Catalog of Accessible Content, Platforms & Tools

ABC mouse is a library of educational content for ages 2 - 8 including interactive games and learning materials covering a wide range of topics. The resources are engaging and interactive and have been designed following Universal Design for Learning Principles. The activities span a range of topics from reading and writing; math; science and health; social studies; art and music and offers videos, games, and puzzles.

The learning materials are matched to the curriculum and presented sequentially in a guided fashion as the child progresses through the activities. The application tracks the progress of the child and tailors the material it provides.

ABC mouse requires an internet connection and is 100% web-based. Some of the content is available through their "constellation apps" which are available separately.

Adobe Acrobat is PDF publishing software with support for accessibility. Adobe Acrobat has both free and paid versions that allow you to read or create and edit PDF files. Adobe Acrobat can be useful for educators seeking to make their learning materials more accessible for their students. It can also be used by publishers seeking to convert their materials to accessible PDFs, remediate existing PDFs or check their PDFs for accessibility using the built-in accessibility checker.

The free version, Adobe Acrobat Reader, only allows the user to open and view PDF files. The paid versions, Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Acrobat PRO allow the user to edit and create PDF files. They have features that can be used to tag documents for accessibility, extract text through OCR (optical character recognition), add image descriptions, make tables accessible and run accessibility checkers to validate documents.

Visit adobe for a complete list of all accessibility features in both the free and pro versions.

Though Acrobat Standard provides some functionality for making existing PDFs accessible, Acrobat Pro must be used to perform more advanced tasks — such as editing reading order or editing document structure tags — that are necessary to make PDF documents and forms accessible.

Media-overlays allow you to add real spoken voice to ePubs by synchronizing the speech with the text. The text in the ePub is highlighted as the spoken words are read aloud by the computer. This requires a compatible ePub reader that supports media-overlays like Thorium (referenced in the catalog).

Aeneas is a tool for automatically generating the SMIL files used in synchronizing audio for media-overlays. Aeneas is a Python/C library and a set of tools to synchronize audio and text automagically. aeneas accomplishes this by automatically generating a synchronization map between a list of text fragments and an audio file containing the narration of the (same) text.

This tool is useful to publishers and content creators who want to add read-aloud audio and highlighting to their ePubs. Media-overlays can be helpful for users with print disabilities, including low vision and learning impairments.

Akily is a highly personalized child development app that provides activities for parents to do with children face to face. Once an activity is completed, the app asks for feedback on the activity to recommend the next best activity. Parents can create a journal with pictures of the child doing the activity and will be able to see how their child is doing on their dashboard.

Akily activities are intended to be fun as play-based learning and are suitable for children with learning needs.

Alexa is a speaker, microphone and artificial intelligence powered by Amazon. It allows the user to speak using natural language directly and receive responses. As Alexa's AI is connected to the internet, you can ask questions about almost anything, including general knowledge, facts and mathematics. This can be useful for learners with difficulty typing or hand/arm problems as a tool to access information, dictate text or use commands to control functions. It can integrate with a suite of skills that can also control devices in the home.

Alexa is also a channel that can access a range of content in audio format including audiobooks, music, podcasts and more. Audiobooks as an alternative format can be a valuable way for learners with print disabilities to access written material in recorded form. Accessibility features include the ability to speed up and slow down the rate of speaking and jump forward and back in time using voice commands.

Alexa and related products are used widely by people with various needs, including those with low vision and physical needs. The use of voice commands can help complete tasks faster and more accurately.

Proprietary text to speech solution for countries in former Yugoslavia featuring high-quality human-sounding voices. Available in Serbian, Croatian and Macedonian, the Alfanum TTS engine is currently in use by UNICEF as part of the cboard project (an augmentative alternative communication board) and is available to other UNICEF initiatives through private partnership.

In early childhood interventions where children have difficulty with speech, natural TTS engines can have a marked improvement on language acquisition as demonstrated in the cboard initiative.

Professional training materials and resources for rehabilitation and mobility. Amar Seva Sangam (ASSA) is an organisation in the field of disability management focusing on rural areas, located in Ayikudy Village in Tirunelveli District in South Tamil Nadu. ASSA is a leader in community participatory solutions and change systems for the empowerment of persons with disabilities.

The amazon kindle ebook reader is a low-cost ebook reading tool available as both a hardware device and mobile app for phones and tablets. There are both free and paid ebooks available for the Kindle reader, and they can be acquired directly from the device or app.

It's tightly tied to the Amazon ecosystem and able to play specific files including .mobi files and PDF files. The kindle cannot natively play ePub files and it is necessary to convert these to the compatible .mobi format. To convert ePubs, you can use the free tool calibre.

The kindle has built-in accessibility features like page-turning, text-to-speech and text-resizing and can be a useful device for people who find using traditional books difficult. These can include those with low vision who find large fonts valuable, and those with a physical disability who find that manipulating pages in a printed book is challenging or where carrying large numbers of books is difficult and tiring. The Kindle library of books can also be read-aloud by the mobile app or accessed through Amazon's Alexa.

Built-in screen reader for the Android operating system. Talkback is widely used by people who are blind or have low vision on android devices to navigate and have printed material (like emails) read out loud. Talkback can be customized to the user's preference including the sound of the voice, speed of narration and verbosity.

