Disability Services & Resources

Location of Assistive Technology in Labs
Writing Software	Reading Software	Organizing Software
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Kurzweil 3000 TextHelp Read & Write	ZoomText Kurzweil 3000 Reading Edge TextHelp Read & Write	Inspiration
ITSS Lab Consultant hours to assist with Assistive Technology - training, questions, problems MONDAYS: 12 NOON - 3:30 PM TUESDAYS thru THURSDAYS: 11:00 AM - 3:30 PM -or email Mark Paulson for a time that works with your schedule
Tutorials on Assistive Technology Products

 

Assistive Technology at UMD

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Assistive Technology may be a reasonable accommodation that enables students with certain functional limitations to access educational and cultural opportunities at UMD.
We have tools that may help you if you experience:

• Reading Barriers, due to blindness, learning disabilities or other disabilities
• Hearing limitations due to deafness or other hearing impairment
• Keyboard barriers, due to repetitive motion or spinal cord injuries, etc.
• Spelling or expressive writing limitations.

UMD is committed to providing programmatic access to the university's educational and cultural offerings, and Information Technology Sytems and Services (ITSS) along with Disability Services & Resources (DS&R) support that commitment with appropriate Assistive Technology (AT).

ITSS provides software and hardware that makes printed matter, computers, and online information and services accessible to students with disabilities. If you feel you need other technology to access UMD's educational opportunities, your DS&R counselor can help you determine an appropriate accommodation.

Assistive software can be found in the Library Access area and in DS&R's testing area. The AT in these locations is available for use whenever the Library or DS&R's office are open.

 

 

AT Software in the Library

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UMD DS&R along with ITSS continuously evaluates available software to serve the needs of students with disabilities. Based on our research and feedback from students we have installed the following software for use in the Library. If you have suggestions for additional assistive software or locations, please send us an e-mail telling us about it.

WRITING Talk to your computer and have it write your papers. Dragon NaturallySpeaking allows you to speak or dictate to the computer converting oral language to written text. This also eliminates the use of key strokes or a mouse. The more you use it, the better it gets. It takes some training in the beginning.

Need some help with writing and proofing? Kurzweil 3000 and TextHelp Read & Write will assist you by reading the words or sentences you type along with providing options for the word you are going to type.

READING Let your computer read to you. ZoomText and Kurzweil 3000 both read the text on computer screens. ZoomText will read web articles. Kurzweil 3000 will read textbooks and magazine articles that you have scanned. Both provide reading supports such as an electronic “magnifying glass,” highlighting, contrasting text-to-background color combinations, and text window sizing. For students who are blind Kurzweil 1000 provides access to printed and electronic materials. Scanned print documents and digital files (such as eBooks or email) are converted from text to speech and read aloud.

The Reading Edge and Kurweil 3000 quickly scan printed material and read the text aloud. Learn how to save your work as an audio file and you can play it on your MP3 player or iPod.

Don’t like writing outlines? Your computer will construct a scheme resembling a flowchart with Inspiration software. This is for students who visualize ideas and like to plan in a graphical medium. The computer will convert the linkedgraphics into an outline to help you organize your writing.

If you’re having trouble seeing the monitor and have had your eyes checked (or if you haven’t) ZoomText and MAGic will enlarge the screen to a magnification level that works for you. They can also provide additional reading aids such as an electronic “magnifying glass,” line-by-line highlighting, contrasting text-to-background color combinations, text window sizing and screen reading.

OTHER SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE