Work alone or find some friends to work through it together! Either way, you can become Read&Write for Google Chrome certified! Read&Write for Google Chrome is currently available for anyone to use in LCPS.
Microsoft Office tools have a built-in accessibility checker. Under the Review tab is a Check Accessibility button.
Selecting the button checks the document for accessibility errors and considerations displaying suggestions about how to rectify or resolve the concerns. Consider checking every document for accessibility before publication.
Example of suggestions from the Accessibility Checker
Not all web pages are created equally. Some provide information in a clear and concise manner. Others are cluttered including extensive text, numerous graphics that might or might not add to the understanding of the content, or advertisements that detract from the content. This can be frustrating for any user, but especially so to those who are working on limiting distractions, focusing on goals around decoding and comprehension of text, and people with certain visual impairments.
TextHelp’s Read&Write for Google Chrome extension is available to all LCPS staff and students and has a tool that can help alleviate these issues called Simplify Page. It reduces visual clutter from Chrome web pages, simplifies the text on the page, and has features to make the web page even more visually accessible.
When on a Chrome web page, select the purple puzzle piece icon on the menu bar to open the Read&Write for Google Chrome toolbar.
Then, select the Simplify Page tool. A new tab will open showing a simplified version of the page and the available features.
Simplify: The amount of text displayed on the page can be summarized or shortened by selecting the minus (–) icon. If you’ve decreased the text too much, you can select the plus (+) icon.
Discover: This feature underlines key words in purple. When the words are selected, a brief description or graphic appears, similar to a dictionary.
The visual contrast can be modified by changing the text and background color. Choices include Black on White, White on Black, Blue on Yellow, and Yellow on Blue.
The font size and style can be changed, including the Open Dyslexic font.
The spacing between the lines can be also changed to Single, 1.5, or Double.
Check out this video for more information and enjoy exploring this amazing tool!
A strategy to help individuals learn language using augmentative/alternative communication (AAC) is to provide Partner Augmented Input (also known as Aided Language Stimulation). This means the communication partners model language by using the same form of AAC as the student with whom they are communicating. This short video explains the idea.
When participating in literacy experiences, like reading a book together, it can be difficult to model every word in the story. Focusing the modeling on words which are used most frequently is a way to target meaningful vocabulary. However, for a communication partner who is just learning about AAC, it can still be difficult to know which words to model.
The free webtool UpGoer6 invites users to input text which is then colorized based on how frequently the word is used. Bright green text indicates the word is used frequently. Dark red indicates the word is rarely used. Clicking on a word provides a numerical ranking of how frequently the word is used. Educators can copy and paste the colorized text into adapted books to provide communication partners reading with the student a visual cue of which words are the priority to model. Strategies like these make it easier for someone who is new to modeling on AAC know which words to prioritize when modeling.
Immersive Reader is a literacy support tool from Microsoft. One of its many features is the ability to break words into syllables which can help a user decode, recognize, and pronounce the individual word. This video titled Improving Your Reading With Immersive Reader shows how to activate this feature along with other literacy support options.
Syllable Support in Immersive Reader
Grammar Options in Immersive Reader Including Syllable Support
Symbols for frequently used words such as like, of, some, and know do not help someone produce a picture in their mind. Look at the examples below. If you covered up the text, could you guess the text below?
When a picture representation of a word is added to a text representation of a word, it tends to add to the complexity of visual information presented in a way that does NOT help an individual learn how to decode, recognize, or comprehend the text. The added image doesn’t actually help students make an association between the printed word and the symbol. A strategy to use instead is to present the text without an added picture. The text itself is the symbol.
Immersive Reader is a literacy support tool from Microsoft. One of its many features is the ability to alter text in a variety of ways based on the preferences of the user to customize their experience. The user can increase or decrease the font size, change the font, change the spacing, and change the theme including altering background colors. Anyone can choose the combination that works best for them!
Schoology is the primary learning management system used in Loudoun County Public Schools. A recent update added Immersive Reader to all Course pages and Schoology Course Assignments. Look for the Immersive Reader button on the top right corner to activate. The text on the Course page will open in Immersive Reader which provides a variety of functions including all of the following:
May the Fourth is known as Star Wars day. A fun experience for learners of all ages might be to create their own Mandalorian from the Star Wars universe. Go to https://www.mandocreator.com/ to begin.
Implementation ideas include…
Collaboratively working with peers to design and color the character by giving directions such as, “Put that on”, “Let’s use green”, and “I choose that one.”
Practicing the pragmatic function of commenting on the character such as, “It is big”, “I like it”, and “It has many colors.”
Exporting the picture and adding text to describe the character.
Exporting the picture, importing it into a slide deck using Google Slides or PowerPoint, and adding additional images around it to create a scene.
Telling a story about the character.
The universe is the only limit to how it can be used! Whatever the students’ create will be out of this world! This is the way!
A Mandalorian created using https://www.mandocreator.com/
on the menu bar to open the Read&Write for Google Chrome toolbar.
tool. 
