Teaching Adults with Vision Loss

Maximize the Effectiveness of Large Print

2011-12-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

Large print is just bigger text, right? But have you considered how big the text should be? What about the color, font, and spacing? For students who use large print it is worth taking a few minutes to make sure that you're using the most effective large print possible.

See more at Designing for People with Partial Sight

So here's a few quick pointers...

Always enlarge by increasing the font size on your computer.

Never enlarge on a photocopier (the text becomes grainy, gray, and harder to read)

16-18 point font is the most effective size. If a learner needs larger than 18 point font they may need a different means of accessing text, such as a video enlarger, braille, or screen reader. See Braille, Audio, or Large Print.

Computer Screen Readers and Text-to-Speech

2011-03-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

Screen Reader Basics

Screen readers are the programs that make computers accessible to people with vision loss. A screen reader that uses text-to-speech will essentially read aloud the information on the screen. Text-to-speech programs usually use a digital sounding voice, which can be adjusted to read slower or faster without affecting the pitch. Skilled users of text-to-speech can listen to very fast rates of speech, thus improving their "reading" speed.

System Access To Go
System Access to Go (satogo.com) is a screen reader that can be quickly downloaded for free from anywhere you have Internet access. It is designed to give visually impaired users computer access no matter where they are; at the library, a friend's home, or a public computer lab. It is quite easy to use and can even save the user's speech settings.

JAWS
JAWS (is a commonly used screen reader for work and educational settings. It is better for everyday use because it has a wider range of options and customization.

Keyboard Commands
Using a screen reader means getting to know your computer without the mouse. Computers, both Macs and PCs, have a vast number of keyboard shortcuts. In many cases, these shortcuts are the same for any model of computer you're using. Anything you can do with a mouse, you can also do with a keyboard.

Try out a few of these shortcuts on your computer. Whether you use a screen reader or not, you may find many of them quite useful and remember there are many, many more!

Open Microsoft Word

Open the START menu = Windows key

Select the program from the menu = arrow keys

Select and open the program =

LISTENING TO TEXT/ MOVING THE CURSOR

Beginning and End
Move the cursor to the beginning of the file, -

Move the cursor to the end of the file, -

Page by Page
Move to the beginning of the page,

Move to the bottom of the page,
Paragraph
Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph, -down arrow

Move the cursor to the beginning of the current paragraph, -up arrow
Line by Line
Move the cursor to the beginning of the line,

Move the cursor to the end of the current line,
Move the cursor down one line, down arrow

Move the cursor up one line, Up arrow
Word by Word
Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word, -right arrow

Move the cursor to the previous blank space, -left arrow
Letter by Letter
Move the cursor to the right one character, right arrow

Move the cursor to the left one character, left arrow

HIGHLIGHTING/ SELECTING TEXT

To select text, use any of the above keys for moving the cursor plus the key.

Select All, -A

Great Resources on Braille Literacy

2011-03-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

If you've searched for "braille," or "blind" on the Internet, there's a fairly good chance that you've already run across the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB.org). Their website is a wealth of background information on braille, vision loss, and educational issues (including some excellent videos).

One of my favorite parts of their website is their quarterly online newsletter, called DOTS. It has great articles about issues in braille literacy. Many of which are either directly relevant to learners in my class or provide great background for understanding issues that my learners may face as they transition to higher education or work. You can read the current issue of DOTS, as well as past issues, at www.afb.org/DOTS.

This month, I was particularly interested in an article on preparing learners for standardized testing and another on "packing your learner's toolbox." You can become a member of AFB for free and subscribe to any of their digital newsletters so that they will be delivered directly to your e-mail inbox (http://www.afb.org/myAFBregistration2.asp)

Happy reading!

"Teacher, I can't see the board!"

2011-02-17T14:17:00.000-08:00

Our jobs as ESL and ABE instructors might actually be easier if we heard this phrase more often. Unfortunately, many of our learners struggle silently in class because they can't see the board, distinguish the grainy photograph, or hear over the background noise of the class next door. This may be especially true of older learners, learners with little prior schooling, or learners with little to no ability to communicate in English.

One of the most difficult aspects of serving learners with disabilities is recognizing that a disability may be the cause of a learner's lack of progress. Asking learners about their vision or hearing is great, if you share enough language to communicate those concepts. If not, you may want to experiment with some of these classroom strategies and note whether learner performance improves when these adjustments are in place.

Seeing the Board
If you're using a white board, reduce glare by closing blinds or writing on large pieces of poster paper. Stick to black markers that have plenty of ink (colored and dying markers are more difficult to see) and write as large as is feasible.

Experiment with where students sit in class. Can they see the board better from some places in class?

Are the learners who most need to sit at the front of the room the ones who usually opt to sit there?

Reading Handouts
Although black text on white paper is definitely the standard, many people report reduced eye stress when reading black text on light colored paper. Try photocopying onto light blue or green paper or contact PANDA vision consultants (pandavisionloss@gmail.com) to borrow colored plastic overlays that learners can place over normal white paper.

