Tips & Tricks

Restart your Device

Not kidding!  Restarting your laptop, iPad, or other device resolves maybe 90% of issues.

  • Mac OS: Click the Apple Symbol (upper-right) and select restart.
  • iPad: Press and hold the Power button, when the message comes up, slide the power icon on the screen to turn the iPad off. Wait about 20 seconds, then press the power button to turn the iPad back on.
  • Windows: Click your Windows START button (keyboard or at the bottom-right of your screen), go to the power symbol (if applicable), and click RESTART.
  • Android: Press and hold the power button and follow the on-screen directions to turn it off.  Wait about 20 seconds, then press the power button to turn back on.

Hard Reset Your Device

Sometimes, your device is frozen, or a normal restart is not working or not resolving the issue.  Try hard resetting your device.

  • Mac OS or Windows: Press and hold the power button for about 10-20 seconds. Once the computer turns off, wait about 15-20 seconds, then press the power button to turn it back on.
  • iPadPress and hold the HOME button and Power button for 15-20 seconds til the Apple symbol shows up on the screen.
  • Android: Press and hold the Volume and Power buttons until your device restarts, and you see something on the screen.

Update Chrome or other browsers

If something is not loading in your browser, you may need to update your browser.

  • Chrome: Click CHROME in the menu bar and go to ABOUT CHROME or go to: chrome://settings/help.  It should auto-update.  If it does not and gives you an error, go to the Download Chrome website and download & install and use that version of Chrome.
  • Also, you can try a different browser like Safari or Internet Explorer if you are having trouble using Chrome.

Keep Zoom up-to-date!

  • Even after a restart, Zoom not working right?  Reinstall Zoom. Quit Zoom first then open SELF SERVICE app and click REINSTALL under the Zoom app. Once it reinstalls, try Zoom again!

Laptop Tips

  • You can enable Dark or Light mode on your CDS laptop.
    System Preferences > General > Appearance
  • Organize Your Desktop With Stacks
    To use the Stacks feature, right-click on a file or the desktop and select Use Stacks from the drop-down menu. Essentially, screenshots will be grouped with screenshots, photos with photos, and PDFs with PDFs, etc. You can also arrange Stacks using keyword tags.
  • Taking Better Screenshots
    Launch the Screenshot tool by going to Launchpad (F4) > Other > Screenshot. While many of the screenshot hotkeys familiar to Mac users still work the same, using Shift + Command + 5 will now activate the tool.

iPad Tips

Other Helpful Resources:

For being physically healthy with your body while using technology, visit our Ergonomics page

For Canvas, go to: https://ohl.cds-sf.org/canvas/

For GarageBand, see: https://ohl.cds-sf.org/garageband/

Adding Android apps to a ChromeBook

Check out the following link for instructions: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/7021273?hl=en

Accessibility Features on iOS and MacOS devices

With technology tools getting better everyday, so are the tools for accessibility for those who have learning differences. 

 

HOW TO TURN ON iOS/iPAD TEXT READER
Students will need to go to SETTINGS > ACCESSIBILITY > SPOKEN CONTENT > Turn on all the following: SPEAK SELECTION, SPEAK SCREEN, SPEECH CONTROLLER and I would also suggest turning on HIGHLIGHT CONTENT to help follow allow.

The students can select/download other voices if they do not like “Victoria” which I think is the default voice.

 

OTHER iPAD ACCESSIBILITY TOOLS: https://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-activate-an-ipads-accessibility-features–cms-29969

 

MACBOOK ACCESSIBILITY TOOLS: https://www.apple.com/accessibility/mac/