Talkback may vary depending on the device model and version of the operating system.

Allows the user to type text by inputting Braille directly on the touchscreen of the Android device. The user puts the phone in landscape mode, and must tap the position of dots (ie. Tap dot 1 to type the letter "A." Tap dots 1 and 2 to type the letter "B." Tap dots 1 and 4 to type the letter "C.") corresponding to braille on the touch screen and use gestures to add spaces, delete characters etc. This can be useful for users who are blind and have low vision as a rapid way to enter text. The individual braille characters are read aloud by Android Talkback while the user is typing.

Ashoka Impact transfer is an international organization that seeks to enable the cross-border transfer of solutions that generate social impact. They focus on innovative, system changing solutions with a proven impact and business models, and make these available where they are demanded by local stakeholders.

ATVisor is a recommendation tool that allows persons with disabilities to find assistive technology devices and products that are matched specifically to their needs. ATVisor links directly to eCommerce providers like amazon for direct to consumer purchase of these products. It includes a range of products from low to high cost.

ATVisor can be used directly by persons with disabilities or can be of value to those making recommendations who would like to be familiar with a wider range of products and options.

Popular free audio editing software. Audacity is a perfect tool for editing audio narration or audiobook recordings. Audacity can enable you to record live audio from a microphone, digitize recordings from other media, apply effects and processing to audio files and export to a variety of formats including wav and mp3. The interface is accessible and can be used through keyboard shortcuts.

Audacity is useful for educators hoping to edit recorded lessons for their students, for publishers who are editing audiobooks and for learners who need to edit audio for assignments.

Real-time AI-powered captions for the deaf - Empowering persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and inclusive organizations with accurate instant captions in any situation. Ava can be used in real-life social settings, classes and in-person meetings, as well as to power closed captions in video conferences.

In a real-world setting (like an in-person meeting), Ava works by connecting devices to the Ava app, that way it can accurately transcribe each individual speaker's voice. This can be particularly helpful in a setting where there is no sign language interpreter present and there are many individuals speaking, which may be challenging for a participant who is deaf. In a video conference, this can be helpful by more accurately transcribing and displaying a group conversation and labelling the individual voices visually.

A mobile application that connects users who are blind and low vision with a community of volunteers to lend their vision through live video technology. They currently have 3 million volunteers on their platform.

This can be helpful for those with limited vision who may benefit from someone lending their vision remotely. For example, they may require someone to describe the world around them through live video, or read out written text on a product or physical document.

The global symbols 'board builder' is a freely available authoring tool for creating AAC boards in a variety of languages. You can customize the number of columns and rows, and choose icon, color and text for each tile. They can be exported as OBZ or uploaded from an OBZ file.

Board builder is designed with templates that can be printed for use in settings where connectivity, power or devices are not available. The boards can also be laid out in ways that fit a range of hardware devices allowing a high level of integration and migration between AAC systems.

A part of the global symbols site.

The largest repository of accessible eBooks available in a variety of languages and formats. Children and adults with print disabilities such as blindness, low vision, dyslexia and cerebral palsy can access thousands of accessible books on Benetech’s Bookshare platform.

The library is provided to individuals with disabilities for free or low cost, depending on the support of local partners in your region. Readers must submit proof of disability before being given access.

Bookshare is a Benetech initiative.

Bookshelf by VitalSource is a library of accessible textbooks featuring annotation, highlighting and read-aloud. Following registration, Bookshelf allows you to purchase eTextbooks for life and read them either online or offline. New vocabulary is linked to Wikipedia to help students understand unfamiliar concepts. The current library of eTextbooks is over 500,000 books covering maths, science, medical, administration, business, education and psychology.

These accessible digital textbooks can be helpful for educators who want to provide content for their students with print disabilities.

With BrailleBack, you can connect a refreshable braille display to your Android device via Bluetooth. BrailleBack works with the screen reader 'Talkback' to provide a combined speech and braille experience. As you use BrailleBack, screen content appears on your braille display, and you can navigate and interact with your device using the keys on the display. You can also input text using the braille keyboard.

A complete solution for distributing education clouds to classrooms with unreliable internet connectivity. The C3 is a content access point (CAP) that creates a 'micro-cloud' at a specific location, allowing users to connect directly to the unit in lieu of the internet at large. This allows educators and content providers to load relevant educational content onto the CAP, and send it to the school where it will be used.

It works as a server that will connect to the internet when it is able to download content and keep it stored offline. The students then connect to the device as they do any wireless router, and access the content through any web browser.

Refer to the models distributing content in LMICs for more information.

Calibre is a freely available authoring tool with powerful publishing features for ePub authoring. It can be used to edit and publish ePubs, convert these to other formats and manage large ebook collections.

The ebook management features can beneficial to those who find the personal organisation of resources difficult. The accessibility features of the ePub format are beneficial for users with print disabilities.

CAST is a multifaceted organization with a singular ambition: Breaking the barriers to learning that millions of people experience every day. They do this by helping educators and organizations apply insights from the learning sciences and leading-edge practices to educational design and implementation.

