A Guide to Alt. Media/Accessible Electronic Text


Also available in E-Text Version

Steps to the Alt. Media/E-Text Process

Step 1: Review the E-text online resources to see if any are viable options for your accessible digital needs. (E-Text options)

Step 2: Request your accommodations in SAM

Step 3: Once the books are requested, Student Disability Services will work to get them in an electronic format from the publisher. Once received by SDS, the books are checked for any issues or problems and edited for accessibility. To download your books or check the status of your books, please refer to the SAM help page or your Student Handbook. Note: SDS WILL NOT email the status of your books, you must go log into SAM to see the status.

  • To log into SAM, follow the step by step instructions

  • Go to http://www.utoledo.edu/offices/student-disability-services/sam/index.html, and click on the SAM banner.
  • At the SAM log-in screen, enter your UTAD credentials


Check the status by looking in the list of work orders processed.



Step 4: Review your book as soon as you possibly can and e-mail with any problems that may occur. You can also consult your Student Handbook or the Student Disability Services website for additional information.

Step 5: Choose the Text Reader that you would like to use. There are many different options at free and/or a fee. Most students use the speak out-loud function built into Adobe Reader DC. (Download Source for Adobe Reader DC)

Step 6: Look over resources (Located at End of Packet)

  • OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for a mobile device such as OCR Instant Free, Smart Doc Scanner, and CamScanner Pro
  • Daisy Readers
  • Kindle for your I-Product
  • PDF’s for your I-Product
  • Using PC for Kindle
  • Adding books to your Android device

Accessing The Virtual-Lab

Step 1: Go to http://www.utoledo.edu/it/VLab/

Step 2: Download the client (Contact IT at 419-530-2400 if you need help) or consult the online tutorial found on the Student Disability Services website under the Student Tutorials tab. (http://www.utoledo.edu/offices/student-disability-services/Student%20Tutorials.html)

Step 3: Once the client is downloaded go to the start menu and click on VMware view client

Step 4: Now under connection server make sure it says vlab.utoledo.edu

Step 5: Click connect and you can then put in your UTAD User name and password

Step 6: Log in and select Assistive Software Lab and click connect

Programs In The Virtual Lab

  • Dragon Dictate
  • JAWS
  • NVDA
  • Kurzweil 3000
  • Read & Write Gold
  • Claro Software
  • Lightning with Speech
  • Screenruler
  • Adobe Reader XI Pro
  • Tactileview
  • Microsoft Office

Adding Accommodation Request(s)

Please note that the Student Disability Services SAM system has been upgraded with new features. You no longer need to enter CRN’s to request academic accommodations in a course. SAM will automatically pull a list of your courses. You can select each course and then select your academic accommodations. (Remember: data is refreshed nightly and it may take up to 24 hours after you register for your class for the class to show up on the list).

See steps below:

  1. Select each class in which you wish to utilize an academic accommodation from the list of your classes. Then click Continue to Customize Your Accommodations (Remember: data is refreshed nightly and it may take up to 24 hours after you register for your class for the class to show up on the list).

  1. Select appropriate academic accommodations for each class and click Submit Your Accommodation Requests.

To Cancel Accommodation Request(s)

  1. Select the class(s) in which you wish to cancel accommodation(S)

  1. At the next screen choose the Cancel Request button (in red) on the top right hand side of the screen
  1. On the next screen, select the reason for cancelling an academic accommodation from the drop down tab.
  2. Click Cancel Accommodation Request to complete the cancelation.

If you change your mind and do not want to cancel the request you may choose Back to List in step 5.

Note: Once you have canceled your request the status will show up as pending until it is approved by your accommodation specialist then the status will show up as canceled

Modify Accommodation request(s)

  1. To change requests, select the course that you want to modify
  1. Under the accommodation section, check or uncheck the accommodation you wish to modify Note: Only the academic accommodations you qualify for will be shown on the screen.

  1. Click the Update Request button (outlined in blue)

Any change will show up as pending until it is approved by your Accessibility Specialist.

Downloading Books from SAM

Step 1: Sign into your SAM account at

Step 2: Click on the Alternative format tab on the left side of the page.

Step 3: View the books that you have for your classes and click download book.

Step 4: If the download window does not pop up you may have to adjust your setting in your web browser. In this case click “Open Link in New Window”.

Step 5: A new window from drop box will pop-up. If you have a drop-box account or would like to add one you can click on Add to my drop box.

Step 6: If you are having technical difficulties please email

, call 419-530-4981, or visit the Student Tutorials tab on the Student Disability Services website.

