Assistive technologies
Read and Write Gold for Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Firefox
There are browser plug-ins for Read and Write (opens in a new tab) which you can access from home for free. You can choose the version you prefer, Edge or Chrome straight from there.
There is also a Firefox browser plug-in (opens in a new tab) available.
Follow the instructions, and when prompted to log in choose Microsoft and use your University email account.
MyStudyBar
You can install MyStudyBar (opens in a new tab) on your home computer to read text out loud, to check your spelling and grammar and to help you with proof reading. MyStudyBar is similar to Read and Write Gold, but is a little more basic. It is however free for everyone.
Microsoft Word Inbuilt Read Aloud Features
With your student subscription to Microsoft 365, you can use Word’s Read Aloud function to read any text in a Word document back to you. Just look for the Read Aloud command on the Review tab of the Ribbon inside Word 365.
When you activate this feature, you will see a panel, where you can adjust options like the reading speed and the voice used.
The online version of Microsoft Word also has a version of the read aloud tool called Immersive Reader and it can be accessed from the View tab.
Mind Mapping with Mind Genius
Mind Genius is the main mind mapping software we recommend at GCU. It is free for all students studying at GCU and can be requested from the IT Helpdesk (opens in a new tab).
Mind Mapping on Tablets
MindGenius for iPad (opens in a new tab).
More details can be found on the MindGenius website (opens in a new tab).
This is a very simple and quick version of the Mind Mapping software we recommend, enhanced with touch screen features to make it intuitive and quick to create a map. You can make a very simple Mind Map on your iOS tablet or phone, then email it to yourself at the touch of a button and use it on the full version of Mind Genius later. At the moment this app is only available on iPads, but there is an Android app called Simple Mind (opens in a new tab) which is similar.
Mac inbuilt accessibility features
If you use an Apple Mac, there are some basic inbuilt features for both speech-to-text and text-to-speech. Click the links below for more information and instructions on how to get started with these features.
Read Aloud (opens in a new tab)
Dictation (opens in a new tab)
Smartphone Read Aloud Apps
The apps below - Text Fairy (OCR Text Scanner) (opens in a new tab) for Android and CamScanner Free (opens in a new tab) for iPhone, will allow you to take a picture with text in it, and have that image converted to text that you can then edit, save, copy or paste or even have read out loud.