You can find a wealth of information regarding UDL (universal design for learning) on their website, and technology products including the Strategic Reader – a technology-based system blending UDL and Curriculum-Based Measurement in a digital learning environment to improve reading comprehension instruction.

Cboard is an freely available AAC (augmentative alternative communication) board for children and adults with speech and language impairments. Cboard is an open-source project and is available as a web app, or as an android app. Users can create and save their own boards, customize the tiles with familiar images including images of family members or use boards shared by the community. Cboard integrates with accessibility features such as text-to-speech so the selected symbols and words are read aloud. Cboard comes with support for 33 languages.

Cboard was supported by UNICEF innovation fund and was the selected application for an AAC pilot in Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro where over 100 children, parents and professionals were trained in utilizing a digital AAC board. The project utilized Alfanum TTS for natural sounding voices in Serbian and Croatian. Initial results of the pilot show very promising results: read about the project.

Chrome lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool for improving the performance of web pages. You can run the tool against any web page. It has audits for performance, accessibility, progressive web apps, SEO and more.

To run Lighthouse, open in Chrome DevTools, navigate to Lighthouse and click 'generate report'. It runs a series of audits against the page and then generates a report on how well the page did.

This is very useful for developers and content developers wanting to check their page for accessibility.

Chromebooks are low-cost computing devices running the Chrome operating system. They can range between $100 and $1000 and for many can provide an affordable solution for accessing online educational content. They can include a range of accessibility features integrated into the operating system, providing access for students with diverse needs, abilities and learning styles. Built-in settings and easy-to-use apps and extensions help customize the learning experience to include and engage every student.

Learn more about the extensive accessibility features in Chromebooks. These include a screen reader, magnification, cursor options, and braille support for those with low or no vision and an on-screen keyboard and keyboard and mouse tuning for those with a physical disability.

Ck-12 is an online platform for interactive educational content. The Ck-12 library is in a format called 'flexbooks' which include interactive exercises and controls. Countries have used the flexbooks format to house their libraries including Chile, Brazil, India and Georgia. Ck-12 materials are accessible with image descriptions and MathML. The flexbooks have a range of display settings to make reading easier for those with print impairments.

Ck-12 has a function that allows you to download some resources into their app to be accessed offline without the need for a browser.

Ck-12 integrates with leading LMSs including Google Classroom.

Claro read is a word prediction and advanced spelling and grammar checker to assist users who have difficulty entering text accurately. Claroread offers the ability to read aloud text from a range of formats, highlighting the text as it is read aloud. The read-aloud voice is powered by high-quality human-sounding speech. It reads English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish and twenty-four other languages with 80 different voices and accents. It also offers word prediction that can suggest words as the learner types to help with spelling and writing.

The Spell check function offers support for homophones and easily-confused words like “there” and “their” and “they're” including images to help select the correct word. This includes advanced phonetic, dyslexic and problem spelling corrections like “neel” (kneel) and “necessary”.

Claroread can also adjust the appearance of documents by changing font and text to make it easier to read, or screen colours to reduce contrast and make reading more comfortable.

Clusive is a free, flexible, adaptive, and customizable digital learning environment that adapts to your unique style of reading. Features include read aloud, highlighting, letter spacing, text size, font, and word assist to help you learn words. An onboarding process asks users how well they know certain words, and adapts the article based on their responses to various degrees of language complexity.

Students can use Clusive to read assigned or free-choice books and articles, build their own personal library, and take advantage of Clusive’s growing public library. Clusive’s goal is to help learners build self-awareness through discovering, choosing, and using preferences that help build learning skills.

A library of free books is available from the website.

Cough drop is an open-source AAC board for children with speech and language impairments. Coughdrop is a widely used flexible tool allowing users to create and save their own boards, and view them offline in both the web and app versions. The application uses open symbols and is compatible with TTS engines.

Cough drop is a paid application. There is a free trial available from their website.

The DAISY Consortium is a global consortium of individuals and organizations committed to improving access to published materials for people with print disabilities. The DAISY Consortium website offers tools, standards, advice and best practices for publishing and reading to ensure accessibility for people with print disabilities in both specialist and mainstream formats.

They contribute expertise in standards working groups, develop guidelines and checklists so that best practices are clear and widely available, promote reading systems that ensure the best possible reading experience and support open standards and help develop an inclusive publishing ecosystem for everybody.

DAISY pipeline 2 is an open-source, cross-platform document conversion system focused on making content more accessible for blind and low vision users and other print impaired users. It is available as a windows, mac osx, linux and web application.

It can be useful to publishers seeking to produce materials in accessible formats.

Delanclip is a hardware head tracker. It allows the user to control a device with head movements alone and can be used to replace a mouse, joystick or other controller.

Head tracking is a valuable tool for those with a physical disability which may make use of a standard keyboard or mouse impossible. It is an example of a natural interface that can be used to type when combined with an on-screen keyboard

A library of sign language video books for early grade learners in Kenyan Sign Language. Digital story time features sign language interpreters signing over storybooks that are read out loud with captions. These videos are distributed on eKitabu's website and broadcast through government TV channels during COVID-19 pandemic, through a partnership with the Kenyan Institute for Curricular Development (KICD).

Learn more about digital story time.

