Yes, that's right. I said, back-to-school. It's almost here again. I know the students out there don't want to hear these words, but it's time to think about the start of a new school year.
New classes, new instructors, class projects, oral presentations, tests, new people, and maybe even a new school or moving away to college bring about uncertainty and new challenges. Uncertainty is not necessarily a bad thing. This time of year can be exciting, too, especially if you plan ahead and prepare in advance.
Pursuing a good education can be difficult under the best of circumstances, and doing so as a person with vision loss can increase the challenge.
For the students in our readership, you must take personal responsibility for your education. Ultimately, you must be your own advocate. Prepare in advance, speak to instructors, and tell those you'll be working with exactly what types of accommodations will best meet your needs. Your education will have a tremendous impact on every aspect of the rest of your life, so it's crucial that you do everything you can to get the most out of your studies.
Good planning prevents poor performance. It's never too early to begin planning for the next school term whether you're in elementary school or graduate school. Acquiring and learning to use the mainstream and access technology that best suits your situation, registering as early as possible for classes, obtaining reading lists, and searching out alternative formats should be done as soon as you can. Waiting until the last minute is a recipe for disaster.
Just as we have done for the past two years in the July issue, the AccessWorld team once again focuses on providing valuable information and resources for students, parents, teachers, and professionals in the vision loss field to help make educational pursuits less stressful and more enjoyable. We are excited to bring you the information in this issue, and we sincerely hope you will find it useful.
If you are purchasing a new Mac for the school year, Janet Ingber's article, Working with Text and VoiceOver on a Mac, will be a great asset for all those essays you will surely be writing. Bill Holton's article, A Review of the TapTapSee, CamFind, and Talking Goggles Object Identification Apps for the iPhone, will help you choose an object identification app that suits your needs.
Maybe you will be taking a new iPad back to school with you. If so, Deborah Kendrick's review of iOS Success: Making the iPad Accessible: A Guide for Teachers and Parents (National Braille Press) might be of interest.
Are you thinking about a new Android smartphone or tablet as you plan for hitting the books, but wonder how these devices fare with low-vision accessibility? In Android's Big Step Forward: A Review of the Screen Enhancement Features of Android 4.2.2, John Rempel tests accessibility features using the Nexus 4 smartphone and the Nexus 7 tablet. Additionally, Aaron Preece updates AccessWorld readers on the new changes to HumanWare's Victor Reader Stream.
Rounding out the Back-to-School issue, Larry L. Lewis, Jr., presents one instructor's way of teaching technology using Skype in his article, Walking in Two Worlds: One Educator's Quest to Change the Technology Landscape for Today's Visually Impaired Students.
We on the AccessWorld team wish you good luck and good planning as you head back to school!
Sincerely,
Lee Huffman, AccessWorld Editor-in-Chief
American Foundation for the Blind
