Image Capture and OCR Apps for the iPhone

This is part of a series of blogs our Director, Alan Knue, has composed to help people increase their reading and writing efficiency

In this day and age when many current journals, magazines, newspapers, and books are available in electronic formats, the need for scanning and applying optical character recognition (OCR) to print material is becoming less and less. However, many older texts and references in libraries are still only available in printed form. Scanning pages from bound books is always problematic. It is difficult to get pages completely flat and when scanned and the text nearest to the binding is usually distorted. 

I hate having to bring my laptop and scanner with me to the library to scan pages from books, so I decided to test three popular and highly recommended image capture and/or OCR apps for the iPhone. These apps are generally designed to get a quick electronic version of printed materials, including hand written notes, but I thought they might be useful for scanning pages from books. The programs varied in intuitive design but all were generally easy to use after a short time.

General Observations

Flat pages worked well using all of the apps, but since I was interested in how these programs handled bound pages, I chose a page from a thick bound book printed in a serif font (similar to Times) and containing a variety of text styles including italicized text. As a comparison, I also scanned the same page using a flatbed scanner and used ClaroRead for its OCR capabilities to convert the page to an electronic document. The document produced using this method had nearly 99% accuracy. All of these apps were affected by lighting and caused some gradation of shadow across a page due to the lay of the open book. Sometimes the flash on the iPhone 4 helped and other times it created a tunnel effect with the text in the center being quite bright and crisp and the surrounding text gradually less distinct. The best results were accomplished when I could get a light in front of me to shine right on the page. But even in the best case scenario, the resulting jpg images, PDFs, and OCR-captured documents generated by these apps varied greatly.

App Review

Genius Scan (available in a free version and a $2.99 ad-free version with the option to upload files to Dropbox, EverNote, and GoogleDocs.). This app is only for scanning documents (no OCR) and was easy to use. Since it does not have an OCR, you need to have one available should you want to convert the image to electronic text. I used the program to scan a page from a book and email myself a jpeg and PDF version of the page. I then used ClaroRead on the 2 files to see how well it could recognize the text. I was never able to get a good enough image scan of a bound page for accurate OCR using this app and text recognition was always quite poor (at times nearly 0%).

Perfect OCR ($3.99). The app is easy and intuitive and there is good functionality for eliminating uneven lighting and shadows, improving the contrast, and reducing the effect of movement or jitter while using the camera. This app on its own produced electronic documents that were about 80% accurate in text recognition.

SayText (Free) actually got the best results of all at 90%+ accuracy. SayText utilizes the iPhone’s built in VoiceOver, so you can instantly have the OCR captured document read out loud. But SayText has no option for saving the documents on your iPhone which is a bit annoying but you can email the OCR captured text document to yourself. All of the other apps, have some document management for storing documents for access at a later date.

Of course, these 3 apps aren’t the only scanning apps one can find. There are several other options with similar functionality and more are added to the app library all the time. Most just take a picture of the document and convert it to a jpeg or PDF (like Genius Scan) whereas a few others include OCR for converting the picture of the document to electronic text (like Perfect OCR or SayText). All tested to date have produced similar results to the 3 described in this post. If you discover or know of a scanning app that you find does the trick, let me know!

Until that perfect scanning app comes along, I would use the free SayText to grab text and have it read out loud or to email it to myself for reference later. But for efficiency and accuracy, I won’t be abandoning my trusty scanner and ClaroRead anytime soon.

To try on these apps and others on an iPod or iPhone contact our AT Specialists for a demonstration of the available options.

Speech Feedback and Word Prediction featuring WordQ

This is part of a series of blogs our Director, Alan Knue, has composed to help people increase their reading and writing efficiency

I have great difficulty reading and recognizing words and I only see them as little pictures. I can recognize words in context, but often out of context I may not always know which word I’m seeing since many words look nearly identical to me and I don't recognize the individual letters. And please don’t ask me to spell a word; I may know how to spell it from memory, but I couldn’t tell you just by looking at it. I might be able to decipher the first letter and maybe the last letter, but everything in between is often just a mash of curved and straight lines. People often ask me which letters look the same to me and I reply- “all of them.”

WordQ has been my favorite reading and writing support program for many years. Simplicity is the key to WordQ. The interface features a floating toolbar with just 4 buttons: Options, Words, Speech, and Read. Users can access any of last 3 functions either by direct selection or by hotkeys; the latter make it easy to turn features on and off, allowing one to minimize the program menu bar while working.

