Learning to use Assistive Technology
Assistive technology can help you read and access information and communicate with others, making it easier for you to manage everyday tasks independently, and to stay in touch with family and friends. Our ICT Officers provide individual assessment and training based on your own specific needs and existing knowledge.
Whether you want to learn how to access the built-in accessibility programmes on your smartphone or tablet, to adjust the operating system settings on your laptop or computer, or to try out specialist assistive equipment, our ICT Officers will be able to help you achieve your goals. The equipment they can demonstrate includes:
- electronic magnification aids
- stand-alone scanning units
- screen-reading
- magnification applications.
Our ICT Officer can also demonstrate some of the latest equipment available. For example, technology which can read aloud printed materials, translate bar codes, identify colours, and even recognise faces. This hands-on, customised training is delivered in the relaxed, friendly, and accessible environment of our Aberdeen, Dundee and Elgin Resource Centres.
The Impact
Living with a significant sensory loss can be both physically and emotionally challenging. All age groups are at high risk of social isolation and disengagement from society due to communication and information barriers. Increasingly, many aspects of daily life are moving online. At NESS we have the advantage of easily referring service users within our multi-disciplinary team, and have recorded an increased uptake for our ‘ICT for All’ Service over a number of years. We have received a huge amount of positive feedback, with many service users saying they feel they have been successful in adapting to sight deterioration because of the technologies available to visually impaired people, attributing this to engagement with the service.
This quote is from a worker who brought his visually impaired client in for a demonstration:
“Thank you so much, I can’t tell you how profound an impact it had on Mohamad to meet [NESS ICT Officer] and see how he managed to use all the visual aids he showed us. It was very inspirational”.
