ICT and SEN

Introduction

Technology has made human life comfortable by providing services, information on a click, at the same time has it has made life simpler for people with disability. Technology product ranging from the motorized wheelchair to a cell phone for deaf people to communicate has been making the life of People with Disability simpler and convenient.

 Types of Disability and people’s requirement

Visual impairment

People with visual disabilities are individuals who are blind, have low vision or have color blindness. People who are blind need text equivalents for the images used on the Web page, because neither they nor the assistive screen reader technology can obtain information from an image. A person who has a visual disability will not find the mouse useful because it requires hand and eye coordination. People with color blindness or those with low vision need good contrasting colors to be used in the design or an alternate attribute of information being presented.

Mobility impairment

People with mobility disabilities have physical impairments that substantially limit movement and fine motor controls, such as lifting, walking, and typing. Mobility impaired individuals experience difficulties in using the computer's input devices and in handling storage media. Such people need devices for mobility, control and manipulation and alternate input devices on Computers.

Hearing impairment

People who are deaf or hard of hearing require visual representations of auditory information that a Web can site provides. Solutions for these disabilities include closed captioning, blinking error messages, and transcripts of the spoken audio. The primary concern is to ensure that audio output information is provided in a redundant equivalent visual form.

Learning disability

People with cognitive or learning disabilities, such as dyslexia and short-term memory deficit, need more general solutions, which include providing a consistent design and using simplified language. For example, by using a template, a Web developer can reuse the same layout and design for each page, so a person with a cognitive disability can more easily navigate through a Web site. People with cognitive or learning disabilities can also benefit from redundant input, such as providing both an audio file and a transcript of a video. By simultaneously viewing the text and hearing it read aloud, they can take advantage of both auditory and visual skills to comprehend the material better.

Assistive technology

Assistive technology is a piece of equipment or a software product that is used to increase, maintain, or assist the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.

Quali-world	Software for accessing a computer without conventional keyboard and mouse.
Qualikey, Lookkeys , Adaptive keyboard	Virtual keyboard, Intel keys, head/mouth stick keys
Frog-pad	Keyboard for persons with one hand, 15 keys, with three different level overlays
Foot pedal KB	Programmable 3 key Keyboard
Quali-click software	Programmable mouse click
Eye-tracking software	On-screen, the cursor is controlled by simple body movement. A standard USB Webcam captures user movement and software translate it into mouse movement
Speech recognition	Allows operation of any application and full control over Computer/device
Magnification S/W	1.1x to 36x, bull's eye for aiming, screen split, large print key-board, change in background colors, inversion of color for persons with –ve vision, the network-based system is available
WYNN/Kurzweil300 0	for persons with dyslexia, provide audio and visual support for learning
Braille Embossers	Hardware device used for printing computer-generated text in Braille format.
JAWS	The most popular screen reader worldwide, JAWS® for Windows® works with your PC to provide access to today’s software applications and the Internet. Supports 17 Languages

Conclusion

There are varying viewpoints concerning the needs of SEN students. In the mainstream school environment, teaching has not always been modified in line with the needs of students, with assistive technology commonly implemented by learners in private environments. So as to ensure the use of ICT is more wide-ranging, there is the need to ensure the equipment, knowledge and time available to teaching staff are fulfilled, with teachers’ and teacher educators’ implications including that teachers need to be better educated in regard to ICT for SEN, with special education teachers needing to be viewed as teachers’ supervisors.