May/June 2018

NEW RESOURCES

A new edition of Cortical Visual Impairment: An Approach to Assessment and Intervention by Christine Roman-Lantzy is now available as a professional resource from PRCVI.

PRCVI has a new UEB print/braille book called All Kinds of Friends, Even Green by Ellen B. Senisi, including a tri-vision kit that comes with a toy iguana. The book tells the story of seven-year-old Moses, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, and his reflections on how both he and his neighbour’s disabled iguana have figured out different ways to get where they want to be than those around them.

SEEING BEYOND THE HORIZON

PRCVI staff attended the 2018 Seeing Beyond the Horizon conference in Edmonton. In addition to attending sessions, PRCVI staff made several presentations. Jen presented on tips and strategies for teaching students how to navigate online using a screen reader. Ellen and Jen presented a poster session on the popular mouse robot coding kit, which introduces basic fundamentals of coding through a kit adapted to be fully accessible.

PRCVI staff also presented on the current status of the 2017 revision and updating of the Canadian National Standards for the Education of Children and Youth Who are Blind or Visually Impaired, Including Those with Additional Disabilities. The development committee, comprised of national stakeholders, is currently seeking endorsement of the Standards.

Finally, Adam presented on digital accessible formats for math/technical learning materials. Participants were presented with a rationale for the implementation of these formats at the secondary level and learned about a production workflow that is currently in the trial stage.

Handouts for all CVTC 2018 presentation can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/2018cvtc/handouts.

BRAILLE CHALLENGE FINALISTS

Congratulations to all the finalists who will be travelling to Los Angeles to compete in the Braille Challenge this year! The list of finalists includes two BC students, Maggie Wehrle and Ella Yu. The National Braille Challenge is this Saturday, June 16, 2018. Be sure to check out the live feed of the Awards Gala on the Braille Institute YouTube channel on Saturday evening.

Links and Resources

ACCESSIBLE TYPING

Do you have a student who will is learning to touch type? Here are some online typing tutors that offer accessibility features for learners with visual impairments;

• Doorway Online offers an accessible version of their touch-typing tutor that includes voice-guided instructions. Although currently only available for Windows and Mac, they are working on mobile compatibility.
• Typio is a Windows- and cloud-based (Mac, Android, Chromebook, Windows) typing tutor that provides built-in accessibility features including visual enhancements and speech guidance.
• TypingClub offers both free and subscription typing tutors. The subscription typing tutor contains accessibility features for students with visual impairments and additional disabilities, including custom font sizes, high-contrast modes, self-voicing modes, screen reader support, and one-handed typing modes.

Best Wishes for a Safe and Enjoyable Summer!

For our entire team at PRCVI, thank you for your partnership and collaboration for another academic year. To our colleagues who are retiring, thank you for your years of expert service and dedication to championing learning for students with visual impairments in our province. To those who are returning in September, thank you for the essential work you do and for the opportunity for PRCVI to be a part of it. Happy Summer!