Sue Smith, the Learning Support Officer (Disability and Dyslexia) is working from home but is still available for phone appointments. You can book a phone appointment using the Book an Appointment link on this page. You may want to set up Skype for Business as this will allow us to share screens which can be helpful, see our Skype for Business page for help.
You can also contact us by phone (0113) 812 1000 or chat (via bit.ly/LLIContactUs) 08:30 - 16:30 Monday - Friday.
Our Coronavirus page lists the availability of our key services.
The company who make Read & Write software have made it available for free for home use for as long as the government advise social distancing. This is useful if you do not have access to the Read & Write software at home but usually use it on the Library computers.
To install Read & Write on your home computer watch the Read&Write Windows installation video. You will also need the Take Home code. Please email the Library Disability Support team to obtain this code, you must email from your Leeds Beckett Student email account.
Mindview mindmapping software has also been made available for free for use at home until the 1st September 2020.
To install Mindview on your home computer:
1. Please email the Library Disability Support team to request the license code needed to install Mindview. Please email from your Leeds Beckett student email address if possible.
2. Once you have the license code, click the required download link depending on whether you have a Windows PC or a Mac
3. Select Open to run the installation, or Save to store the installation files for later use. (If prompted by security settings, select Allow or Permit to confirm the installation.)
4. Follow the installation instructions of the setup wizard and enter the license key when prompted.
If you currently have the demo version of MindView 7:
1. Select "File > Options > Resources > Change License Key" and enter the license key provided
There is a range of assistive software available in the Library. We try to ensure that we have all the software you may have been recommended by Disability Advice.
More information about the software, including tutorials and guides, is available below.
Assistive software workshops are also sometimes available.
The Library Learning Support Officer can provide support and training to students and staff on the assistive software.
Inspiration is mind mapping software which can be used to create concept maps, flow charts and mind maps to help to organise ideas in a visual way. It helps with organising and structuring ideas prior to starting written work such as reports and essays. It can also help to show the relationships between ideas or concepts. The mind map can then be easily converted into a written outline or presentation.
Inspiration is available on all Library PCs.
Video tutorials and a user guide are available on the Inspiration website.
MindView is a visual learning mind mapping tool designed to help you develop and organise ideas. It aims to enhance creativity, clarify your thoughts and improve memory and is a good study and revision tool.
MindView has functions which allow you to undertake tasks that are more involved than just simple mindmaps; for example creating time lines, setting calendar reminders and creating tables of contents.
MindView is available on all Library PCs. You can also access it from home using the Remote App.
Video tutorials and a user guide are available in the MindView website.
Assistive software workshops are also sometimes available.
Read & Write supports your study skills through a toolbar which works alongside other applications such as Microsoft Word, email and the Internet. It is designed to provide support for people with writing, reading and spelling difficulties.
Here are just some of the tools available:
Read & Write is available on all Library PCs.
Video tutorials and user guides are available on the TextHelp website. Try out a useful tool which allows you to discover the toolbar bar buttons.
Assistive software workshops are also sometimes available.
Read & Write for Google Chrome is a toolbar which offers many of the functions of the full Texthelp Read & Write software within the Chrome web browser. It works with webpages and files accessed through Office 365 and Google Drive.
Here are just some of the tools available:
Video tutorials, a user guide for Google Docs and a user guide for Office 365 are available on the TextHelp website.
ClaroRead supports your study skills through a toolbar which works alongside other applications such as Microsoft Word, email and the internet. It is designed to provide support for people with writing, reading and spelling difficulties.
Here are just some of the tools available:
ClaroRead is available on all Library PCs.
Video tutorials and user guides are available on the ClaroRead web site.
Assistive software workshops are also sometimes available.
ClaroRead Chrome is a toolbar which offers some of the functions of the full ClaroRead software within the Chrome web browser. It works with webpages and files accessed through Google Drive such as Google Docs and PDF files.
It provides:
A video introduction and Help Guides are available on the Claro website.
Pro-Study is a study tool that collects and organises your research in a single click. It categorises your research topics by grabbing your specifically selected text from Websites, PDFs, Microsoft Word and just about anywhere else you can select text and saving it into your personalised colour coded category tabs. Pro-Study provides quick hyperlinks back to the original websites. It also allows you to export this research as either a whole project or as individual categories into Microsoft Word or your favourite Mindmapping software with all of the referencing done for you in the required style and format.
Pro-Study is available on all Library PCs.
Video tutorials and user guides are available on the Pro-Study web site.
Assistive software workshops are also sometimes available.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking is speech recognition software which types as you speak. The software is not available in the Library as it must be used in an environment with no background noise and where others will not be disturbed by the speaking. If you are registered with Disability Advice you can contact the Learning Support Officer to request a demonstration of Dragon Naturally Speaking to help you decide whether to get your own copy, or for support with using your own copy of the software. Students not registered with Disability Advice would need to purchase their own copy of the software in order to use it.
User guides, video guides for PC and video guides for Mac are available on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking website.
Is an audio-based PC software program for easy note taking which allows you to combine lecture recordings with PowerPoint slides.
Audio NoteTaker is available on the Disability Resource Area PCs.
Video tutorials and more information is available on the Audio NoteTaker website.
If you have been recommended Audio NoteTaker through your Disabled Students Allowance for your own computer but have not received it yet you can access a free 60 day trial for the mobile app and the full software. This means you can start recording lectures whilst you wait for your Disabled Students Allowance software. Contact the Library Disability Support Team for access to the free trial.
There is also a mobile app for Audio NoteTaker which will allow you to record lectures on your mobile phone. You will need to own Audio NoteTaker for PC or Mac in order to use the Sonocent Link app.
JAWS is for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content.
JAWS reads aloud what's on the PC screen and gives you a set of tools for navigating and accessing web pages and all screen content.
JAWS is available on the Disability Resource Area computers. If you need to use software within University but outside of the Library Disability Resource Area (for example in a lecture or computer based class) please contact your Disability Adviser.
User guides are available on the JAWS website.
Zoomtext provides screen magnification and screen reading. You can choose from a selection of mouse pointers and cursors to make them more visible.
Zoomtext is available on the Disability Resource Area computers. If you need to use software within University but outside of the Library Disability Resource Area (for example in a lecture or computer based class) please contact your Disability Adviser.
Video tutorials and user guides are available on the ZoomText web site.
SuperNova is for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content.
It provides magnification and reads aloud what's on the PC screen and gives you a set of tools for navigating and accessing webpages and all screen content.
Supernova is available on the Disability Resource Area computers. If you need to use software within University but outside of the Library Disability Resource Area (for example in a lecture or computer based class) please contact your Disability Adviser.
Video tutorials and user guides are available on the SuperNova website.
Find apps for your iPad and Android smartphone or tablet to support you:
These pages provide specific information for disabled students.
General information on IT in the Library can be found on the Student IT Support pages.
You can do this using SensusAccess, a web-based tool which allows students and staff to automatically convert documents into a range of alternative media.
