Skip to main content
Ingenium Logo

You are leaving IngeniumCanada.org

✖


This link leads to an external website that Ingenium does not control. Please read the third-party’s privacy policies before entering personal information or conducting a transaction on their site.

Have questions? Review our Privacy Statement

Vous quittez IngeniumCanada.org

✖


Ce lien mène à un site Web externe qu'Ingenium ne contrôle pas. Veuillez lire les politiques de confidentialité des tiers avant de partager des renseignements personnels ou d'effectuer une transaction sur leur site.

Questions? Consultez notre Énoncé de confidentialité

Ingenium The Channel

Langue

  • Français
Search Toggle

Menu des liens rapides

  • Ingenium Locations
  • Shop
  • Donate
  • Join
Menu

Main Navigation

  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners

The dyslexic view: Working from home during COVID-19

Share
3 m
Jul 28, 2020
Categories
Collection Development
Categories
Health & Wellness
Media
Blog
Profile picture for user Carlile Sea
By: Carlile Sea
Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation
A cartoon-style illustration of a human brain.

On March 13, 2020, Ingenium’s three museums — the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and the Canada Science and Technology Museum — closed their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees were told to grab their laptops and prepare to work from home for an indefinite period.

As a conservator for the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, this meant I suddenly went from hands-on, museum-based work to spending the majority of my time working at a computer. While this was very stressful to begin with, it has been further compounded by the fact that I’m living with dyslexia.

Computer systems are not typically designed for people with disabilities, which can make them extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to effectively operate. Personally, my new reality caused me to stretch beyond what I normally do to help myself. For example, I dedicated some time to researching software to help with accessibility. To meet my needs, I required “text to speech” and “speech to text” software, to assist me in reading and composing emails and other documents.

While I tested many different programs, I noticed there was quite a wide price range for accessible technologies. While Kurzweil 3000 and Dragon Naturally Speaking seem to enjoy top ranking in the speech recognition software category, not everyone can afford programs that retail for $500 and up. So I kept digging, in a concerted effort to find more affordable software.

One of my top picks is Voice Dream, a smartphone app that offers text to speech functionality. It allows you to cut and paste, and even to take pictures and have them read in the app.

For example, I could take a photo of a list of ingredients for a recipe, and then use Voice Dream to read it out to me at the grocery store.

Voice Dream retails for about $40 CAD for the entire suite, and offers a selection of voices for the user.

My personal favourite software is Helperbird, a browser extension that offers features to make the web more accessible. While Helperbird offers text to speech functionality, it can also manipulate the web page — allowing the user to eliminate images, noise, and ads. Since font types have a significant impact on readability for people with dyslexia, the user can choose to change the font. Helperbird also offers colour blindness support. The creator of the software, who is dyslexic himself, is dedicated to helping others be successful. The basic version of Helperbird is free, and the full version retails for just under $50 per year.

While I know these software programs serve a very specific niche of the disabled community, I hope my research might help other individuals who require “text to speech” or “speech to text” software. It’s encouraging to know that there are affordable, accessible options out there to improve the lives of the disabled community.

Tags
COVID-19 #CuratingUnderQuarantine, dyslexia, disability, accessibility
Author(s)
Profile picture for user Carlile Sea
Carlile Sea

As the assistant conservator at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Carlile takes responsibility for ensuring objects — the only known time travelers in existence — can continue travelling through time as their most authentic and original selves. Living as a member of the dyslexic community, Carlile is passionate about accommodating and celebrating the differences represented by disabled people and other minorities.

More Stories by

Profile picture for user Carlile Sea
Carlile Sea
Ingenium - Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation
Pictured is a tightly-framed photograph of an Alleles prosthetic leg cover, as displayed in the Wearable Tech exhibition at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. The prosthetic cover's shape resembles the shape of a human leg, from knee down to ankle, but its appearance is highly stylized. It is made of a textured pink plastic, with a detailed black pattern that extends from top to bottom.

Representing accessibility in the Ingenium collection

A close-up image shows a hand holding a smartphone; Google Maps is visible on the screen.

Living with dyslexia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Related Stories

A red plastic telephone with the handset off of the base on a light grey table. There are scratches on the phone which is an angular design. The rotary dial is on the handset and attached to the base by a red spiral cord.

A Phone Call from Below the Arctic Ice - The 50th Anniversary of Arctic III Sub-Igloo Phone Call to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau

The 10-inch flight impact simulator of the National Research Council of Canada at some point during its long career, Uplands / Ottawa, Ontario. NRC.

A great Canadian success story you should know about: A brief look at the National Research Council of Canada flight impact simulators donated to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Part 3

The 3.75- / 3.5-inch flight impact simulator of the National Research Council of Canada at some point during its long career, Uplands / Ottawa, Ontario. NRC.

A great Canadian success story you should know about: A brief look at the National Research Council of Canada flight impact simulators donated to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Part 2

The 10-inch flight impact simulator of the National Research Council of Canada at some point during its long career, Uplands / Ottawa, Ontario. NRC.

A great Canadian success story you should know about: A brief look at the National Research Council of Canada flight impact simulators donated to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Part 1

Aerial photograph of General Motors’ Oshawa facilities.

Learning from Experience: Why We Need Oral Histories

Front cover of GM Canada’s Expo 86 pamphlet with wording “IN MOTION…IN TOUCH” displayed in large capital letters.

Re-examining Archival Research Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

A photo of Unifor Local 222’s meeting hall.

What Counts as History? Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up Agency

This photograph shows an assortment of Unifor Local 222 ephemera. It includes Patrick J. Brown’s 1937 United Autoworkers of America Local 222 union membership card and an assortment of union buttons from the 1970s to the 1980s that advocate for increased job security, shorter work weeks, and the rights of retired General Motors employees.

Community, Camaraderie, and Producing Historical Scholarship

Sophie working with a series of toaster artifacts placed on a worktable.

A Toast to the Collection: The History of Toasters in Canada

An image looking down the centre of a large room with two rows of locomotive and rolling stock artifacts.

Experimental Collection Engagement with the Locomotives and Rolling Stock Collection

A scan of drawing J-35-L-326, one of our largest, illustrating a 4-6-2 type steam locomotive.

Discover the Canadian Pacific Railway Steam Locomotive Drawing Collection

A small two-door grey electric vehicle parked on the street in front of a shop.

Lithium-Ion batteries in Canada: Documenting a technological revolution

Footer

About The Channel

The Channel

Contact Us

Ingenium
P.O. Box 9724, Station T
Ottawa ON K1G 5A3
Canada

613-991-3044
1-866-442-4416
contact@IngeniumCanada.org
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Channel

    • Channel Home
    • About the Channel
    • Content Partners
  • Visit

    • Online Resources for Science at Home
    • Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
    • Canada Aviation and Space Museum
    • Canada Science and Technology Museum
    • Ingenium Centre
  • Ingenium

    • Ingenium Home
    • About Ingenium
    • The Foundation
  • For Media

    • Newsroom
    • Awards

Connect with us

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest Ingenium news straight to your inbox!

Sign Up

Legal Bits

Ingenium Privacy Statement

© 2023 Ingenium

Symbol of the Government of Canada
  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners