Handout from DSA roadshow on Assistive Technology for the Mac. Lee Evans - iansyst

1. Apple
In‘Cider’
An orchard of information on
the Apple platform…
Why iansyst?
Founded in 1983, iansyst is one of the leading DSA suppliers. We
have offered Apple solutions to our customers for many years and in
2005 we were awarded Apple Education status, demonstrating we
have the knowledge and expertise to assist you in investing in Apple
as a platform.
Why Apple?
Apple includes assistive technology in its products as standard features – at no additional cost. The
iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac OS X include screen magnification and VoiceOver, a screen-access
technology.
Every Mac includes a simplified interface, which is especially helpful for those with cognitive and
learning disabilities, and for those who find using a mouse a challenge, every Mac computer includes
Mouse Keys, Slow Keys, and Sticky Keys, which adapt the computer to the user’s needs and
capabilities.

2. Which Assistive Technology
There are many different types of assistive technology now available for use on the Mac. Here we
list some of the popular solutions.
Dictation Software
Dragon Dictate for Mac
Use your voice to produce text and control your computer
Why type when Dragon Dictate for Mac uses your voice to produce text and
control your computer?
Speech Recognition software provides you with the freedom to write and control the computer with
your voice; ideal for people with dyslexia and other disabilities.
With perfect spelling and audio feedback it enables you to get your thoughts down quickly and easily
to create professional, correctly spelt documents.
Email, documents and spreadsheets can be created three times faster than most people type with
exceptional accuracy – simply by speaking. Most people speak over 120 words per minute, but type
fewer than 40 words a minute.
Speech recognition software is also ideal for those with mobility problems such as dyspraxia or
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), as voice controls can be used to move around the computer. Tell your
Mac what to do with voice commands like: "Reply to this message" or "Open Microsoft Word" or
"Jump to Google" – imagine how much more productive you will be by not having to find and click
what you need.
Dragon Dictate for Mac was built to work intuitively with Macintosh applications including Mail,
iChat, iCal, TextEdit, Pages, Safari and many more....
And with future updates coming, what will
Dragon Dictate be capable of, going forward?
More functionality?
More cross application support?
Better accuracy...
at the least, if we know Nuance...

3. Concept Mapping
Concept Mapping is now accepted as an important learning and organisational tool. It is incredibly
adaptive which means it can be used in a variety of subject areas and for a number of different tasks,
including; brainstorming, note taking, revision, illustrating concepts, problem solving and outlining of
essays projects and presentations. There are now lots of concept mapping programs available which
are Mac compatible. Here are some of the most popular.
Inspiration 9
Inspiration can be used by anyone but it is
particularly useful for people with ADD/ADHD.
Autism, Aspergers, Dyslexia, Aphasia and visual or
auditory processing disorders.
The symbols and images within Inspiration can be
used to represent ideas, whilst the organisational tools mean brainstormed ideas can be split down
into manageable sections. Inspiration for Mac provides the same tools as the PC version and gives
users the opportunity to produce free form maps.
(NEW) Mind Manager 9 – 23rd June release
Mind Manager for Mac creates organised, structured
maps, which can then be exported to Word, Pages, &
Keynote. Or you can also use the inbuilt interactive slide
presentation mode. Users are able to set date criteria
for tasks and allocate to people, which can be
synchronised with Outlook, iCal, and address books.
Mind Manager for Mac has a different look and feel to
the PC version.
(NEW) Mind View 4 for Mac
– release imminent!
Mind View for Mac provides users with a program to
create organised, structured maps. Users can set date
criteria to tasks and view time lines – which allows the
users to see the information displayed along a horizontal
time axis. With additional features coming with v4, The
Mac version has a different look and feel to the PC version.

