Hearing
Supporting all learners
For students who have difficulty hearing computer sounds and alerts, Mac OS X has many technologies to assist teaching and learning. These solutions will provide assistance if you need sound amplification or sound output alternatives.
Built-in solutions
Solutions such as QuickTime Text Track provide closed captioning, while iChat AV and iSight provide the first video conferencing solution with strong enough clarity to allow sign language communication over the Internet. Flash Screen provides a visual indication of alert sounds on the computer screen.
Disabilities Education Act
Learn about federal support for technology in special education. Learn more
Third party solutions
Mac OS X not only provides built-in solutions, but also enables third parties to develop and deliver additional hardware and software accessibility solutions. Learn more
Success story: Developing Oral Language with iPhoto and GarageBand
At Echo Horizon School, Culver City, California, Gloria Menezes, Resource Teacher of Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and Jessica Aguillon, Speech Language Pathologist, use the iLife suite of digital authoring tools to help hearing-impaired students develop oral language skills.
Mrs. Menezes created an iPhoto and iMovie project modeled after the popular children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie that demonstrates how students can use technology to develop oral language.
Mrs. Aguillon uses GarageBand to create podcasts with deaf and hard of hearing students. These podcasts include a range of poetry from acrostic to limerick to Haiku as a demonstration of the student's oral language development.
