Author: Luis Pérez, Ph. D.

Although I am primarily a Safari user, I have been very impressed with the variety of extensions you can add to customize the Chrome web browser from Google. I have been experimenting with a number of these extensions, and here are the ones I have found helpful and currently have installed:

• ChromeVox: Google’s screen reader that is built into Chrome OS on Chromebooks or can be installed as an extension for the Chrome browser on Windows or Mac. A really nice interactive tutorial is available from Google to help new users get started with ChromeVox.
• ChromeSpeak: This extension provides the same functionality that is available through a Speech service on the Mac but should be helpful to  Chrome OS users. You can select text on any web page, right-click and choose Speak to have the text read aloud using the text to speech engine built into the respective OS.
• ChromeVis: This extension for low vision users allows you to select text and press a keyboard shortcut ( the number 0) to have the text appear magnified in a small window. You can customize this window (or lens) to have the text rendered in different color combinations, to change the text size, or to have the magnified text appear right next to the selection rather than at the top of the page. Navigation is performed through a series of keyboard shortcuts.
• High Contrast: This extension allows you to add a high contrast theme on a  site by site basis. Options include:  high contrast, grayscale,  inverted, inverted grayscale and yellow on black.
• Zoom :  This extension gives you more control over how Zoom works in your Chrome browser. You can use a slider or type in a value to set a custom zoom level.
• Readability and Clearly: Both of these extensions will clean up the clutter on a  web page and present a simplified version that is perfect for using text to speech and reading without all of the distractions of ads and other irrelevant content. Both extensions provide options for customizing the appearance of the text (text size, background, etc.). With Clearly, you can also highlight right on the page and if you sign into your Evernote account these highlights will be saved into Evernote automatically.
• Read&Write for Google: Read&Write is a premium extension for Chrome from TextHelp. It provides a number of supports that are helpful to students with learning difficulties such as dyslexia: text to speech with word highlighting, ability to highlight right on the page using a number of colors, a picture dictionary to make concepts more concrete, and an option for summarizing a page. A 30 day free trial is available, but even after the trial is over some of the features will continue to work. This includes the text to speech with word highlighting and the translation features.
• Evernote Web Clipper and Diigo Web Collector:  Both of these extensions are great as supports for classroom research and reading.  With Evernote Web Clipper, you can save an entire web page to your Evernote account, or you can choose to clip a selection, take a screenshot, or just save a bookmark to the page. An option to save a simplified version is also available. This will save the current page without the ads and other distractions.  For a screenshot, you can add text annotations and stamps (great for highlighting critical features in diagrams, charts and other graphics).  Diigo does a lot of the same things as Evernote Web Clipper: you can save bookmarks to pages or screenshots with annotations. What I really like about Diigo is the ability to add highlights and sticky notes to any web page. This has made it my tool of choice for taking notes while I am doing research online.

Bonus: ChromeCast. This extension allows you to show any Chrome tab on your TV using the Chromecast HDMI dongle available from Google. This can be useful for showing websites and documents from Google Docs on a larger screen.

There are a number of extensions that I use for testing web pages for accessibility as well, including:

• Web Developer Toolbar adds a number of handy tools for checking accessibility, such as options for disabling styles, displaying alt text for images and more.
• Accessibility Developer Tools from Google adds an accessibility audit section to the Chrome Developer tools.
• Color Contrast Checker can help you check an entire page or a portion of it for compliance with WCAG 2.0 requirements for color contrast.

As I watched the Apple commercial “Powerful” one night I got an idea: what if there were a series of commercials with the same theme but focusing on how Apple technology has empowered me and many others who have disabilities to pursue their dreams and “be powerful” in our own way.

I initially threw this idea out on Facebook and a few weeks later, Christopher Hills posted a great video of iOS 8 Switch Control that featured this theme in the intro. I loved the way Christopher presented the idea and this inspired me to create my own video.