4. Organisation Tools
(NEW) Outlook 2011 for Mac (Microsoft, part of Office 2011 suite)
Email, calendars and contacts working together
Microsoft Outlook, the leading e-mail system on the market,
enables you to consolidate your PC-based e-mail and tasks
into your Mac inbox, unifying your work and home
messages, contacts, calendars, and more.
Outlook for Mac 2011 integrates easily with whatever
operating system you are using, including Mac OS X or
Windows 7. Regular and complicated workflows are much
more lightweight. Preview attachments or back up your data
using Time Machine. And common experiences are
consistent across Outlook for Mac, Outlook Web Access, and Windows Outlook.
(NEW) Audio Note Books, Mac compatible (Olympus) – release imminent!
Olympus are about to release a purchasable
plug in known as ‘Audio notebooks’ for their
audio playback, editing & management
software, ‘Sonority’. Compatible with PC’s &
Mac’s, Audio Notebooks will allow the user to
visually manage their audio recordings. Add
images, links & notes. As well as record live
into the desktop software.

5. Text To Speech & Vocabulary support
Read & Write 4 GOLD 4
Read&Write GOLD for Mac text to speech software offers a comprehensive reading and writing tool
for literacy support – designed to help people with literacy difficulties, dyslexia and English as a
second language. The fully compatible tool bar with Microsoft Word for MAC 2011 and safari Mac
users are provided with the same level of support as PC users.
Key features: Text To Speech; Screenshot Reader; Screen Masking; Talking Dictionary; Study Skills
Tools; Scanning; Phonetic Spell Checker; Homophone support; Word Prediction; Safari Web
highlighting; Daisy Reader; PDF aloud (PDF reader); Fact Mapper; Speech Maker; Translator; OCR
scanning.
Software available 3 ways: On USB; on Disk; on Network.
ClaroRead v4
ClaroRead for Mac is a highly effective multi-sensory software solution for supporting anyone who
struggle with reading, writing and learning. Designed with maximum simplicity, adaptability and
flexibility, people of any age and level of ability will have a world of information unlocked through
ClaroRead for Mac.
Key features: Text-to-speech play back (High Quality Voices); Visual Highlighting; ClaroCapture
(Research and Capture Information); Scanning Paper and Converting PDF files (Readiris Pro 11 OCR
software); Improved - Word Check Window (integrates homophones, spelling suggestions and
meanings); Font, Colour & Spacing alterations; Word Prediction; PDF Convertor; Extras Button
(Includes other software, ClaroView, ScreenRuler and ClaroCapture, there is also a link to the Mac’s
calculator.)
Software available: Claro Standard, and Plus available on Disk and USB version (Standard only)

6. Visual Thesaurus
The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps that
blossom with meanings and branch to related words. Its innovative display encourages exploration
and learning.
Portable Note-taking Solutions
(NEW) The Livescribe Echo Range – release imminent!
The Electronic note taking & digital recording family just evolved.
As the Pulse pen fades away, the Echo pen range has grown and the 8GB pen is
now joined by a new 2GB & 4GB versions.
Mac compatible, they all have the ability to store & transfer handwriting &
audio, which you can then organise & work with (via the Livescribe desktop
software & Myscript for livescribe), and share in a variety of ways (Using
Livescribe Connect: pencasts; evernote; facebook; ...).
As all versions have different specifications as standard, look out for our great value bundles to give
you the right solution!! (Please ask for details)

7. (NEW) Olympus DM650 – release imminent!
The Olympus DM-650 provides high quality digital recording at your finger-tips.
Using the latest audio processing technology, the DM-650 is perfect for all
your recording requirements.
It has a stereo directional condenser microphone and a centre omni-
directional microphone giving you the ability to capture lower bass ranges
with stunning clarity.
Olympus DM5
Make Digital Recordings, and much more
The Olympus DM5 comes with increased Memory (8GB) and the ability to record in a much higher
quality record mode, for longer (over 100 hours in ‘best record quality’ mode). It also has greater
capacity to store other kinds of data than previous devices.
Key Features:
Enhanced PCM recording mode (non compressed WAV files);
MP3 and WMA recording;
Voice Navigation of menus;
Enhanced voice guidance;
Visual Index Marks displayed on the device;
Rechargeable, Lithium Ion battery;
Download Audio Books onto the DM5,
now including Daisy format; Upload text files for text-to-speech playback;
Add Pictures onto the DM5, to use as reminder prompts, revision support;
Schedule / Calendar section, NEW – Attach Audio files to calendar entries;
Add Music and Podcasts to the DM5, i.e. important talks, and audio versions of documents;
larger coloured screen;
All the control / navigation buttons are on the front of the device.

