The aim of this newsletter is to inform you of developments and changes to our major products eLr (Extra Language Resources) and EIA (Enhancing Internet Access). We welcome the opportunity for feedback and questions, and will be pleased to consider including reader contributions and announcements.
This Newsletter (and previous editions) is available online at http://www.elr.com.au/news and an email version is sent monthly to members of our mailing list (See Subscribing/Unsubscribing).
Season's Greetings, and we wish you all a safe and happy new year. And special thanks to all to have provided us feedback - mostly good and always helpful. It's been a busy year for the ELR team, and in some respects we have been frustrated that we didn't complete all the new materials which we had planned. Never mind, all the more for 2002! This newsletter includes a little preview of some of the technical developments we plan to launch early in the New Year.
In this issue -
We have now have produced a printable (PDF) version of the Directory in response to frequent requests for a "hands on" version to let you to see at a glance the entire contents of eLr. As this is a large document (approximately 80+ pages, or approximately 500k), we have offered two versions:
The full eLr Directory is available only to subscribers. It contains all the section and sub-section headings, individual task titles and task numbers. Look for the new link to the Printable Version within the eLr - Registered Users page.
A Summary version is also available (see http://www.elr.com.au/support/elrdir-s.pdf) which can accessed be anyone, including non-subscribers. It is about 20 pages (65k), and contains all the classification information but no listing of actual tasks and task numbers.
Remember that these documents, although current at the time of production, will "date" as changes and new activities are added. It's also possible to "save some trees" by printing only selected pages, or even cut'n'paste sections to files, emails etc.
We have been working towards making aspects of eLr more accessible for people with physical limitations. The first enhancement to be incorporated is in the "VCR controls" on many of the models (the small arrows on the top left corner of the screen), which can be difficult to access if you have coordination problems. These may now be controlled by pressing the RIGHT or LEFT arrows on the keyboard eg to move forward/back the next/previous item. To activate the double arrows (for Start/End), press CTRL-RIGHT or CTRL-LEFT.
The EIA Browser upgrade is going well. The main new features are the integration of WordCue, better keyboard integration with alternative keyboard devices, and more options for saving and editing "favorites" via the Click-On-A mechanism. We're in final testing stages and should be announcing the release in our next Newsletter.
For eLr, we will include additional access keys to control the various buttons and choices. We are also preparing a "Help Link" for each model which will provide additional information about the model, and hints on ways to modify the task.
A Parent Version of eLr-Offline! There are still many families who have a computer, but are unable to easily access the Internet. We are planning to provide subscribers with an extra CD which contains a "Guest Access Only" version of eLr-Offline containing only the essential parts needed for home practice. The clinician will be able to temporarily lend families this CD for installation on their home computer. This version will expire at the same time as the subscriber's, so that the client's program will always match the clinician's.
And lastly, eLr will get sound!. We have been exploring the Microsoft "Text-to-Speech" technology and will use this to provide optional speech and auditory reinforcement in most of the models.
The ELR team has been involved in other projects related to literacy development. We have included links to these for you to peruse - and comments and feedback are welcome.
Literacy Online for People with Physical and Intellectual Disabilities This site contains games and activities which can compliment a literacy program. The games can be customized so that they contain vocabulary which is relevant to the client. (see http://www.elr.com.au/lol/index.htm).
Enhancing Internet Activities and Reading Skills of Individuals with Disability ELR hosts the web site, and has produced the images and the web content, for the APAR (Assessment of Phonological Awareness and Reading) which is designed to assess the phonological awareness (PA) and reading skills of adult participants in this project. (see http://www.elr.com.au/apar/index.htm).
The current version of eLr-Offline is always available for downloading . Fill in the form, download the installation program to your computer and run it. If you are a registered user who has already installed eLr-Offline, the installer will simply overwrite your older version with the most recent version, and you can continue to use it as normal. If you are not a subscriber, the program will run in "Unregistered Mode" for you to evaluate.
http://www.elr.com.au/offline
Unregistered trial version (fully functional, but time limited)
http://www.elr.com.au/eiad/demo.htm
Demonstration of Browser, Tutorial and AAP
http://www.elr.com.au/eiad/demo.htm
For other supporting materials and documents available for free download, please see http://www.elr.com.au/support.htm.
- Speech Pathology Australia National Conference, May 20th - 23rd, Alice Springs. We will have a commercial stand during the conference.
You are receiving ELR-News because you are an eLr subscriber, or have expressed an interest in either eLr or EIA. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail with details to news@elr.com.au
Copyright ©2002 ELR Software Pty Ltd
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