Adaptive technology such as screen readers and speech recognition software enables people with physical disabilities to navigate web pages and take online eLearning courses.
Tasks they couldn't otherwise perform or would find very difficult and limited.
Adaptive Assistive Technology vs. Usability
Merely operating within the technology is not enough.
Courses must be designed to be truly usable by the person taking the course.
Regrettably, much of the eLearning market has been slow to enhance their courseware for use with adaptive technologies.
CourseAvenue Adaptive Technology Compliance
CourseAvenue's Accessibility Player provides eLearning developers the opportunity to produce courseware that is ADA, Section 508, AODA and DDA compliant as well as truly usable by those with adaptive technology.
Adaptive Screen Reader Technology for Learners
Our Accessibility Player enables access to eLearning courses through these and other adaptive technologies available on the market:
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JAWS Screen Reading Software for Windows, by Freedom Scientific
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Window-Eyes Screen Reader for Windows, by GW Micro
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NVDA free, open source Screen Reader for Windows, by NVDA
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VoiceOver Screen Reader for Mac, by Apple
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Survey of Screen Reader Users conducted by WebAIM.
This survey emphasizes that screen reader accessibility is about real people - people that have diverse abilities and preferences.
Adaptive Speech Recognition Technology for Learners
A CourseAvenue eLearning course can be completely navigated with voice recognition (VR) software.
This is best accomplished by having the VR software (e.g. Dragon Naturally Speaking) execute simple keyboard commands.