KIRK BEHNKE: OK. Hello, everybody. Thank you for joining us. It's 4 o'clock, and we will get started. Welcome to everyone. Thank you for joining us for our August Tech Accelerator webinar. My name is Kirk, and I will be your moderator for today's session along with Caitlin. 

Our presentation topic, of course, is tools for reading. And this is our third of our current series of tools for employment, independence, and socialization. So, as you know, this session will be recorded. And the video will include picture-in-picture ASL translation, as well as a full transcript. And you can find that on our website. And I think Caitlin will put that in the chat, as well, if you wanted to see the recording of this webinar. 

This website is also where you can also register for future websites-- future webinars, as well. I'm sorry. It's 4 o'clock at the end of a very busy day. My apologies. 

Anyway, TechOWL has a wonderful series of 18 topics, which has run from July of last year and will continue through December of this year. And so each session will be held twice, as you know, on the third Thursday of the month. And we'll offer it two times, one at 12 o'clock, and one at 4 o'clock. Both of these sessions will have the same content, so you can attend whichever one you like. 

This series is part of our Tech Accelerator program. It's an initiative funded by the Office of Developmental programs, or ODP, and the Office of Long-Term Living, or OLTL, here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And this is made possible through a grant of funding through the American Rescue Plan Act. 

You can learn more about our Tech Accelerator program and the fantastic projects that we are offering on our website using the link in the chat. Information will also be sent to you in a follow-up email, along with the PowerPoint and other materials from today's sessions. 

So, for those of you who are joining us for the first time, TechOWL Al stands for Technology For Our Whole Lives. It's our federally-designated Assistive Technology Act program, which serves the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

Every US state has-- and a territory has one of these programs. And they share some commonalities, such as having a device-lending library, durable medical equipment utilization programs. And they also offer training and education opportunities, just like we do here. So if you live, or if someone you love or served outside of Pennsylvania, you'll want to look up their local AT Tech Act program in order to take advantage of those services within their state and/or territory. 

So now, without further ado, I'm going to introduce you to Jennifer West. And Jennifer is going to introduce herself as part of her presentation. So take it away, Jennifer. And thank you all again for joining us today. 

JENNIFER WEST: Great. Thank you so much. I'm going to go ahead and share my screen with you. One moment. 

So again, hello, everyone. And welcome to today's webinar, "Reading Tools." This webinar is part of the Technology Accelerator Project, and my name is Jennifer West. And I'll be presenting the webinar today. And I'm absolutely thrilled to be here and share some information, demos, and resources on reading tools. 

And I'd like to thank Alana, Caitlin, and Kirk for inviting me to present on this topic. And I'm really excited about this opportunity. And I'd also like to thank everyone for coming to the webinar today. And here we go. 

And this is the outline for my presentation today. So first, I'll provide some introductions for myself, ODP, TechOWL, and the Technology Accelerator Project. And second, I'll share some background information on the importance of reading tools. 

And finally, I'll give some information and provide demos on four AT tools for reading. And these tools are Bookshare, Kurzweil, Microsoft Read Aloud, and Seeing AI. And it's my hope that by the end of this presentation, you will take away knowledge about the reading tools in general, who potential users are for these reading tools, the benefits these tools provide, and practical information on how to access and use them effectively. 

All right. So now I'd like to share some introductory material. So again, my name is Jennifer West, and I'm a student services coordinator. And I'm the assistive technology, or AT, coordinator at Temple University's Disability Resources and services. So I help university students at Temple with their academic housing and meal plan accommodations, as well as their AT needs. 

So what are ODP and TechOWL? So ODP is Pennsylvania's Office of Developmental Programs. They help support individuals with disabilities and their families. They connect people to services, resources, and technologies. And TechOWL is Technology for Our Whole Lives. It's Pennsylvania's Assistive Technology Act program. And they provide access to AT tools for people with disabilities. 

And what's the Technology Accelerator Project? So this is a joint effort between ODP and TechOWL to create more inclusive learning, living, and working environments. They provide training and resources on AT, and they focus on practical tools that enhance independence and the quality of life for disabled people in Pennsylvania. The audience for these projects include people with disabilities, caregivers, educators, and advocates. 