8. Why Apple?
The platform for growth....
We understand that it can be hard keeping up-to-date with the latest
information. Here is a quick additional guide to other features, add-ons and
software that, although not deemed as Assistive Technology can prove
extremely useful for students.
(NEW) Lion (O.S. 10.7) – release imminent!
The power of OSX, the magic of the iPad, the new O.S. on the prowl....
Apple are taking their best thinking from the iPad & bringing it all to the Mac.
Available soon (Summer 2011). Here’s a preview of some of the top features.
Launchpad
Launchpad gives you instant access to your apps — iPad style. Just
click the Launchpad icon in your Dock. Your open windows fade away,
replaced by an elegant, full-screen display of all the apps on your Mac.
It takes just a swipe to see multiple pages of apps, and you can arrange
them any way you like by dragging icons to different locations or by
grouping apps in folders. And when you download an app from the Mac App Store, it automatically
appears in Launchpad. Ready to blast off.
The Mac App Store
Just like shopping at the App Store on iPad, the Mac App Store
offers endless possibilities for apps. Newly purchased apps install in
one step and appear right in the new Launchpad. The Mac App
Store is available now on any Mac running Mac OS X Snow Leopard
and will be a part of Mac OS X Lion. Also New Full screen apps will
be available. On iPad, every app is displayed full screen, with no
distractions, and there’s one easy way to get back to all your other
apps. Mac OS X Lion does the same for your desktop.

9. Mission Control
Mission Control is a powerful and handy new feature that
provides you with a comprehensive look at what’s running
on your Mac. It gives you a bird’s-eye view of everything —
including Dashboard and full-screen apps — all in one
place. With a simple swipe, your desktop zooms out to
Mission Control. There you can see your open windows
grouped by app, thumbnails of your full-screen apps, and
Dashboard, arranged in a unified view. And you can get to
anything you see in Mission Control with just one click.
Making you the master of all you survey.
Gestures & Animations
Multi-Touch gestures make everything you do on iPad easy and
intuitive. Now a richer Multi-Touch experience comes to the Mac.
Enjoy more fluid and realistic gesture responses, including rubber-
band scrolling, page and image zoom and full-screen swiping. In
Mac OS X Lion, every swipe, pinch and scroll looks and feels more
responsive and lifelike.
Versions
Versions records the evolution of a document as you
create it. Mac OS X Lion automatically creates a version of
the document each time you open it and every hour while
you’re working on it. If you need to revert to an older
version or retrieve part of a document, Versions shows you
the current document next to a cascade of previous
versions — in an interface similar to that of Time Machine — so you can see how your work looked
at any given time. You can revert with a click, or quickly copy and paste work from a previous version
into the current version.

