Accessible Tech
Every Thursday at 4.15pm the EdTech Demonstrator Programme will be delivering short webinars (between 20 to 40 mins) focusing on the best ways to integrate accessible technology into your classrooms – enabling you to improve the outcomes for all of your learners.
Accessible technology means technology that allows full access to digital content, whatever your needs. As a result, these webinars are for all educators, as we all know that mainstream classes include a range of students with needs, diagnosed or not. An accessible classroom makes learning easier for everyone.
Starting in January 2021, we’ll be revealing our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) support hub. Visit our SEND support hub page for more information.
Webinar programme 2020 / 2021
Upcoming webinars
Microsoft (2nd Viewing). Thursday 21 January. 4.15pm.
Never before has so much accessibility been at our fingertips built-in to the tools we use. In this webinar, Hector Minto from Microsoft covers features, tools and tips in Office 365, Teams, Microsoft Office (desktop), Windows OS and more.
We will be demonstrating immersive reader, a fantastic way of improving literacy, catering for learners with English as a second language and improving grammar skills.
Register for the Microsoft webinar on Zoom
Text to speech Pt 1 & 2 (2nd Viewing). Thursday 28 January. 4.15pm.
An introduction to one of the most useful tools to help learners access written text. We will cover options on different platforms and cover those extra features that can make all the difference.
Register for the Text to speech webinar on Zoom
Dictation (2nd Viewing). Thursday 4 February. 4.15pm.
Using your voice to write can be transformative for learners and is a useful life-skill for everyone! We cover the main options and give options for the classroom, mobile devices and exams.
Register for the Dictation webinar on Zoom
Accessible Tech for Education. Thursday 11 February. 4.15pm.
This webinar will signpost to the useful resources in this series and beyond. If you don’t know where to start then this is for you! It will explain how the areas of focus will help your learners and give you a useful virtual poster.
Register for Accessible Tech for Education webinar on Zoom
Literacy Tools. Thursday 18 February. 4.15pm.
Help with essay writing, scaffolding literacy in early years and tools to improve your grammar. These tools can help a wide range of learners and can help with a variety of written tasks.
Register for Literacy Tools webinar on Zoom
Accessible Documents. Thursday 25 February. 4.15pm.
There are some quick and simple habits we can pick up to create accessible documents that make them easier to access for everyone – this can be even more important for learners with SEND. We’ll take you through some of these while touching on WCAG guidelines and talk about how to create a good set of templates to save you and your organisation time.
Register for Accessible Documents webinar on Zoom
Parents and Carers. Thursday 4 March. 4.15pm.
What happens at home can be as important as at school for a learner’s education. In this session, we focus on the specific advice and guidance around accessible technology that is most important to parents and carers.
Register for Parents and Carers webinar on Zoom
TechAbility Standards. Thursday 11 March. 4.15pm.
We will introduce you to a free tool that can help you to audit your use of Accessible Technology. This is perfect for organisations who want to improve their usage of accessible technology but also to audit, provide inspiration, to get ready for inspection or to know where to get help.
Register for TechAbility Standards webinar on Zoom
Watch previous webinars
Introduction
Meet the team of specialists, find out how best to access the programme and get some tips on getting September started right. Watch on YouTube below.
Text-to-Speech
An introduction to one of the most useful tools to help learners access written text. We will cover options on different platforms and cover those extra features that can make all the difference. Watch on YouTube below.
Early Switch Skills
Taking a look at alternative access to computers/communication aids using switches. It will provide a step-by-step guide from the assessment process, to early switch skills such as awareness of cause and effect. It will explore a range of switch accessible software, websites, and activities. Watch on YouTube below.
Dictation
Using your voice to write can be transformative for learners and is a useful life-skill for everyone! We will cover the main options and give options for the classroom, mobile devices, and exams. Watch on YouTube below.
Vision
Changing visual options can make resources accessible. We will go through the main software and features that can help your learners see the work in the best possible way. Watch on YouTube below.
Physical Equipment
How do we work out what equipment learners need? What is out there and where do we buy it from? We can help you with these questions and more. Watch on YouTube below.
Video Calls
Never before have we spent so long in video calls! But do we know how to make these accessible and do we know which platform to choose to suit our students’ needs? We will look at how to make your calls on Zoom, Teams and Hangouts more accessible with captions, transcripts, accessible resources, shared folders and more. Watch on YouTube below.
Remote Therapy
There are some excellent resources and tips on delivering remote therapy, we’ll review these and help you to feel comfortable delivering therapy in this manner. Designed with Speech and Language Therapists in mind, but with guidance that should help all therapists. Watch on YouTube below.
Blended / Flipped Learning
Blended learning is an approach to education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for interaction online with traditional place-based classroom methods. Flipped learning has been described as “school work at home and home work at school.” They are both effective when done correctly and can improve the differentiation, accessibility and engagement of learners. Watch on YouTube below.
Visual Learning
Mind-mapping, social stories, essay planning, symbols and timetables. We will discuss the merits of each, provide you with solutions (PC and mobile) and give you some new tools to deliver your sessions more inclusively. Watch on YouTube below.
Microsoft
Never before has so much accessibility been at our fingertips built-in to the tools we use. In this webinar Hector Minto from Microsoft will cover features, tools and tips in Office 365, Teams, Microsoft Office (desktop), Windows OS and more.
We will be demonstrating immersive reader, a fantastic way of improving literacy, catering for learners with English as a second language and improving grammar skills. Watch on YouTube below.
There are some pioneering learning tools being provided through Google Education and some excellent accessibility options. So how do you make the most of these tools and what can you do with browser extensions?
We’ll cover all this and more. Including a free dictation tool (speech to text) that works with most learners without training and free tools for learners to be able to read online resources whatever their access. Watch on YouTube below.
Apple
iPads and iPhones have consistent accessibility features so once you understand these you can enjoy them on any Apple device. We’ll take you through these and give you the skills to understand how to use apps in a meaningful way to improve accessibility for learners. Watch on YouTube below.
After this webinar you will be able to use your tablet or phone to read the world around you and to adapt it to suit the needs of learners with varying access requirements.
Mobile
Mobile devices and tablets are increasingly a major part of our lives. So how can we use these for learners to access digital materials, browse the internet, communicate and be more independent? Allow us to take you through some options in a webinar that will cover both inbuilt features/settings and a range of applications.
Watch on YouTube below.
Assessment
How do we know which technology will help which learners? Assessment takes “on paper” solutions and improves them by taking into account all of the variables in a learning environment. Whether this is through casual observation or a more rigorous process, it is vital that some consideration be given to assess learning for accessible technology. This webinar will equip you with the skills, paperwork and processes to make it work for your context.
Watch on YouTube below.
Physical Kit+
Building on the first physical kit webinar, we look at more advanced equipment in the world of assistive technology. Bringing together eye-gaze, head-mice, smart-glasses and much more. Watch on YouTube below.
Mental Health
We all know that looking after our mental health is important. How can we use technology to support this? How can we take into account the needs of those with disabilities when doing so? We will cover some background before diving into an array of solutions that can help on computers, tablets and mobile phones. Watch on YouTube below.
Sensory.
A sensory education is the perfect fit for many learners, yet there are many misconceptions and assumptions made around this. In this webinar we will go back to basics and look at the essentials for a sensory programme – with a focus on the technology that can enable you to do so. Stay on at the end for our “Drop-in surgery” where you can bring your questions and tech issues to the session.
Watch on YouTube below.
More webinars to follow.
