Customizing with UD Features: Write:OutLoud

Index

Overview

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1. Multiple Representations of Information

While the program provides text-to-speech support throughout the program, one unique feature is its talking spell checker.

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The spell checker provides text-to-speech support for students who may not be able to identify the correct spelling of the word they misspelled. This is especially useful for students struggling with spelling, as they can listen to the sentence containing the misspelled word, hear the misspelled word spelled aloud letter by letter, and hear all of the choices in the list of suggested words before making a selection.

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2. Multiple Options for Expression and Control

Students can control the visual presentation of their document when it is on screen and when it is printed.

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Students can choose multiple fonts, styles, sizes and colors to support their writing and its presentation. A student with a visual impairment may enlarge the text, set the text color to yellow, and set the background color to black in order to create a comfortable writing and reading environment. Another student may choose to use color to set the mood for his story.

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3. Multiple Options for Engagement

Struggling writers can use the various text-to-speech voice options as they write text, hear it "performed" by the different voices, and present it to their peers and teachers. While using text to speech can be motivating for these writers, they will also hear any mistakes they need to correct along the way.

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Students can choose to use different voices for different purposes. A deeper male voice may be the perfect narrator to read one story, while a whispering female voice might work better for a different tale. Students may even choose to turn speech off and read it out loud themselves.

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Customizing Tips

• For students with visual impairments, select the appropriate font style, text size, and color combination. When appropriate, encourage these students to learn the keyboard equivalents or use the talking button ribbon instead of reading items from the menu bar.
  
• For younger students, set up template files with the appropriate settings and have each student launch the program from a template file with their own name. Each student's new file will start out with the right size text, colors, and text to speech settings. Remember to use "Save As" instead of "Save" when saving each new story or document.
  
• For students using a single switch to control the computer, use a system-wide scanning system such as Ke:nx with Write:OutLoud setups so that they will have access to program controls and an on-screen keyboard.
  
• For students who have difficulty using the mouse to highlight and select text , use the program's select button on the ribbon bar to automatically select an entire sentence.

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Universal Design Wish List

• Add talking dialogue boxes so that all they will be more usable by students who rely on text-to-speech output.
  

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Feedback

How do you customize your students' learning with Write:OutLoud? We would like to add your ideas to our Web site, space permitting. (If we use your submission, we will give you credit.) Submit your Customizing Tips and UD Wish List items via e-mail to udfeedback@cast.org.

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Product Information

For more information about Write:OutLoud, see the Teaching Tools section of this Web site.

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Disclaimer

CAST does not necessarily endorse this product or consider it fully universally designed. CAST applauds the inclusion of universally designed features in this product and wishes to illustrate some of those features for educational purposes.

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