Guest Post: STAART

In this guest post we have invited Melanie from STAART to tell us more about what they do. STAART is a group for disabled and dyslexic people considering going to university, and current disabled students. The purpose of the group is to provide information and good practice concerning disabled students in further and higher education. Over to Melanie…

Hello everybody. My name is Melanie and I am a disability outreach officer at the University of Greenwich. There are two main aspects to my job – STAART Ambassadors and the overall STAART initiative.

STAART ambassadors are current disabled students at the University of Greenwich who have been through a rigorous (but gentle) application and interview process. If you do not have at least one disability, you cannot join our team. STAART ambassadors generally apply to become specialist ambassadors as they received little, or no sensible advice themselves when they applied for their university place. This is often as a result of being given the wrong advice – the main one being told not to tick the disability or learning difficulty’ box on their UCAS applications. Prospective students are continually told they will not get an interview and/or place if they tick the box. This is a blatant lie. In reality, admission officers have no idea about gender, race, disability, etc. of the applicants. We know that this situation is still happening as the STAART attend our Open Days and hear this bad practice is still ongoing.

The benefits of being STAART ambassador are numerous. They have the support of myself and each other; they can work around their studies; they get paid; and have opportunities they would never have experienced otherwise, such as representing STAART at conferences and welcoming disabled students from Zayed University in Dubai. I would say the biggest advantage is of the active STAART who graduate, 90% of them achieve a First Class or 2:1 degree – the highest possible classifications.

The STAART initiative was launched in summer 2016 but is the accumulation of ten years experience of supporting disabled students with their transition into university. As I am an outreach officer, rather than a recruitment officer, my role is to support disabled students going to any university. STAART provides workshops; external events; drop-ins; specialist transition days; and social media. Whilst we have only been in existence for three years, we would definitely say the initiative has been a success.  Below is a photo taken at our STAART end of year picnic in Greenwich park in August.

My personal journey through university has not been easy and I am very honest with prospective students. I nearly had to leave my BA Sociology due to my mental health having a bit of a breakdown and I had to interrupt my doctorate for two years when I was put on morphine patches. Aside from work, I love travelling, Dr. Martens, our cats, Scrabble and wildlife.

If you are considering university, myself and my team may be able to support you. Here is our webpage which has much more information – STAART Web page.

If you would like to join us on Facebook, here is the link: STAART Facebook Page

We’d like to thank Melanie for the guest post,
A2B Assessments, DSA Assessment Centre

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5 Tips For Giving Amazing Presentations

Presenting in front of people can be anxiety inducing and stressful. As a student,  it’s extremely likely that at some point on your course you are going to have to deliver an oral presentation, either to your whole tutor group or just to your tutor.  Here are some tips to help get you through

1. Prepare Well in Advance

You need to be well prepared to give a great presentation. Never leave anything until the last minute as it may result in nerves during the presentation. Gather all the materials and equipment you need including the visual aids, the equipment, and presentation notes and cues well before the day of the presentation. You can write the notes but it is always advisable to practice the presentation several times before the day so that you do not have to rely on the notes. If you practice well beforehand you should have index cards with cues about your presentation rather than reading word for word from prepared text, which may be less engaging for the audience.

2. Use the Audience to Make a Good Presentation

A good speaker is always thinking of the needs of the audience. You need to take into account what the audience wants and their level of education and understanding of the subject matter. You can then tailor your oral presentation to those attributes. The most important person in the room may be the tutor but they may also use the response levels of the audience to rate your presentation. Latch onto the needs of the audience and present in a manner that makes everyone feel included to get a good grade. For instance, you can include visual aids, and charts to show effort in research and an understanding of subject matter for the tutor. For the students in the audience, you can tone down the language and vocabulary and include a questions section to make everyone feel included in the presentation.

3. Use Visuals Wisely

While visuals should not be the center of your presentation, they are a good complement. However, you need to be careful with how you use visual aids so that they do not take over your presentation. Slides and videos need to be short and brief summaries and illustrations of the concepts you are discussing. Ensure you use clear images, reasonably sized fonts, and short phrases so that you do not fall into the trap of just reading from slides. Slides should always be succinct and be a starting point from where the audience gets an overview of what you are discussing, while you develop and expand the concepts.

