“One major issue I have had since the start of my schooling life is, when my hands quickly cramp up and I cannot write or hold a pen without extreme discomfort. This has meant that whilst note taking and exams as examples, I find it difficult to write. I have slowed down the mouse speed. With my shakes I end up double-clicking everything. Also, I can only use an optical mouse and I can’t use a touchpad…”
Jim – Information Technology in Organisations
“Text to speech is really useful when you are writing and proofreading – it makes me stop when I leave out words and when I create words that don’t exist., I was given TextHelp Read and Write Gold and I use the scanning for my manuscripts. Add the picture to Word and make comments in the margins.”
Becky – Medieval Renaissance Culture.
“I use an Electronic Dictionary for foreign languages such as Russian. It is a Franklin handheld dictionary and it is easier to use than a paper based dictionary also less scary than my Latin dictionary!”
Becky – Medieval Renaissance Culture.
“I use Gtalk or Google talk as a way to chat with friends and collaborate – sharing files with those who also have Google accounts. It is possible to see entire conversations and to ‘sync’ them with a Google account on your PC. I am also on a Google Group about hearing discussions.
Rajaram
“I use Inspiration for mapping out topics then add keywords and explanations, perhaps with the different verb endings – Then I have a paper based colour coding system when I am revising that highlights those endings.”
Becky – Medieval Renaissance Culture.
“I use Zoomtext a lot for reading and assignments when the screen reader is the most useful thing. I use the printer and scanner, although now I do not use the scanner so much as most of it is on line – I have large fonts and mouse pointer but usually read things with a screen reader as it saves my eyes.”
Amber – Nursing
YouTube Video link to ZoomText Tips and Tricks #10 – Using the SpeakIt Tool
You can personalise your mouse pointer in Zoomtext and there are several free downloads such as ‘Philip’s Large Coloured Cursors‘ that allow you use a colour and size of pointer that makes it easier to see and Dolphin Computer Access offer Windows High Visibility Mouse Pointers.