Assistive technology is any piece of equipment, software/hardware, or product that is used to increase or maintain functional capabilities of persons with disabilities. Cornell University is committed to providing students, staff, and faculty with the resources they need to engage independently in the campus and learning environments. This includes supporting those with disabilities through the use of assistive technology. Current and prospective students with disabilities are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services to discuss appropriate accommodations.

Cornell offers assistive technology in many of its public computing labs and libraries. The following list of software is available for anyone on campus to use. For students with disabilities, additional assistive technology may be available through Student Disability Services. Staff who are interested in assistive technology for their work space should contact Medical Leaves.

JAWS Screen Reader

JAWS is a screen reader used by people whose vision loss prevents them from seeing a computer screen, or navigate with a mouse. JAWS provides speech output to users to allow them to navigate a computer. JAWS is only available on a PC.

Duxbury Braille Software and Embosser

For users of Braille, Mann Library has an assistive technology workstation set up for patrons to produce Braille documents. The workstation uses Duxbury Braille software to create/import documents and convert to Braille.  Braille documents can be produced in multiple grades and languages. There is no print fee for producing Braille documents.

Premier Literacy Suite

The Premier Literacy Productivity Pack (Premier) is a suite of tools designed to help users with reading, writing, studying, and research. Its text to speech (TTS) technology makes it easy for audible learners to listen to their texts.

This software can be found in any of the Cornell Libraries and in most CIT public computing labs.