E-resources for the visually impaired

Off I went this morning to a volunteer group who help visually paired folk with resources they can use in everyday life. Fabulous time and truly lovely people. What became apparent very quickly was that all the resources and elearning tools being used and investigated in my teacher training course have so much more potential and applicability than solely in the class room. Talking books are all very well but actually being able to chose any literature rather than only those in large print or on audio gives those visually impaired so many more options. More options means more freedom and in some instances, like this example, brings the gap between those with an impairment and those without an impairment closer together. Sometimes, we can take so much for granted that we can't see how a resource that is useful to us in one way could benefit another in a truly remarkably life changing way. Having ereaders and other items that are speech capable and which can read out any text to someone blind is an amazing opportunity for those who have had limited access to literature before. IT capabilities can really change lives. That is my thought for today. Rather more of a positive one than yesterday!