As I discussed in the previous blogs, speech feedback, commonly called text-to-speech or TTS, and word prediction are important tools for aiding students in reading and writing and these are the cornerstone features of WordQ.

WordQ comes with several high quality and natural sounding voices in 4 languages: English, Spanish, French and German. It works seamlessly with many office suites, including Microsoft Office, and most internet browsers and mail handling programs. I can easily highlight a block of text and press the F11 key (Read) and provided Speech is turned on (easily done with the F10 key), I will hear the text spoken out loud in the voice and speed I have selected in the speech feedback options. Using the Read feature for proofreading is very important for catching missing or incorrect words and to detect run on sentences.

The longer you use WordQ’s word prediction, the more useful the suggested words become and those you use frequently, including word combinations, turn up higher in your prediction list. It will suggest synonyms as you type, helping you think outside of your usual vocabulary. WordQ will even suggest words taking into consideration possible spelling and typing mistakes, including words spelled incorrectly but phonetically (WordQ calls this “creative spelling”). Homophone support is robust- the word prediction box displays usage examples which when combined with speech feedback can help students distinguish between commonly confused words, such as "there,” "their," and “they’re.” And the latest WordQ version makes abbreviation/ expansion easy to setup and your abbreviations can be added to your user dictionary so they will appear in the prediction box. And like the Speech and Read features, if you don’t need word prediction all the time, you can turn it on and off easily using the F9 key.

WordQ is not the only AT software available with strong word prediction and TTS capabilities and options.  Contact our AT Specialists for a demonstration of the available options.

Speech Recognition: The Writing Magic Bullet?

This is part of a series of blogs our Director, Alan Knue, has composed to help people increase their reading and writing efficiency

Wanting to try speech recognition software is a popular request from students at our AT Demonstration and Lending Library. These software programs have come a long way from when they were first introduced in the 1980s. The recognition accuracy has significantly increased and at the same time, the amount of time and effort to train a speech recognition program for a specific user has decreased. But there are considerations to be made if you believe speech recognition is for you.

Once a voice file has been created- the student needs a good quality microphone and your computer needs to be sufficiently powerful to run both the speech recognition program and word processor simultaneously. But a student should be aware that every word that is recognized is correctly spelled. However, a correctly spelled word does not mean the correct word choice. The student needs to be able to detect and make corrections. This is where reading with text-to-speech (TTS) comes in. A student can listen for the words and make the correction by voice in some programs (preferred since this improves recognition over time) or by using the mouse and keyboard. Additionally, some programs can play back a recording of your dictation so the student can actually hear what they said.

If hands free computer control and navigation is your goal, some dictation programs can make this a reality but with a lot of training and technical assistance from qualified professionals. The cognitive load is very high since making corrections would involve learning and remembering a large number of verbal commands. However, using a speech recognition program to be totally hands free isn’t always important or necessary for everyone. 

Besides the popular, reliable, and powerful DragonNaturallySpeaking and the new Dragon Dictate for Mac, all Microsoft Windows operating systems since Vista have very good speech recognition built into the Ease of Access. This built-in option has less navigation controls and a smaller vocabulary than a stand alone program. However, is a good option for many users and has the benefit of being free. 

Finally, SpeakQ is a speech recognition add-on to WordQ that is specifically targeted at students who have difficulty with writing. It is especially useful for students who cannot fluently dictate at a natural speaking rate, remember verbal commands, and/or get through the initial training. It is not meant to be a full feature speech recognition tool as it lacks navigation and editing commands. However, it works seamlessly with WordQ’s word prediction, combining the benefits of both of these features, and is especially useful in picking the correct homophone.

If you are interested in speech recognition, contact our ATSpecialist for a demonstration of the available options.

Writing and Spelling TTS, Word Prediction, Spellcheck, Supports

This is part of a series of blogs our Director, Alan Knue, has composed to help people increase their reading and writing efficiency

As stated in Reading with Text-to-Speech, the text-to-speech feature (TTS) can be very useful for students who have difficulty reading.Text-to-speech (TTS) can be very useful for students who have difficulty reading. TTS is also very important as a writing support. Students can hear the letters, words, and sentences as they are typed, making it easier to detect when the words are types incorrectly. In conjunction with spell check in word processors, a student can see misspelled words easier and then have each letter in the word read out loud, aiding the student in learning the actual spelling of a word. If a student has difficulty knowing which word is correct in a spellcheck list, TTS can also be used to read the spell check list out loud.

