The Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), is a UK Government grant which provides support to disabled students in higher education, playing a huge role in breaking down barriers and levelling the playing field. 

A recent survey carried out by the Department of Education in January 2019 showed that over half (59%) of students said they would not feel confident about passing their course without DSA. However, many students are missing out because they are either reluctant to disclose their disability, do not identify as being disabled or are simply unaware of what is available to help them. 

Just as support is not one size fits all, being disabled means different things to different people. In this piece we unpack some of the different barriers students face when seeking support in higher education. 

“…but I’m not disabled”

39% of surveyed students who considered but did not apply for DSA revealed they did not think they were eligible, many were under the impression you are only eligible for DSA if you have a visible, physical disability.

Perhaps due to this traditional view of disability, there is a worrying pattern of students not seeking out support or finding out about DSA until they reach a crisis point in their course. An estimated 25% of all students assessed are in their second year or above with a significant number of them seeking support for mental health conditions often linked with an undeclared diagnosis of a condition such as dyslexia. 

 “….but I’m not disabled enough”

There is also evidence to suggest a case of students recognising they need extra support, but not considering themselves “sufficiently” disabled. The DfE survey found many students believed you were only eligible for DSA if you required specialist software or equipment.  

Maddie, who received DSA for anxiety, told AbilityNet that “I kind of felt like I wasn’t eligible for what I was about to be given, but she (the assessor) reassured me that what I was feeling was necessary for me to get all this extra help”. Find out how DSA can help students with mental health conditions.

To other students the label can be an unwanted inauguration into a group they have never felt the challenges of. They do not consider their condition to have a significant enough impact on their life to be labelled a disability. As part of a 2016 survey, one student stated “I have a condition. I see a disability as something that holds you back.” 

Stigma 

Perceived stigma surrounding disability plays a big part in preventing students from disclosing their disability or applying for DSA. Student Megan stated: “from my experience, if you admit that you have a disability, people treat you differently."

A post-graduate with a mental health condition states that “people sometimes think it’s in your head, sometimes you’re not sure yourself why you’re feeling like this and I just decided that it was too difficult to do.” Self-doubt, a lack of understanding and the pressure to enjoy university can result in students ignoring symptoms and failing to seek support. 

Inclusive practice in higher education should create equal opportunities for everyone, anticipate the diverse needs of all students and enable them to worry less about seeming different to others. Gemma Long, who received her autism diagnosis after graduation, tells the Guardian that “making specialist software and training generally available, rather than confining it to disabled students, makes it more widely known, as well as removes stigma.” 

Social consequences

The transition into university can be daunting, as can making new friends.  Many disabled students consider their disability to be a barrier to them fitting in, leading them to reject additional support. Whilst they may be comfortable with disclosing their disability to their peers, highlighting the same in a lecture theatre is a very different prospect. 

One student revealed in the DfE survey that they did not take up the offer of a note-taker by their university as they would rather not have an adult sitting next to them in lectures. Now, thanks to accessible digitised university resources, free note-taking apps such as Microsoft OneNote and Google Docs and even transcription apps such as Otter Notes students are afforded more independence and control over their learning without the need to disclose. 

Some students forego DSA recommended software/equipment in lectures because “people might say, oh she has a disability so she will get this and that for free.” More awareness of the benefits and availability of low-cost assistive technology to students of all abilities would help to create an inclusive environment wherein disabled students do not feel like they are receiving ‘special treatment’.

Academic discrimination

The social model of disability is being implemented across more and more HEIs as the focus shifts from support for individual impairment to anticipatory, universal considerations. However, the medical model of disability, the attitude that disabled people need to adapt to fit in with ‘normal’ expectations, can still be found in the long-standing academic tradition. 

Student Miriam says that “most of the lecturers are great but I have had the odd one that although nothing has been said, I felt at a disadvantage. I have always got the impression they were not seeing past my disability. They were seeing my disability as a bar to achieving things.” 

Some lecturers forego inclusive practice as they are not familiar with the technology or terminology surrounding some disabilities. The ‘fear of getting it wrong’ ends up hindering dialogue with students and discouraging lecturers from diversifying teaching or assessment methods to suit specific needs.

So, what can I do?

The UK Equality Act requires all institutions to offer reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled people are not excluded. 

Disabled Students’ Allowance recommends support based entirely on your individual needs and preferences, discussed in a one-to-one DSA Needs Assessment. It is completely confidential and there is no requirement to disclose your disability to your university in order to receive support. You can find out if you are eligible now with our free HE Support Checker.

Companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Google all now recognise the importance of accessible by design and their products include a wide range of accessibility features. There are also free and accessible apps for helping you to overcome common barriers and get the most from your time at university.

Last week was a good week for accessibility. Thursday 19 June saw the 10th anniversary of blind access to the iPhone and the day after finally saw Alexa calling to landline and mobile phones come to an Echo near you. For those with a motor or dexterity impairment (including those who are completely paralysed) this is huge.