4. Practice Your Delivery

You will be judged within the first five minutes of getting on stage and hence you need to ensure that your delivery is the best it can be. To ensure a good delivery you should:

1. Measure your speech such that you are neither speaking too slow or too fast.

2. Rehearse and try to get out any verbal tics such as saying uhhm… and ahhh… which may distract the audience.

3. Stand straight with your shoulders back and get something to keep your hands busy such as a pen, a phone, a cue stick or anything that will keep the hands occupied.

4. Rehearse and check for the appropriate pronunciation of words you are encountering for the first time.

5. Project your voice to an acceptable level such that you are just loud enough to be heard but are not shouting.

6. Maintain eye contact but move your eyes across the room resting on different persons and not only the tutors. This helps to engage the audience which will respond better to the presentation. 

5. Follow a Model

Find great models of good presentations on the subject you will be speaking about. Your tutor may have archives of successful presentations from last year which can act as a guide for your presentation. You can also get cues from the speaking techniques of authorities in the field that can inform the format you will take in your presentation. Nonetheless, the general model for a successful presentation typically involves.

1. Telling the audience what you are going to tell them.

2. Telling them.

3. Telling them what you just told them.

Following a model is very important in oral presentations as it helps the audience cling to orientation phrases that help them understand where they are in the speech. Unlike a written presentation, the audience cannot skip ahead or skim. They need you to tell them of the transitions and overall structure if they are not to get bored with the speech. 

Conclusion

Giving a presentation in front of the class or your tutors can be a daunting prospect. However, it does not have to be so if you follow our 5 tips for giving amazing presentations . By being prepared, setting goals, practicing and having a cohesive structure to your oral presentation, you can impress your tutor and get a good score. You do not have to implement all the tips in the article at once, but working on a few areas at a time will significantly improve your public speaking skills over time. 

Learn more about A2B Assessments DSA Assessment Centre.

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World Mental Health Day

Today is World Mental Health Day, a day aimed at increasing awareness around mental health.

Visit https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/world-mental-health-day for plenty of useful articles around mental health and to learn more about World Mental Health Day. Mind also have some useful information.

Ed Sheeran and Prince Harry have also teamed up for this hilarious video to increase awareness…

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Accessibility Features on iOS

The iPhone has a number of accessibility features built in to its operating system (iOS). These features not only make it easy for regular users to conveniently customise how their phone behaves, but also improve the usability for many people who have disabilities.

Among these accessibility features include:     

VoiceOver 

This feature is designed to help guide the blind. It is a gesture-based feature that reads the screen thus enabling you to use your phone even if you can’t see. It tells you everything, from the app you’re touching to battery level and more. This feature is enabled by going to settings, in the search bar at the very top type accessibility, VoiceOver can do things such as:

• Telling you what’s on the screen

• Description of images and reading of texts in images

• Typing on braille keyboard, unlocking the device and launching apps

• Pronunciation of words and phrases using the Pronunciation Editor

• Description of audio files

• Zooming of texts and pictures

• Adjustment of fonts

click through to the accessibility settings and turn on voice over.

Hearing Aid features

The Apple hearing aids are to be used by those with hearing impairments. Based on an innovative Bluetooth technology, the hearing aid features come with exclusive sound processors that deliver outstanding sound quality. The features are easy to customise and use. It can be paired with a hearing device and used in noisy environments. Among these features include Mono Audio and Live Listen. 

Mono Audio allows you to adjust the audio channels in both ears so you can enjoy a balanced sound. It is ideal in case you have a problem in one or both ears. 

Live Listen

Live listen uses a microphone to collect sound and make them clear to you. Textphone software is another cool feature that enables you to make calls without using any hardware. Textphone transcripts are stored in the call history. It also has a special keyboard with shortcuts for common textphone commands. 

Vibrating and Visual Alerts

Vibrating and visual alerts prompt you in case there is a phone call, mail or text message. Just set the LED flashlight to see when there is a notification. 

iMessage allows you to initiate a conversation without hearing a word or saying anything. With the feature, you can also send group messages to many people in different locations. 

Assistive Touch 

With AssistiveTouch, you can quickly adapt to your phone’s Multi-Touch screen. It supports gestures such as pinch, rotate, and shake and many more. You can make these features accessible with just a tap of a finger. 

Touch Accommodations

Touch Accommodations makes your device to adjust depending on how you touch it. It recognises how long you touch it or even repeated touches. 

Reading and Learning 

Those with learning disabilities like dyslexia can also enjoy accessibility features like Speak Selection, Speak Screen, Predictive Text or Typing Feedback. The features can be added to functions like writing messages, long documents or reading emails. 