Now I'd like to move on to the importance of reading tools. So many Americans experience disability related barriers to reading, and these could include things like dyslexia, brain injury, processing disabilities, or being blind, or have low vision. 

And these reading tools can be life-changing. They can help level the playing field by opening doors to education, employment, and daily living. And they can also help support independence and empowerment, again, in these areas of daily living, education, and community involvement. So these reading tools and others like them are very important. 

The first tool that I'd like to talk about is Bookshare. So, what is Bookshare? Bookshare is the world's largest online library of accessible books for people with print or other disabilities. They have accessible formats, such as audio, Braille, and large print. It was created by Benetech, a nonprofit focused on software for social good. It offers more than 1.3 million titles, and these include textbooks, bestsellers, novels, and many more. 

And here are some potential Bookshare users. This is not an exhaustive list, but I just want to give you some examples. So Bookshare can help support students. So K through 12, as well as higher education students, adults, and seniors. It's typically free for us K through 12 and higher education students with documented disabilities. And if you're not a student with a documented disability, you could join for a yearly membership. And right now it's $79.99 per year. 

So what disabilities qualify students for Bookshare? So you could have a learning or reading disability, such as dyslexia, that significantly interferes with decoding words and reading comprehension. You could have a visual impairment, such as blindness, low vision, macular degeneration, or another type of vision loss that makes it difficult to see words on a page or screen, or read without enlarged font, audiobooks, or Braille. 

You could also have physical disabilities that make it difficult for students to hold a book, turn a page, move their heads, or physically manage a book or the act of reading a book in the way that someone without such a condition would. 

And I'd like to share some key features of Bookshare. So again, they have multiple accessible formats of their books. So they have DAISY, MP3 audio, Braille, and large print. They offer customizable reading experiences. So you can adjust the font size, the color of the text, and the background and spacing to suit your needs. 

You can also listen with many high quality text-to-speech voices. And you can also follow along with synchronized text highlighting. And you can read these books on a wide range of devices. So you can read them on computers, tablets, and smartphones. 

And here are some benefits of Bookshare. Again, this is not an exhaustive list, but I just wanted to share some examples. They could help students with their homework. They could help people with professional work. And they can also help people with just leisure reading. 

And this is what Bookshare looks like. So you would log in, and this would be your home page. And you can search for your title-- for your book using title, author, ISBN in the Search Bar on the top of the page. So I'm going to share a demo with you now. 

[VIDEO PLAYBACK] 

- You will log into Bookshare using your credentials. Then you can search for the book you would like to read by typing the title, author, or IS-- 

[END PLAYBACK] 

JENNIFER WEST: OK. Sorry, I lost the screen here. Give me one second. 

[VIDEO PLAYBACK] 

- --ISBN in this-- You will log into Bookshare using your credentials. Then you can search for the book you would like to read by typing the title, author, or ISBN in this text box at the top of the screen. I'm going to use Julia Child as our example for today. 

[TYPING] 

Now I can look at the search results and find the book I was looking for. If you go to the far right, you can either download the book in various formats, like DAISY with images, audio, or Word, by clicking this dropdown menu and selecting the format that best meets your needs. And then you would need to click the Download button to download it onto your device. 

You can also read the book now by clicking the Read Now button. You can change the settings by going to the gear at the upper right of the screen. If you click on the Audio button, you can change the audio settings, like the voice, with this dropdown menu, the audio speed by using the scroll bar or the Minus or Plus buttons. 

If you click the Text button, you can change the text size by using the Plus or Minus buttons here, or the scroll bar, the font style by using this dropdown menu here. And the character spacing by selecting the dot next to the spacing that looks good to you. You can also change the color by clicking the Color button. And you can change the background and text color by using one of these presets here. 

Or you can customize the background color and text color by using these dropdown menus here and here. You can also change the sentence highlights and the word highlights by using these dropdown menus here. 

When you are done changing the settings, you can double-click anywhere on the text, and it will begin to read it aloud to you. 

- Julia rarely turned down a request for an interview, and one of the questions that came up frequently over the years was about the food she remembered from childhood. What did she eat growing up? 

