Microsoft OneNote

Independent Perspective 1731 with guest Erin Brunelle discussing the Microsoft OneNote software. 

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Erin Brunelle of the University at Buffalo’s Center for Assistive Technology (CAT). She is the Training Coordinator of CAT Client Services. Welcome to the program Erin.

Guest:  Thanks for having me Ernie.

Host:  And I’m Ernie Churchwell hosting. You're here because you're filling in for our usual CAT person who is Kimberly Naus who is away. But it sounds as though you have all of your appropriate ducks in a row. And as always, because you're under their auspices could you tell us a bit about TRAID?

Guest:  Of course. So, TRAID stands for Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities. It's actually federal dollars that are then allocated for us to run a state funded program that operates within five counties. So, we offer services to those in Erie, Niagara Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming counties, and each county in New York State does have their own TRAID site. Some of the services that we offer are things like public awareness, information and technical assistance, but also a demonstration and loan of assistive technology. And all of that is free. It's all taxpayer dollars, funding our service.

Host:  And as people experience in the fields know, having the right assistive technology can mean the difference between having a successful lifestyle with one's disability and not so you're performing a very valuable function and you're having another computer oriented device or whatever one would call it today. What can you tell us about the Microsoft OneNote?

Guest:  So, Microsoft OneNote is what I may think of as, like a mainstream software so it's not necessarily marketed as assistive technology, but I think that there are a lot of very useful features within that platform. So, it is a free software. You can download it on a Windows computer, on a Mac computer, an Android phone, an Apple phone, and to use it you really just need a Microsoft account which is also free.

Host:  That sounds like something that's very accessible to people. What are some of the things they would be able to do with the OneNote?

Guest:  So, I think of OneNote, like, almost like a bookshelf of digital three-ring binders. So, within the software or app you can actually create notebooks that again, I think of as a three-ring binder for any topic you'd like. So that could be a banking notebook, that could be a health notebook, or if you're a student, it could be a course that you're in. Within those notebooks you can then have sections that I think of kind of like the tabs have a three-ring binder. So, you can name those sections as you'd like. You can color code them and have as many or as little as you'd like. Within those sections. Of course, you can have pages and within the pages you can basically put anything from your computer onto this big vast space. So, we're very used to Microsoft Word documents that have a certain amount of area that you can fill. It's kind of like a letter size paper. And once you're done with page one, it moves you to page two, but OneNote is a little different. And it helps I think some people who don't think so literally, perhaps or they want to compile a lot of files on one. It's a very, it's almost like a big whiteboard that you can put all sorts of things in whether it's photos or documents or even audio recording.

Host:  And it doesn't have to be academic or other informational material per se. You could probably put Granny's brownie recipe on there if you want it.

Guest:  Absolutely. So, we're just rounding out the end of the blizzard of 2022. And I was thinking of OneNote a bit because once you once you do create those notebooks of information they're saved locally. So if I did create a health notebook that had all a bunch of medication instructions or information for my family members, once that's saved on my device, as long as there's no changes to it, I can access that from other devices as well. So, I wouldn't necessarily need internet to have that information.

Host:  Erin our five minutes has flown by I'm sure people will have questions, how can they reach you?

Guest:  They can give us a call at 716-836-1168.

Host:  Thanks so much for being with us.

Guest:  Thanks for having me Ernie.

Host:  Our pleasure. You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today has been Erin Brunelle, Training Coordinator of Client Services at the University at Buffalo’s Center for Assistive Technology and I've been your host Ernie Churchwell.