Speak Selection allows you to highlight specific texts, sentences, and words you want to hear. Typing Feedback speaks out every single letter you type while Predictive Text provides suggestions of words you can choose to reduce spelling errors. 

Other accessibility features that make your reading smooth include Dictionary and Safari Reader. When stuck on some terms, the dictionary can help you. Safari Reader helps to reduce clutter when reading and navigating the web. 

Siri Shortcuts

This feature helps you to accomplish most of your day-to-day tasks. You can set it to remind you about making a reservation, send a message to someone or even make a playlist.  Only available from iOS 12 and later.

FaceTime 

FaceTime allows you to visually communicate using gestures, facial expression or sign language. 

Guided Access and Screen Time

People with conditions such as autism and other sensory problems can get help on focusing on specific tasks by using this feature. A teacher or parent can limit the phone to stay on the current screen or app for a specified time. Keyboard and touch access can also be limited or disabled using this feature. Such acts can disrupt learning or reading. 

Switch Control 

Switch Control is made for those with physical motor-related problems. The feature is customisable depending on how you want to use. It lets you navigate through various items on the screen and perform certain actions using hardware that is Bluetooth-enabled. You can switch platforms, synchronise with other devices or with your iCloud account using your phone. This eliminates the need to set up different switches on every single device. 

Thanks for reading.

Find out more about our DSA assessment centre.

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Video Blog #6 – 8 Tips To Help You Survive Financially At University

Accessibility Features On Android

Seeing AI By Microsoft – Free Software Showcase

Seeing AI by Microsoft combines the power of AI and the cloud to deliver an intelligent app that narrates the world around you. The app helps the visually impaired and the blind see or get around or navigate their world with better ease. 

The Seeing AI App is for the blind or low vision community that have problems functioning in a world made for people with good vision. It provides productivity and ease of tools for labeling utilities, obstacle or object recognition, and reading printed text. While there are many apps out there that can do the same things, there is no one single app that can do everything it does.

How it Works

The app uses the phones camera and computer vision to analyse what is in front of the phone including objects, text, and people. It then relays the information to the user via the computer assistant that communicates through your phone’s speakers.

It is divided into several navigational channels corresponding with technologies that would make life easier for people with a visual impairment. 

These channels are Scene, Person, Currency, Product, Documents, and Short Text (the Scene and Person channels are still in development).

Short Text – The feature uses the phone’s camera to search for printed material. Once it finds it, it uses optical recognition software to translate the printed material to machine text that is read out to the user through the phone’s speakers. It can be great if you are going through your mail, reading menus, or need to find a hotel room number.

Document – The feature uses optical recognition software to read documents. All you need to do is aim your camera phone towards the page of a document and the software will provide prompts when the corners and edges are all visible to the camera lens. Once they are all visible, it will prompt the user to hold steady and then automatically take a photo that will be sent to the cloud servers for processing. Once it has been processed, it uses voiceover to read out the document, including the formatting.

Product – This comes with a barcode scanner that makes it easy to scan the barcode on products to identify the product and details such as ingredients, directions, and any other pertinent details. Locating the barcode can be quite the hustle which is why the Seeing AI beeps when it spots it and increases the rate of the beep when you move closer to the barcode. Once it is close enough to the code, it will snap the code and using AI will identify what the product is, including the details.

Person – Seeing AI uses object recognition software to recognise people’s faces. If you have a library of photos of family and friends, the app will tell you when one of those people is near when you point the camera at them. The app guides you to center the face of the person and then tells you to snap the picture. It will then estimate their emotion such as frowning or smiling. If the person is in your image database it will also read out their name once their face is in focus.

Currency – The app uses object recognition software to identify the denomination of the currency through and then reads it out to you (unfortunately this currently only recognises US dollars).

Scenes – This is an ongoing project in beta with experimental features that you have to turn on in settings. When you take photos the AI recognises the objects, then gives a description of it such as “probably a man sitting on a couch” or “street corner with signs”.

Recognise Images in other Apps – It uses object recognition software to identify objects in apps on your phone such as WhatsApp, Twitter, and Mail.

Other features include an audible tone for corresponding to the brightness of the surrounding; description of the perceived colour and reading out loud handwritten text. 

Where to download…

The Seeing App is currently only available on the App Store where you can download it onto your iOS devices for free.

For further information on the Microsoft Seeing AI app and for video demos of each function click here.

Further information on our DSA assessment centre.

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