Setting up Alexa calling

For a while now, we've been able to call other Alexa-enabled devices using just our voice - that's the whole range of Echo smartspeakers, Fire TVs and tablets and all smartphones that have the 'Amazon Alexa' app installed. 

"Alexa, call Bob," and all of Bob's Echo devices will ring (unless he's altered the settings on some - although you can still pick up from those devices) as well as all of Bob’s smartphones and tablets. 

"Alexa, pick up," says Bob and, when he realises it's you, he says, "Alexa, hang up." It's that simple!

Not set up for Echo calling yet? Go into the settings section in your Alexa app, turn on the calling feature from within 'Communications' and allow the app access to all your contacts when prompted. 

Now you can call everyone in your contacts on all their gadgets completely free of charge. Free? But surely it's somehow using my mobile minutes or piggy-backing on my landline package? No. Don't ask me how Amazon does it, but calls to all mobiles and non-premium landline numbers are completely free of charge.

You can say, "Alexa, call Mum's mobile," or "Alexa, call Richard's home phone," or "Alexa, call Bob." In the latter case Alexa will prompt you for which number or device to call Bob on - i.e. "Would you like me to call Bob's alexa devices, mobile or home phone?" 

Alexa knows which number to call by the labels you have assigned to your contacts' different numbers on your smartphone - e.g. 'iPhone', 'Mobile', 'Home' or 'Work' etc - so you may want to go through and check that the labels you've assigned to each number using that little pop-up menu is intuitive and consistent.

Voice calling in action

So setting up voice calling is simple. Everyone can use their voice to make calls to all their family, friends, colleagues, carers and doctors’ surgery etc. The only numbers not yet supported are 999 and premium lines.

If you want to hear it in action, we covered voice calling to UK phones in a recent episode of the Dot to Dot daily Echo demo show. Please do subscribe to the show in the podcatching app of your choice, or else you can listen to just that episode below.

Where else can I call?

As well as UK calls, also included are all US, Canada and Mexico mobile and residential numbers - oh, and of course all Alexa-enabled devices around the world. That’s an awful lot of hands-free empowerment for everyone – but most especially for those for whom letting your fingers do the talking isn’t an option. (At least a few of you out there will be old enough to get that one.)
 

“I didn't realise quite how much value this could add to my life" - James

People with dyslexia make up around 10% of the UK population, according to the British Dyslexia Association. 

Nonetheless, there remains a significant attainment gap which is indicative of a widespread need for more “dyslexia-friendly” higher education institutions. Outdated attitudes of lecturers, inflexible assessment methods and a general lack of understanding of specific needs creates daily barriers to learning for students with dyslexia.

“Dyslexia is better thought of as a continuum than a categorical diagnosis, it is not possible to specify in advance which accommodations individuals might need”, highlights Christopher Byrne, a lecturer in politics at Leeds Beckett University.

Simply providing automatic extra time for exams/deadlines to every student with a dyslexia diagnosis is not a suitable level of support for such a variable condition. Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), a UK government grant, can fill gap between students and the over-stretched university disability services by providing specialised, personalised support to level the playing field.

Can SpLD make you eligible for DSA?

DSA covers a range of disabilities, invisible or otherwise, including specific learning difficulties, mental health and chronic conditions, as well as physical disabilities. Medical evidence to support your diagnosis would be required for any additional funding application. For a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia this would mean either a pre or post-16 formal diagnostic assessment, overseen by a Dyslexia Specialist or Educational Psychologist.

Due to a misconception that you are only eligible for DSA if you have a physical disability, along with the fact a lot of students do not consider dyslexia a disability, many eligible students are missing out on vital support. At AbilityNet we worked out that around a quarter of all students we assess are in their second year or above at university, a significant number of which are for mental health conditions linked with an undeclared diagnosis of dyslexia. 

There is a pattern of students not seeking out support or finding out about DSA until they reach a crisis point in their course. If the range of conditions covered and support provided by DSA was more well known, it could save a lot of students worry. One student interviewed in a January 2019 Department for Education survey revealed that “I was starting to think I wasn't good enough, because I had dyslexia there was no way I could be academic... Having it [known about DSAs] earlier would stop that self - doubt.”

How can DSA help? 

Students are more satisfied with support they receive from DSAs than from their university, according to the DfE survey. DSA provides a tailored package of technology and non-medical support to see you through your studies and help you to reach your full potential. 

Students can receive equipment such as a laptop (subject to £200 contribution), a dictaphone for recording lectures and a printer/scanner for students who prefer working from paper. Specialist software can also be invaluable to breaking down barriers, varying from dictation software for writing essays, to text-to-speech software for having dense text read aloud to you and mind-mapping software for planning/organisation. Training is also provided to help students get to grips with their new software and/or equipment.

On the benefit of assistive technology provided through DSA, one student interviewed in the DfE survey stated that “between the 1st and 2nd semester I saw a large improvement in my grades, going from low 60's to high 60's mid - 70s. If I didn't have the specialist software, I probably wouldn't have completed the course”.