Easy Reading is a software tool to support the cognitive accessibility of web content. Available as a Firefox and Chrome Add-on. The EasyReading software framework is a support tool that users can install on their computer. It will provide help by adjusting web content in real-time based on the user's needs. With the software every user can see a personalized version of any existing web-page. There are three main support features:

• Adjustment of layout and structure of web pages.
• Explanation of web content with symbols, pictures and videos.
• Translation of content into a different language level, e.g. Plain Language or Easy-to-Read, symbol writing systems.

Features voice recognition and speech transcription. Can be useful to help students who are deaf and hard of hearing follow lectures and lessons.

Easy Talk Pro costs $2.99 on the google play store and adds extra features to the application.

• phone calls with voice transcription
• connection using Wifi Direct
• keyboard input option
• save or share conversations as text
• remove or change words
• bluetooth connection to microphone devices

The EdTechHub is a non-profit partnership supported by UKaid and The World Bank. It has a wide range of education technology resources with a focus on solutions that can be implemented in low- and middle-income countries. It addresses many of the remote learning concerns that were born out of COVID and includes perspectives on girls' education, refugee education and personalized learning. The site features reports, information and two searchable catalogs: one focused on tools, and another focused on evidence.

There is a section dedicated to children with special educational needs and disabilities which includes reports on how educational technology can address the need in low- and middle-income countries. This can be useful for policy Makers and educators looking for ways to reach students with disabilities or special education needs with educational technology solutions.

eKitabu is an innovative digital publishing company based in eastern Africa. Ekitabu is producing accessible digital materials for all learners. Their studio KSL produces sign language video storybooks, and eKitabu produces books in accessible formats like ePub.

ekitabu produce an ePub reader available on the eKitabu site that includes accessibility features like read-aloud and resizable text for learners with print disabilities.

ePub test is a free tool for testing the accessibility of different ePub Readers. Includes details of tests of a wide range of readers and their different versions to help select one that is suitable for use. The site can be used to find out how an e-reader performs with different features found in eBooks. The data is continually collected from a large group of expert testers from all over the globe who volunteer their time, and testing is coordinated by the DAISY Consortium.

Fenix editorial is a company dedicated to the conversion of educational materials in accessible formats. Fenix editorial was formed in 2020 to service the educational market in Brazil, and have developed a production pipeline to scale the conversion process. Fenix is an inclusive publishing partner for DAISY.

Fenix has been converting books to accessible formats (DAISY, EPUB3, Braille, HTML) for the last 14 years, as well as providing other services for the publishing market and working as trainers for ABC and DAISY. They are innovating new solutions for digital publishing and accessibility.

Policymakers seeking to work with a local partner in Brazil or Latin America will find a wealth of information and support with Fenix..

Fluid is an open, collaborative project that is dedicated to improving the user experience and inclusiveness of open-source software. The community helps with designing user interfaces, building web tools, teaching inclusive design, and integrating interface components into open-source applications. The community consists of an international team of partners, individuals, and institutions focused on designing flexible, customizable, user-centred accessible interfaces.

This can be helpful for publishers and policy makers seeking to improve the inclusiveness of their online education platforms.

FROG – which stands for FRee cOGnitive ebook, is an accessible ebook reader from Mobidys. They have a collection of specially designed children's illustrated books for readers with dyslexia. The menu is always accessible and allows users to control text and audio playback. For instance: highlighting text, highlighting syllabus, dark and light mode on text, letter-spacing, and much more. The books have been produced using the Pubcoder authoring tool.

To learn more about FROG from Pubcoder's social impact initiative page: https://socialimpact.pubcoder.com/.

The global digital library (GDL) is a content library with freely available accessible digital storybooks, educational games and other reading materials easily accessible from mobile phones or computers. The GDL is ever expanding and currently features 6500+ books available in over 90 languages. The GDL is organized into levels so teachers can select the appropriate reading materials for their students.

The online reader features read-aloud technology and other accessibility features to make the reading experience more inclusive. This can be particularly useful for learners with print disabilities. The online reader utilizes h5p (the open-source accessible interactive project), and to address offline requirements, the GDL integrates with Kolibri.

The global digital library is an initiative of the Global Book Alliance.

Global symbols is an open repository of open-licensed AAC (augmentative alternative communication) symbol sets. The site includes a searchable database of open symbols from various sources including ARASAAC, Blissymbolics, Mulberry and more. Creators can manage and publish symbol sets, professionals can exchange resources and anyone can discover, mix and match the symbols to personalize their communication boards.

The site includes training and guidance for policy makers and professionals hoping to implement AAC initiatives in their region. Global Symbols works closely with partners to promote the use of AAC symbols that reflect local language and culture, and symbols sets are open-licensed to facilitate the widest possible use.

The site includes Global Symbols Board Builder for easily creating communication boards from the freely available library, or by adding your own.

Google Docs allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating with other users in real-time. It is a part of a suite of tools, including Google Sheets and Google Slides, to edit many kinds of documents online. Google Docs is accessible via an internet browser as a web-based application and is also available as a mobile app on Android and iOS or as a desktop application on Google's Chrome OS.

