Kent Remund
Utah Assistive Technology Teams Project Director
Microsoft is continually improving their accessible features to help students with disabilities unlock their full potential by offering free built in tools for students to read and write more effectively. Microsoft sees the value in every student having access to these tools and offers Office 365, free to all students and educators.
Students with learning disabilities have been relying on their peers and teachers to access their learning which takes away from their independence to access the content when where they choose. The Microsoft Immersive Reader tool available in Word, OneNote, Teams, Outlook, Flipgrid, and Windows 10 web browser giving students the opportunity to access their education in formats that are customizable for them.
Using the Immersive Reader functions, students can utilize text to speech, change page layouts and reduce visual crowding through the available line masking, spacing, font, and background color options. Students can break words down into syllables and highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs to personalize the context. Reading rulers helps students with ADHD, cerebral palsy, dyslexia with line focus options while the picture dictionary and read it out loud features translate content for students with dyslexia.
To find out more about these tools, contact your local Utah Assistive Technology Team, Disability Resource Centers at any higher education or the Utah Center for Assistive Technology.
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