Word processors, such as Microsoft Word, have additional features that help students in increasing writing and spelling speed and accuracy. Abbreviation/expansion and auto-correction help increase typing speed. Many programs also provide a built in Dictionary and Thesaurus, which can allow a student to look up definitions for unfamiliar words or find synonyms. 

What about students who have difficulty coming up with or correctly spelling words? Word prediction can help a student select the correct word as they type by “predicting” which words the user is trying to type and listing them to be selected. Word prediction learns with the student and aids in finding the correct spelling of a word. Coupled with TTS for reading, word prediction can be a powerful tool in assisting spelling and writing. Assistance with making a distinction between homophones, words that sound the same but are spelled differently (i.e., see and sea) by providing a definition or by giving an example in context can be used in conjunction with word prediction to aid in choosing the right word. Many of the software programs listed in Reading with Text-to-Speech include word prediction and homophone support.

Word prediction will not increase writing speed, as it is meant as an aid in selecting the correct word in terms of sentence placement and spelling and this is often a relatively slow process. It has been demonstrated that students who learn to keyboard have greater success in writing. Simple aids, such as keyboard covers and typing programs can be employed to help students learn to keyboard effectively. Becoming even an average keyboardist will improve writing speed.

Speech recognition programs are also popular writing aids, but are they for you? Find out in the next blog post.

As always our AT Specialists are available to work with and explore the specific needs of students and their support team when determining what options might work best. These products and many others are available for short term loan through WATAP's Device Lending Library to help individuals make an informed decision about what products will work best for them.

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Writing and Reading Support Built-in to Common Word Processing Programs

This is part of a series of blogs our Director, Alan Knue, has composed to help people increase their reading and writing efficiency

Chances are, if you’ve ever used a computer you have used a word processing program. Composing an email, editing a document, formatting a newsletter, and posting a blog are all examples of word processing. Word processing offers users the ability to create documents, change the typeface, increase or decrease the font size, and otherwise manipulate, save, and print text.

Some word processing programs are more feature rich than others. While WordPad and Notepad do the job just fine, they offer little literacy support in the way of correctional cues, prediction, or feedback. Common writing support tools include Spellchecker and AutoCorrect. Spellchecker flags words in a document that are not spelled correctly by placing a red squiggly or dotted line under the misspelled word. Users can access the electronic dictionary and select the corrected word. For students who have difficulty writing, Spellchecker will easily distinguish misspelled words and offer corrections which could aid the student with their writing confidence. This feature has become ubiquitous not only in commercially available word processing programs such as Microsoft Word and Pages, but also in free word processing tools such as OpenOffice Writer and online processors like Adobe Buzzword. Firefox, Chrome, and Safari web browsers also include Spellchecker in fields where you can enter text. There is a free Spellchecker plug-in available for Internet Explorer as well.

AutoCorrect, also known as flexible or phonetic spelling, automatically corrects common spelling errors and improper capitalization, as well as, inserts common symbols or special characters thus by saving time for the writer. This function has become quite common among smart phone users composing SMS messages. There can be a disadvantage though, as some auto corrections result in completely incorrect text replacement. In fact, there are websites devoted to what has become known as “AutoCorrect fail.” For students who need writing support, AutoCorrect in conjunction with word processing programs should be used judiciously and with supervision as the corrections are undetectable visually and happen “in line” meaning once the user has pressed the space bar or enter key, the correction has already taken place without notification. As discussed in Reading with Text-To-Speech, TTS offers students audio feedback for their composed or received documents. The most current version of Microsoft Office 2010 offers a Text-To-Speech feature called “Speak.” To enable Speak, you will need to add it to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Contact our AT Specialists for more information about built in accessibility of Microsoft products. 

