Assistive technology is a broad term to describe assistive, adaptive and rehabilitative software, hardware and apps to support people with disabilities such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and much more. Each month, we take a look at the latest assistive technology that has been released and sum this up in a bite size blog on dyslexic.com. We are very excited about this month’s latest assistive technology as the new Dyscalculia Screener launches, as well as updates released for the Sonocent Recorder app.
Latest Assistive Technology Software, Hardware and Apps
This summer, iansyst and Loughborough University will be launching a new and refreshed version of the Dyscalculia Screener. It was originally launched in the early 2000’s and was the first web-based screener for dyscalculia. The screener has been designed to screen both large groups and individuals who are struggling with maths. It features a series of mathematical questions that have been developed through extensive research. The screening process generally takes less than an hour to complete and gives an indication as to whether the individual is ‘at risk’ of dyscalculia.
The Dyscalculia Screener is launching in summer 2016 and can be purchased as a single or multi-user licence. It will be available to purchase after the launch by following this link to the Dyscalculia Screener website >> www.dyscalculia-screener.co.uk
Sonocent Recorder is a smart note-taking app which has been designed for use with Sonocent Audio Notetaker. The app was originally launched back in 2014 and allows you to create comprehensive recordings of lessons, meetings or interviews on your smartphone or tablet. It is primarily designed to support those with dyslexia, however the productivity benefits of the app means that it can be beneficial to anyone in a meeting environment. This month we have seen some exciting new features added to the app. Â Existing users of Sonocent Recorder will receive a notification about the updates from their mobile device. If you are not a current user, Sonocent Recorder is free to download on the App Store or Google Play.
New features include noise cancellation on audio, the ability to add your own coloured keys for audio highlighting, ‘glance mode’ to record and highlight discreetly, and the ability to browse and upload photos to your file even when not recording. The app also includes an in-app upgrade which allows you to listen back to full recordings and add colour highlighting audio chunks and sections on review.
Texthelp Read&Write is a popular piece of literacy support software which helps those with dyslexia with reading and writing. Read&Write is a simple and easy-to-use toolbar which provides speech feedback, phonetic spellchecking and many other literacy support tools. Â The software has recently moved to a new version (version 11.5) which contains brand new features which have fully optimised the software to benefit the user even further.
Read & Write Gold 11.5 has had a redesign of the product logo and toolbar icons which makes the software much easier to navigate. The Vocabulary feature has been introduced to create word lists associated with particular words, for example, volcano, lava and erupt. Other features have been enhanced within the software. The phonetic spell checker now includes the use of collocation and the word prediction tool includes over 150 topic word banks.
Read&Write literacy support software can be downloaded by following this link to Texthelp Read&Write products.
Please comment below to let us know what latest assistive technology products you are excited about this month.