Visual+Impairments

//Post information, resources, and materials for supporting visually impaired students in learning world languages here.//

Curricular Activities for Visually Impaired Students
[|Curriculum Bite-size: Focus on Icebreakers] - Icebreaker ideas that are particularly well-suited to students with visual impairments

Strategies for Supporting Visually Impaired Students

 * Avoid "busy or cluttered worksheets. Separate sections with lines and put key ideas inside boxes, making it easier for the student to locate important information.
 * Provide the student with a **typed copy in large print** of the things that you write on the board.
 * **Describe** what you are doing as you do it.
 * A **magnifying glass** can be helpful to some students.
 * Use **multisensory methods and materials**.
 * **Scented** bubbles, crayons, or markers can increase interest and attention.

[|References of Use in the Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages to Learners with Visual Impairment] - A bibliography with hotlinks to journal articles, reports, and professional "how-to" pieces

[|Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired Accessing Foreign Languages] - A sheet of tips for teachers, along with links to several other very useful resources

**Technological Tools for Supporting Visually Impaired Students**
[|Acoona Talking Searchbar] - You can download this searchbar, highlight text on a web page, and the searchbar will read the highlighted information to you. Click on the //Speech Samples// link to hear how it works. Free, 60-day trial available, after which the product costs $24.95.

E-readers

[|Google - Accessible Websearch for the Visually Impaired] - This free search engine will return relevant results that are particularly accessible to people with visual impairments (i.e., pages that avoid visual clutter, that are fully navegable via the keyboard, etc.).