Guide
Announcing the California School for the Blind Screen Reader Training website
Want to learn how to use a screen reader? Try this engaging, interactive curriculum complete with lessons, activities and games!
The California School for the Blind CSB is excited to announce the creation of an innovative Screen Reading Training (SRT) website targeted at teaching the use of screen readers in sequential, interactive, and engaging lessons and activities.
The CSB assistive technology team embarked on a mission: to make teaching screen readers captivating and effective. To truly engage students, we wanted to shift away from reading off keyboard commands or desperately looking them up in the moment and pivot towards experimentation, exploration, and game play, hiding the learning amongst riddles, escape rooms, and silly stories. Once we identified a clear deficit in locating the play-based activities we wanted, we decided to take matters into our own hands.
Currently the SRT website offers courses in Voiceover for Mac and IOS, JAWS for Windows, and ChromeVox. There is an additional game portal where students can practice their newly acquired skills in a completely accessible environment, setting them up for success when they begin to explore other websites and programs. It is recommended that students only attempt the activities in the game portal once completing their respective screen reader lessons. Don’t worry, the lessons have games built within their pages too.
This website is not only for students; teachers of students with visual impairments (TSVIs) and other IEP team members are also encouraged to use this comprehensive tool to familiarize themselves with the screen readers their students are using. We suggest that instructors stay a page or two ahead of their students when providing instruction to address follow-up questions and troubleshooting situations.
The best part about the SRT is that it will continue to grow. More games and other screen readers are in progress. You can be part of the SRT growth as well! Using the feedback form found on the contact page of the SRT, you can provide any and all questions and recommendations about lesson content, games, and activities.
We hope that students and teachers alike find value in the SRT’s simplicity, entertainment, and instructional design. We hope to add to the teaching resources available to vision professionals and begin filling a gap that our students so often face, a place to play, experiment, and learn freely.
Related posts
- Screen Reader Training website
- Learning VoiceOver on iOS: SRT Part 2
- Learning JAWS on Windows: SRT Part 3
Check out the Screen Reader Training Website
By Allison Mello
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