What is Assistive Technology?

Assistive Technology (AT) is tools that bolster independence for persons with disabilities and is defined by the World Health Organization as “any item, piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially, modified I customized that is used to increase, maintain or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities” (World Health Organization & World Bank 2011, p.101).

Assistive technology allows persons to be more independent, and to learn or work more efficiently. Examples of common assistive technology include:

• screen reading software,
• dictation tools,
• speech to text, and
• apps like maps to navigate, to-do for memory, and calendars for organization.

Assistive technology can be a stand-alone item like a software i.e Dragon naturally speaking or JAWS, to accessibility features built in mainstreamed products like phone dictation.

Assistive Technology Examples

Explore different free and paid technologies for various purposes.

By Task

• Note taking:
  • Free: OneNote Office 365 note taking, Audio note taker, and
  • Paid: Livescribe pens
• Reading:
  • Free: Google Lens app, Text to speech with the Edge browser, Immersive Reader, iPad &iPhone text to speech, Text to Speech in Word, Mac Text to Speech, Mac Text to Mp3, Windows 10 magnifier, Live Transcribe, Closed captioning in google slides, Closed captioning in Office 365 PowerPoint, and OCR App Lens in Office 365.
  • Paid: Texthelp software, Accessibility Chrome Webstore, Chome Overlay Chrome Webstore, Scan Pen C-Pen Reader, and Read&Write Chrome Webstore
• Writing
  • Free: Google Docs Voice Typing, Word Dictation in Office 365, Windows Dictation, Mac Dictation, Written Kitten Motivation, ZenPen Low Distraction, OneNote Notetaking in Office 365, and iPad & iPhone Dictation
  • Paid: Dragon Dictate, Livescribe Pen Note taking, Inspiration Mind mapping, Dictation.io Speech to text, Grammarly Spelling/Grammar, and Dictaphones Record Audio
• Organize
  • Free: Google Keep, Pomodoro Technique, Online Calendars, Browser Tips, and OneTab Chrome Webstore
  • Paid: Inspiration Mindmapping
• Collaborate
  • Free: Office 365 Teams, Google Meet Closed Captioning, Google Slides Collaboration, Office365 PowerPoint Collaboration, Office 365 Word Collaboration, and Google Docs Collaboration
• Magnify
  • Free: Windows 10 Magnifier, and Accessibility Chrome Webstore
• Mindset
  • Free: Smiling Mind Mindfullness, Worry Tree Shift Worries, Written Kitten Motivation, Pomodoro Technique, and ZenPen Low Distraction
  • Paid: Worry Tree Shift Worries, Daylio App Wellbeing, and Coffitivity
• Communicate
  • Free: Google Meet, Office 365 Teams, Mac Dictation, Mac Text to MP3, Live Transcribe App, Google Slides, Office 365 PowerPoint, and Office 365 Word
  • Paid: Audio Note Taker and  Otter Live Transcribe

By Platform

• Microsoft
  • Free: Word Text to Speech, Edge Browser Text to Speech, Windows 10 Magnifier, Office 365, teams, Windows Dictation, Office 365 PowerPoint Collaboration and Closed Captioning, Office 365 Word, Online Calendar, Browser Tips, Office 365 Word Immersive Reader, and Office 365 Lens OCR App
• Apple
  • Free: Mac Dictation, Mac Text to MP3, iPad & iPhone Text to Speech, and iPad & iPhone Dictation

Disclaimer:

Not all technologies listed are provided, supported or vetted by the College.

References: AT hive – an assistive Technology Resource. AHEAD. (n.d.). https://www.ahead.ie/ATHive.