Non-medical support recommended might include a one-to-one study support tutor, along with a general allowance for any printing and photocopying costs you might incur. In addition, depending on your university or course, you might be eligible for reasonable adjustments to your exam conditions and deadline extensions.

Support is not one size fits all

The most important thing to understand is that support provided differs person to person, and is based on your specific needs, circumstances and course requirements.  One of the steps to receiving DSA is to attend a study needs assessment, which is a one-on-one session with an assessor who will identify your needs and prepare a report recommending the extra support. The assessment is your opportunity to discuss any challenges you face in education, including the ways in which your course is assessed and taught, and is steered by the amount of information you share.

A case study: “I didn’t realise any of this stuff existed, I didn’t realise what it could do and how it could help me."

The following experience of James Cannon is a good example of the variety and type of support you might receive through DSA if you have been made eligible for dyslexia.

James received a laptop, text-to-speech software, a book scanner which plays back audio and a dictaphone. He transformed his grades and graduated with a highly successful 2:1 degree. 

Not sure if you are eligible for DSA? You can find out now with our free Higher Education Support Checker!

Find out more:

• Visit our website for more on our DSA services and who is eligible
• Visit the DSA pages on the UK government website to find out more about the application process
• Find out DSA can help if you have a mental health or long-term health condition
• Check out our expert factsheet on Dyslexia and Technology
• AbilityNet is a UK charity that helps people to use technology to achieve their goals. If you have questions about disability and technology you can call us on 0800 269 545 or email enquiries@abilitynet.org.uk.

10 years ago this week (19 June 2009) Apple introduced it’s screen-reading solution for blind iPhone users. Since then VoiceOver has grown up into a really powerful tool - giving access to all aspects of the iPhone and many millions of apps. Now, however, VoiceOver has really come of age and Apple has turned things up to 11.

Image source: 9to5mac

No eyes and no keyboard

With the advent of the first iPhone in 2007,the blind community around the world was very sceptical about whether a flat sheet of glass would ever give them the reasonable access they enjoyed with their Nokia or Blackberry feature phones with physical keyboards and third-party (very costly) screen-reading software.

When, two years later, VoiceOver first appeared in the iPhone 3GS, blind users soon came to realise that there concerns were largely unfounded. Although relatively basic compared to the support that VoiceOver offers today, we were able to access every part of the phone’s features (including Apple Maps – it’s true) and third party apps with ease. 

Typing was indeed a little tricky on that shiny sheet of glass at first. With practice, however, we became more proficient - and VoiceOver also became smarter over time with options such as direct typing (roam around with your finger until you hear the key you want and then lift it off to send), Braille and handwriting input modes (where the entire screen can be used to enter letters or Braille characters) and, of course, the addition of text dictation.

Along with everyone else, blind users benefitted from the simpler interface of the smartphone and it’s blossoming app ecosystem. With apple’s excellent developer tools, most apps were accessible and people with disabilities weren’t left behind in the new, amazing age of mobile computing.

VoiceOver is, of course, a part of the iOS operating system and every year saw new refinements and capabilities to bring us where we are today; at a point where no one can doubt that a smartphone is as suitable a choice for a blind user as it is for anyone else. It has replaced many hundreds of specialist devices with one mainstream, much more affordable, package. Affordable? iPhone? Yes – a talking GPS device was circa £750, a talking notetaker over £1,000 and so on. The iPhone has replaced a backpack of devices and their chargers and, of course, there’s always Android too.

It’s turning 10 - and turning it up to 11

At Apple’s recent week-long World Wide Developer Conference there were many announcements made about accessibility – not least of which was the life-changing full voice control for people with significant motor impairments. For blind users, however, the most exciting features were bound to be the bundle of brand-new abilities in VoiceOver.

In its 10-year history, there has never been a bigger single step in the set of new features coming to VoiceOver, than we see this year with iOS 13. Let’s list them all.

New VoiceOver features in iOS 13

Gleaned from the developer beta that was released at WWDC, the below features seem destined for iOS 13’s final launch in the autumn. It’s possible that some may be removed and equally possible that new ones may be added – but this list is breath-taking as it stands today. With thanks to this post for the low-down – some may only be completely understandable to VoiceOver users (and undoubtedly blow their minds), but hopefully everyone will come away with an appreciation of just how refined the additions to an already ‘Rolls-Royce’ solution they are.

Performance

Already swift and responsive, it appears that performance in general has been noticeably improved, particularly when quickly dragging your finger through a lot of items or when switching through screens in an app.

Much more haptic feedback

Haptic feedback is hugely helpful for blind users. There is now subtle haptic feedback for most sound queues including navigating and tapping items, turning the speech rotor and various errors. Also the ability to turn on and off every sound and haptic feedback effect individually, in addition to just having a master switch for sounds and haptics.

