Tiger embosser and ‘viewed’ with the IVEO touchpad.

Iansyst were demonstrating their new digital pen which can record audio – but this is no ordinary pen! The pen is used in conjunction with a special electronic paper. As the audio is being recorded with the pen the user touches electronic markers at the bottom of the paper. This allows the pen to synchronise with the audio, for example, a lecture, and also synchronise the written notes on the paper – quite innovative!

2Simple also had their usual range of exciting software. I’ve always been impressed since seeing 2Paint being demonstrated on an interactive whiteboard with a real paintbrush. To see the paint come ‘dripping’ down the whiteboard, almost as if real is a great achievement.

I also had a chance to talk to the folks from Widgit and QED and we’re hoping to organise a couple of workshops on symbols and augmentative communication devices, possibly in Edinburgh, next November.

And some great news about AccessApps. Penfriend are designing a ‘timed out’ version of their prediction program which we can use on AccessApps – a real coup d’etat!

I’ve set up a small survey monkey questionnaire to help with my research project (on literacy difficulties and AccessApps) for my OU course. If you have a spare couple of minutes I’d really appreciate it if you could complete the survey: http://tinyurl.com/l2n7gd
Thanks
Craig