For persons with print disabilities, using a traditional library could be a difficult if not impossible task. And, depending on the degree of your disability, a library might not offer enough content that you can meaningfully access. Thankfully, with the advent of the internet, there are services available online to help fill that gap, and today, we are going to explore one of such services.

The Centre for Equitable Library Access or CELA is an online library for Canadians which provides alternative and accessible reading formats to over a million titles. With an emphasis on Canadian titles and authors, the library includes bestsellers, award winning titles, a range of fiction and non-fiction, and plenty of choices for children and teens. As of right now the library also offers access to around 45 newspapers and 150 DAISY (Digital Audiobook) magazines.

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Neel is employed in the insurance industry as a Disability Claim Consultant. His job involves coaching and mentoring new case managers once they complete their formal training.

“My hearing loss made it difficult to interact with clients professionally,” he shares. “It was difficult to understand what they were saying to me.”

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We’ve looked at a few mind mapping tools in previous articles, but there is so much variety in this category that we keep finding new apps to talk about! Plus, a lot of the mind-mapping software that we’ve reviewed in the past has been more student-focused, and those apps tend to feature tools that reflect that vision.

Today, however, we are going to look at a mind-mapping tool that was clearly designed for professionals working in a business environment.

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Through WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, Roxanne, who works in childcare, received new hearing aids.

“For the first time in 15 years, I have two identical hearing aids providing me with 360 degree sound experiences and sound clarity. I am able to hear the child in my care from anywhere in the house, as well as cars or people that are not even in my vision yet. This gives me the confidence to know that I am able to provide better safety and care for the child in my care when we are out of the house. This is all thanks to the Assistive Technology Services Program approving me for funding. The application was straightforward and thorough, and the correspondence with the case managers were pleasant and informative,” she shares.

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Kelly works at a shipyard. He has hearing loss and needs to wear hearing aids.

When he needed new hearing aids, his audiologist referred him to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for funding help. He applied and was quickly approved.

“It was able to supply me with some funding in help in paying for a new set of hearing aids that were needed for my hearing loss,” he shares.

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Volodymyr is currently searching for work while attending classes to improve his English.

While working with WorkBC Employment Services to find employment, he was referred to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for funding to get hearing aids, which he needs for employment.

“[The] Assistive Technology Services program helped me improve communication with people. I currently received and am using a hearing aid, Phonak Audeo L-R/RT,” he shares.

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Browsing the web can be a very inconsistent experience for anyone, but when you’re a person with disabilities, those minor inconveniences might actually become massive barriers.

Today we are going to look at tool that is designed to make reading on the web much easier for persons with disabilities, students, and essentially anyone else who reads content online. Helperbird is an accessible reading and writing toolbar that functions as an extension to virtually any browser. The app offers a variety of reading features including Reading Mode, Immersive Reader, Highlight Menu, and more. It also allows you to tweak and customize the look of the content you are reading, from fonts, to colors, to spacing, borders, and more.

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Today we going to look at something a bit different. Rather than our usual app review, we are going to look at a piece of hardware which has a ton of potential to be used as AT, even though it wasn’t originally designed as such.

The Stream Deck is a PC accessory that gives users an array of extra buttons that can be programmed to do virtually anything you want. Originally designed for streamers and YouTubers, this device can be used to automate virtually any task, which means it has a ton of potential for persons with physical disabilities.

And because this device was designed for a mainstream audience, the price is very reasonable with the smallest version of the device costing just over a $100 for an eight-button controller.

For example, you could program one button to turn on your computer, open teams, and open a word doc. That’s just one of many examples. A button could also be used to toggle accessibility features such as Read Aloud, or to pull up all accessibility settings. The possibilities are endless.

The programming interface is easy to use, and it gives you a lot of flexibility in how you program your buttons. Additionally, Stream Deck uses a series of built-in and downloadable plugins to enhance the user’s experience. Some examples of free plug-ins include Control Center, Win Tools, YouTube, and much more. These plugins are easy to access directly from the Stream Deck interface, or you can browse the available plugins here.

The Stream Deck also allows users to create and save profiles, which is great for multi-user integration, or for people who simply want more control over their device. It also allows users to save specific presets, for example, you could set up a specific audio preset just for listening to podcasts, or for having content read aloud.

With all that in mind, we can see that the utility of this device as a piece of assistive technology is virtually endless and is only limited by the imagination of the user. That being said, the Stream Deck is currently only available for Windows or Mac users, but hopefully we will see mobile versions of this device become available over time.

This post originally appeared on the AT Help Desk website.

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Yong Dan works as a Store Associate for a retail store. Her duties include greeting customers, working the cash register, restocking and organizing merchandise, and resolving customer complaints. She has hearing loss.

Through WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, she was able to receive funding for a new set of hearing aids.

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Anthony works for a non-profit that provides housing and shelter for people in need. At the building he works at, his many duties include helping clients with their daily tasks, security, dealing with conflicts, as well as answering phones. He has hearing loss, which can make it difficult to hear conversations.

For his hearing loss, he had hearing aids, however, they no longer worked as well as he needed them to. His audiologist referred him to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help purchasing new ones.

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