Reading with Text-to-Speech

Image of word highlighting feature for text-to-speech

For students with reading disabilities, completing reading assignments for class can be time consuming and frustrating. There is software that can help students not only keep up on reading assignments but also have a better idea what they have read. One of the most helpful features offered by many of these software programs is called text-to-speech (TTS). The ability to hear text read out loud is the important component in TTS that aids a student in reading speed and comprehension. Most software products that offer TTS also provide a feature that highlights the word being read out loud so that students can follow along and will associate the word on the computer screen with what they hear. This gives students a better understanding of what the word is and how that word should sound when they read it without the assistance of the software. Reading webpages and electronic documents is easily accomplished using TTS but many reading assignments come from books or printed handouts. Some software programs include the option to scan and convert hardcopy pages into a variety of electronic text formats including word documents, and then using TTS, these pages can be read out loud. Several software programs also have the ability to convert any electronic text to an audio file that could then be listened to on a digital music or mp3 player, which is a useful aid for keeping up with many reading assignments. When looking at the various products available with TTS and other reading, writing, and spelling aids, it is important to think about what features and supports the student needs. The software interface can range from simple, fewer-featured toolbars, such as WordQ, TextHelp Read & Write, or ClaroRead, that work with existing software such as Microsoft Office and internet browsers. More inclusive programs, such as WYNN or Kurzweil 3000, have their own word processors, study aids, and web browsers built into the user interface. If a student doesn’t need a fully featured all-in-one program, you can save time and money by investing in a simpler program with just those features that meet the specific needs of your student. But for students who would benefit from study aids and many of the other features discussed above it is often easier to go with a full featured program instead of trying to use multiple simpler programs in conjunction with one another. As always our AT Specialists are available to work with and explore the specific needs of students and their support team when determining what options might work best. These products and many others are available for short term loan through WATAP's Device Lending Library to help individuals make an informed decision about what products will work best for them.  

This is the first in a series of blogs our Director has composed to help people increase their reading and writing efficiency. 

Web Accessibility Tip: WCAG 2.0 and Reading Level

It is always a good idea to make content as readable and understandable as is suitable for the audience. For complex content (defined as that which requires a reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level), WCAG 2.0 Success Criterion 3.1.5 (Level AAA) requires that a more simplified and readable version of the content be provided. Much content cannot be made perfectly understandable at these levels (consider a college-level chemistry class, for example), thus it's a Level AAA success criterion. Regardless of the limitations for some content, for a page to be optimally accessible, it should be written so as to be easily readable and understandable to the target audience.

Web Accessibly Tip: Link Type Indicators

It is a good idea to inform users when a link goes to non-HTML content (such as a PDF file or Word document). It can be frustrating to activate a link and then realize that the link requires an external program or viewer. An icon (with appropriate alternative text) or text, such as "(PDF)", is sufficient. Because screen reader users commonly navigate by links, it is vital that the link type indicator icon or text be placed within the link, otherwise this information is readily available to sighted users, but not presented in the context of the link for screen reader users.

Web Accessibility Tip: Text Readability

Keep the following guidelines in mind for displaying text:

• Avoid very small text. This not only impacts some users with low vision, but many users with cognitive disabilities as well.
• While serif fonts (e.g., Times) are more readable when printed, both serif and sans-serif fonts are appropriate when displaying body text onscreen, as long as the font is clean and readable.
• Underlined text should be avoided, except to designate links.
• Minimize the number of different fonts used on a page. Two to three fonts is optimal.
• ALL CAPS should be used minimally. It is more difficult to read and is often interpreted as "shouting". Additionally, screen readers may read all-caps text letter by letter (like an acronym) rather than as full words.

Web Accessibility Tip: Low Vision Custom Color Settings

Some users with low vision can see content more easily if the default colors are inverted (white text on a black background), customized user styles are applied (blue text on a yellow background, for example), or a custom color scheme is used. This can be done using the operating system, with screen magnification software, or with user style sheets in a web browser. To ensure web accessibility for these users, make sure your page colors have sufficient contrast, that color is not used as the only means of conveying information or meaning, and that colors are specified for page elements (typically using CSS to at least define the page foreground and background colors).

Last Minute AT Holiday Gift Ideas

Iris 9000 Voice Control Unit 

Looking for last minute ideas for the holiday season? Check out WATAP's past webinars including the AT Holiday Gift Buying Guide for lots of cool ideas for people with varying abilities and varying interests. Great AT accessory ideas as well as products for everything from gardening to gaming to modifying your home environment. Get simple, low cost, low tech ideas or explore ideas for the techies in your life.  

Happy Holidays from WATAP!

Web Accessibility Wednesday: Multiple Ways of Accessing Content

This is part of a continuing series of web accessibility tips for IT personnel, web managers and web development groups. These tips can be used to review current website accessibility and to utilize in developing new websites with the hope of improving web accessibility for everyone.

