Exploring the World of Assistive Technology

Throughout 2021 we hosted a monthly webinar series where we explore the world of Assistive Technology in partnership with Skills for Care, Sight and Sound Technology and VisionBridge. For future events please see our live events page.

The Sight and Sound Technology team guided participants through real life scenarios focusing on individuals with a variety of conditions and specific requirements. We discussed the suggested solutions and examined how assistive technology can offer support and enable people with a disability in a range of social care settings to maintain their mobility, independence, pursue their hobbies and interests, connect with friends and carers and to operate more effectively in everyday life.

We concentrated on the following areas of technology;

• Mainstream technology – e.g. iPads, Android tablets
• Accessible smartphones and Apps
• Computer software – magnification and screen reading
• Mobility at home and outdoors
• Indoor and outdoor navigation
• Portable magnification
• Wearable technology
• Voice activated devices
• Text-to-speech

Recordings below

Session 1

Session 2 – We concentrated on Mainstream technology – e.g. iPads, Android tablets; Accessible smartphones and Apps; Built-in accessibility features for Windows, Mac and iOS; Computer software – magnification and screen reading; Mobility at home and outdoors; Indoor and outdoor navigation; Portable magnification; Wearable technology; Voice activated devices; Text-to-speech; Smart Home Technology

Session 3 – We concentrated on wearable devices which support mobility, central vision loss, accessing printed material, close-up and distance magnifcation, facial recogntion and scene description.

Session 4 – We explored smartphone apps. For people with a visual impairment, accessing simple information can sometimes be difficult. How can a nonsighted person get their bearings and choose the best route to get to their destination? Or read a document that’s not available in braille? Answer an email from a friend or family member? Fortunately, technology keeps innovating and a lot of apps are specifically designed to help blind or visually impaired people in their everyday lives.