[END PLAYBACK] 

JENNIFER WEST: OK, so that shared a lot about what Bookshare is. So I'd like to move on to our next at tool, and it's called Kurzweil. So what is Kurzweil? Kurzweil 3000 is a comprehensive reading, writing, and learning software designed for people with learning disabilities, dyslexia, and other print related barriers. 

You can upload books, articles, or other documents and then use their features. It was developed by Kurzweil Education, and it combines text-to-speech, study skills, and writing support tools in one platform. It's widely used in schools, workplaces, and for personal use to improve literacy and comprehension. 

And here are some potential Kurzweil users. Again, this is just to provide some examples. The list is not exhaustive. So it could maybe be children and adults with reading disabilities, such as dyslexia, or maybe ADHD, or people who are blind or low vision who need text-to-speech support. And it's really good for anyone struggling with reading fluency or comprehension. 

That's available to students and adults. Students could potentially get Kurzweil for free through their schools. So that'd be K through 12 and higher education. But if not, if you're an adult and you're not a student anymore, you could do a paid membership. And they have these based on different tiers. But they tend to be a couple hundred dollars per year for a membership. 

Here are some key features of Kurzweil. It supports reading comprehension and independence. It integrates seamlessly with Bookshare, and this is something that several of my students do. They will find their books on Bookshare, and then they will upload them to Kurzweil. So they can use some of the study tools. 

And some have said that they prefer the voices that they use for text-to-speech on Kurzweil over Bookshare. They sound maybe a little more natural and less robotic on Kurzweil. So like I said, they have text-to-speech with natural-sounding voices. And they also have highlighting words as they're read aloud. So that helps some students and other people, as well. 

It supports multiple file formats, including PDFs and Word documents. And they have some great study tools that are integrated into Kurzweil. So they have some dictionaries, highlighters, and note-taking supports. 

And here are some benefits of Kurzweil. It enhances reading comprehension and retention with dual input. So we have audio and visual inputs. They help users become more independent learners and workers by reducing barriers to accessing text, and it promotes academic success and workplace productivity by increasing confidence and efficiency with reading tasks. 

And this is what Kurzweil looks like when you log in. On the upper right, these buttons here are how you upload your documents. So you can upload them from Google Drive, OneDrive, Bookshare, or from your computer. Your files will be uploaded on this page, and you can make folders to keep them organized on the left. So I have a demo here that I want to share with you that will go over some of the key features that we just talked about. 

[VIDEO PLAYBACK] 

- You will log in to Kurzweil using your credentials. You can upload your documents, such as PDFs or books, by going to the far right and clicking one of these options here. Your files will show up in the folders on the right side of the screen. You will select the one that you want. 

It will upload it here. And then you can change the audio options by clicking the gear on the far left side of the screen. You can change the voice by using this dropdown menu here. And you can change the reading speed by using the arrow keys here. 

You can change the document view by clicking the page with the magnifier on it on the upper left side of the screen. You can adjust the zoom. Here at the top, you can rotate the pages in this section here and change the background color by clicking this dropdown button here. 

And you can change the highlight word color here by clicking this dropdown menu button here, and the highlight unit color here by clicking on the dropdown menu here. And you can get a preview of the highlights you've selected in this box here. You can chan-- 

To have the document read aloud, you can click the Play button at the top middle of the screen. 

- Or almost everything. A tiny black fly buzzes around looking for food. All of a sudden, it smells nectar, a sugary-- 

- If you look to the left side of the screen, we can go over a few useful features. The first one is the bookmark, and this is great if you have a very long text to read. The next one I'd like to go over is the Highlight feature. I would suggest having it toggled on so you can have all four highlights available to you at once. 

The next one that I'd like to go over is the Sticky Note feature. To have the document-- 

The next feature I'd like to go over is the Sticky Notes feature. So if you click on this button, the Document Notes, and you click on the Plus button here, this is to add a Sticky Note. And you can draw the Sticky Note wherever you'd like. And you can just type anything that you want. 

You need to click the pointer feature again after you're done with your note. There are also some great study tools that we can look at. So it's this button here on the far left, looks like a piece of paper. There's the Dictionary feature. There's a Picture Dictionary feature, a Synonym feature, and a Translate feature. 

