Accessibility for Students with Physical Disabilities with Crick Software
Crick Software products are designed to be accessible to everyone. For those unable to use a mouse or tracker ball, Crick Software have built switch access into almost all of their products.
Switches are easily connected via the Crick USB Switch Interface. You can use any simple on/off switches such as the Buddy Button. Switches can be mounted so that the user can press them with whichever part of the body they can control best.
With single switch access, items on the screen are automatically scanned. When the desired item is highlighted, the user presses the switch, which then acts as a mouse click on that item. With a two-switch scan, instead of scanning automatically, the user presses the second switch to advance the scan. Switch access helps to give users with a disability equal access to the curriculum – whether it’s turning the pages of a Planet Wobble book, word processing with letters, words or pictures, or enjoying a multimedia CD.
Clicker 5 Switch Accessibility
All Clicker activities are fully accessible with switches, connected via the Crick USB switch box. Clicker grids are scanned either automatically (if you are using a single switch scan) or by pressing a second switch.
To optimise access for individual users, fine-tune the timing settings and customise how the scan is displayed. For further reinforcement, choose an auditory scan. All functions are accessible to switch users, including moving between grids and opening pop-up grids and keyboards. Everything is customisable exactly to the student’s abilities, so that they only have the options they can manage.
Scanning support is present at the design stage of all Crick Software ready-made Clicker materials, so all Clicker 5 templates, grids, and talking books scan in an intuitive way.
Switch accessible writing
Clicker enables young switch users to start writing as soon as they are ready. Start with just a few words in a grid to make a simple sentence. Or start the student writing their name by providing a grid with just the letters they need.
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Word grids can be supported with pictures, and all the speech and spell-checking facilities are switch accessible too. A more advanced switch user can progress to a full keyboard layout, with links to word grids to speed up writing.
Switch users can move between grids, as well as save, open and print files. You can make these operations really easy – for example, you can have a single cell set up to print your text.
The Find Out & Write About series runs within Clicker and is perfect for switch users – they enable users to read or hear information on a page, and then write about it from a linked grid – all with a minimum number of switch presses!
Clicker 5 works with the Crick USB Switch Box, IntelliSwitch, JoyCable 2, IntelliKeys USB or DJ Switch Interface Pro 6.0 (USB).
Switch accessible books
Children who are unable to handle books really miss out on important learning experiences from an early age. Now, learners using switch access can read Clicker talking books on-screen. Pages are turned and text read aloud with the click of a switch.
- All Clicker talking books are switch accessible
- ‘Hot spots’ are scanned too
- Many ready-made books are available
It’s really easy to make your own books, with your own text, pictures, and sound – and switch users can create their own Clicker talking books, choosing their own pictures and words, and even recording their own voice.
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There are lots of Clicker talking books that are ready for your switch users to start using right away.
Other switch accessible activities
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Labelling activities – with very simple scanning, switch users can engage in a range of labelling activities that illustrate their level of understanding.
“Hit-and-happen” (simple cause and effect) activities – any graphics can be used, including digital photos, and any sounds can be added too. A switch press activates a simple action such as a picture appearing, a sound playing, or a video starting.
Create your own hit-and-happen activities, using your own photos and sounds, and then progress to activities where users make simple choices.
Read more about Clicker 5 Labelling Activities…
Clicker Paint Switch Accessibility
With Clicker Paint, switch users create their own illustrations. The tools and options scan, and the canvas can contain any number of Sticky Points that are automatically scanned. Read more about Clicker Paint Switch Accessibility.
WriteOnline Accessibility
WriteOnline is built with Universal Design techniques so that all users can access and benefit from the software.
Display options
For users with low vision, there are options to set high contrast colours, to override font settings, and to enlarge the document.
Onscreen keyboard
Some students may not be able to use a physical keyboard, but can use a mouse or trackerball to access an onscreen keyboard. WriteOnline allows you to choose between several keyboard layouts, and the keyboard can open automatically when the program starts. The keyboard behaves like a special Wordbar, so it’s easy to move between this and any Wordbars that you have open.
Switch access
Students unable to use a keyboard or mouse operate WriteOnline using switches. Connect between one and four switches via the Crick USB switch box, choose the scanning method and your switch users will be ready to start writing.
LearningGrids.com on CD-ROM
All the Clicker, ClozePro and Jigworks materials on the CD and on the LearningGrids.com website are fully switch accessible.
ClozePro Support for Students with Special Needs
ClozePro includes a range of support features and differentiation options that make it perfect for your students who need extra help, including those with dyslexia, learning difficulties and physical disabilities.
Speech support
High quality, British English speech enables students to listen to the sentence they are working on, and to ‘try out’ words by listening to them before placing them in the gaps.
Customisable prompts
When you create an activity, you choose whether or not students will have access to the prompt tool, and if so, the nature of the prompt that will be given. This is a useful way to be able to give additional help while still requiring input from the student. The report automatically records all uses of the prompt.
Differentiation
The flexibility of ClozePro enables you to easily created differentiated activities for students of different abilities. Methods of simplifying an activity include:
- Using a simplified version of the text
- Removing fewer words from the text
- Splitting up the text into smaller chunks, so that each page contains just one paragraph or even just one sentence.
- Supporting words with pictures
- Limiting the number of choices for each gap
- Varying the length of each gap according to the correct answer
ClozePro makes it easy to make these changes, so you can very quickly customise your activities to suit the varied needs of your students.
Switch accessible
For students who are unable to use a keyboard or mouse, ClozePro includes a comprehensive range of switch access options that offer complete control of the program with a minimum of switch presses. Just connect a Crick USB switch box, set the scanning method and you’re ready. This is a great way to provide switch users with access to the curriculum, and to assess the comprehension of non-verbal students.
Jigworks
Picking up objects and moving them around is an essential part of many early learning activities. For those learning to use a mouse, the activities can be performed without the need to hold down the mouse button to drag objects. Jigworks also gives switch users the opportunity to engage in drag-and-drop activities they would normally find inaccessible. Jigworks is an indispensable early learning tool for switch users.
Clicker Books and Applications
Everything on the information pages in Find Out and Write About is scanned, making it easy to have the text read aloud, to go to the glossary page, and to switch to a writing grid. It is incredibly motivating for switch users to be able to work their way through a CD, and then have a written document to show at the end of it, just like their peers! Having the three differentiated levels enables readers of all abilities to access the materials.
Planet Wobble is an early reading series that is fully switch accessible and contains a wealth of accessible activities too! Switch users can turn the pages of the on-screen talking books, access the speech buttons, and even start the animations!
All of the supporting activities are fully accessible too, making this award-winning series perfect for young switch users. The books were authored with inclusion in mind – Holly uses a wheelchair but still participates in all the adventures the children have together. In the same way, the Planet Wobble series enables switch users to take part in the same reading activities as all the other children in the class.
Other resources such as Oxford Reading Tree for Clicker, Trackers for Clicker, and Clicker Books and activities within them are fully switch accessible.