Add or customise gestures and keyboard commands

VoiceOver is driven by a wide range of gestures on-screen, as well as by many keyboard shortcuts if a Bluetooth keyboard is present. You can now reassign existing gestures and keyboard commands – as well as adding new ones to perform different actions. These include basic things like navigating to different kinds of elements, adjusting speech settings, quickly going to the home screen, app switcher and the notification and control centres, to really advanced and powerful ones like running any shortcut. Most gestures can be changed, with the exception of the 1-finger swipes that move through items and the double-tap which performs a tap on whatever is focused. 

Let’s let that sink in … You can now add or change gestures and keyboard hotkeys to do almost anything on your iPhone or iPad.

Custom VoiceOver ‘activities’

You now have the ability to create custom ‘activities’ - a set of settings that can be quickly switched to manually, or be applied when you enter a specific app or enter a specific context like working in a word processor. 

Currently, the settings you can apply include the preferred voice, speech rate and volume as well as its punctuation level.

Custom verbosity levels

The ability to create custom punctuation pronunciation levels in addition to the usual none, some and all is new in iOS 13. These allow you to change whether a character is just past to the speech synthesizer, or spoken in a different way. This can be used for example to change the default pronunciation of the # character from "number" to "hashtag" or even shorter just "hash". These punctuation schemes are synced over iCloud to other iOS devices and macs and can be exported out into a file that can be shared with other people or backed up for importing later.

You can now also completely turn off the reading of Emoji if you wish. If you interact with people that like to spam them without introducing much benefit or include them in their usernames on social media, you can now kill them on an OS-level.

Automatic analysis of images

Blind users have no idea what an image is unless the creator has added a text description. You can now customize how VoiceOver handles image descriptions. Ever since iOS 11 Apple has been using the new machine learning features to guess objects and text on pictures and having VoiceOver read them out if you performed a 3-finger tap to get additional information. Now, you can have VoiceOver read them automatically or have it play a sound to let you know that one is available.

Better camera support

Yes, blind people want and have the right to take photos using their iPhone’s camera and now the camera app provides some extra guidance while taking a picture. In addition to telling you when one or more faces are in frame and where they are, you are now told if you are tilting your device and get additional audio, haptic and spoken feedback to help you hold the phone level.

Screen capture now includes VoiceOver

If you make a screen recording, VoiceOver speech is now included in the recorded audio. Previously, it wasn't. This makes the feature extremely helpful if you want to report accessibility issues to an app developer because you can just make a recording and demonstrate exactly where and how things aren't reading well.

Better Braille support

And finally let’s cover the improvement to Braille support in iOS 13. Blind users often connect an optional Bluetooth Braille display which allows them to read real-time Braille output of everything that is spoken on-screen.
Typing on a Bluetooth Braille display has been speeded up greatly, which should be particularly noticeable when using contracted grade-2 Braille.

VoiceOver now includes the open-source Liblouis Braille translator to provide Braille translation for Braille displays. This has become an industry standard, is used by Microsoft and Google, and supports a larger number of languages. However if you prefer the old Braille tables they are still available as well.

There is also now a separate rotor for changing the Braille language table. Previously, this was tied to the speech language rotor.

Lastly, VoiceOver now displays position information inside a list in Braille. So for example, if you focus the airplane mode switch in the settings app, in addition to the switch itself being indicated in Braille you'll also see a message like "1/50", indicating that this is the first item out of 50 of the list of settings (this doesn't appear to be indicated with Speech for the moment, at least in the context of lists).

Two thumbs-up for VoiceOver at 10

The above may have blown your mind or possibly left you cold (depending upon how much you know or use VoiceOver) but believe me when I say that this is a bumper year for blind users. It’s huge. 

You may be excited for some of iOS 13’s other flagship features – perhaps dark mode, external storage device support, or multiple windows for the iPad, but the above features for VoiceOver are the biggest thing for blind users to come in many years. They take a miraculous device and make it even more empowering for those that are perhaps the least obvious users to accommodate.

Thanks Apple. Here’s to another great decade of accessibility.

Image source: 9to5mac

Related content:

• 36 Seconds That Changed Everything – How the iPhone Learned to Talk
• VoiceOver – iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch iOS 11

As of September 2018 all public sector websites are required to meet the EU Accessibility Directive (check out our webinar on how the EU Accessibility Directive relates to universities). The UK Equality Act also states that institutions should offer reasonable adjustments so that, where possible, disabled people are not excluded.

Universities have a duty to be as inclusive as possible, and many work with AbilityNet to help make courses more accessible to students. Here we look at some of the technology options that universities can use to make their materials and courses more accessible to disabled students.

1. Lecture capture

It is increasingly common for universities with a strong focus on accessibility to offer recorded lectures to students. There are various types of lecture capture available, including hardware and software options.

Lecture Capture technology will record lectures, including slides, the voice of the lecturer and sometimes includes a video of the lecture. This can benefit all students, including those away from college for ill health, physical disabilities, as well as anyone who finds it useful to have important material repeated.

