Using the Accessibility Tools

Roadmaps has Accessibility Tools available! Click on "Accessibility Tools" along the bottom of any page in Roadmaps, and a toolbar will pop up. You can move the toolbar around your screen by clicking on the four arrow icon, shown below.

You can partially hide the toolbar by clicking the "Close" icon, shown below, or by clicking on Accessibility Tools at the bottom of your screen again.

Okay, on to the fun stuff - here are the Accessibility Tools you can use!

Text to Speech!

You can click this tool to read text aloud with dual color highlighting at a word or sentence level.

While using the Text to Speech tool, you can use the above buttons to play, pause, or stop the read aloud and highlighting. You can use these tools either to read highlighted text, or to read an entire Roadmaps webpage out loud.

Dictionary!

Use the Dictionary to read and listen to definitions for any word you select. Just click the Dictionary icon in the Accessibility Tools toolbar, then click and drag or double click to highlight the word you would like to define.

To hear the word spoken aloud, or to hear one of the definitions, click on the play button icon next to the word or the definition.

Picture Dictionary!

Use the Picture Dictionary to view the definition of a word in the form of an illustration. Just click the Picture Dictionary icon in the Accessibility Tools toolbar, then click and drag or double click to highlight the word you would like to define in pictures.

To hear the word spoken aloud, click on the play button icon next to the word.

Screen Mask!

Use the Screen Mask to focus on a specific section of the screen, or to reduce the screen glare! Just click the Screen Mask icon in the Accessibility Tools toolbar, then move your cursor around the screen to move the mask. Here's a picture of what it looks like in action:

Annotation Pens!

Use the Annotation Pens to highlight or cross out text on any page in Roadmaps. Just click and drag or double click to highlight the word(s), then click the Annotation Pens icon and choose one of the options in the Accessibility Tools toolbar to highlight the word(s) in your chosen color or cross them out.

You can see all of the words that you've highlighted on a page in one place by clicking the circular four arrow icon. Here's what that window looks like!

To erase the highlighting and crossing out that you've done, click the broom icon.

Frequently Asked Questions

The icons are grayed out and I can't click them - what's going on? You might need to clear your cache - ask your teacher to clear your cached images and files in your browsing data, and then try again. If you're still having trouble, reach out to the Help Center.

Why don't I see the Accessibility Tools along the bottom of my page in Roadmaps? Your teachers may have chosen to hide the Accessibility Tools toolbar - ask your teacher for help if you need access.