As we opted to complete a Prezi last week, my group (Gerald, Cherie, Chelsea, and me) decided to take advantage of the affordances of the shared technology of Google Drive and create the EDET 637 Assistive Technology Google Slides presentation. As before, we sent a few emails back and forth about the topic on Monday before class and decided to meet in Twitter using the #techassign hashtag to discuss the project. Although some of group members already had a solid idea of the technology they wanted to discuss, I was still not 100% sure what I wanted to review at that point.

As an Instructional Designer and adjunct faculty member, I spend the majority of my time supporting faculty who create classroom experiences. While I’m fairly well-trained in creating accessible materials for classes, I often get more questions about the technologies we can use for our students that do not incur substantial costs. As such, I initially decided to review the accessibility features of my iMac and the Google Chrome Browser. I discussed this with my group when we met on Wednesday in Google Hangouts (which, by the way, worked much better this time!). As a group, we decided to use Slides over Prezi and I created the initial document and ensured all group members had access to edit. I then published the document to the web so we would all have access to the link when we were ready to post our reflections.

As a group, we decided on a template for the slides and a design theme that worked for all of us. We agreed to publish our content by Saturday evening and our reflections on Sunday. As before, we all offered support via email and text messages to any group members who struggled with the technology. The early publish of the link ensured we did not need to meet again and were able to share the project at any time (not waiting until it was finished), which was good as I was a bit late on my content (finishing Sunday evening instead).

For my portion of the project, I began by searching the accessibility features offered by Apple and Google. I was able to narrow my search very quickly to the features provided by Chrome. Apple’s data was also quite easy to locate, however, in searching the features of the iMac (and the cost), I realized I wanted to look at an iPad instead. I made this decision for several reasons:

  1. The iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch all share remarkably similar accessibility features; many of our students are able to access these devices.
  2. My institution has iPads that students can check out (and I own one on which I could test).

Once I began testing the accessibility features of each, I realized that I quite like what the iPad has to offer. Although I mention this in the presentation slides, I’m particularly fond of the fact that the iPad can be used for all students in the classroom, whether they need accommodations or not, to target their learning experience. While I wasn’t able to test all of the features (for instance the compatibility with iPhone hearing aids or Braille keyboards), it was quite easy to determine where I would go to connect these. I never realized how many features are offered in the Settings > General > Accessibility menu.

I had a bit less luck with Google Chrome which, I feel like I should say now, really isn’t my favorite browser anyway (bias admitted). While the TalkBack feature is pretty neat as an alternative to a screen reader, I was frustrated by the need to download extensions to get some of the more advanced features they discussed. The keyboard shortcuts and zoom feature also seemed, after checking out the abilities of the iPad, pretty simplistic. Is Chrome usable to assist all students in interacting with the Internet on an equal playing field? Yes, absolutely; however, it requires a bit more setup for some of the more advanced features than you would be able to do without advanced planning.