Accessibility features in different devices
My Computer My Way explains how people can make their computers, tablets and smart phones easier to use and is divided into the following sections: vision, hearing, motor and cognitive (learning differences). A wide range of devices is covered. They also have downloadable factsheets and a catalogue of free webinars.
Accessibility features in Office 365
Microsoft’s Accessibility page explains how to use tools such as Immersive Reader, which can read text out loud, change the font size and spacing, change the background colour or mask the screen to only show a few lines at a time. Watch our video on Immersive reader and dictation.
Office Lens lets you capture images of documents, whiteboards etc. on your phone then save them as Word, PowerPoint or PDF files. OCR is built in to make text editable.
Accessibility features in Google
Here is a list of Google’s accessibility features. These include Image to text conversion.
Accessibility features in Mac
See how to use accessibility features in a Mac, including VoiceOver screen reading and Dark Mode to reduce visual distractions.
Accessibility features in Adobe Reader
In Adobe Reader, you can magnify and reflow text as well as hear it read out loud. Another handy feature is Auto Scroll. Switch this on (and off) by pressing CTRL (or CMD in Mac) + Shift + H. Control speed and direction with the number keys, up/down arrows and + and – keys.
Captions and subtitles
Here is a guide to how to turn on captions in YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and more.
Useful online tools
Try Natural Reader, a freemium text-to-speech reader with good quality voices. Paste in text or upload a PDF or document. See also Rewordify, which can simplify or define complex words to aid understanding.
Useful browser extensions
*Please always check that an extension is safe before installing it, as it can access your data.*
Extensions are small programs which let you add features to your Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge browser. See our Extensions page for more information.
Useful apps
Seeing AI is a free iOS app which scans and reads text (as well as barcodes, currency etc.) Live Transcribe (Android) converts spoken words into written text and Otter Notes allows 600 minutes of audio recording and transcription a month for free.
RNIB Bookshare
If you are a student with a visual impairment or learning difference you can download alternative formats (such as audio, braille, ePub or PDF) of books held in our Library. Browse the RNIB Bookshare website to see what is available. Contact nichola.brown@fxplus.ac.uk for more information.
Other useful web pages
The University of Kent has a clear, detailed Productivity Tools webpage.
Contact us
If you have tried the above tools and are still having difficulty accessing a website or resource, please contact us at inclusive@fxplus.ac.uk and we will arrange for it to be converted to a different format.