We are launching a series of sessions aimed at people aged 16 and above who are blind or have low vision to be introduced to Artificial Intelligence and how it can be used to help with accessibility. The sessions include accessible materials, practical exercises, interactive activities and additional resources to understand how this exciting new technology works and how it can help in everyday life. Try out our first taster session now and follow along as more sessions get released. Let us know how you get on by sending us and email at: info@orbit.city.ac.uk.
No previous knowledge of computing is needed to understand these sessions. You must be familiar with using the internet and using assistive technology like a screen reader. To get the most out of these sessions, you should also have access to a mobile phone, for example, an iPhone, and know how to use the accessibility features provided.
The course is available on Google Classroom and you can join using a Google email account. To use Google Classrooms, the following screen readers and browsers are recommended:
- ChromeVox on ChromeOS devices
- NVDA or JAWS with Firefox Browser on Windows devices
- VoiceOver with Chrome Browser on Mac devices
- Narrator doesn’t work well so we suggest using the other screen readers
Once you’ve joined the AI for Accessibility class, you will find a list of the available sessions and a link to the material for each. This material link will take you to a webpage. All quizzes and questions are embedded in the webpage as links. These links will open up in Google Classrooms in a separate tab. Quizzes are multiple-choice questions where you select an option. When finished, click the Submit button at the end of the page. This will take you to a new page where you can click on the View Score button to read the correct answers. To answer a question, navigate to the ‘Type your answer’ text box, enter your answer, and then click the ‘Turn in’ button. You will be able to read other people’s responses to the same question. When you finish answering a quiz or a question, don’t forget to go back to the webpage and continue the session. This should be still open on a tap next to the one you answered the questions or quiz.
For more help, visit the Google Classrooms help pages. There is also more specific information on how to use Google Classrooms using screen readers.