Assistive Technology in Higher Education


positive ratings of the usefulness of online student success tools

Students Rate College Success Tools, WiFi High; Accessibility Efforts Low

If schools were wondering whether student success tools are worth the investment, a survey among students by Educause has put the question to rest. Students rated degree audit tools that show the degree requirements completed as the most useful (ranked by 80 percent of respondents as "very" or "extremely" useful).

Free Chrome Plugin Pinpoints Non Accessible Web Content

Free Chrome Plugin Checks Web Content Accessibility

User1st has introduced a free plugin for Google Chrome helps users identify web content that isn't accessible. The uTester Developer Plugin specifically highlights content that doesn't comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.

Blackboard Ally

Blackboard Expands Ally Accessibility Tool to D2L Brightspace

Blackboard's Ally accessibility solution is now available for D2L's Brightspace learning management system.

closeup of hands typing on computer keyboard

Verbit Launches Real-Time Transcription Solution

Transcription and captioning company Verbit has unveiled its real-time transcription product, a Communication Access Real-Time Translation (CART) service that uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human transcribers to generate live closed captions.

Silhouette of man looking through telescope to trend graph

8 Ed Tech Trends to Watch in 2019

From artificial intelligence to STEM education, these technologies and topics are worth paying attention to this year.

UCSD First Campus to Offer Agent-Assisted Service to Low-Vision Students

The University of California, San Diego has announced that it has become the first Aira-enabled university in the United States. It is offering free smartphone access to the accessibility technology for vision-impaired members of its entire campus community, including students, staff and faculty.

Kennesaw State University project team

Working Together for Quicker, Easier Captioning

Kennesaw State University collaborated with its captioning vendor to develop a better solution that faculty would actually use.

Data Analytics and Student Advising: Creating a Culture Shift on Campus

By nature, an initiative that employs data analytics for student advising is built on the latest technology. But for Syracuse University, technology is always looked upon as a path to a solution; not a driver of change in itself. Find out why understanding campus culture is central to the university's "Orange SUccess" initiative.

OLC Research Center

Report: Accessibility in Digital Learning Increasingly Complex

The Online Learning Consortium has introduced a series of original reports to keep people in education up-to-date on the latest developments in the field of digital learning. The first report covers accessibility and addresses both K-12 and higher education. The series is being produced by O.L.C.'s Research Center for Digital Learning & Leadership.

laptop computer with play icon on screen

Video Captioning on the Rise for Both Social Access and Compliance

Captioning in video, while still not the norm, is on the rise. While just 34 percent of respondents to a 2017 survey on the topic said they caption all of their videos, that grew to 36 percent in 2018 — even as the share of organizations that are publishing more than 500 hours of video content annually is growing (up from 17 percent last year to 29 percent this year). These responses surfaced during a survey on the "State of Captioning," produced by 3PlayMedia.