Assistive Technology presentation

1. Assistive
Technology
OCR Scan Program & Solo Suite
Shiina Yasukawa
ED443-01
Nov. 18, 2014

2. Objectives
• Introduce 2 software/apps that are used to
help students with disability(s)
o OCR Scan Program
o Solo Suite (Draft:Builder & Co:Writer)
• Describe the software/apps (e.g. developer,
price, features, and etc.)
• Demonstrate the software/apps in class

3. What is OCR Scan Program?
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the
process of converting an image of text, such
as a scanned paper document or electronic
PDF file, into computer-editable text
Benefits:
• Save time and effort in creating and editing
documents
• Export the converted text
• Use with a variety of word-processing, page
layout and spreadsheet applications
Audiences:
• Individuals with print disabilities (dyslexia,
visual impairment, learning difficulties, or
physical impairments)

4. Features
Individuals with low vision or blindness:
1. Built in text-to-speech capabilities
2. Ability to change font size, type and color
3. Ability to change background and highlighting color
4. Provide additional spacing between characters, words or
lines
5. Ability to send files to note taking devices or to use in
conjunction a refreshable Braille display
Individuals with learning difficulties:
1. Built in text-to-speech capabilities
2. Highlighting a word, sentence, or paragraph at a time
using contrasting colors.
3. Have only one word at a time appear on the screen to
improve ones grasp of the material.
4. Dictionary, Thesaurus, Homophones, & Syllabification
5. Spell checker & Prediction
6. Study tools such as Highlighting, Bookmarking, Footnotes,
Text notes and Voice notes

5. Free OCR Scan Program
1. Prizmo
2. ABBYY FineReader Express
3. Doxie
4. PDFPen
5. Evernote

6. Evernote
Description:
• Popular note-synching
service that acts more of
a hybrid between a
scrapbook and a
notebook.
Developer:
• Stepan Pachikov
Audience:
• Anyone with
smartphones, tablet, &
laptops

7. Evernote
Price:
• Free version available (limited
features)
• Premium version
o $5 per month
o $45 per year
Features:
• Note-taking/Annotate PDF
• Sync files across various
devices
• Share ideas with friends and
colleagues
• Automatic OCR service
(scanned for text)
Best Feature:
• Annotating PDF
• Share PDF and work together

8. Evernote
Other apps/software by developer:
• “Skitch”
o Draw attention
o Add shapes, arrows, & quick sketches
o Move projects forward
• “Penultimate”
o Beautiful digital handwriting
o Best-selling, easy-to-use handwriting app for iPad
o Experience of writing on paper, with the added power of
Evernote and the flexibility of a tablet.
o Lose paper, keep handwriting
Does not require Internet to use
• Only syncing requires Internet

9. Demonstration
Instruction:
Step 1
• Simply drag a document and add
it to a new or existing note.
• Evernote will sync the document.
Step 2
• Evernote will scan the document
and perform OCR.
• The OCR is usually very accurate
but there is no control over how
the OCR works. It’s done
automatically with no user input or
settings.
Step 3
• You can then search for text and,
as you can see, the text highlights
as you search.

10. Solo Suite
1. Draft:Builder
2. Co:Writer
Developer:
• Don Johnston
Audience:
• Students with learning
disabilities/Autism
Spectrum Disorder
(ASD)

11. Solo Suite
• Price:

12. Solo Suite
Other apps/software by
developer:
• Read:OutLoud
• ELSB - early literacy skill
builder
• Snap&Read Extension
• Write:OutLoud
• Clicker 6
*Internet requirements depend
on the features being used.

13. Draft:Builder
Features:
• Outlining
• Note-taking
• Draft-writing
Best Feature:
• Note-taking

14. Co:Writer
*compatible for both Mac and PC systems/Apps on
iTunes ($19.99)
Features:
• Text prediction
• Topic dictionaries (over 4 million topics)
• Text to Speech
• Store and Export Writing
Best Feature:
• Topic dictionaries

15. Co:Writer App on iTunes