Options range in price, but simple, cheaper lecture capture can be effective.

It’s important to make sure the videos work on multiple devices and that captions are included - particularly for students with hearing loss or with English as a second language.

2. Blackboard Ally

Blackboard Ally can be used within learning environments such as Moodle and is designed to make digital course content more accessible. It uses machine learning algorithms to automatically provide instant content alternatives. Formats include HTML, audio, ePub, electronic Braille and tagged PDF.

Ally will also give accessibility scores and feedback for course leaders and lectures to understand where they could be more accessible with their content in the future.

Blackboard Ally website

3. SensusAccess

SensusAccess is a tool which students and staff can use to convert slides, lecture notes and readings into a range of alternate media including audio books, e-books and digital Braille.

The service can also be used to convert inaccessible documents such as image-only PDF files, JPG pictures and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into more accessible formats. For example you could convert an image only PDF or JPEG file to a Word document, MP3 file or e-book.

SensusAccess website

4. Word Accessibility Checker in Microsoft Office 365

All staff and students could be encouraged to use Word’s free built-in Accessibility Checker for documents, PowerPoint slides and Outlook emails.

Few people know about this resource and use it, but it’s a useful tool. It offers a great starting point for anyone who hasn't thought about accessibility before and may lead to further understanding of the needs of disabled people.

The good news is that you don't need to know exactly why you're making your work accessible before you use it. The checker includes loads of tips and information about why these changes are useful.

Find out more about Microsoft Accessibility Checker here. 

5. Free webinars and tech demo sessions for students and universities

AbilityNet runs free tech demo sessions for universities at various venues and via webinars. These are designed to introduce both free and paid for solutions widely available to support all students. On the 20 June we will be running a webinar from 1-2pm offering free training on inclusive technology for students (register here for the inclusive tech for students webinar). We also provide paid-for more indepth sessions on what's available, including info on free and low-cost lecture capture solutions and accessibility advice and training. Here's how to contact us here for more information on inclusive technology.

Get some top tips from Brighton University and Kent University on how they're becoming increasingly accessible.

Across the UK AbilityNet has a network of 300+ friendly, disclosure checked volunteers who provide IT (information technology) support to older and disabled people through home visits and remote support. At our annual Tech Volunteer Event we celebrate the amazing contribution of our volunteers. 

Our 2019 event was organised in partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). Sarah Brain, the event organiser and AbilityNet's Free Services Manager, said "The Tech Volunteer Event is always the highlight of the volunteer calendar for me. It's great to collaborate with RNIB to create a day that not only covers the latest technology, but just as importantly brings together a remote team of volunteers on one day. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of enthusiasm and commitment the volunteers have to enable our service users to be part of the digital world."

Around 100 volunteers from across both charities came together in person to experience the latest technology and network with each other and representatives from other charities and organisations. The event was also streamed live to satellite locations at RNIB offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

The event started with Gary Moore (AbilityNet’s CEO) and Gary Brunskill (Specialist Lead for Assistive Technology and Digital Inclusion at RNIB) both sharing a message of thanks and celebration, and speaking about the importance of volunteer engagement and training.

We understand the importance of making sure our volunteers are engaged and knowledgeable about the latest assistive technology which is why our volunteer event is very popular and annual. Throughout the day there were presentations from various organisations and charities whose support and technology greatly impacts the users of our IT support at home services:

Volunteering towards a digitally-inclusive society

Michael Vermeersch from Microsoft spoke about how volunteering can be a key ingredient for a happy and fulfilling life with many volunteers observing a greater sense of purpose and improved health. Michael also spoke about the benefits for beneficiaries and society including enabling people to play an active role and contribute in society, breaking down social and cultural barriers and contributing to national wellbeing.

If you start looking at barriers, barriers can be broken down…

In many cases what our volunteers are doing is educating the public about features and technologies that are readily available on their devices and can break down barriers to access in the digital world. Michael spoke about many things including Microsoft’s Ease of Access settings which allow the user to turn on features including a magnifier, on-screen keyboard and narrator (which reads text on screen out loud). Michael wanted to particularly highlight Microsoft’s Disability Answer Desk – where customers with disabilities can get support with Microsoft Office, Xbox Accessibility and Windows.

