Top 5 Essential Back to School Software Programs for Blind Students

There are five software programs that you as a student need to know about, and you need to have pretty much all of them in your possession. Having the right kinds of software is imperative for your success in school. Not only does the software enable you to work more effectively and efficiently, you can't do your work without these software programs because most work done in school today is done on a computer. If you are a blind student, it is a must that you have these software programs because without them, you will not be able to do work of any kind, since blind individuals rely on a computer for virtually every aspect of their schooling. These top 5 essential back to school software programs for students are as follows.

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is one of the best software programs for students of all ages. Whether you are a student in elementary school or a college student, you will need to use the computer to complete some or many of your assignments. Microsoft Office is widely used in the school setting, as many assignment sheets are written in .doc or .docx format, and Microsoft Office will enable you to meet guidelines for papers and other assignments, such as font size and type and margin specifications. Additionally, you will also have to create power point presentations throughout your time in school, and Microsoft Office is necessary for facilitating this process. The student edition of this program can be purchased for as low as $49, depending on where it is purchased.

Adobe Reader

Throughout your time in school, you will encounter some documents that are written in PDF format. Adobe Reader is crucial for reading these files, hence the reason that Adobe Reader is one of the most essential back to school software programs that you absolutely cannot do without, especially if you are working from a PC. Adobe Reader is one hundred percent free and can be downloaded from the Adobe website.

NVDA

If you are a blind student, NVDA is one of the absolute best software programs to have in your possession. For one, this screen reader is one hundred percent free of charge. This means that you will be able to go to school and finish on time without having to be held up and fall behind because you are either waiting on a government agency to purchase a God awful expensive screen reader or you are trying to save enough money to purchase it on your own. Just get a working computer into your hands, and you will be able to access just about anything and complete your work in a timely manner. And what do you know; you had to pay no more than a sighted person. Secondly, NVDA works with the web just as good as any commercial screen reader, sometimes better, and it works with most of your mainstream software programs, such as Adobe and most of the programs in Microsoft Office. Just visit the NVDA Project website, and you can obtain a full functioning screen reader in minutes!

Jarte

Jarte is one of the best software programs for students to have in their possession if purchasing a word processing program is not within the budget. Jarte is one hundred percent free'"unless you want to purchase the paid version which has many extra features'"and it does just about everything that MS Word does. Most assignments can be completed using Jarte; however, if you should need to make a power point presentation, this is not possible because Jarte does not contain the tools to facilitate this process.

Noodle Tools

Noodle Tools is not exactly a software program because it is operated strictly from the website, but it is beneficial for students because it enables them to cite all of their sources without putting forth all of the effort and elbow grease. When it comes time to cite your sources, you will never again have to feel like you are burdened. As a matter of fact, it is a win win situation for both you and the author from whom you are taking the ideas because you can cite sources in a flash, and the author still gets complete credit for his work. Some of the Noodle Tools programs do require a subscription; however, there are some free tools for students of all ages that are featured on the home page of the site. Noodle Tools is one of the essential back to school software programs that every student needs to know about and utilize. I can promise you that any student that uses Noodle Tools will never go back to writing out citations manually. I know I didn't and never will for as long as I'm writing and citing.

With these top five essential back to school programs in your possession, you will most certainly be successful in school. You will have all of the tools necessary for completing assignments effectively and efficiently.