Group items tagged

"My oldest son likes games and Web surfing, but we don't want to give him full access to our PC, or to the entire Internet. We've experimented with various ways to block him off, with varying success. It wasn't long ago that I found just the program for which I was looking, a customizable application launcher that serves as an alternate Windows shell. That program is KidsMenu. I should back up for a moment and explain what the "shell" is. The shell is what allows a user to interact with the operating system. For most of us, the default Windows shell is Explorer, which includes the Start Menu, desktop icons, System Tray, etc."

Making Microsoft Windows Accessible in Your School Ten quick solutions to implement this summer..."

"VoiceNote offers excellent voice-to-text. It is a free app for Google Chrome that can be added to the browser simply by going to the Chrome Web Store and installing it. (A Google/GMail account is required.) VoiceNote opens as a dictation window, as pictured below. This can be a small window that sits on top of a document that is being written. Or, it can occupy the entire screen."

"Click-N-Type is an on-screen virtual keyboard designed to provide computer accessibility to anyone with a disability that prevents him or her from typing on a physical computer keyboard. As long as the physically challenged person can control a mouse, trackball, touch screen or other pointing device, this adaptive software keyboard allows you to send keystrokes to virtually any Windows application or DOS application that can run within a window. "

"Dropcloth is a simple application that overlays a solid colored window on top of your desktop. Especially handy for clearing your desktop for screenshots and screencasts, or just getting rid of all the distraction in front of you so that you can focus on just one application without closing out of anything or clearing off your desktop. After the jump, download Dropcloth for free and clean all the ugly an"

"Voice Finger is a software tool that enables you to control your mouse and keyboard just using your voice, in the fastest possible way." Voice Finger can also be useful for all speech users, since it gives a fast and direct way of typing, moving and clicking anything. Windows only.

"It allows students to play the classic game of Concentration by themselves or against a friend while they practice numbers, geometric shapes, multiplication facts, fractions, decimals and percents. The activity can be played in one of two modes depending on the level of the student - hidden (covered windows) or visible (glass windows). This allows students to focus on the match itself without having to also remember where the cards are located. "

"Combatting difficulties brought on by various disabilities in an environment where software and hardware has become increasingly more complex is a huge challenge for engineers to overcome. Thankfully, both Microsoft and Apple have taken some steps to make sure that users of Windows and OS X with disabilities can at least enjoy basic functionality without requiring assistance from another person."

Help and "how to" tutorials for Accessibility options using Universal Access in Apple's Mac OS X and Ease of Access in Microsoft Windows:

"Do you need help in making your computer easier to use? Let's look at the many ways you can make your keyboard and mouse, Windows, the internet and your favourite applications suit you and your needs..."

"Picto Selector is a freeware windows application and contains over 22000 pictos"

Achieve Tablet lets readers be themselves, as well as part of a crowd, with a mobile, text-to-speech device that looks great on any desk and fits in any bag. With touch-screen and gesture-based scrolling, page turning, and zooming, readers can succeed in totally new and intuitive ways. Capturing text is as easy as taking a picture with the Tablet's camera. Then reading happens with synchronized text highlighting and audio playback. With Achieve Tablet, readers can also download Achieve Software for Windows* or Mac* and turn a school or home desktop or laptop into a full-blown digital library.

"Welcome to our free switch accessible games and demos area. Play the games online in your browser. You can download stand-alone versions of some games for Windows to play offline."

"The NFB is proud to bring you PixStop-a versatile, intuitive app that makes it easier than ever to shoot and score your very own stop-motion animation film. Designed for the iPad 2, the PixStop app captures as many as 10,000 images to create mini masterpieces up to 13 minutes long. Novice-friendly features, helpful tutorials and intuitive controls make this the perfect tool for first-time stop-motion animators and a great mobile tool for more advanced users too. * Ages 10 and up * Creative and educational * Kid-friendly interface * 3 short tutorials to get you started * Sample movie included to fire up your imagination * Help window to explain all app functions"

GW Micro announces free Window-Eyes initiative for users of Microsoft Office

"Chrome Virtual Keyboard will popup automatically when the user clicks on an input field such as textboxes and textareas. Futhermore, the keyboard will disappear automatically when no longer needed. This extension is ideal for touch screen devices. This keyboard works like an iOS/Android/Windows 8 touch virtual keyboard."

"No complex setup, no user calibration, no special applications to develop. Connect any projector and Kinect to your Windows 8 PC Start Ubi software Let Ubi automatically calibrate your environment Your projected display is now a touch screen."

" TTS gives Firefox the power of speech. Select text, click the button on the bottom right of Firefox window and this add-on speaks the selected text for you. Isn't it brilliant? Audio is downloadable."

"NaturalReader 12 is a text-to-speech software for Windows. This easy-to-use software with natural-sounding voices can read to you any text such as Microsoft Word files, webpages, PDF files, and E-mails. NaturalReader can also convert any written text into audio files such as MP3 or WAV."