Google Doc Editors are accessible and allow users many ways to write, including; screen reader support, using a braille display, using a screen magnifier, typing with your voice, using keyboard shortcuts and touch input. This can be helpful for users with disabilities who cannot easily see the screen or may have difficulty typing with a keyboard. There is also accessibility checkers available as a plugin for you to check the accessibility of your document before publishing.

Google Docs also supports exporting to accessible formats, including converting your document to an accessible HTML webpage, an accessible EPUB, or an Accessible PDF. Make sure to validate your exported document for accessibility before distributing.

Google's text-to-speech (TTS) technology can convert text or any on-screen controls into natural-sounding speech with over 220 over in over 40 languages. Google utilizes it's cloud engine and artificial intelligence to improve the quality of the voices and speech synthesis. TTS is accessed as part of the screen reader in an operating system and can help users navigate their device, read aloud a digital book and speak aloud translations. Google's text-to-speech integrates with Android's accessibility solution TalkBack for navigation and spoken feedback on Android devices.

Text-to-speech is particularly helpful for users how are blind or have low vision or users who prefer materials to be read aloud to them to assist their learning. The lifelike sounding voices are helpful for early grade learners who are better engaged by more natural sounding voice technology.

Grammarly is a writing assistant that integrates into your browser and into popular word processors. It uses artificial intelligence to make spelling and grammar suggestions and can help you to make sure that your writing is clear and concise.

This can be particularly helpful to those with difficulty writing or with learning difficulties like dyslexia.

h5p is an open-source project to develop a library of accessible interactive templates freely available to be integrated into online learning platforms. As interactivity can present accessibility challenges, h5p includes an accessibility table exploring what templates are accessible.

h5p is designed to integrate easily with other platforms and includes a moodle plugin for easy integration, and embed codes to work with all platforms. The Global Digital Library uses an h5p template to power its online reader. There are also paid plans on the h5p site if you want to host the activities with h5p and simply embed them on your website.

h5p activities are great for educators looking to make their digital lessons more engaging for all learners, whilst still ensuring their content is accessible. Policymakers and publishers can use h5p's open-source technology to power their future digital learning experiences.

Screenshots of I libri tutti showing AAC symbols of the pages of a picture book

"I libri per tutti" (Books for all) brings together publishing and inclusive education experts to develop a series of digital books for readers with communication difficulties. The project was born out of a lack of materials for readers with autism that may struggle with traditional reading material. The books integrate AAC (augmentative alternative communication) symbols into the book to facilitate inclusion for readers with complex communication needs. The text is translated using the Widgit symbol set, and the picture books contain colourful imagery.

The book has been developed using Pubcoder and can be downloaded in a mobile app as a paid purchase. They were particularly well-received during the COVID-19 pandemic where the books were downloaded over 100,000 times.

Read about Pubcoder's social impact initiatives.

A tech startup founded in India and supported by UNICEF innovation fund and Microsoft Accessibility for AI fund with several products in development. Of note is I-Stem's online platform for converting learning materials into accessible formats. They have AI-powered solutions including document OCR (optical character recognition) and auto-captioning of videos (speech recognition). In addition, they have an accessibility management portal providing human-assisted remediation of documents access to services for students with disabilities.

I-Stem can be particularly helpful for students with print disabilities and students with hearing impairments who require captioning of video content.

Inclusive Design Research Center is an international community of open source developers, designers, researchers, educators and co-designers who work together to proactively ensure that emerging technology and practices are designed inclusively. Their website contains content and resources on how to design software for inclusion and open source tools to make content more accessible.

Immersive Reader is a freely available learning tool integrated into many Microsoft products that assist with reading and comprehension of written material. It uses TTS (text-to-speech) technology that can read aloud any text, highlighting word by word as it does so. The user can also choose the voice that reads aloud to them and customize the view to highlight grammar. Immersive Reader will also remove distractions, like tools and menus, from the screen so that the user can focus on the text. To assist with new vocabulary acquisition, Immersive Reader displays pictorial definitions when specific terms are highlighted.

The Immersive Reader is built-in to the Microsoft Edge browser and Microsoft Word. You can see what other products immersive Reader is integrated into.

Immersive Reader can be particularly useful for people who have learning difficulties (including dyslexia) or difficulty focusing on content and prefer text read aloud to them.

Through the use of assistive technology, digital skills training, and commitment to inclusive education, inABLE supports the educational advancements that blind and visually impaired students can achieve when given the opportunity to learn through the use of technology.

InAble is based in Kenya, and to date has:

• Established assistive technology computer labs in six schools for the blind in Kenya
• Provided more than 35,000 hours of assistive technology computer skills training
• Enrolled over 8,000 visually impaired students, ages 6-25, and 150 teachers
• Hired 15 assistive technology instructors
• Provided HTML and JavaScript Coding skills training to more than 120 students
• Developed accessible computer training manuals
• Partnered with the Kenya Ministry of Education Science and Technology

Widely used digital publishing tool for authoring print and digital media. Accessibility features include the ability to add image descriptions, and exporting in reflowable ePub format. InDesign integrates well with other widely available Adobe products such as Acrobat, Photoshop and Lightroom, with features to enable the easy creation of Accessible PDFs.

Despite requiring a high level of technical ability, some of these products have also been used by students who find presenting ideas as text challenging but can demonstrate their understanding visually.

