SensusAccess: Alternate Media Made Easy
SensusAccess is an online document conversion system supporting the transformation of text and image-based file types into different formats. Students, staff and faculty can upload files through a web interface and select from a variety of output options, including audio, Braille, or e-text formats. This service will convert text files into alternate format types as well as converting image-based files into text formatted files. MP3 audio versions are created using high-quality NeoSpeech text-to-speech voices. SensusAccess can also convert math, specifically with Word and Daisy.
Below is some overview information. If you are interested in additional training, please visit the SensusAccess Training page found here (will open an external site).
SensusAccess on Avenue to Learn
For Instructors, SensusAccess can now be added to A2L courses! Adding SensusAccess to your A2L course allows a student to access all of the documents you have given them access to; they can then select the format they want to convert that document to without the instructors assistance.
How to add SensusAccess in A2L:
Step 1: Select the module you would like to add SensusAccess to
Step 2: Click “Add existing activities”
Step 3: Click “External Learning Tools”
Step 4: Select “SensusAccess”
Watch the video below to learn more about SensusAccess for Instructors.
Watch the video below to learn more about SensusAccess for Students.
Conversion Results
The quality of the conversion is dependent upon the quality of the original document. For instance, if you are converting a well-structured MS Word document into audio, Daisy, or ePub format, the resulting file will be properly rendered into the desired output. If, however, you upload a poorly scanned image file, a file with poor contrast, or one with a lot of mathematical symbols for conversion to a text format, the resulting text document may include recognition errors in the output file.
Questions and Feedback
Please contact Nancy Waite in Library Accessibility Services, x26058 or liblas@mcmaster.ca