10. Resume
If you’ve ever restarted your Mac, you know what’s
involved. First you save your work, then close all your
apps, then spend valuable time setting everything up
again. With Resume, that time-consuming process is a
thing of the past. Resume lets you restart your Mac —
after a software update, for example — and return to
what you were doing. With all your apps back in the exact
places you left them. In fact, whenever you quit and
relaunch an app, Resume opens it precisely the way you left it. So you never have to start from
scratch again.
Mail 5
Just like Mail on iPad, Mail 5 in Mac OS X Lion features a
new layout that takes advantage of the widescreen
display on your Mac. You see the messages in your inbox
as well as a full-height preview of the selected message.
The new Mailbox bar gives you one-click access to your
favourite folders. Mail 5 also includes a powerful new
way to search that makes finding what you’re looking for
quick and easy, even in the largest of inboxes.
Mail 5 also introduces Conversations, a natural new way to read and manage email that
automatically groups messages from the same conversation — even if the subject changes along
the way. Just click a conversation in your inbox to reveal a streamlined feed of individual
messages in chronological order, and easily file or delete an entire conversation.
FileVault
A new level of security. Keep all the data on your Mac even more secure with XTS-AES
128 data encryption at the disk level. Initial encryption is fast and unobtrusive — it
encrypts everything in the background while you work. FileVault also encrypts for
your external drives, and provides the ability to wipe all the data from your Mac
instantaneously.

11. Spotlight (Lightning-fast search technology)
Spotlight is the lightning-fast search technology built into Mac OS X that makes it
easy to find what you’re looking for. With Spotlight, you can find anything on
your computer as quickly as you type: files, email, contacts, images, calendar events and
applications. And because it’s built into the core of Mac OS X, search results update instantly
whenever files change.
Voice Over (Control your Mac with touch and sound)
New in Snow Leopard was the ability to control VoiceOver with gestures on your Mac
notebook’s Multi-Touch trackpad. The trackpad surface can actually represent the
active window on your computer. So you can touch to hear the item under your
finger, drag to hear items continuously as you move your finger, and flick with one
finger to move to the next or previous item.
For further info on Mac accessibility features, visit: http://www.apple.com/uk/macosx/accessibility/
(NEW) iLife’11
The incredible new iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand.
All part of iLife ‘11. All part of every new Mac.
iLife’11 helps you do more with photos, movies and music than you ever thought
possible. In iPhoto, you can browse, edit and share your photos. Create epic
Hollywood-style movie trailers from your home video in iMovie. And GarageBand
gives you everything you need to make a great-sounding song.
iWork’9
Documents, spreadsheets and presentations – The Mac way
iWork, Apple’s office productivity suite, is the easiest way to create documents, spreadsheets and
presentations the Mac way. Writing and page layout are easy in Pages.
Numbers gives you simple ways to make sense of your data. You’ll captivate
your audience with new, sophisticated features in Keynote. And iWork is
compatible with Microsoft Office, so it’s easy to share your work.

12. MobileMe
Keep your email, contacts and calendars in sync
MobileMe keeps your email, contacts and calendars in sync across your iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC —
automatically. The service from Apple that stores your important information online at me.com and
keeps it in sync and accessible on your devices. New email, contacts and calendar items are
automatically pushed over the air to your devices, so you always have the latest information.
& the orchard continues to grow...
iPod Touch: Fourth Generation
iPod touch has a beautiful new design that’s even thinner than before. Packed inside are some of
Apple’s most advanced technologies—the Retina display, two cameras, a built-in mic, a gyroscope
and the powerful Apple A4 chip. Use the front camera for FaceTime video calls over Wi-Fi to any
other FaceTime-enabled iPod touch or iPhone 4.Capture HD video with the back camera. Continue
to take advantage of more than 250,000 apps on the App Store—many of which are free
iPad2
Thinner, Lighter. Faster...
The Apple iPad is idea for anyone needing a highly portable device with
all day battery life (10 hours). It’s great as an additional computer even if
you already own a laptop.
All your files can be accessed via Email, Drop Box or Mobile Me “cloud” based applications.
Microsoft Office documents can we opened and even edited or created with additional applications.
The iPad is suitable for every one of all ages and technical ability; it is particularly suitable for anyone
new to computers as the interface (OS) is very easy to use and the touch screen is particularly
intuitive.
There is a large amount of apps that crossover between those users that require AT and general
purpose apps. There’s a tool for nearly every task. The iPad also has spellchecking and predictive text
built into the OS which can be accessed in most applications. Also built into the OS is VoiceOver
which makes the iPad accessible also for those with visual impairments.