The image shows the “Make the Right Real in Malaysia” logo of The OKU Rights Matter website and an image of two smiling brothers, the older with his right hand over the right shoulder of the younger one with spinal muscular atrophy and using a wheelchair.

Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology

Assistive technology improves the quality of life of a person by increasing their access to everyday tasks. It also helps to increase the independence and participation of a person in their own household and local community.

Assistive technology helps a person to manage:

  • activities of daily living
  • studies
  • work
  • socializing
  • pursuing leisure activities.

Assistive technology includes, but are not limited to:

  • Devices and applications.
  • Prosthetics or mobility aids.
  • Blind or vision impairment aids.
  • Deaf or hearing impairment aids.
  • Cognitive support applications.
  • Communication aids.
  • Health applications.
  • Well-being support applications.
  • Subtitles and captions in videos.

Please visit Assistive Technology for Education’s page on Examples of AT (assistive technology) for a quick introduction to the variety of assistive technology tools and applications.

Report

Global Report on Assistive Technology by WHO and UNICEF

If you would like to add useful and affordable assistive technology devices or applications to this list, please contact us at okurightsmatter[at]gmail[dot]com

Assistive Technology Resource Pages

Softwares

  • Screen readers: JAWS (paid), NVDA (free), Windows Narrator (Windows built-in), VoiceOver (iOS built-in), TalkBack (Android built-in).
  • My Study Bar is a free tool for PCs which helps overcome problems that students commonly experience with studying, reading and writing. It is a toolbar at the top of your screen from which you can open a range of different free programs

Useful Resources for Screen Reader Users

The Windows Screen Reader Primer: All the Basics and More by David Kingsbury – Book available in Word and ePub format.

Smartphone Applications

Assisting Blind and Visually Impaired persons

Be My Eyes is a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance through a live video call. Available on iOS and Google Play Store .

Seeing AI is a completely free app on iOS that narrates the surrounding of its users, from texts in documents, bank notes and barcodes, to recognising people and scenes around its users.

Assisting Communication

Let Me Talk is an AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) app that supports communication for individuals with communication difficulties. Available for free on iOS and Google Play Store .

JABtalk is a free AAC app that enables personalisation of its usage through recording voices and context-specific images. It is a good alternative for non-Englishspeaking users. Only available on Android devices.

Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications developed by Google is a speech-to-text application that transcribes conversations in real time. Its latest update also helps users who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing to be aware of important sound notifications at home such as fire alarm or ringing doorbell.

Balabolka is a free text-to-speech software for Windows. It allows users to alter the rate and pitch of a voice output.

List of free, online, speech-generating symbol-based AAC options by Kit Autie

Cognitive Support

Daily Organisation

TickTick is a task manager app which combines a few functions under one app: to-do list reminder with calendar integration, customisable Pomodoro timer, and habit tracker. It works on multiple platforms, including Windows, browser, and Gmail add-on. TickTick’s basic free version includes all of the functions offered with limited number of tasks, lists and reminders.

Visual Timer is a simple count down timer with an analogue clock face to help individuals with estimating how quickly time passes to visualise the passing of time.

Focus

Be Focused – Focus Timer (iOS) helps the user to retain focus and motivation by breaking up individual tasks into clear intervals, separated by short breaks.

Engross app combines a customisable Pomodoro timer with to-do list and planner, which allows users to block periods of work and rest. Available for free with in-app purchases on both iOS and Google Play .

Mindful Browsing is a free Google Chrome browser extension that lets its users specify which websites they would like to spend less time on. It also allows users to set self-care reminders, such as taking a short walk or breathing exercises.

Organising Information

Google Keep is a simple and completely free note-taking app. It also supports handwritten notes and voice recording with transcription. It can also be accessed via web browser or Google Chrome extension.

Notion is a note-taking app with customisable templates. However, it requires a bit of a learning curve for new users. It offers a free personal plan with storage for up to 1000 content blocks.