Brainfuse Online Tutoring And Low Vision Accessibility

The first time I used the Brainfuse Online Tutoring website was back in 2018 or 2019 when I was confused about a physics problem while working on my homework late at night. I was grateful to get an explanation for how to solve this problem, but I didn’t use Brainfuse for any of my other classes until I had to study for placement exams and standardized tests. I started using Brainfuse several times a week leading up to these exams to help me review concepts that I didn’t understand, take free practice exams, and get feedback on how to solve different types of problems. Here is an overview of the free Brainfuse online tutoring services and tips for using Brainfuse with low vision assistive technology, from the perspective of a student with low vision.

What is Brainfuse?

Brainfuse is a free tutoring and study help website available for cardholders at participating libraries and through educational institutions such as schools and universities. Brainfuse provides a mix of synchronous (live) and asynchronous tutoring and educational resources that learners can access on a variety of topics, including K-12 core subjects, undergraduate college classes, standardized test prep, computer certifications, and more. All Brainfuse resources are available in both English and Spanish,

Brainfuse can be accessed as a web application (known as Brainfuse HelpNow) with no downloads required, though users are required to sign in through their library/institution portal or with a free Brainfuse account connected to their institution credentials. Users can also access Brainfuse resources through an iOS or Android app, but I have not used these apps personally because they do not support large font sizes.

Accessing Brainfuse Live Tutoring

One of the flagship offerings for Brainfuse is their live tutoring service, which can be accessed directly from the Brainfuse homepage and does not require any advance scheduling or specific start times. With live tutoring, users can join a one-hour tutoring session in the subject of their choice, with the option to play back a session recording at a later time. Live tutoring is available at specific hours set by the host institution every day, which is usually from 2 PM to 11 PM, and is often unavailable during federal holidays. Some institutions may offer 24/7 live tutoring.

The Brainfuse live tutoring space consists of a digital whiteboard and chat window, where users can communicate with their tutor in real time by asking questions, sending files, or attaching images. The whiteboard itself can also be used to add or draw content, featuring options such as an equation editor, coordinate plane, and options for drawing shapes or writing text. To get the most out of a tutoring session, I highly recommend bringing specific problems or questions to work through during the session, instead of just expressing general confusion over a given subject area.

By default, Brainfuse tutoring sessions do not contain any audio. However, this can be enabled when starting a new tutoring session by selecting the checkbox “Tutoring with Audio”, which will create a two-way audio connection that can be accessed either through the user’s device or through a toll-free phone number, similar to other videoconferencing platforms.

Using the Brainfuse Writing Lab

The Brainfuse Writing Lab provides an opportunity for learners to get feedback on a paper they have written, typically within one business day. For best results, I recommend uploading the paper in an editable format (such as a Word document) so that in-text feedback can be provided, and including comments or specific requests for feedback when submitting a paper to the Writing Lab service. Learners can view their feedback in the Message Center and download a copy of the document with in-text comments as well.

This service would be especially helpful for students who are working on a paper or that want to get feedback on a paper from someone outside of their class. Before submitting anything, remove any personal or confidential information such as phone numbers, addresses, emails, or last names.

Browsing the Brainfuse Skill Surfer library

The Brainfuse Skill Surfer library provides a mix of text-based explanations of concepts, captioned videos, and practice tests that are available 24/7 across multiple grade levels and subject areas. Each topic area is organized into different sections based on the topic or learning area, which can include specific subject practice tests or individual concept areas such as fractions for a math topic. These are especially useful for learners who are preparing to take a standardized test or placement test and can be accessed with large print sizes via browser zoom or additional screen magnification software at any time of day.

Some Brainfuse Skill Surfer explanations include screenshots of text that may appear pixelated or have missing alt text that describes the text included in the image— I mostly encounter this with math or screenshots of charts. In my experience, there is usually a text-based explanation of what is in an image or a text-based explanation of the same concept with different numbers. Images can also be opened in a new tab or magnified if needed.

Send question with Brainfuse

Out of all of the tutoring options for Brainfuse, I probably use the Send Question feature the most often because I find it helpful to read text-based explanations and often access Brainfuse outside of live tutoring hours. With Send Question, learners can select a grade and subject of interest, send a question, and attach information such as documents, images, or drawings that can help to better describe a question. Similar to the Writing Center, learners will receive a response in the Message Center within one business day, though I typically receive same-day responses if I send something early in the morning.

Some examples of additional documents or attachments I have sent include:

Copies of the original question with answer choices, along with what I think is the right answer— I’m not expecting Brainfuse to solve the problem, but it can be helpful if I don’t know why I got something wrong.
Picture of my whiteboard with how I have tried to solve the problem
Charts, graphs, or other supplemental information from a question
Screenshot of software output

FlashBulb Flashcards

FlashBulb flashcards are available in the Study section of Brainfuse and provide a mix of user-created and instructor-created flashcards on various topics, with the option for learners to create their own flashcard sets as well. These are divided by subject areas, with the option to browse a list of links for each flashcard category.

The flashcards themselves are displayed with black sans-serif font on a white background, with the option to enable audio/text-to-speech. There are also several study games, such as matching, fill-in-the-blank, quizzes, and tests that can be used to explore different concepts. Many of the students I have worked with enjoy the matching game, because it doesn’t require dragging a mouse and can be used with screen magnification to further enlarge text.

Brainfuse accessibility and using Brainfuse with assistive technology

Brainfuse accessibility information is difficult to find online, though I have linked a VPAT below from March 2021 that shares a list of assistive technology and accessibility features, with the caveat that some information appears to be incorrect; audio description is not available in video content and I personally found some examples where images of text are used without alt text. That said, here are my tips for using Brainfuse with assistive technology for users with low vision.

Using Brainfuse with large print/screen magnification

The Brainfuse layout is largely responsive, and I have been successful with using browser zoom to enlarge text with minimal horizontal scrolling
Some images appear blurry/pixelated when enlarged or magnified, usually images of math or charts. However, they can be opened in a new tab if needed.
The chat box for live tutoring does not display in large print very well, so I would recommend using screen magnification to access the chat box or using asynchronous tools like Send Question.
I access Brainfuse as a web application using the web browser on my computer or my iPad, as I have not used the app with large print successfully.

Using Brainfuse with a screen reader

For live tutoring, the whiteboard is not accessible for screen reader users, and only content in the chat box is read out loud or displayed.
Brainfuse math content is rendered in different formats depending on the subject. I’ve encountered math content in MathJax, written in plain text, and as embedded images without alt text.
Brainfuse is largely keyboard accessible. I have used keyboard access for practice tests and browsing through Skill Surfer library lessons successfully. I prefer to use my own calculator for practice tests as it is much faster.
In-text comments for Writing Lab documents can be accessed with a screen reader if the learner submits a copy of their paper in an editable format.

Brainfuse Online Tutoring and Low Vision Accessibility

What is Brainfuse?

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Accessing Brainfuse Live Tutoring

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Using the Brainfuse Writing Lab

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Browsing the Brainfuse Skill Surfer library

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Send question with Brainfuse

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FlashBulb Flashcards

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Brainfuse accessibility and using Brainfuse with assistive technology

Using Brainfuse with large print/screen magnification

Using Brainfuse with a screen reader

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More resources on Brainfuse and online tutoring services

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