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The tools listed on this page can be used to help students. Use the key below to pick tools that will be helpful to you.
Tool Name
What does it do?
Where can you use it?
Resources
ClaroRead
Speak any text on a website by selecting it, point with the mouse to hear text and links and captions, or click Play to hear sentences read out with highlighting to let you keep track of where you are.
Hear letters, words or sentences spoken back as you type. Simply type into web pages and hear what you type as you type it. For letters, hear the letter names or sounds spoken back to you, whichever helps you understand better.
On web pages in the Chrome browser.
Google Docs
Accessible PDFs opened in Google Chrome
Coggle
The simplest, cleanest mind mapping tool on the web. Coggle gives you a clear way to share and understand complex information. It's a collaborative mind-mapping tool that simplifies complex things.
Features:
→ Real-time collaboration
→ Unlimited diagrams
→ Unlimited image uploads
→ Full change history
→ Markdown support
→ Download as PDF & Image
→ Export as .mm and text
→ Comments & Chat
→ Embeddable diagrams
Coggle integrates with Google Drive, so you can organize your mindmaps how you like and easily share with your existing Google contacts.
Color Enhancer
A customizable color filter applied to webpages to improve color perception, for people who are partially color-blind. Most Chrome webpages
Dictation in Microsoft
You can type using the Dictate button in Microsoft office products.
- Speak to the computer to see your words typed out
- Can choose spoken language
- Speak punctuation or set to auto punctuate
Word
Outlook
PowerPoint
Dyslexia Friendly
Increases readability of websites by changing to easier-to-read fonts and adding visual enhancements
Features:
- Change the font on websites to either OpenDyslexic or Comic Sans.
- Contrast between paragraphs of text is enhanced with different background color for even and odd paragraphs.
- A reading-ruler follows the mouse cursor.
Most Chrome webpages
Google Translate
View translations easily as you browse the web. By the Google Translate team.
Highlight or right-click on a section of text and click on Translate icon next to it to translate it to your language. Or, to translate the entire page you're visiting, click the translate icon on the browser toolbar.Learn more about Google Translate at https://support.google.com/translate
Most Chrome webpages
High Contrast
Change or invert the color scheme to make webpages easier to read.
High Contrast lets you browse the web with your choice of several high-contrast color filters designed to make it easier to read text.
When you install this extension, all pages are "inverted", so black becomes white and white becomes black. Press the "browser action" icon in the toolbar to toggle it on and off, or customize your settings on a per-site basis. Use a convenient keyboard shortcut to quickly change your settings while you browse.
Most Chrome webpages
Immersive Reader
Can help improve reading comprehension by:
· read text on screen aloud with highlighting on current word
· remove distractions around text
· reduce visual crowding by increasing spacing
· change to more legible fonts
· change background/font contrast
· change size of text
· denote syllabification
· color code parts of speech
· use line focus rulers
· integrated picture dictionary from Boardmaker
· translate by word or document
· read aloud in translated language also available
Microsoft Word
Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft Forms
Edge browser
Flipgrid
Install extension to use within the Chrome browser
Mercury Reader
The Mercury Reader extension for Chrome removes ads and distractions, leaving only text and images for a clean and consistent reading view on every site.- Disable surrounding webpage noise and clutter with one click - Adjust typeface and text size, and toggle between light or dark themes - Quick keyboard shortcut (Cmd + Esc for Mac users, Alt + ` for Windows users) to switch to Reader on any article page - Printing optimization Most Chrome webpages
Read Aloud
Read Aloud allows you to select from a variety of text-to-speech voices, including those provided natively by the browser, as well as by text-to-speech cloud service providers such as Google Wavenet, Amazon Polly, IBM Watson, and Microsoft. Some of the cloud-based voices may require additional in-app purchase to enable. Most Chrome webpages
Voice Type in Google Docs
Steps to use voice typing in a document
- Check that your microphone works.
- Open a document in Google Docs with a Chrome browser.
- Click Tools and then Voice typing. A microphone box appears.
- When you're ready to speak, click the microphone.
- Speak clearly, at a normal volume and pace (see below for more information on using punctuation).
- When you're done, click the microphone again.
Google docs
Google Slides