Additional E-text Options and Resources

There are options for accessible electronic text outside of the Student Disability Services. The sites with accessible electronic text are listed below. Some of the sites are free while others require memberships and textbook rentals. If you would like to learn more about the independent options you can set up an appointment with the e-text staff to learn about the options.

Bookshare

  • Free membership
  • Download the Daisy files
  • Play on a Daisy file or save as work/PDF and use speak-outloud or NVDA
  • Requires a Daisy player which is able to play back text-only books. Bookshare also provides free daisy software for PC and Mac designed specifically to read their materials.

LearningAlly ( )

  • Requires a compatible Daisy player or device which can play back protected content. Books that work with the free talking book players are available from the National Library Service at no charge for qualifying disabilities.

Coursesmart ( ).

  • Search for the E-textbook
  • Rent the E-textbook
  • Request an Accessible Copy (Can take up to 2 weeks)
  • Run with a screen reader

Read a PDF with Read Out Loud

You can adjust the volume/pitch reading speed and if you have SAPI 4 or SAPI 5 voices installed from text-to-speech or language applications, you can choose them to read your PDFs, by choosing “preferences” in the edit menu and selecting reading in the left menu.

Activate or deactivate Read Out Loud

You must activate Read Out Loud before you can use it. You can deactivate Read Out Loud to free system resources and improve performance of other operations. Do one of the following:

Step 1: Choose View > Read Out Loud > Activate Read Out Loud. Keyboard shortcut-Shift +

Step 2: Choose View > Read Out Loud > Deactivate Read Out Loud. Keyboard shortcut-Shift + Ctrl + Y Ctrl + Y

Read a PDF with Read Out Loud

Step 1: Navigate to the page that you want to read.

Step 2: Do one of the following: Choose View > Read Out Loud > Read This Page Only. Keyboard shortcut Shift + Ctrl + V

Choose View > Read Out Loud > Read To End Of Document. Keyboard shortcut Shift + Ctrl + B

Interrupt reading out loud

Do one of the following:

  • Choose View > Read Out Loud > Pause. Keyboard shortcut Shift + Ctrl + C
  • Choose View > Read Out Loud > Resume. Keyboard shortcut Shift + Ctrl + C
  • Choose View > Read Out Loud > Stop. Keyboard shortcut Shift + Ctrl + E

Change default voice and reading speed

Step 1: Click Edit > Preferences > Reading

Step 2: From this screen you can change the reading voice (default is Microsoft Mike), pitch and reading speed (190 words per minute).

Step 3: Click OK to confirm any changes.

You can also use the Select Tool to locate text. Activate Read Out Loud, and then choose Tools > Select Tool. Use the up/down and left/right arrow keys to navigate through the document. You can hear where the Select Tool has been placed, such as a heading or paragraph.

Free/Reasonably Priced Screen Reading Options

Natural Reader

Allows for the reading of text in any application with a keystroke. Voices can also be purchased from their website directly which can be used with any application that has text to speech built-in. There also exists a Mac version for those who would like to use it outside of Windows. Note: When you have this program open, if you click the bottom right corner- Mini Board, this will read any document you open and any website which you enter while on the web.

Read the Words

Web-based program, which allows for the generation of speech from any text online. If you can select it, you can read it. It does not require the purchasing of your own text to speech voice, as all of the processing is done online and not through your computer. It also has toolbars for reading outloud any text on any page conveniently. Read the Words also has a free downloadable version that can read PDF as well as other types of files.

Thunder

This is a full screen reader, and will read everything out-loud on the screen in every application. However, it is basic, and even comes with its own web browser, rather than working with Internet Explorer or Firefox.

NVDA

This is a free screen reader, allowing access to nearly all parts of Windows. It supports mouse highlighting, and will read out-loud any text which the mouse is moved to. With one keypress, any text can be read from the cursor's position.

System Access

Another free product, though it is fee based, to become a fully functional screen reader. The program runs directly off the internet, and will provide access to any content in any application as long as the web browser is open. Once the browser is closed, speech stops. \

Nextup

The voices cost anywhere from $30 and above, and can be used with their text allowed program which converts any text into mp3 format. -

Common Screen Readers/ Screen Magnifiers

JAWS/ MAGic

Zoom Text

Kurzweil

ChromeVox

OCR applications: Free and Fee Based on Android and IOS

What is OCR?

OCR, or optical character recognition, allows for the scanning of documents or pictures and their

conversion into actual text. On computers, this is often done with a physical scanner. On phones,

the increasing viability of good cameras is making the process of text recognition both easy and

affordable. OCR can also include the recognition of objects (when scanned by an image) into

descriptions. For those who are blind, this can assist with identifying certain objects such as food

cans or unlabeled products.

