LibGuides: Tips for Law School Success: Accessibility Tools

Disability Services and Class Accessibility Information

To seek law accommodations go to: Online Request Form and connect with Disability Services

Accommodation Request Deadlines

Classroom Accommodations: due 3 weeks before the start of the academic year or semester
Exam Accommodations: due 2 weeks after the start of the academic year or semester

Bar Exam Accommodations

Using Canvas Accessibility Tools:

Immersive Reader, is available for use in Canvas Pages. Immersive Reader allows users to customize their display, access resources like dictionaries and translations, and listen to text-based content, making it easier to access course content in a preferred medium, maintain focus, and work through unfamiliar material.

To access the tool, select the “Immersive Reader” button in the upper right hand corner of Canvas Pages. That will open a new window where you can have the content read aloud [1], adjust voice settings [2], edit text preferences [3], grammar options [4], and reading preferences [5].

Image depicts a screen shot of a Canvas page. In the top right hand corner Immersive Reader is circled in red

There are a few limitations to the immersive reader tool:

Immersive Reading is only available in Pages, it cannot be accessed in Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, or the Syllabus.
The Immersive Reader only interacts with text, and cannot play videos within its display.
If you are taking a fully online course, the Immersive Reader may not be able to display all elements of the Canvas Page.

Organizational Research Tools

Zotero
Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share research. Zotero instantly creates references and bibliographies for any text editor, and directly inside Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs.
Online Bluebook
Free examples of how to cite commonly used sources in accordance with The Bluebook's Whitepages, which are intended for use in law review footnotes.

Text to Speech Tools

Briana
Free on one device. Although it does not offer ditctation features for free, it does have built in voice commands, offline transcription and unlimited text to speech.
Capti Voice
All buttons are labeled, and VoiceOver can read all page elements. Renders text information into synthesized speech for users. It can act as its own web browser with screen reading capability. Allows users to download digital text files and render them accessible with speech output.
Legere Reader
an accessible reading tool for mobile and tablet devices. Reads documents in different voices, and provides synchronized reading capability that integrates text and voice. Legere Reader supports reading PDF, DRM-free EPUB, DAISY eBooks and more. It can load files from file sharing apps like DropBox, Box and OneDrive, or directly from your local device. It has direct integration with the Bookshare book-sharing service.
Microsoft Office Lens
Office Lens is a great way to capture notes and information from whiteboards, menus, signs, handwritten memos, or anything with a lot of text. Office Lens gets rid of shadows and odd angles, so that images are easier to read. You can upload document and whiteboard images to Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, and you can save them as PDFs or send them in email. (free)
Natural Reader
Natural Reader is a professional text-to-speech program that converts any written text into spoken words. It has both free and paid subscriptions. Free users can sample the Premium Voices for 20 minutes per day and the Plus Voices for 5 minutes per day or use any available Free Voices unlimitedly. You can also listen on the go with the mobile app. By using the mobile camera, you can even use the app to listen to physical books and notes.
Prizmo Go
Prizmo Go captures text from pages of documents and converts it to speech. It can also easily grab printed or handwritten text, so you don’t have to retype it. It offers spoken guidance before capturing images. (free)
Seeing AI
designed for the blind and low-vision community, this project harnesses the power of AI to describe people, text, currency, color, and objects. Point your phone’s camera, select a channel, and hear a description of what the AI has recognized around you. (free)
Texie - iOS only
Texie is an Al-assisted Scanner and Reader. Use it to quickly extract text from images and multi-format documents, to hear content spoken, or both. It can also bulk scan. (free)
VocalEyes
VocalEyes uses artificial intelligence to make the world more accessible for blind/low-vision individuals.
Voice Dream Reader
Designed for those with print disabilities users can listen to a wide range of documents, including plain text, rich text, Microsoft Word (DOC and DOCX) files, web articles, various e-book formats, and PDFs. Scan and read documents. Add files from Dropbox, Google Drive, Pocket, Instapaper, and Evernote. Control reading speed, forward, rewind, and jump to specific pages. It also offers, integration with libraries, is accessible with VoiceOver, allows editing and sharing of documents, and has a customizable voice and text settings.

Translation Tools

DeepL - Andriod
Type or copy any text for fast on-the-go translation. Save your key words and phrases for later reuse, even when you're offline. Can also translate images,
iTranslate Translator - iOS
translation and dictionary apps designed to help you break language barriers. Translate text, websites, objects, or start voice-to-voice conversations in over 100 languages
Papago
web and document translator
Sayhi
offers translation for 101 languages and dialects. Best used for conversational translation
TextGrabber
only allows translatation of text.
WayGo
Translate Chinese, Japanese & Korean

