The range of assistive and accessible technology has increased dramatically in the last 20 years. It’s fantastic to have so many options and clever solutions that make life more accessible for people who are blind or vision impaired, and for people with reading or learning difficulties. But all that choice can be a bit confusing, so we thought we’d bring you some tips to help with decision making.
- What do you need to do?
Are you looking for a solution for your home life, work or education? Do you need to be able to read long documents, scan quickly, or maybe even read a book? Think about what you really need from a piece of technology or software and make sure that it solves the problem that you’re having, or maybe even offers more than one solution – such as magnification and speech in one package. This can increase the longevity of your AT.
2. Where do you need to use it?
As well as thinking about the tasks that you need to perform, you’ll also need to consider where your hardware or software will be used. If you have access to software packages at work, will you also need access at home? Will equipment stay in your home office, at your desk at work or do you need something that you can carry around easily? Giving some thought to this may help to narrow down your search.
3. Budget
This is a big one of course. What is your budget and what offers the best value for money? Make sure that your provider also offers after-sales support, training and customer service.
4. Training
Will you need additional training or upskilling to ensure you get the most from your new AT? Most products are packed with great features but it can be hard to get up to speed on all of them. Ever buy a new washing machine with lots of programmes and then use the same programme every day?! Further training will help you explore the products features and make sure you are getting the most out of your purchase.
5. Connectivity
Don’t forget to consider how your AT will connect and interact with other technology or software, helping you to get the most out of both your AT and your mainstream tech.
If you like keeping on top of the latest technology, check out our blog on the top tech coming on stream this year.