Author Archive

Quizlet: A Smart Way to Study

An adult male helps a young girl using a tablet.

Almost ten years ago we reviewed Quizlet for the first time. It was a great app then, and today it’s even better thanks to the app’s integration of AI technology.

Quizlet, currently the top contender for Flashcard apps in the app store, is a great way to study. Simply put, the app allows you to either create your own custom flashcard sets by scanning documents with the build scanner, selecting pre-downloaded images or text files, creating them manually, or choosing from a library of pre-existing cards.

WorkBC Assistive Technology Services Helps Lovisa Thrive at Work

WorkBC Assistive Technology participant Lovisa

Lovisa works with an organization helping women fleeing abuse. Her job involves talking with clients in-person and over the phone, a task made difficult by her hearing loss.

“I help them find a safe place to stay and other resources that they need,” she explains. “I have limited hearing in both ears since birth. It impacts my work in a way that is very challenging, I am taking down wrong information and mishearing things.”

New Hearing Aids Help Rai Feel “Secure and Confident” at Work

A nurse wearing scrubs and a stethoscope carries a file.

Rai works as a health care assistant, taking care of seniors and other patients who need help with their everyday needs. She has severe hearing loss and needed hearing aids. She learned about WorkBC Assistive Technology Services (ATS) from a co-worker and decided to apply.

“They helped me in funding, so I was able to buy the top-quality hearing aids. They guided me through every step and were very informative to me. I wouldn’t have been able to get the aids without their support,” she shares. “I would not have been able to continue my job without my hearing aids.”

“The Hearing Aids Have Made My Job Easier [. . .] and Less Stressful”

Brenda works as a Registered Dietitian on Vancouver Island. She provides nutritional education and counseling to clients with various health conditions both in-person and virtually, and also facilitates in-person group nutrition programs.

“I have hearing loss in both ears, and this was impacting my ability to communicate effectively with my clients in-person. I would often have to ask them to repeat themselves. In group settings, I would have to move closer to people sitting at the back of the room to hear them properly,” she explains.

New Hearing Aids Help Cameron’s Job Search

A person uses a laptop.

Having previously been employed as a security guard, Cameron is looking for work in a new field. He has hearing loss, which was making his job search more difficult as he has a hard time hearing other people.

His WorkBC Employment Centre referred him to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help funding the hearing aids he needs for his job search and future employment. He applied and was quickly approved for a new set of hearing aids.

Docutain: Organized OCR and Scanning

A woman uses her phone to scan some documents.

We’ve looked at plenty of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) apps in the past, but with OCR apps I find that it’s often worth having a couple different options on hand, since these apps don’t always produce the same results depending on what kind of source material you have to scan.

Docutain is an app for iOS and Android that does all the things you’d expect from an OCR app but also goes further than most in its approach to document organization, so for users who scan a wide variety of documents, this app is especially well laid out.

Steve’s New Hearing Aids Help Him Communicate at Work

A man wearing a high vis vest and a hard hat at a construction site.

Steve works in construction for a regional health authority at a local hospital. As a project supervisor, his work involves communicating with a large construction team, hospital staff, inspectors, consultants, and more.

He has no residual hearing in his left ear, and severe to profound hearing loss in his right. While he had hearing aids previously, they were getting old and the battery would die quickly, often in the middle of important meetings over Microsoft Teams.

Miro: An Accessible Workspace App

A woman sits cross-legged on a bench outside holding a tablet.

If you need to collaborate on a project virtually, it’s hard to beat a workspace app. These apps are ideal because they provide a virtual whiteboard that allows users to plan and flesh out projects remotely, allowing members from all over the world to work together in real time. In fact, even for groups that are able to meet in-person, I can’t be convinced that this approach isn’t far more efficient, not to mention accessible, than a traditional, in-person whiteboard approach to project planning.

Miro is one of many of such apps, but it deserves some special attention today because of how seriously they take accessibility. The app is constantly being tested and audited by screen reader users to ensure that the app is as accessible as possible. It is also packed with helpful accessibility features.

WorkBC Assistive Technology Services Helps Mitra Get the Hearing Aids She Needs in Her Job Search

A woman types on a laptop.

Mitra is currently looking for work, and she has hearing loss. Her WorkBC Centre referred her to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services for help funding the hearing aids she needs for the job search process and in her future employment. She applied and was quickly approved.

“The Assistive Technology Services program helped me by providing funding for a hearing aid. This accommodation has improved my ability to communicate effectively,” she shares.

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400 – 3999 Henning Drive
Burnaby, BC V5C 6P9
778 945 1215
hearingsolutions@neilsquire.ca
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