Posts Tagged ‘apps’

MindNode: An Accessible Mind Map Tool

A person writes out an idea map on a whiteboard

The 2024-2025 school year is upon us, and we have plenty of new, accessible apps to review. If you have any suggestions or ideas about apps or products that you’d like us to cover, please send us an email at ta-atsupport@neilsquire.ca. We’ll even create one-pagers to explain specific app tools or functions by request. To see an example of some previous one-pagers that we’ve created, click here.

Today we are going to look at a mind mapping app. This relatively new tool is designed to help you visualize and organize your ideas in a digital space. And while the concept of mind mapping isn’t new in itself, the digitization of this concept is fairly new, and it has some great benefits for persons with disabilities.

Notion: AI-Powered Productivity

A person types on a laptop, while graphic overlays of files appear on top.

Today we are going to look at a relatively new productivity app that shows a lot of promise. It’s not exactly novel or unique, but it offers a ton of productivity tools in one package, and it does a great job of pulling these tools together into one very useful package.

Notion is a notetaking and project-management tool that allows you to create notes, documents, to-dos, wikis, and more, and it does so with the help of a built-in AI assistant.

Epic: A Digital Library for Kids

A girl wearing headphones uses a tablet.

Summer vacation is fast approaching, and you may be wondering how to keep your child engaged in reading and learning over break. And while trips to the library are a great way to do that, not everyone lives close to a library, and, for some learners with learning disabilities, printed text can be difficult to work with.

That’s what makes Epic so appealing. The app features over forty thousand books and audiobooks for kids aged three to twelve, and it’s designed to be as accessible as possible. Besides being integrated with users’ built-in accessibility features such as VoiceOver, Be My Eyes, and Live Transcribe, Epic also provides their own built-in features such as speech-to-text, audiobooks, and even their own unique approach to storytelling called Read-To-Me books. Read-To-Me books are professionally narrated books that automatically turn the pages and highlight words are they are being read.

Perplexity.ai

A person using an AI chatbot on their phone, while using their laptop.

AI chatbots like Chat GPT, Gemini and CO Pilot are becoming increasingly common every day. They can be used for all sorts of tasks including research, writing, general communication, and more. These open-source AI tools are (mostly) free, but they typically offer a premium version of the software with increased functionality and limitless conversations for an additional fee.

Today we are going to do a brief overview of one of our favorite AI chatbots, and as we do, we’ll try to show a few scenarios where this software might be especially useful.

Brighterly Online Math Tutoring

A young woman uses a laptop while wearing headphones.

When it comes to learning, everyone is different, and what works for one student may not always work for another! Math apps are a great way to tackle this issue but sometimes students need something a little more hands-on. In-person tutoring is one way to tackle this issue, but depending on where you live, that may or may not be possible. So then that begs the question, what do you do when you need tutoring in math but there’s no one in your area who is available or qualified?

Enter Brighterly, an online tutoring service for students who are struggling in math. The service is designed for students from grades one to grade eight. Subjects include algebra, fractions, geometry, measurement, money, times table, number sense, numbers to word, and more.

Lazarillo Accessible GPS

A blind man wearing sunglasses and holding a cane, speaks on the phone.

When you’re blind or low vision, finding your way around unassisted can be an intimidating and sometimes be a downright dangerous task. Some cities are built to be more accessibility-friendly than others, but even within relatively accessible cities, there are still bound to be areas that are difficult to navigate. And while we’ve looked at a few apps that are designed to assist low-vision users with tasks such as shopping, identifying faces, reading descriptions, etc., but we haven’t seen many apps that do a decent job of assisting with navigation (at least none that have good information about navigating within New Brunswick).

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