Tackling social isolation and loneliness through warm technology

An estimated 72,000 children miss school due to long-term illness. “Social isolation can cause major educational and social consequences…” commented Harriet Gridley, Head of Business Development UK at No Isolation. At our event Harriet demonstrated the AV1 robot which was created by No Isolation to make it possible for children and young adults with long-term illness or disability to take part at school via an app on their phone or tablet. It’s not just at school the robot is being used though – check out this moving video about the impact the AV1 robot has had in Jack’s life:

Harriet also spoke about KOMP which was specifically designed for older people who are not tech literate and feel isolated due to distance from family or because their health limits how frequently they can leave their home. Did you know 50% of people over the age of 80 have reduced circulation and leathery finger tips? This often means they struggle with and can’t easily use technology. KOMP has only one button which turns the technology on and off - relatives can send pictures, messages and video chat with their relative via an app. KOMP won the Nesta Smart Aging Prize in 2018 and is described as ‘the one-button screen for seniors’. Watch this video where Alice shares her experience using KOMP:

Dolphin – Making a difference

In the last of our morning presentations we heard Noel Duffy (Managing Director at Dolphin Computer Access) speak about the software and apps available to support users with all degrees of sight loss, computer experience and reading ability. There are 2 million people in the UK with sight loss, and of this 80% are over the age of 65 - Noel highlighted the importance of product selection criteria for older people based on their adeptness with technology.

Noel spoke about Dolphin EasyReader for iOS and Android. Best in class, most accessible and free – this accessible reading app is ideal for people who are experienced using apps and allows the user to access books, newspapers or copy and paste text. Dolphin Guide Connect was suggested for those who don’t use smartphone apps regularly, as it comes (in the UK) with 2 hours of training.

Workshops and our Marketplace

In the afternoon attendees rotated through 3 workshops gaining further insight into assistive technology and inclusive apps, hearing from experts in disability and technology. During the day we also had a marketplace area with representatives from AbilityNet, RNIB, Age UK, the Stroke Association, Blind Veterans, Action on Hearing Loss, Dolphin and No Isolation. Speaking about their experience at the event one of our volunteers commented “It was good to see the work being done to benefit from the expertise and experience from leading charities in the disability sector, which can only benefit users of our IT support at home services.”

Find out more

If you’d like to use your IT skills to support people in your local area you can enquire on our website about becoming an AbilityNet ITCanHelp Volunteer.

If you or someone you know could benefit from free IT support at home you can request a home visit on our website, call our helpline on 0800 269 545 or email us at enquiries@abilitynet.org.uk.

It's a relatively common issue for people to dislike presentations, in fact, the fear of public speaking (Glossophobia) ranks at number 2 in the list of UK phobias. Even the most extrovert amongst us seem to hit a wall when the spotlight is turned on us and our knowledge and expertise is scrutinised in this way. For many, the prospect of having to give a presentation is enough to avoid studying a particular course, applying for a particular job, or pushing ourselves into a more public or visible role within the job we do.
 
The ability to present with confidence requires a good in-depth knowledge of your subject and, more importantly, an absence of the all-too-familiar experience of going 'blank' under pressure, or walking out afterwards and realising you've forgotten to mention a major part of what you wanted to say. Reading verbatim from a script provides many people with some level of reassurance but is not considered particularly good practice and will often mean that presentations become dry and unengaging; no eye-contact and a presenter face-down in their notes.

For someone with dyslexia reading from a script only really serves to highlight the difficulties experienced; misread words tending to cause a ripple of laughter,  triggering further self-consciousness and anxiety. Strategies to help, tend to involve either flashcards; lists of bullet-pointed prompts deigned to be read quickly and without interrupting the flow of thought, a list you need to track as you go, again difficult for someone experiencing a problem with fluent reading. The one remaining option is to learn the presentation through persistent rehearsal; fine if you have one presentation to give and plenty of time available to rehearse, but multiple subjects, multiple deadlines multiple time-pressures made this an impractical solution.
 
For Chris Hughes, founder of Estendio and creator of Present Pal; presentations were his nemesis at university. Chris has dyslexia; a condition thought to effect around one in ten people in the UK, a condition in which the processes involved with reading; decoding letters into sounds and sounds into meanings is a significantly less fluent and more effortful process and, at its extreme, is estimated to take up to five times as much processing power as a fluent reader.

Assistive technology can help; in-the-box solutions such as Microsoft's Learning Tools offer adjustments to how a page is viewed; fewer words per line, more spacing between letters, page tinting and breaking words into syllables, to name a few. Text-to-speech will read things out, by-passing the need for reading, dictation software will address issues with spelling and the frustration of knowing what you want to say, but not being able to get your thoughts onto paper as quickly as you know you can. The issue was, when it came to presentations, there was little help available. 
 
Many universities offer some level of adjustment for students experiencing difficulties; they may allow students to present to smaller groups, just the course tutors for example. In Chris' case, his uni offered him the option to record himself and play it back whilst he stood in front of the class with the audio playing; to Chris this seemed like a mildly humiliating solution but he was also aware that this would not be the sort of adjustment that would be made available to him in the workplace, and he knew that his career would likely require him to present at some point.
 
Chris was lucky though; Chris had dyslexia…
 
…dyslexia is a neurodiverse condition; a normal variation in how a brain is wired and whilst it has a negative impact in terms of reading, a dyslexic brain is extremely well designed for problem-solving and creative thought; interestingly a significant number of entrepreneurs also have dyslexia, and Chris was about to add himself to this list as he created his solution to this problem; Present Pal.
 
