Sally Birley and I were having a conversation about assistive software today and I realized it was past time to put down some resources we have used or plan to test to support student learning with iOS devices. I’ve linked the apps below with their Canadian iTunes store link, prices and a description. These are not endorsements, just a list of apps or features we need to look at some more.
Text to Speech (free, built in accessibility feature – Settings > General > Accessibility > Speak Selection > On)
Speech to Text (free, built in on newer ipads, look for the microphone on the keyboard)
Dragon Dictation (free) – speech to text – https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/dragon-dictation/id341446764?mt=8
Co-Writer ($17.99) – From Don Johnson – https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/co-writer/id674099732?mt=8
AppWriter US ($29.99) – Optical Character Recognition, text to speech, word prediction – I have previously tested this and had some difficulty with the OCR component from pictures I took. Sometimes it was marvelous, other times it produced gibberish. I wasn’t able to test yet on a newer ipad and I suspect lighting and camera capabilities to be likely issues. Worth more testing as this could be a good alternative to a Kurzweil scanner setup if it works reliably. – https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/appwriter-us/id490076103?mt=8
Clicker Sentences ($28.99) – Aimed at younger students but may require a lot of adult support as described by our SETBC support team. Predictive text support. From Cricks, the company that created Clicker 6. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/clicker-sentences/id575603433?mt=8 – video at http://vimeo.com/63307411
Clicker Books (30.99) – This one was described as a better bang for you buck from our SETBC team, compared to Clicker Sentences, especially for older students. Predictive text support. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/clicker-books/id645936237?mt=8
Typ-O HD ($14.99) was mentioned to me after writing this. It does word prediction and speech to text and text to speech. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/typ-o-hd-writing-is-for-everybody!/id372971659?mt=8
Do you have any apps that make a difference for kids that need assistive tech? Please add them in the comments.