Allows the user to input Braille direct on the touchscreen of the iOS device to type text. The user must tap the position of dots corresponding to braille on the touch screen and use gestures to type text. The individual braille characters are read aloud by iOS VoiceOver.

This can be a life-changing feature for entering text for learners who are blind or have low vision.

Authoring tool for the publication of eLearning materials with accessibility features, and tools for section 508 compliance. The suite is formed by a robust PowerPoint-based toolkit for creating courses, quizzes, role-plays, and video lessons. Teachers can record video lectures, watch-and-repeat tutorials, software simulations, and other visual content that will motivate learners to complete courses. iSpring Suite delivers accessible content through an accessibility mode which includes perceivable texts, clear fonts and high contrast to make it easier for a person with a visual impairment to read the text on the screen.

In the accessibility mode, courses created with iSpring Suite feature the comfortable sans-serif typeface and uses a minimalistic layout where courses and quizzes include only the most necessary elements, which keeps the interface clear of distractions. If course slides include animations, transition effects, and elements set to AutoStart, they won't appear in the accessibility mode. Such slides are then easier to navigate for those who use only a keyboard to work on a computer.

The accessibility mode also supports screen reader-friendly content which allows users to navigate with the keyboard, jump between elements, select checkboxes, and fill in fields. This way, people with visual impairments can use the coursework without anyone’s assistance.

JABtalk is a free Android application designed to help non-verbal children and adults communicate. It offers an easy and effective AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) solution, combining personalized voices and images in a simple user interface. Originally designed as a communication tool for children with disabilities, JABtalk has evolved into a communication tool used by stroke patients, toddlers, speech-language pathologists, and others.

JABtalk has over 100,000 users located in over 100 countries around the world and is available in the Google Play Store.

JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is a screen reader software for Microsoft Windows that helps blind and visually impaired users to navigate the screen using a keyboard with text-to-speech output or braille display. JAWS is a well established and robust screen reader that is widely used but carries a higher cost than alternatives like NVDA.

The Jellow Communicator is a free Android app that can be used for communication by those learning to speak or those having difficulty with speech. Jellow is an AAC (augmentative alternative communication) app and uses icons/images to aid learners with communication. Jellow can also be used by early grade learners to learn words and concepts frequently used in their daily lives.

Jellow’s colourful and friendly icons can help children develop an association between pictures and their corresponding word labels. Jellow has a simple, visually appealing and easy-to-learn interface organized into basic category buttons that make it easy for the user to access and find desired icons.

The user can make the app speak out sentences by simply clicking on any of the category buttons followed by any of the expressive buttons. Jellow has around 1000 icons and over 10,000 lines of pre-programmed text. In addition, using the 'keyboard' feature, the user can generate new sentences and use the app to speak them out aloud.

The current version of the app allows the user to choose languages such as English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Spanish, German and French and multiple English accents (Indian, American, British, Australia).

Jellow was a recipient of UNICEF’s innovation fund for AAC applications.

Source: Google play store listing

Free for learners and teachers, Khan academy is an open library of standards-aligned educational content and lessons covering K-12 through early college. Browsing the Khan academy library is accessible, and there are features for adjusting media for specific user preferences.

Khan Academy offers personalized learning allowing students to practice at their own pace, first filling in gaps in their understanding and then accelerating their learning. It seeks to provide access to trusted content that is created by experts. Khan Academy’s library of lessons covers math, science, and more. It empowers teachers to identify gaps in their students’ understanding, tailor instruction, and meet the needs of every student.

Cloud based digital platform for authoring, hosting, distributing and consuming eBooks. Kitaboo offers the opportunity to create interactive eBooks designed for personalized learning that will suit various learning styles and personal preferences and needs. Kitaboo publishing tools extend beyond traditional eBooks and seek to increase student engagement by embedding multimedia and interactivity features such as video, audio, images, assignment widgets, read aloud to facilitate learning. These features can be particularly helpful for students with learning difficulties who prefer visual formats and text read aloud to them.

Kolibri is an adaptable set of open solutions specially developed to support learning for the half of the world without Internet access. Centred around an offline-first learning platform that runs on a variety of low-cost and legacy devices, the Kolibri Product Ecosystem includes a curricular tool, a library of open educational resources, and a toolkit of resources to support training and implementation in formal, informal and non-formal learning environments.

Kolibri is being used in over 200 countries and territories around the world, and is serving millions of learners and educators living in underserved contexts where the internet is costly, unreliable, or simply beyond reach.

Landbot.io has a web-based graphical user interface for building chatbots for business and education. Landbot includes support and guides for building education-focused chatbots. Chatbots can be used by teachers to create interactive learning materials for their students.

Landbot.io has a whatsapp integration that can be used for educational purposes, allowing teachers to interact with their students directly through Whatsapp.

The Learning Passport is a learning management system and content delivery platform powered by Microsoft technology to enable continuous access to quality education. The learning passport works in online and offline modes and has been designed to work in environments with low connectivity and on low-cost devices. Learning Passport is accessible through any browser, and has a mobile app to power learning on low-cost cell phones. It is highly flexible and adaptable, allowing countries to easily and quickly adopt the Learning Passport as its national learning management system or use it to complement existing digital learning platforms. Learning Passport can also be run on a micro-cloud for deployment in low-connectivity environments to reach underserved learners.