Some users prefer using a search form to quickly find information. Others may follow navigation or other links. Others may prefer a site map or index. Providing multiple ways of getting to content will improve the usability and accessibility of your site.

Web Accessibility Wednesday: Line Length

This is part of a continuing series of web accessibility tips for IT personnel, web managers and web development groups. These tips can be used to review current website accessibility and to utilize in developing new websites with the hope of improving web accessibility for everyone.

Pages should be designed so the line length, the number of characters that appear per line, should be neither too short nor too long. Anything more than around 80 characters can introduce reading difficulties in scanning from the end of a line of text to the beginning of the next line. Short line lengths also introduce difficulty and vertical scrolling. The width of the body area of a web page should be constructed to ensure that lines of text are constrained to both minimum and maximum lengths across both small (such as mobile devices) and large screen resolutions.

Web Accessibility Wednesday: Captions & Transcripts

This is part of a continuing series of web accessibility tips for IT personnel, web managers and web development groups. These tips can be used to review current website accessibility and to utilize in developing new websites with the hope of improving web accessibility for everyone.

In order for multimedia content to be perceivable to the Deaf and hard-of-hearing, captions and transcripts must be provided. Captions provide a synchronized text presentation of the audio content. Beyond providing basic accessibility to users with auditory disabilities, captions are also useful to other users in noisy or very quiet locations, increase accessibility to those with cognitive or learning disabilities, and provide enhanced comprehension of complex content. They are also helpful when the audio is unclear or in a language that is not well known.
Transcripts provide a static text version of the spoken dialog. Transcripts allow the information to be searchable (by both users and search engines), remove the time-based nature of the content (they can read the transcript at their own pace), and allow the content to be accessible to screen readers and refreshable Braille devices.
Captions and transcripts should be provided for video content and transcripts alone should be provided for audio content (e.g., podcasts).

Web Accessibility Wednesday: WCAG 2.0

This is part of a continuing series of web accessibility tips for IT personnel, web managers and web development groups. These tips can be used to review current website accessibility and to utilize in developing new websites with the hope of improving web accessibility for everyone.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is a W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) specification for measuring web accessibility. WCAG 2.0 is based upon four core principles - perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust; or as an acronym - POUR. Ensuring POUR content across disabilities will ensure highly accessible web content. These guidelines are most useful as tools for implementing and evaluating accessibility, but true accessibility is determined by the end user experience, not by compliance to a set of rules. Level AA conformance with WCAG 2.0 is a common standard measure of good accessibility.

Web Accessibility Wednesday: Screen Readers

This is part of a continuing series of web accessibility tips for IT personnel, web managers and web development groups. These tips can be used to review current website accessibility and to utilize in developing new websites with the hope of improving web accessibility for everyone.

A screen reader is a type of assistive technology that reads the text content of a web page audibly to the user. It is primarily used by individuals who are blind or have low vision, but can also be useful to individuals with certain cognitive or learning disabilities.
Screen readers read the text content of a web page linearly based on the underlying source code order - left to right, top to bottom. Screen reader users typically do not use a mouse, but instead use a wide array of keyboard shortcuts to navigate and interact with a web page. A screen reader can also output content to a refreshable Braille device to form Braille characters,thus allowing users who are deaf-blind to access web content. Design webpages with these principles in mind - techniques required include providing skip navigation links so that the screen reader users can bypass navigational menus and jump directly to the content, associating form labels with their appropriate form elements so the purpose of each form control is identified, identifying data table headers to aid in table orientation and navigation, etc. Much of web accessibility is about ensuring compatibility with screen reader technologies.

Audio Note Taking: Pulse Smartpen

The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen is a helpful tool for anyone. It is a note capturing device that conbines the use of a pen with a built-in digital recorder and special dot matrix paper. It can make taking notes, making a list, or planning an essay much easier. The Smartpen records what you or anyone else says while you are writing.

I found this pen very useful when taking notes for a lecture. I always have a hard time writing down everything my professors say because they can talk faster than I can write. When using the Smartpen I am able to just write key words or sentences and later listen to that key point by just tapping the word on the matrix paper with the pen. It also helps with class participation to be able to follow the lecture instead of focusing on capturing everything that was said by hand.