[END PLAYBACK] 

JENNIFER WEST: All right. So I kind of shared a little bit about the features we talked-- that we talked about with Kurzweil. So I'd like to move on to our next AT tool. And this is Microsoft Read Aloud. 

So what is Microsoft Read Aloud? It's a built-in text-to-speech feature commonly used in Word. It's designed to support readers with learning disabilities, people who are blind, low vision, and anyone who benefits from auditory learning. It provides a simple, accessible way to listen to written content directly within a commonly-used software. 

So here are some potential Microsoft Read Aloud users. So it could be students needing support with reading schoolwork, emails, or research materials, or perhaps adults with dyslexia, ADHD, or who are blind or low vision who need audio support. And, really, anyone seeking an easy-to-use tool for improved comprehension and reading engagement. 

I'd like to share some key features of the Microsoft Read Aloud tool. It reads text aloud with natural-sounding voices. So with this tool, there are only two voice options, male and female. But they do sounds pretty natural. And they highlight each word as it's read aloud. And this helps users follow along visually. 

It does offer adjustable reading speed and voice options, so you can customize the listening experience. And it's easily accessible in Microsoft Word. So this would be great for students who need to write their homework or essays, and perhaps professionals who need to write up documents for their work. 

And here are some benefits of the Microsoft Read Aloud feature. It enhances comprehension by combining auditory and visual input. It supports literacy development and reading fluency. It enables independent access to a wide range of digital content without extra cost or software. 

So it is included in your Microsoft. You don't have to buy it or add an extension. So it's already there. I think that's important to point out. And it would help people reading work or school documents. So this is what the Read Aloud looks like. So I have a Word document here that I typed up. 

And then I clicked on the Review button, and that gives me the option to select the Read Aloud feature. So I'm going to go ahead and share a demo with you about this tool. 

[VIDEO PLAYBACK] 

- To use the Microsoft Read Aloud, you need to go to the Review button first. Then click Read Aloud. And you will get a control panel over here on the right. You can adjust the settings. So you can adjust the reading speed using the scroll bar here, and you can change the voice selection to male or female. 

You just need to click anywhere on the screen and click the Play button. 

- Microsoft Read Aloud helps you listen to your documents by reading the text out loud. You can adjust the reading speed or switch voices. 

[END PLAYBACK] 

JENNIFER WEST: And I didn't forget about Mac users. So Apple products have similar features for pages, and what they use is Speak Screen. So it reads aloud and highlights in a similar fashion to Microsoft's Read Aloud. And again, it would be very useful in their pages. So this would be great, again, if you're writing a paper, doing homework, or need to write up something for work. 

The last AT tool for reading that I'd like to discuss is Seeing AI. So what is Seeing AI? It's a free phone app for people who are blind, low vision, or have print disabilities or other disabilities. The app leverages a smartphone's camera and AI to read printed text, describe scenes, recognize objects and people in real time. So it supports independence in daily tasks by providing spoken word descriptions of the environment. I would not recommend this for reading more than one or two pages, though. 

Here are some potential Seeing AI users. So perhaps people who are blind or low vision, who have print disabilities, or even some people who are colorblind who want to better understand their environment. So also individuals needing assistance identifying text, currency, colors, products, or faces. And, really, anybody seeking a portable, easy-to-use tool for daily life and social interactions. 

And some key features of Seeing AI are that it recognizes print text instantaneously and reads it aloud. It identifies and describes people, including facial expressions and approximate age. So this one is quite accurate. So you need to be careful with it, because it could get you in trouble with some people, if they're sensitive about their age. 

It also can scan barcodes to identify products and currencies to assist with money management. It also describes scenes and objects which would help users navigate new environments, and it can support long short and long text recognition with real-time audio feedback. And again, this is a free app available for iPhone and Android phones. 

And here are some benefits of Seeing AI. So, potentially, people who are blind or low vision could use it to read the label on a canned food item. Dyslexic students could also read a flyer, pamphlet, or brochure. And I've actually had a lot of dyslexic students use Seeing AI for this particular purpose. Let's go ahead and take a look at a Seeing AI demo video from Microsoft. 

Give me one second here, because it's saying it's paused. OK, let's try this again. 