Speech to Text Tools

IBM Watson
Speech to Text technology enables fast and accurate speech transcription in multiple languages. The free verison offers 500 minutes of free speech recognition a month and 38 pre-trained speech models.
Just Press Record - iOS only
a mobile audio recorder that comes with features such as one tap recording, transcription and iCloud syncing across devices. To record notes, all you have to do is press one button, and you get unlimited recording time. It also offers a powerful transcription service. Through it, you can quickly and easily turn speech into searchable text. Once you’ve transcribed a file, you can then edit it from within the app. There’s support for more than 30 languages as well.
ListNote - Andriod
Just speak your note, and it will be saved as text. This notepad app was designed to quickly jot down your ideas, with minimal hassle. easy to keep those ideas organized.
Otter.ai
Otter is a cloud-based speech to text program especially aimed for mobile use, such as on a laptop or smartphone. The app provides real-time transcription, allowing you to search, edit, play, and organize as required.
Speechmatics
Speechmatics advertises itself as being able to support all major British accents, regardless of nationality. That way it aims to cope with not just different American and British English accents, but also South African and Jamaican accents. Only offers 8 free hours a month.
Speechnotes
The app is powered by Google voice recognition tech. When you’re recording a note, you can easily dictate punctuation marks through voice commands, or by using the built-in punctuation keyboard. You can also add names, signatures, greetings and other frequently used text by using a set of custom keys on the built-in keyboard. There’s automatic capitalization as well, and every change made to a note is saved to the cloud.
SpeechTexter - Andriod
SpeechTexter is a speech-to-text app designed to help users convert spoken words into text quickly and easily.
Transcribe -iOS
The app can transcribe any video or voice memo automatically, while supporting over 80 languages from across the world. While you can easily create notes with Transcribe, you can also import files from services such as Dropbox.
Windows Speech Recognition
If your running windows 10 or more speech to text is automatically incorporated onto your system for free

Accessible Mobile Reading Apps

Accessible Doc Reader
The Accessible Doc Reader has a range of functions that make DOC, RTF and TXT documents accessible to visually impaired smartphones and mini tablets users and also to older people and those with learning disabilities. The Doc Reader filters the text out of a document and presents it in a user-friendly interface.
Apple Books
Allows users to download books from the Apple Books store and read them with VoiceOver. Apple Books can also open content in PDF and EPUB formats
Audiobooks.com
Most buttons are labeled, and VoiceOver can read most page elements. Allows users to purchase popular audiobook titles and listen to many for free.
Audiobooks HQ - IOS only
All buttons are labeled and VoiceOver can read all page elements. Allows users to download over 8,000 audiobooks for free via LibriVox and purchase from a selection of over 100,000 “premium” audiobooks. Includes a sleep timer and the ability to bookmark sections. Users can preview portions of the books before download. Available in seventeen languages.
Audiobooks Now
All buttons are labeled, and VoiceOver can read all page elements. Subscription gives users access to approximately 100,000 audiobooks. App features a sleep timer, wish list, and bookmarking features.
Bard
Bard is a Braille and audio-reading app provided by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. It offers free audio and braille reading materials to people in the US and American citizens living abroad who can’t read regular print. If you have a visual impairment or have low vision, you can enroll yourself in NLS. The library has thousands of books, including bestsellers, classics, magazines, and music materials in audio and electronic braille formats, and new selections are added every day.
Blio
Blio is a free eReading application that presents eBooks just like the printed version, in full color, and with all of the features you’d want from an Reader. All buttons are labeled, and VoiceOver can read all page elements. Allows users to download eBooks from the Blio Bookstore and add books from iTunes or the Internet in EPUB, PDF, or XPS formats. Various voice options are available through the app.
Book Crawler
Most buttons are labeled, and VoiceOver can read most page elements. Allows users to search for books to read and mark books they have already read.
Braigo Companion
All buttons are labeled, and VoiceOver can read all page elements. Provides users with the ability to read the text within images. For example, a picture of text posted on a social media platform.
Dolphin EasyReader
Allows users to download accessible material from providers such Bookshare and Project Gutenberg. If text is part of the downloaded content, users have the ability to adjust the text size. The app also highlights the text as it reads the content aloud. If the content has text, but no voice, users can choose voices within the app.
DownPour
Allows users to download over 80,000 books as MP3s which can be transferred between devices. Users have the ability to rent books from Downpour as part of a subscription. Blackstone’s audiobook app.
Go Read
All buttons are labeled, and VoiceOver can read all page elements. Developed for readers with print disabilities. Users can read with voice navigation and text-to-speech features. Gives users access to Bookshare audiobooks on their Android devices.
InstaReader -Andriod
Converts book (printed or handwritten text), or a PDF (including scanned PDF), DOCX, EXCEL, PPT, TXT or webpages to audiobooks. InstaReader supports documents across 60 + languages.
OverDrive
Gives users access to the eBook and audiobook collections of over thirty thousand libraries. The app allows bookmarking and offers the ability to sync material across different mobile devices. Some Buttons are labeled and VoiceOver can read most page elements
Radio Talking Books
Provides access to national newspapers and magazines via streaming. All buttons are labeled, and VoiceOver can read all page elements
Smart News
Aggregates news headlines from major news and information providers. Users are able to browse by category and personalize the information they receive. All buttons are labeled, and VoiceOver can read all page elements