Accessibility Features of G Suite

Text to Speech

• Announcify - This text to speech tool not only reads a webpage, but also removes distracting elements from the site. The only drawback is the inability to select specific text to read, as the entire page is read aloud.
• SpeakIt! - This text to speech tool reads any selected text on web pages or PDF’s that are opened in Chrome. Options that can be adjusted include speaking rate and choice of voice.
• Read&Write for Google - This extension includes word prediction, dictionary, picture dictionary, text to speech, screenshot reader, speech maker, screen mask, translator, highlighters, voice note, and more. Works on webpages, PDFs, Google Docs, and Google Slides.

Speech to Text

• Voice Recognition - This app allows the user to dictate the text of a document, then save the text to Google Drive or send as an email.
• Voice to Text Notebook - This app allows the user to to enter text using a microphone. It can also convert audio files to text.
• VoiceNote - This app is a simple and functional notepad that allows users to type with their voice.

Readability

• ATbar – This Chrome extension provides you with a toolbar that has many features including color overlays for web pages, a dictionary, text to speech, word prediction, and more.
• BeeLine Reader – Bee Line Reader is another one of my most beloved extensions, so much so that I wrote a blog entry about it here. It creates a more readable version of a website by removing all of the ads and other extra distracting items. In addition, a color gradient can be applied to the page in order to guide the eye from one line to the next.
• High Contrast - This extension make webpages easier to read by changing the colors to increase contrast, invert the colors, or switch to grayscale.
• MagicScroll Web Reader – This extension turns web pages into a flippable ebook. Its unique scrolling system lets you scroll web pages without moving them. This makes it easier to read long articles without being distracted.
• Mercury Reader – If your students are easily distracted, then they might want to get Mercury Reader. It makes any website easier to read by removing ads and distractions. You can also adjust the font size and color scheme of the new text.

Reading Comprehension

• Newsela – This is one of my favorite Chrome apps that I always feature in my trainings. Newsela features current event articles covering many subjects, each written at five different Lexile levels. With this extension, students can read the same material at an appropriate level for themselves.
• TLDR: Summarize Anything – The TLDR extension creates a short summary of any web article without leaving the original page. This will help students discern the most important ideas in the article they are reading.
• Word Cloud Website Preview – I love word clouds, so this is another favorite of mine! This extension can turn any content from the web into a word cloud. The word cloud can then be reviewed to summarize the content on the page or to help decipher key words used.

Navigation

• Click-free Browsing - Adds navigation icons to a webpage that can be activated by simply hovering over them, rather than needing to click. Commands include scrolling, backward and forward in page history, opening a link, and more.
• Vimium - Provides keyboard shortcuts for navigation and control for someone with difficulty using a mouse. YouTube video
• CrxMouse - Use mouse gestures to navigate including forward, backward, scrolling, refreshing, switching tabs, and more. The user can even program their own custom mouse gestures to open programs and perform other tasks.
• Caret Browsing - This extension gives you a movable cursor in any web page, allowing you to move through the text with your arrows keys and select text with the keyboard.

Google Drive

• Add Closed Caption to Google Drive Videos
• Google Drive screen reader help
• Google Drive captions help
• Google Drive keyboard shortcuts
• Video: Get started with Google Drive using a screen reader (20 minutes)

Google Search

Search and navigate the web, open apps, get directions and more, all hands-free.

• "Ok Google" and voice search help

Additional Links

• Improve Your Students’ Reading Experience with Chrome - Discover how extraordinary the Chrome browser is with this list of reading tools that will help your students have a more successful reading experience.
• Give Struggling Readers a Better Way to Read - As the school year begins, you might discover that you have students who struggle to read. The fact of the matter is that many of our students find reading challenging. The good news is that reading intervention resources, such as BeeLine Reader, are available to help.
• Website Accessibility for All - Making sure that the information posted to your district website can be used by all is critical. Here are resources to ensure website accessibility.