I went down to the waterfront in St. Petersburg, Florida (where I live) to watch the sunrise on a Sunday morning. Unfortunately, it had been raining most of the weekend and the view of the sunrise was not that great. That gave me an idea: let’s not waste the trip, let’s make a quick video. Armed with my iPhone, I recorded a series of 4-5 clips while the light was still good. I then used iMovie right on the phone to edit the clips into a short video that is about the length of a typical commercial. Here is the result:

Do you know anyone else whose story demonstrates how they are “more powerful” with technology? Post it online and then use the hashtag Christopher created: #iAmMorePowerfulThanYouThink

One of the most anticipated features in iOS 8 was the redesigned on-screen keyboard. Recently, I did a video on my YouTube channel on the new QuickType feature that now provides smart word prediction with the iOS onscreen keyboard. That video also discussed two other additions: the Dictation feature now has almost real-time feedback, and you can customize the on-screen keyboard by adding a number of third-party keyboards to your iOS device. In the video I featured two of my favorite third-party keyboards: Swype and Fleksy (both $.99 on the App Store).

With Fleksy,  I like the extra feedback I get as I type (the letters appear to jump out) and the fact that you can customize the keyboard by choosing large keys and adjusting the colors to a combination that works well for you. Typing is also very quick with this keyboard. Whenever you need to enter a space, just do a quick swipe to the right, and deleting is as simple as a quick swipe to the left. Word prediction is included, but I have not found the suggestions to be as good as with the built-in keyboard.

Swype allows me to type very quickly by dragging my fingers over the letters that make up each word in one continuous motion.  It really makes more sense when you see it in action in the video. While you can switch to a Dark theme that I find helpful, I wish this keyboard had a few more themes to choose from.

Lastly, that brings me to Keedogo and Keedogo Plus from AssistiveWare, a well known name in the field of assistive technology thanks to their Proloquo2Go app. Keedogo is designed for beginning writers, with a simplified layout, lower-case letters, ability to use either a QWERTY or ABC layout, and vowel and special key highlighting. It does not include features that could distract an early writer, such as word prediction and auto-correction. I also like the high contrast and large keys. Keedogo Plus adds word prediction and automatic capitalization to the feature set, and is intended for beginning writers who are ready to move on from Keedogo to something more advanced.

AssistiveWare has a third keyboard called Keeble in development that is intended for people with vision and motor difficulties. This keyboard will include options such as color themes, Speak Keys for auditory feedback as you type, select on release, and more.

One quick tip before I end: apparently there is a bug that creates problems with the third party keyboards when Guided Access is enabled. If you are having problems such as the keyboards disappearing, head on over to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access (found under Learning) and turn that feature off if you are not using it.

New in iOS 8, Speak Screen allows you to hear not only text but also interface elements such as buttons and other controls read aloud. Speak Screen is a handy feature to use on websites, ebooks and anywhere you need to have the text read aloud to you, or if you need to familiarize yourself with a layout of an app due to a vision difficulty.  The nice thing about this feature is that you don’t have to make a selection first. Speak Screen begins reading at the top of the page automatically after you activate it but you can use onscreen controls to advance the selection or to rewind, and you can also adjust the speaking speed. Also, Speak Screen will work with any of the voices you have installed on your device, including the advanced Alex voice Apple has now ported from the Mac to iOS with iOS 8.

To activate Speak Screen, you use a special gesture (drag from the top of the screen with two fingers). Here is today’s quick tip: instead of using a gesture to start Speak Screen, use your voice. Siri works great for this purpose. Just bring up Siri and say “Speak Screen” and your device will start reading the current screen.

Even better, with iOS 8, you can put Siri in an always listening mode by going into Settings > Siri and enabling Hey Siri. You can then just say “Hey Siri” to start Siri (but remember that this only works when you have your device plugged in to a power source, as it drains the battery some). A great use of “Hey Siri” is to use it in combination with Speak Screen. Just say “Hey Siri, Speak Screen” and it should start reading the text and describing the onscreen controls.

I hope you find that tip useful.