Both Android and iOS have OCR applications. While the choice of OCR is much more limited

on Android, the one which is available is free and works very well with the Talkback screen

reader. iOS does have at least 3-4 OCR apps in its store, however all of these cost money, and

the free ones are only marginally good at text recognition. The ones which do exist are trial or

limited versions of existing OCR solutions which are commercial, and therefore are not fully

functional as such.

When using an OCR app, it is important the camera be angled properly. Some apps will give

specific instructions on how to angle a camera, so that an optimal image quality is created. This

can be a greater challenge for those without sight, as having even a slight elevation in the angle

can create a cut off picture or one with jumbled text. Low vision or sighted users can look at the

viewfinder which shows the camera's aim.

Android:

Google Goggles:

This is Android's free OCR app, developed by Google. All of the buttons and images are well

labeled, and it is very usable by even those who are blind and use Talkback the app allows for

the scanning of text, which is then copied into the clipboard and can be pasted into any

application. While it cannot save scanned texts into files, it does allow one to paste it into a

simple notes or text editor app, where they can be stored. Overall, image recognition is fairly

accurate, and it largely depends on the camera's angle and quality on the phone. At least a 5 MP

camera is needed for good quality images.

iOS apps:

Prizmo ($9.99):

It allows for the scanning of different types of documents, which can be chosen on the main

screen. These include business cards, bills, book pages... Once you click on an item, you are

taken to your camera roll, where you can either import an already taken picture or take a new

one. The app, as of the latest version, can help you direct the camera to improve image quality, if

you are a VoiceOver user. When compared to the recognition quality, this one by far seems to

produce the best recognized text. On top of that, it allows for documents to be shared to

Dropbox, Evernote, and they are stored in cloud for syncing across all devices.

Text detective ($9.99): Designed specifically for the VoiceOver user

When you scan an image, it continuously uses the camera, taking shots as you move your phone

around the page, and trying to recognize text. If it is not able to find anything, it will retry until it

does. This does get annoying after a while, especially because VoiceOver will keep repeating

"scanning... Recognizing..." every time it repeats the cycle. Once text is found, it is presented in

a text field, and can be shared or e-mailed to anywhere.

SayText (free):

After you raise the device above the page, a beep is heard to let you know that the alignment is

correct. The app was specifically designed for blind users, and is certainly not as comprehensive

as Prizmo or other solutions listed here. It also does not often scan text correctly (success with

this app was only once, and even then, moderately so)

Tap Tap See (free):

This is not an OCR app, it does allow for one part of Google Goggles not yet available on iOS

Object recognition. This is much more accurate than Google’s, since it identifies objects

themselves, such as a can of beans, or in one instance, a certain type of chocolate bar. It does this

by analyzing the photo for patterns and objects, giving back mostly good feedback. Sometimes,

tweaking settings such as flash can help in making a better recognition.

Free DAISY Players on various platforms

There are numerous options for Daisy Playback software, depending on what a person's reading

needs are and whether they wish to use features such as Math ML, or the ability to read back

Learning Ally books. These players are all useable with screen readers, though some include self

voiceing by default or as an option for those who wish to have dialogs and menus read but might

not have a screen reader.

Only commercial products seem to be able to read MathML content, which is needed for

accessing math textbooks or documents. The price of these can sometimes be costly, ranging

over $100 for some players. There also exist daisy players for other devices, such as Android and

iOS tablets or smartphones. These too can cost a lot of money, with the iOS player being priced

at $19. As of this writing, no software programs exist for reading math information back on these

devices, and the daisy offerings do not yet support languages such as Math ML.

Free Software for Windows:

Amis (Adaptive Multimedia Information System), located at

Emerson (code.google.com/p/Emerson-reader? ): This is an open-source DAISY reader.

Daisy Duck (

TAB Player (

TPB Player (

Free Daisy Players for Mac:

Olearia (code.google.com/p/olearia? )

Emerson:

Virtually identical to the Windows version in function. The menu bar is accessible with standard screen readers

VoiceOver:

Commands (VO +M to open the menu bar).

Setting up your I-Product for voice over:

(This may also work on Kindle but I have not had a chance to work with one yet. This does not

work on an Android)

One-time steps:

Step 1: I-products can be very tricky to use with voice over on. When I want to use voice over I always

have the triple click setting on to make it easier. Once you set up triple click home you do not

have to do it again.

Step 2: Click on the settings button