The platform serves local, contextualised content as well as global supplementary resources to support learners and improve learning outcomes. Learning Passport is currently collating a library of Open Educational Resources (OERs) and content donations by leading private companies to offer a variety of supplementary content for localisation and use by implementing offices.

The learning passport is developed with accessibility at its core and is compatible with built-in accessibility features in modern browsers like screen reader navigation. The learning passport is supported by and developed through partnership between UNICEF and Microsoft.

Let me hear again acts as a deaf assistant or virtual ear by using speech recognition technology to capture lectures and transcribe them into words. This can be useful to learners who are deaf and hard of hearing when there is no sign language interpreter present.

LibreOffice is a free and powerful office suite, and a successor to OpenOffice.org (commonly known as OpenOffice). LibreOffice includes several applications that make it a versatile Free and Open Source office suite: Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing).

LibreOffice is compatible with a wide range of document formats such as Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) and Publisher. But LibreOffice also offers native support for a modern and open standard, the Open Document Format (ODF). LibreOffice, offers control over both data and content, and can export your work in many different formats including PDF.

Livox is an artificial intelligence AAC (augmentative alternative communication) app to help autistic and non-verbal children communicate. Livox adapts according to disability or learning level, with vision adjustments such as high contrast and size of cards. If users have difficulties touching the screen, Livox corrects imperfect touch. If eye control is preferred, the technology can respond to a blink of the eye. This can be useful for users with mobility impairments who have difficulty touching the screen. Livox will also customize its display by only showing users the appropriate cards according to time and place. Livox can be useful for persons with speech difficulties and respond through text-to-speech technology.

eReader which support ePubs with real audio narration. This can be useful for people with print impairments including vision loss, cognitive needs and physical impairments. The app can be used for both reading and listening to audio-eBooks with real audio narration. Menestrello is available for free and produced by ReadBeyond.

Merlot provides access to a catalog of resources including curated online learning content, support materials, content creation tools, and guidance and training resources, led by an international community of educators, learners and researchers. The Merlot collection consists of tens of thousands of discipline-specific learning materials, learning exercises, and content builder webpages, together with associated comments to support the teaching experience of using these resources. These items have been contributed by the Merlot member community, who have either authored the materials themselves, or who have discovered the materials, found them useful, and wished to share with others in the teaching and learning community. They also allow users to tag and search by the accessibility features of materials.

Microsoft Editor is an AI (artificial intelligence)-powered service that enables users to write with confidence in over 20 languages. It can be helpful in a range of settings such as documents, emails, and social media sites. Anyone can access the Editor capabilities, such as spelling and basic grammar in Microsoft Word, in Outlook.com, and on the web for free with a Microsoft sign-in.

Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers have access to advanced grammar and style refinements. Clarity, conciseness, formal language, vocabulary suggestions, and other features are included with the subscription.

Settings are found within Microsoft Windows to be able to customize the way a keyboard or mouse behaves to account for a tremor and unintentional movement.

These can be especially valuable to users with physical needs, or with tremors including those arising from ageing, and can help them type or control a pointing device more accurately, reducing frustration caused when typing or attempting to click on a small area on a screen.

Microsoft Powerpoint is a powerful authoring tool for presentations that has accessibility built at its core. Powerpoint allows users to add image descriptions, set logical reading order for screen reader compatibility and auto-caption while you are presenting. Powerpoint allows users to combine different forms of media on slides to share ideas and facilitate learning.

PowerPoint is especially valuable in allowing students to use the tool to present their ideas and understanding in a visual way, where they m

Microsoft Teams is a video conferencing solution that comes with a range of accessibility features including live closed captions, pin a meeting participants window (useful for sign language interpreters), limit distractions in do not disturb mode, auto language translation, visual optimizations, recording (to share with users after the meeting), visual customizations and compatibility with assistive technologies like screen readers and switch access.

You can read accessibility tips for how to use Microsoft teams to run inclusive meetings.

Microsoft's AI powered speech recognition and synthesis technology for command and control of information and devices. Speech recognition in Windows 10 enables users to dictate text and control a computer using only their voice. This can be especially valuable for those with physical disabilities but is also widely used by those facing other writing challenges including cognitive needs or dyslexia. Dictation can be found as an option in Microsoft Word or built into the operating system and is activated through the ease of access centre.

Those who experience pain and discomfort when typing also use recognition to reduce their use of a keyboard to allow them to remain productive for longer. A good headset microphone is essential for speech recognition.

Key combinations for windows to control a device using a keyboard. Keyboard shortcuts are keys or combinations of keys that provide a way to do something on a computer that you’d typically do with a mouse.

Such shortcuts are used extensively by people who find using a mouse difficult, such as those with little or low vision, those with a physical condition that makes controlling a mouse difficult. They can also help reduce the risk of pain and strain caused by excessive use of a mouse.