Present Pal runs on your smartphone or tablet and connects to your PowerPoint slideshow. It provides you, as a presenter, with a list of bullet-points for each slide. The list is scrollable, with the point you are on appearing larger and central in the screen; easy to glance down and identify where you are and what you want to say. When you reach the end of the list, scrolling on will not only move you to the next slide on the Present Pal screen, it will automatically advance the slide in your presentation, reducing the additional distraction of controlling the slideshow manually. If you tap on a bullet-point, it will open up a 'bubble'; an expanded page of notes; reassuring you that even if you draw a blank from the bullet-point; you can access what you want to say in greater detail. You can also embed images; something reassuring to calm you down (Chris has a photo of his dog for a bit of grounding and support). The screen can be tinted and font size and style selected to suit the reading comfort of the individual presenter.
 
The software is a great example of 100% user-led design; Chris himself and the issues he was facing. As a student with dyslexia, he knew these issues were shared by other students with dyslexia and by having a clear awareness of the issues he needed to address meant an end product that provided precisely the support needed. However, it quickly became apparent that the issues it addressed were issues shared by a huge range of people experiencing a diversity of conditions and difficulties;

"Our most common DSA recommendations are in fact for students with mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and PTSD. We've also received many student recommendations for autism and we are working with Project SEARCH (a global programme which helps young people with disabilities to get into employment) to help their autistic participants to prepare for recruitment processes such as interview techniques. Other recommendations we have seen are for individuals with ADHD, dysgraphia, dyspraxia and most recently for physical impairments."

Chris now speaks about his journey (with great confidence and fluency) at many events and Present Pal has won numerous awards including Microsoft's AI for Accessibility Grant.

Present Pal has also begun to gain more and more interest from businesses looking to make these sorts of tools available for everyone. Disability has led innovation and innovation has produced a tool that benefits everyone.

AbilityNet caught up with Chris at the Global Accessibility Awareness Day at the Microsoft campus;

Please note: the date for this webinar has passed - access the webinar recording, transcript and slide deck for the presentation from the free expert resources section of our website.

Date of webinar: 27 June

Did you know it’s estimated less than 1% of websites meet accessibility standards requirements? What’s in place on your website to ensure you aren’t losing customers because your site is unusable to a large number of visitors?

An accessibility help page provides a useful stepping stone on a user journey, offers practical help to your customers and shows them that you have thought about their access needs. We see it as an opportunity to communicate to your website users about how you can support them.

On our free webinar AbilityNet Accessibility and Usability Consultants Katherine Talbot and Adi Latif will share advice and information on what you should include on the accessibility help page on your website. Our experts understand the business case for good accessibility practices, but also the legal obligations - including the new UK web accessibility regulations for public sector organisations, including universities and other higher education institutions.

This webinar will contain useful information for a wide audience including website owners and managers, content authors and accessibility advocates.

Register for our 'What to include on the accessibility help page on your website' webinar

About the webinar

Our webinar begins with a brief introduction to AbilityNet and a summary of the free and expert paid-for services we offer to organisations of all sizes that help them to achieve their accessibility objectives and reach every customer on every platform.

Next Adi Latif will set the scene with an introduction to accessibility, describing his experience visiting a website as a blind person and how his role as an Accessibility and Usability Consultant allows him to champion digital accessibility and inclusivity. 

Katherine will then give her top tips for what you should include on the accessibility help page on your website, including details of My Computer My Way – your guide to every accessibility feature on every major computer, tablet and smartphone.

The webinar will end with a question and answer session. 

Register now

More information

We offer tailored accessibility and usability support to clients from all sectors. Talk to us about your project and our experts will advise on a bespoke accessibility strategy to meet your requirements.

You can contact us by:

• Using the contact form on our website
• Calling our Digital Accessibility Services team on +44 (0)1926 465 247
• Sending an email to sales@abilitynet.org.uk

The number of disabled students enrolling in university are increasing each year, and recent figures reveal that an estimated 1 in 10 students have a known disability. 

Higher education providers are making significant strides in creating an inclusive learning environment, putting universal accessibility at the centre of best practice. However, support remains elusive to many students who are not aware of what is available, how to access it or wary of seeking disability services due to the surrounding stigma. 

This stigma, or lack of understanding, can specifically surround invisible disabilities, such as mental health or chronic conditions.  For example, an article by The Guardian entitled “What more can universities do to support students with long-term illnesses?” Daisy Shaw describes one of the main challenges about having diabetes, described as an “Invisible foe”, at university was telling her flatmates about it. 

If telling your friends about your condition is a barrier to overcome, it is easy to understand how the sometimes difficult-to-access university disability services can be for some students too. As an alternative, Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is a UK government grant which provides specialised, personalised support to level the playing field and see students through their studies. 

Can your invisible condition make you eligible for DSA?

A recent survey carried out by the Department of Education in January 2019 found that students with long-term health conditions were more likely to be deterred from applying because they were under the impression that DSAs were only awarded if you needed specialist equipment or if you had a physical disability. 