This pen would be helpful for individuals who don’t write fast or write legibly. Individuals who have difficulty with spelling or just want to be able to connect what was actually said at the time the note was written will also find it to be a helpful tool. The Pulse Smartpen could also be used as a memory aid by using audio recording with written cues. If someone cannot remember what a written note was regarding they can listen to the recorded audio to trigger their memory. Your notes and audio can also be uploaded to your computer so you can save and replay them as often as you need. The Smartpen is Mac and PC compatible.

If you're a Washington resident interested in borrowing the Pulse Smartpen to try at school, work or home, visit the WATAP Assistive Technology Lending Library.

Written by Julia Ladner

Web Accessibility Wednesday: Assistive Technology

This is part of a continuing series of web accessibility tips for IT personnel, web managers and web development groups. These tips can be used to review current website accessibility and to utilize in developing new websites with the hope of improving web accessibility for everyone.
Assistive Technologies, or AT, are technologies that help one overcome some physical issue or limitation so they can function in ways they otherwise would be unable to. AT includes both software and hardware. It can range from screen readers which convey information audibly to those who have visual or cognitive disabilities, to captions for the Deaf or hard-of-hearing, to refreshable Braille devices which present content to those who are deaf-blind, to screen enlargers for those with low vision, to physical devices to assist those with varying levels and types of motor function. For a web site to be accessible, it must be compatible with varying assistive technologies.

Web Accessibility Wednesday: Considering Various Disabilities

We will be posting a continuing series of web accessibility tips that IT personnel, web managers and web development groups can use in reviewing current website accessibility and in developing new websites. These tips were developed in partnership between the Association of Tech Act Programs (ATAP) and WebAIM with the hope of improving web accessibility for everyone.

Web accessibility is about reaching the broadest range of users regardless of age or disability. A web site can always be made more accessible, and thus, will always be inaccessible to someone. Guidelines, policies, and laws provide measures of accessibility that can be useful in establishing goals and in evaluating accessibility. Viewing web accessibility as a continuum on which improvement can always be made will help ensure that accessibility is continually improving and that it is about people, not merely compliance with law or guidelines.

Web accessibility affects the following disability categories
 Visual disabilities - blindness, low vision, and color-blindness
 Auditory disabilities - deafness and hard-of-hearing
 Motor disabilities - difficulty using a mouse or keyboard
 Cognitive or learning disabilities
 Photo-sensitive epilepsy

While care should be taken when grouping anyone into a category, when approaching web accessibility issues, it's often useful to consider the distinct needs of users with each of these types of disabilities.

5 Cool App Suggestions

• Gaby de Jongh said...
  My favorite app is Angry Birds by Rovio. It's free from the Android market and is also available for the iPhone and Palm. Angry Birds is a mobile game that utilizes both skill and logic to break the fortresses of the pigs who have kidnapped the birds eggs. I'm not sure about it's accessibility, but it does provide hours of fun and perhaps some stress relief.
  
• Bill Y said...
  One really cool appp is VoCal (vocal reminders). This app makes it super quick and easy to turn voice notes into calendar events. This is a great app for people with problems reading or writing - or people who need an easy way to remind themselves of stuff they need to do. Cheap too, less than five bucks for the full version. Check it out: http://youtu.be/HPmuQczkVpA
  
• Bill Y said...
  Here's another app I think is great, but I have not tried it yet: Wake Me Up (GPS Alarm Clock). Have you ever dozed off (or zoned out)on the bus and missed your stop? Well with this app you set the location and doze away. When you reach your spot, your iPhone starts buzzing and ringing to wake you - just in time to pull the cord and stop the bus!
  
• Washington Assistive Technology Act Program said...
  Plain Text & Dropbox: free in the Apple App Store
  This is self-explanatory. It’s a text editor for the I devices. Create documents to be synced with your dropbox account (also free in the App Store.) Both are accessible. Take notes on your device and have them show up immediately in your Dropbox without having to email them or otherwise direct them. It’s a must have pair of apps.
  From: Deb Cook
  
• Washington Assistive Technology Act Program said...
  Dragon Dictate: Free in the Apple itunes Store
  This app alternates between being very accessible and extremely inaccessible so be careful if this matters.
  Voice recognition is done in the cloud so there’s a slight delay, but accuracy is generally very good even with reasonable background noise. Edit your text in Notes or in an editor such as Plain Text. You can then email it, tweet or post to Facebook. Very handy app if you do not have a keyboard, need to or just prefer to dictate.
  From: Deb Cook, WATAP Director

What apps do you use? We will be doing a follow up on the accessibility of these apps and suggesting some alternatives or companion apps.