I also keep a few pairs of cheap drug-store reading glasses on hand in my classroom. I have a variety of different strength levels for learners to try. Some use them every day in class, others just use them when they forget their own glasses. In some cases, it has inspired learners to buy their own non-prescription reading glasses, which cost between $2-10. Volunteers and other supporters of your organization are often happy to donate these because it is a tangible and low-cost donation.

When you have the option to print your own materials (not photocopies or textbook pages), experiment with different fonts and font sizes. See the other posts on this blog about large print.

Seeing the Pictures
Photos and drawings, especially those that are photocopied or held by a teacher at the front of the room, can be very hard to see. Consider replacing some pictures with props or pantomime. Enlarging photos on a photocopier or overhead project is often unhelpful but choosing pictures with strong lines, high contrast, and clear subjects can make a difference. Also consider the contrast and text size in textbook graphics.

Beyond the Classroom
As for helping learners get eye exams and prescription glasses, I have had little success finding resources specifically geared toward low-educated, non-native English speakers. Often the best options are to help the learner determine what their insurance (if they have any) covers and to set up an appointment for an eye exam. Provided the client has an interpreter, I think many clinics have found ways around the conventional letter reading chart. If the client does not have insurance, I would call United Way 2-1-1 in the twin cities for a list of organizations that provide free or sliding scale eye care.

Braille Transcription

2010-11-04T12:48:00.000-07:00

Do you ever stop to think about how your eyes move across a page of text as you read? How about a more complex and media-rich document like a webpage?

People who read in braille take in text in a very linear fashion. The nature of the braille system requires it. The DOTS newsletter, put out by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), has a lovely piece about the importance of braille transcribers. Braille transcribers have the challenging job of formatting complex documents into a linear format before they are embossed in braille.

Check out this piece and the rest of the DOTS newsletter at http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=6&TopicID=19&DocumentID=5348#thank

Training Videos from AFB.org

2010-09-30T15:50:00.003-07:00

Sighted Guide

Handling Personal Finances

More videos like these are available from the American Foundation for the Blind at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=afb1921&aq=f

Quick Options for Braille and Large Print Online

2010-04-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I made a wonderful discovery that I expect will dramatically reduce some of my lesson prep. time. It turns out that a few of my favorite online ESL materials for intermediate and advanced learners have selectable text that can be easily copied and pasted into a Braille or word processing program to make Braille or large print.

If the materials are downloaded as a .pdf file, you'll need to look for a text selection button like the one pictured on the right. If you don't see such a button, try downloading the following free program to give you more options with .pdf files.

Foxit PDF Reader for Windows: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

Then visit some of my favorite online ESL materials and try cutting and pasting the text into your Braille program or into a word processing program to increase the font size. If you have other favorite online resources, please post them in the comments section to share with others.

Online Resources with Selectable Text

ESL-library.com

The lesson plans available on this website require a subscription, however, a few are available for free as samples. These lessons are appropriate for intermediate and advanced learners.

BreakingNewsEnglish.com

These short, simplified news stories are followed by a variety of listening, conversation, vocabulary, and comprehension activities. Some also include audio of the stories (in a British accent).

NewsForYouOnline.com

News For You is a great print publication for low-level adult readers. Now they also offer a subscription service online with selectable text and audio files for all their stories. Appropriate for advanced ESL students.

www.projectshine.org/materials/healthliteracy/curriculum

This is one of my favorite sets of online lesson plans. These are arranged by heath themes and appropriate for intermediate and advanced ESL students.

www.topics-mag.com

Topics Magazine is a compilation of ESL students' writing. These are good examples of description and opinion essays, appropriate for intermediate and advanced learners.

http://eatingwell.ca5aday.com/lessons.asp

This is a great food and nutrition curriculum for Beginning to Advanced ESL students. It includes detailed teacher lesson plans and simple student worksheets.

Creating Large Print with OmniPage

2010-03-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges of creating large print documents is getting the text into a word processing program so you can edit it. If your students are only reading individual sentences or short paragraphs from textbooks, it is easiest to just type these into a word processing program. But what if a student needs entire essays or novels in large print? That's where OCR software comes in!

OmniPage is an optical character recognition (OCR) program. This piece of software can take any scanned document, such as pages from your favorite textbook, and convert the scan to selectable text. Once you have text, you can create large print, translate to Braille, or use a screen reader to listen to the text.

Purchase for $149 at http://www.nuance.com/imaging/products/omnipage.asp

Download a 15 day trial at http://australia.nuance.com/omnipagetrial/download/download.asp

The video links below are a first attempt to create some training videos on how to use OmniPage. Higher quality videos with better sound are soon to follow.

Video Tutorial: Scanned files to changeable text.

Video Tutorial: formatting large print

Reading -Braille, Audio, or Large Print?

2010-03-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Students with vision loss actually have several options for accessing print material in the classroom. What they use depends on their skills, vision, and preferences.

Large Print

Large print should be limited to 28 point or smaller font. If a learner needs print larger than 28 point he or she will struggle to read more than a sentence or two on each page and would be better off using another means of accessing text.
Use plain fonts without serifs, such as Arial or Tahoma.
Do not use bold face.

