How Microsoft Makes Learning Accessible

Guest Co-Hosts: Seth Fewell, Danielle Vogel Olson, Alcinda Luna Pardo, Lisa Simmons

with Miguel Guhlin (@mguhlin)

Session Description

Ensuring that learning is accessible for all students is critical. Join us as we discuss accessibility features of Microsoft tools.

session outline

MS Learning Tools Flyer

Level the Playing Field

Immersive Reader

Interactive Guides

Classroom Ideas

MS_Learning_Tools

Microsoft Learning Tools

Microsoft has made every effort to blend Learning Tools, such as Immersive Reader, into every aspect of Office 365. In the flyer below, you can see where it appears.

Making Learning Accessible: Immersive Reader

“THE ONE ARGUMENT FOR ACCESSIBILITY THAT DOESN’T GET MADE NEARLY OFTEN ENOUGH IS HOW EXTRAORDINARILY BETTER IT MAKES SOME PEOPLE’S LIVES. HOW MANY OPPORTUNITIES DO WE HAVE TO DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE PEOPLE’S LIVES JUST BY DOING OUR JOB A LITTLE BETTER?”

― STEVE KRUG

Immersive Reader

  1. All free, Office 365 apps (including Microsoft Forms!)
  2. Dyslexia
  3. Buncee
  4. Flipgrid
  5. Nearpod
  6. ThingLink
  7. Wakelet

And many other spaces, such as:

OfficeLens_ImmersiveReader_iOS.mp4

Immersive Reader in Your Browser

Get the Unofficial Immersive Reader Chrome Extension

Thanks to Joe Marquez for sharing this. Check out his video to the right, as well as his Wakelet on favorite Chrome extensions.

Microsoft Forms & Immersive Reader

Exploring Other Neat Partnerships

Check out this Web 2.0 Accessibility Wakelet. It features cards describing accessibility for various web tools you can use in the classroom.

Flipgrid added Closed Caption and Immersive Reader support. Now, when students click on a video they will also see closed captioning and all of the assistive features Immersive Reader offers. Including language translation (Learn more).

Enhanced storytelling capabilities with the Shorts Camera. Students can now:

  • Stitch together and rearrange unlimited segments into one simple video.
  • Pause and flip the camera, add live inking over videos, select from thousands of text and emoji stickers, and apply unique video styles to add creative flare to videos.
  • Turn on whiteboard mode in videos to add context to stories.
  • Easily record and embed Shorts videos in platforms including Teams, OneNote, Remind and Wakelet with even more partners coming soon.

Immersive Reader is now available in MERGE Explorer. Immersive Reader has launched on MERGE Explorer (Learn more).

MERGE transforms learning in the classroom by empowering students to hold virtual objects in the palm of their hands to create active learning experiences

Inclusive Classroom Interactive Guides

Access these FREE interactive guides for the #MicrosoftEDU Inclusive Classroom.

In the Classroom

Some ideas from Jennifer Gonzalez:

  • Upload any PDF into OneNote (or use OneNote Class Notebook to share handouts or notes with the whole class). Once the text is in OneNote, students can use the Immersive Reader to dial in the precise reading conditions that work best for them.
  • Have students compose their own writing pieces in Microsoft Word or OneNote, then use the Read Aloud feature to listen to what they wrote. In the 2017 study, students who used this feature demonstrated noticeable improvements in their writing: With the ability to hear their writing read aloud at any stage of the writing process, students showed more motivation to revise and edit their writing than in previous years.
  • If you use the Microsoft Edge browser, you can send students to any web page and they can have the text read aloud to them or switch to distraction-free reading view, where they can enlarge the font for easier reading, highlight the text, and even take notes that can be saved for later. Edge can also be used to read any PDF or ePub file: When you right-click on these files in Windows 10, just scroll down to “Open with” and choose Edge.