Accessibility tools
On this page, you will find information about digital tools that can facilitate your reading and writing. Most of the tools have been developed for people with some type of disability, but all students at Lund University have access to the majority of them and can benefit from them regardless.
Ally and Immersive reader in Canvas
Ally is a tool in Canvas that allows you to get access to documents in different formats. Ally can convert documents to various formats. For instance, it can convert them to MP3 so that you can listen to them, ePub for convenient reading on a phone, or bullet-point format for individuals with impaired vision. Unfortunately, all formats don’t always work, since all documents haven’t been made accessible. For example, it can be more difficult for teachers to make material accessible that they have not produced themselves.
In the Canvas guide, you can read more about how to use Ally and which different formats that might be available.
Read about how you can use Ally in Canvas' student guide – canvas.education.lu.se (requires log-in)
Integrated in Canvas is also the Immersive reader. The reader can read texts aloud in Canvas for you or machine-translate it into other languages. With the help of Immersive reader, you can also see the text on Canvas in different fonts, with different background colours or with different word classes shown in different colours. Immersive reader works on pages, on the course overview and in assignment descriptions on Canvas.
TorTalk
TorTalk is a text-to-speech program that makes it possible to have electronic text read aloud for you. The program can process many types of electronic documents, such as word files, ebooks and in some cases even scanned pdf files. You don’t need to download the files to a computer to listen to them with TorTalk, it’s possible to listen directly in the web browser. This means that you can use TorTalk in Inspera if Safe Exam Browser isn’t turned on, for example.
You can customise voice, language and reading speed in TorTalk to suit your preferences and the text you’re reading. In the core version, you can choose between Swedish and English as reading voices, but you can download voices in many other languages.
As a student at Lund University, you have free access to TorTalk. In other words, you don’t need to have a disability to get access to and benefit from TorTalk.
Read about how to download TorTalk via Lund University Libraries – libguides.lub.lu.se
EasyReader via Legimus
Easy Reader is a program for reading audiobooks and for having texts read aloud. If you already have a Legimus account, you can get free access to Easy Reader via Swedish Agency for Accessible Media.
With EasyReader, you can search for, download and read audiobooks. In the audiobooks that have text, the text can be shown on screen while you’re listening. You can use digital bookmarks and customise how you want the book to be read aloud. You can also have audio journals read aloud for you if you’re subscribed to one.
EasyReader is available on PC and Mac. Read more about how you get access to and use EasyReader on Legimus’ website.
Read about and download Easy Reader (in Swedish) – legimus.se
StavaRex and Spell Right
As a student at Lund University, you have free access to advanced proofreading programs, StavaRex for Swedish and SpellRight for English. The programs have been developed especially for people with dyslexia who have Swedish as their mother tongue, but they are also free for other people to use. On the libraries’ web site, you can read more about how the programs work and how you download them to your word processing program.
Read about, and download StavaRex and SpellRight (Information in Swedish) – libguides.lub.lu.se
Disability Support Services
Do you have a documented disability, such as ADHD, dyslexia or visual impairment? Would you benefit from the teaching and exams being adapted to your specific needs?
Read more about learning support when studying digitally by clicking here.
Technical support
Contact LU Servicedesk if you need technical support when using our digital tools.
E-mail: servicedesk [at] lu [dot] se (servicedesk[at]lu[dot]se)