This is not the case. DSA covers a range of disabilities, invisible or otherwise, including chronic conditions such as diabetes, cerebral palsy, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and epilepsy. Medical evidence to support your diagnosis would be required to support any application for additional funding. 

How can DSA help?

DSA can provide a tailored package of technology and non-medical support to see you through your studies and help you to reach your full potential. According to the figures published in January 2019, over three quarters (85%) of students with long-term health condition were satisfied with support recommended to them. 

For those whom chronic pain or fatigue is a factor, recommended support might include ergonomic equipment to improve comfort and enable longer studying periods. Students with chronic conditions may also find that their health fluctuates, and they are not always able to attend class or travel to campus. In this case a laptop or a printer/scanner might be recommended to enable students to work from home. In some cases, DSAs will cover your taxi fare if your condition means you are unable to use public transport. 

Specialist software and equipment may also suit some students’ needs. For example, text-to speech and speech-to-text software can support students who need to avoid glaring screens on days of extreme fatigue or light sensitivity. Students might also find a voice recorder, or apps of the same function, helpful to record lectures and seminars for reviewing later. 

Long-term health conditions can create a diverse set of difficulties, meaning a wide range of support can be recommended under DSA. Non-medical helpers might be provided for one-to-one support, a mini-fridge for storing medication, a white-board for your room, a lightweight keyboard or a wheeled case for carrying your things. In addition, depending on your university or course, you might be eligible for flexibility around absences, deadlines and adjustments to your timetable. 

Flexibility to accommodate change

Some long-term health conditions are volatile in nature and need flexible solutions. If your needs change and you need further equipment or support, you should contact your needs assessor for advice on how to proceed. Should you need a review of needs assessment, you will need to contact Student Finance (or your relevant funding body) to re-apply and be made eligible for a new assessment to re-assess your change in condition or circumstance. 

Support is not one size fits all

The most important thing to understand is that support provided differs person to person, and is based on your specific needs, circumstances and course requirements.  One of the steps to receiving DSA is to attend a study needs assessment, which is a one-on-one session with an assessor who will identify your needs and prepare a report recommending the extra support. The assessment is your opportunity to discuss any challenges you face in education, including the ways in which your course is assessed and taught, and is steered by the amount of information you share.

However, the following experience of Bethany, who has chronic back and joint pain, shared in Scope provides a good insight into not only the type of support you might receive through DSA if you have been made eligible for a long-term condition, but the empowering impact it can have: 

“Without support, university would have been very difficult for me. Every time I attend university this support it sued. I access things like Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) which has provided me with ergonomic equipment and applications on my laptop. This helps me sit at my desk and write an essay; multiple deadlines can be a killer for chronic pain!” 

For more of a first-hand insight into the DSA experience, check out this YouTube video by Georgina, a university student living with POTS, Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. 

Not sure if you are eligible for DSA? You can find out now with our free Higher Education Support Checker!

Find out more:

• Visit our website for more on our DSA services and who is eligible
• Visit the DSA pages on the UK government website to find out more about the application process
• AbilityNet is a UK charity that helps people to use technology to achieve their goals. If you have questions about disability and technology you can call us on 0800 269 545 or email enquiries@abilitynet.org.uk.

There are often barriers to using technology for older or disabled people. But with just a bit of advice and time, technology, and the world, can become more accessible.

Every week, AbilityNet and RNIB send skilled and talented volunteers out in to the community to advise and support disabled or older people to get better use of technology. Read about some of our amazing volunteers here. 

Of course, technology is changing all the time, so we are keen to make sure our volunteers stay up-to-date and can offer the best possible service.

This Friday (14 June), AbilityNet and RNIB will be hosting another Tech Volunteer event, in London, with corresponding events around the country. One hundred volunteers will meet industry experts from the likes of Microsoft, Dolphin Interface and the AV1 robot. There will be demos of the latest technology, software and accessibility features.

The marketplace at the event will also host some of the UK biggest charities, including Action on Hearing Loss, Blind Veterans, Age UK and the Stroke Association.

Celebrating volunteers

We will be taking time on the day to celebrate the amazing contribution our volunteers make. There is also chance for a small number of new potential volunteers to come to the event. Please email enquiries@abilitynet.org.uk if you are interested.

Event information

The event will be at the state-of-the-art IBM client centre on the South bank in London but will be live streamed to corresponding events in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff.

Edinburgh location:

12-14 Hillside Crescent, Edinburgh, EH7 5EA.

Belfast location:

Victoria House, 15 - 17 Gloucester St, Belfast BT1 4LS

Cardiff location:

Womanby St, Cardiff CF10 1BR

Booking your place

If you are a volunteer for RNIB or AbilityNet and haven’t already booked your place, please email tfl.mailbox@rnib.org.uk or please call AbilityNet on 0800 269 545 or email volunteers@abilitynet.org.uk

If you want to know more about our volunteering service, click here.