Microsoft Word is used all over the world as a text editing and publication tool. It is almost a default application on many laptops and desktops in a variety of operating systems. Many users have access to Word in some form if they are part of an institution, in a school, in a company etc. This generally means that there is a high likelihood that the target user will be able to open the document if you are publishing documents as an accessible Word file (.doc, .docx). The drawback with distributing Word files is you are providing a file that other users may be able to edit and re-upload, so be mindful of copyright concerns and related issues.

Word will also allow you to export your document in other formats including .txt, .htm, .PDF depending on the accessibility requirement. Through extensions you can also convert WORD directly to .ePub using the DAISY WordToEPUB tool listed in the catalog.

Word has a number of integrated features that can be of help to people who have difficulty with writing. These include the ability to magnify the page, a focus mode, use of dictation tools and spelling and grammar checkers. Word has accessibility at its core like many Microsoft products and offers a range of offline accessibility features for authoring including: image-descriptions, logical reading order, semantic structure (ie. headings, paragraphs etc.) and an advanced accessibility checker that can be accessed from Tools > Check Accessibility. This can help users who are blind or low vision as you can make your word documents compatible with screen readers.

Both the offline and online versions also offer integration with Microsoft's "immersive reader" which hides distractions and using a synthesized TTS (text-to-speech) voice to read aloud the text. This can be great for users who have difficulty focusing or learning and prefer to have text read aloud to them.

Moodle is an open-source Learning Management System (LMS) that is used to power education clouds around the world. Moodle's flexibility, free cost and extensibility make it a popular choice for government and education institutions to host their content. The interface is accessible, and the system can be extended through the addition of plugins.

Narrator can read aloud text on the screen, describe events such as notifications and calendar appoints and can enable you to use the PC without a display.

Nayi Disha is an organization based in India with a mission to empower and equip families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with information and knowledge to support their children in achieving their true potential.

The National Library Service in the United states provides Braille and audio versions of print works to visually impaired and physically disabled patrons who meet eligibility requirements. Users can download talking books and braille and open the books using BARD software on windows or mobile devices. Any resident of the United States or American citizen living abroad who is unable to read or use regular print materials as a result of temporary or permanent visual or physical limitations may receive service through NLS.

NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access) is an open-source, free screen reader as an alternative to paid solutions such as JAWS. Independent surveys (Webaim) suggest that it is a reliable option for many blind people, works in multiple languages and is the most widely used screen reader for windows globally.

OER Commons is list of OERs (Open Education Resources) that are searchable by accessibility. The references to resources include guidelines, content and tools from around the world.

The worldwide OER movement is rooted in the human right to access high-quality education. This shift in educational practice is not just about cost savings and easy access to openly licensed content; it’s about participation and co-creation. Open Educational Resources (OER) offer opportunities for systemic change in teaching and learning content through engaging educators in new participatory processes and effective technologies for engaging with learning.

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse at no cost, and without needing to ask permission. Unlike copyrighted resources, OERs have been authored or created by an individual or organization that chooses to retain few, if any, ownership rights.

In some cases, that means you can download a resource and share it with colleagues and students. In other cases, you may be able to download a resource, edit it in some way, and then repost it as a remixed work. How do you know your options? OER often have a Creative Commons license or other permission to let you know how the material may be used, reused, adapted, and shared.

From a single point of access in OER Commons, you can search, browse, and evaluate resources in OER Commons' growing collection of over 50,000 high-quality OER.

Mobile app that offers 50,000 free ebooks and 15,000 audiobooks that are downloadable onto the device. The cost of these free books is supported by advertisements which can be removed if a subscription is taken out at USD $19.99 per year.

The Orbit reader is one of the most affordable refreshable braille displays on the market, and has disrupted an industry with traditionally high cost units.

The Orbit is a three in one self-contained book reader, note-taker and braille display. It includes support for an SD Card, and can be connected to a smartphone or computer via USB or bluetooth.

It can read any BRF and BRL formatted book, or text files from the SD card. This can be useful to students in developing markets as they are able to have content loaded onto and SD card without connectivity to the internet.

It is also compatible with screen reader technology such as voiceover, brailleback or popular screen readers on iOS, Mac, Android, Windows to be able to control your screen.

Wearable smart camera with artificial intelligence that can describe text, images, faces, products and more for the blind. OrCam MyEye is an innovative voice-activated device that attaches to virtually any wearable glasses. It can instantly read text from a book, smartphone screen or any other surface, recognize faces, help with shopping, work more efficiently, and support leading a more independent life. OrCam MyEye conveys visual information audibly, in real-time and offline.

Pandoc is a technical solution for file conversion. It requires a high level of technical knowledge and maybe best-suited for publishers and other organisations with IT support. You can use Pandoc to convert to and from virtually any file format: like HTML, ePub, XML, Markdown, PDF, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Powerpoint and more.

A library of freely available videos and resources for teachers (originally New York Educators) with the ability to search by accessibility features including audio description, captions, keyboard control and descriptive video. The library is searchable by grade and subject and shareable to Google Classroom. Some videos and resources can be downloaded for offline use.

Tool for evaluating impact of assistive devices on learners. The Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS) is a 26-item, self-report questionnaire designed to assess the effects of an assistive device on functional independence, well-being, and quality of life. The PIADS was researched and developed to fill the need for a reliable, valid, and economical measure that is generically applicable across all major categories of assistive technology.