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Hardware and Software

Hardware

  • Windows PCs
  • Black and white laser printing
  • Large screen monitors
  • Disability accessible state

Current Software

Software Purpose Vendor
7Zip Open source Windows utility for manipulating archive files 7Zip.org
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Open Adobe PDF documents Adobe
ArcGIS Pro Geographical information system (GIS) software for handling and visualizing geographic data Esri
Audacity Audio recording and editing software Open source software
Balabolka Text-to-speech (TTS) program CROSS+A
Claro Assistive Technology for reading difficulties like dyslexia Claro Software Co.
DjVuLibre Images & PDF tool DjVu
FileZilla Free FTP Client FileZilla
Firefox Web browser mozilla.org
FSReader DAISY (digital accessible information system) format reader for PCs Freedom Scientific
Fusion Accessibility tool for all levels of vision problems; combines JAWS and ZoomText in one package Freedom Scientific
Ghostscript Interpreter for PS and PDF file to allow displaying and printing Artifex Software
GIMP Open source photo editing tool GIMP
Google Chrome Web browser Google
Google Earth Pro 3D rendering of the Earth based on satellite imagery Google
ImgBurn Disk burning Lightning UK!
JAWS Screen reader Freedom Scientific
Microsoft Edge Web browser Microsoft
Microsoft Office Access, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Word Microsoft
Notepad++ Text editor Don Ho
OneDrive Cloud storage client Microsoft
PuTTy Free implementation of Telnet and SSH, along with an xterm terminal emulator PuTTy
R Free software environment for statistical computing and graphics The R Project for Statistical Computing
RStudio IDE for R RStudio
Skype Video chat, video conferencing, and instant messaging platform Skype Technologies
Texmaker Open source LaTeX editor XM1 Math
VLC Open source media player VideoLAN.org
Zoomtext Screen magnifier/reader Freedom Scientific

Information for Instructors

If you plan an assignment using either existing Lab software or your personal software, please contact Paul Ludecke, lab manager, to discuss your needs. This is important even if you have used the software previously, since a new version may have been installed, or the configuration or location may have changed since the last time you used the software. Keeping us informed of your software needs helps us direct students to the correct software for their course and helps us plan future workstation configurations.

Learning Commons Lab staff can install and configure software for course use and will also install data files for class exercises. Contact us as early as possible if you need software installed. There is a fee for this service. Installation of course-specific software or files are subject to the approval of the Lab Manager. Installation on lab machines should be regarded as a last resort method. Preferred methods would be distribution via the web or on departmental-based servers, giving students the widest possible access.

US copyright and licensing laws cover software. You must provide evidence of ownership (original manuals or disks, license, or registration) before instructor-owned software can be installed.

Policies

Do not load software on Learning Commons Lab computers. This may violate copyright law/license agreements, uses valuable disk space, and risks spreading computer viruses. Exceptions may only be made after discussion with the Lab Manager.

Learning Commons Lab software is protected by United States copyright law and/or license agreements. Making copies is strictly prohibited.

Health-related material is sometimes graphic and may make some users uncomfortable. Please respect their concerns when viewing such material by choosing the least visible workstation or turning your monitor away from others.

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