Accessibility - Morphic Assistive Software
What is Morphic?
Morphic is a free desktop app that helps users access accessibility features in one location via a toolbar that can be moved to any of the four corners of your screen.
Click and drag the menu to move its location. Show/hide the toolbar by clicking their logo located on the computer’s taskbar.
Hiding the toolbar does not turn off any settings.
Who can use Morphic?
Everyone. This is a free app that can be accessed by individuals and organizations. It is designed for anyone at any level of ability or disability status.
Where do I find information on downloading and/or installing Morphic?
To install the program:
-
Visit the Morphic download page.
-
Click on the downloader that matches the computer type you are using: macOS or Windows.
What are the basic features of Morphic?
The readily-available features shown on the toolbar are:
-
Text Size
-
Magnifier
-
Snip
-
Read Selected
-
Contrast & Color
-
Menu
When hovered over, each icon gives a brief reminder about the feature and its purpose. For additional information such as FAQ, or a tutorial video of a specific feature, right-click the feature and click either Learn More or Quick Demo Video.
To customize a feature, right-click the button and click Settings, which will bring you to the desktop setting page. Some examples of things that can be customized in Settings are:
Text Size: Increase or decrease the size of everything on the screen. Bubbles/dots in the description box let you know how much bigger/smaller it can go which varies between computers.
Magnifier: Clicking the Show button causes a box to pop up that magnifies into a portion of the screen. This box follows the mouse icon as it moves. To turn off the magnifier, hit the Hide button. In Settings, Zoom Level and Invert Colors are available.
Snip: Take a picture of part of the screen, which can then be pasted to another location (email, documents, etc.) Click the Copy button, move the mouse to the corner of where you’d like to clip, then click and drag the mouse. The image can then either be pasted right away, or can be found it in the screenshots folder of the computer.
Read Selected: Reads selected text aloud. After selecting text by clicking and dragging the mouse across desired text, click the triangle play icon. To stop the reading, click the square stop icon. In Settings, voice and voice speed can be customized.
Contrast & Color: These four buttons change the visual aspects of the screen. Each can be toggled on and off by clicking the specific button.
-
Contrast: Adjust the contrast of text and the background.
-
Color: Turns on the Color Filters feature. A useful tool to assist people with color blindness or other color vision differences. In Settings, different types of color filters can be applied.
-
Dark: Turns on Dark mode of desktop and any applications that have that setting available. Dark mode varies between applications.
-
Night: Turns on the Night Light feature, which reduces blue-white light on screen that can cause eye strain. This tints the screen to a warm and yellow hue. In Settings, strength of the tint can be customized.
Menu: By clicking the Morphic logo on the toolbar, you can easily access additional settings. This includes mouse, pointer, keyboard and many other accessibility features. Note that this brings you to the settings page for that specific feature.
How can I customize the features?
Morphic doesn’t add any additional features, which means all of them can be changed through the computer’s Settings page. For easy access to the feature, right click the button for the feature and click Settings. For additional feature settings, click the Menu icon, hover or click on More settings to make the computer easier, and click on the feature you’d like to customize.
What are the additional features of Morphic?
By creating a free account, you can access customizable Morphic menu bars which can make computers even easier to access. This custom toolbar can allow one-click access to accessibility features already shown above, as well as access to websites, video calls, and other options. For more information, check out their webpage and video about Morphic Plus.
After making an account you also have access to Assistive Technology on Demand. For additional information, check out their webpage and demo video.
Where can students and instructors go for support with Morphic?
For more information, or to gain a more detailed understanding of Morphic features, review their webpage on Morphic’s basic features which includes text and helpful demo videos. For technical issues or questions directed towards Morphic, go to their contact webpage to find their emails, or send a message from the webpage. ARC’s Assistive Technology Coordinator may be able to provide help as well.
What are some alternatives to Morphic?
Morphic is a free program that places a computer's built-in accessibility features on top of any open window, so the user can access these accessibility features with one click, features that are usually accessed through going to the computer’s Settings page and looking up the feature itself or Accessibility.