[VIDEO PLAYBACK] 

- Seeing AI is a Microsoft Research project for people with visual impairments. The app narrates the world around you by turning the visual world into an audible experience. Point your phone's camera, select a channel, and hear a description. The app recognizes saved friends. 

- Jenny near top right, 3 feet away. 

- Describes the people around you, including their emotions. 

- 28-year-old female wearing glasses, looking happy. 

- It reads text out loud as it comes into view, like on an envelope. 

- Kim Lawrence, PO Box-- 

- Or a room entrance. 

- Conference 2005. 

- Or scan and read documents, like books and letters. The app will guide you and recognize the text with its formatting. 

- Top and left edge is not visible. Hold steady. 

[CAMERA SNAP] 

Lease agreement. This agreement-- 

- When paying with cash, the app identifies currency bills. 

- $20 US. 

- When looking for something in your pantry or at the store, use the barcode scanner with audio cues to help you find what you want. 

- Campbell's tomato soup. 

- When available, hear additional product details. 

- Heat and microwave bowl on high-- 

- And even here descriptions of images. In other apps, like Twitter, by importing them into Seeing AI. 

- A close-up of Bill Gates. 

- Finally, explore our experimental features, like scene descriptions, to get a glimpse of the future. 

- I think it's a young girl throwing a Frisbee in the park. 

- Experience the world around you with the Seeing AI app from Microsoft. 

[END PLAYBACK] 

JENNIFER WEST: So I think you can see that that could be very useful for many people with various disabilities. Yeah. All right. So that brings us to the end of my presentation. I'd like to share some summaries and concluding remarks. 

So today, we explored a range of AT reading tools designed to make reading accessible. So we covered four key tools Bookshare, Kurzweil 3000, Microsoft Read Aloud, and Seeing AI. And each had different features for different user needs. And these tools support independence, promote inclusion, and help people of all ages overcome barriers to reading. 

I hope that you'll leave this presentation with new knowledge about reading tools, who can benefit from them, what they offer, and how to access them. And I have a reading tool-- a summary chart here, if this is how you prefer to learn. So I have the tools on the left side that we've gone over. 

So with Bookshare, it is an online library. You can access it on the web. And you will either download or stream the titles. And again, potential users could be students, adults, seniors with print disabilities. And some key features are that it has accessible books in different formats. 

The next tool was Kurzweil 3000. And this one you can use on the web or download to your device. And potential users could be people with learning disabilities. And it's useful for students and workers. And the key features are that it has text-to-speech, and extensive reading, and writing, note-taking skills, and support. 

The next one is the Microsoft Read Aloud, and this is part of Microsoft 365. And we looked at how you can use it in Word documents. And again, this would be useful for anyone who needs text-to-speech. And it has built-in text-to-speech. It has natural voices and highlighting. 

And the last one was Seeing AI. So again, this is a free iOS and Android app for your phone, and this could help a wide range of people with various disabilities like dyslexia. And the key features are that it has an AI narration of the text, objects, people, and scenes. 

This is my resource list with links. So I have links to Bookshare, Kurzweil, Microsoft, and Seeing AI. I also included the links to download the ISO version and the Android version of Seeing AI for your phone. 

I'd like to say thank you once again to Alana, Caitlin, and Kirk for inviting me to present today. And I really had a great time sharing this information with everyone. I'd also like to thank all of you for your time and attention throughout this session. And I hope you found it informative and helpful. 

And these are my contact details. So again, my name is Jennifer West. And I work at Temple University's DRS department in the Student Center. You can contact me via phone or email, but email is the best. If you have any questions or want to discuss AT further, please feel free to reach out. I'm happy to connect with you. And I'm open to answering any questions or hear any comments that you want to share at this point. 

So if there are any questions, I'm happy to answer them now. 

KIRK BEHNKE: Yeah, sorry, I was talking and I forgot I was muted. I don't see any questions in the message section. But I really did enjoy learning more about the AI piece. That was really nice. Thank you. 

JENNIFER WEST: Thanks. All right. Well, if there are no questions now, once again, thank you, everyone. I hope you have a wonderful day. And if you do have any AT questions, you can always reach out and contact me. 

KIRK BEHNKE: Thanks so much, Jennifer. 

JENNIFER WEST: Thank you.