CCTV

You may want to experiment with light colored paper or colored filters to reduce eye strain.
Large print should not be made with a photocopier, which will create large but blurry letters that will be hard to see.
Large print should be created by typing or scanning text into a word processing program and then increasing the font size.
If you're hoping to purchase large print materials, keep in mind that standard sizes are 16-20 point font (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large-print).

Talking Dictionaries Prepare Learners for Computer Use

2010-03-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

Product: Franklin KID-1240 Children's Talking Dictionary and Spell Corrector

Price: $35-$50

Available: online from retailers like IndependentLiving.com and amazon.

What I like:

clear computerized voice (students can begin getting used to the type digital voice that they will encounter when they begin computer training)
letter keys are arranged like a computer keyboard and say the names as you type so learners can teach themselves the location of the keys (also good preparation for future computer use).
The price is right. Many students are able to afford a dictionary at this cost or State Services counselors are often willing to pay for one.
It has a headphone jack so that learners can work independently without disturbing other students.
definitions are simple enough for high beginning and low intermediate learners to begin to understand.

What I don't like:

There are no tactile marks on the keys to guide learners.
The built-in vocabulary and spelling games are largely unaccessible for visually impaired students.

How I use it:

As a stepping stone to future computer use. Blind learners who have not yet attended computer training in an Adjustment To Blindness (ATB) program are not able to use computers during English class. Instead, I provide those learners with a talking dictionary. Their first task is to teach themselves the location of the keys and how to enter words and listen to the definition.

As reinforcement for spelling and vocabulary. Learners will use it initially to practice typing words they know and listening for the definition. If it is a word from a spelling or vocabulary list that we are studying, I might ask them to listen for and write down the correct definition. The dictionary often gives multiple definitions for a word.

Vocabulary and Spelling Review Games

2010-03-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

As ESL teachers, it is easy to fall in love with a few easy and exciting classroom games. These are the games that get all your students fired up, shouting at the board, and using English is authentic ways. However, when a learner with visual impairments enters the classroom, many teachers discover that their favorite games are not accessible to that learner.

So here are 2 games to try with your class:

Vocabulary Bingo
Materials: small flashcards (the size of business cards or smaller), a list of spelling or vocabulary words to review.

give each student several small flashcards. The number will depend on how large you want your bingo board to be (9, 16, 25).
Have students choose words from a predetermined spelling or vocabulary list to copy onto the cards. Students who use braille can use a slate or Perkins Brailler to make the cards.
Show students how to arrange their word cards in a grid. The order of the words should be different for each student.
Now begin calling off words from the list. You can just read the words if the objective is sight-wording. Or you can read only the definition if vocabulary review is the objective.
As a word is called, the student flips over that card, keeping it in place. When a complete row or column of words is turned over...BINGO!

The game can be played over and over again by rearranging the cards and students now have vocabulary flashcards to take home or use in other classroom activities!

If you have existing vocabulary bingo cards, you might use this alternate approach only for learners with vision impairments.

Group Spelling Bee
This is an activity that my class does regularly to prepare for our weekly spelling test. At first I thought it was going to be a very competitive activity but it turns out that we laugh more during this game than any other. I also appreciate the level of focus and attention that it takes. Everyone in the classroom has to be focused on a single task to make it successful.

Materials: a list of spelling words.

If students have not already had time to study the spelling words, offer a few minutes of independent practice time.
Ask everyone to stand up in a circle.
The teacher reads the first spelling word. Students will take turns saying each letter in the word. If a student makes a mistake, he or she must sit down and the next student starts again with the first letter of the word.

This activity works well with a medium to large class and requires the teacher to do some 'conducting' by pointing to each person when it is there turn to give a letter. If a blind learner is not able to sense when it is there turn, the student next to them might be asked to touch their hand or shoulder to help signal their turn.

Storytelling with Toys

2010-03-02T17:09:00.000-08:00

This week my ESL (English as a Second Language) class is studying family relationships (mother, father, sister-in-law, etc.). And as often happens, my efforts to accommodate a blind learner in my class yielded a great multi-sensory activity for all my students.

As we moved from basic vocabulary into more complicated terms such as "stepson," "former wife," and "birth mother," I realized that it would be helpful to have some props to illustrate these terms. With the help of a nearby thrift store, I came to class equipped with a large bag of plastic doll house-sized family members.

My students had a great time creating elaborate story lines about divorce, foster care, adoption, an even death with these plastic dolls. They were able to use the dolls to demonstrate relationships and talk about sometimes difficult topics like mental illness (in one story the husband died and the mother suffered to the point of not being able to take care of her children who ended up in foster care).

The lesson was a great success because learners were able to demonstrate their knowledge of the vocabulary through physical manipulation of props -and laugh while doing it!

The next day, a blind learner used the dolls as props for illustrating her extended family. While other students drew pictures of their families, she lined up and grouped the dolls to show her family. Learners then walked around the room and introduced their families to one another.