[Athen] Notebook LM

[Joshua Hori via athen-list]

I've been using NotebookLM with a deaf/blind student in chemistry since January 2025, and it truly is a remarkable tool. I even wrote an article about my experiences with it: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/notebooklm-accessible-organized-eco-conscious-way-do-research-hori-bfmnc/.

While there were a few accessibility issues initially, we managed to develop workarounds to ensure usability. I'm pleased to report that they have now made mind maps accessible and are automatically naming different reports for easier navigation. Although the mobile app is quite limited, it does allow you to add sources or listen to studio content generated from your desktop.

Google has also introduced a new tool called Illuminate, which is being used to generate discussions on online content, including JSTOR research: https://illuminate.google.com/explore?pli=1.

A quick note for using NotebookLM in STEM: utilize role-playing to keep the AI on track. For example, you might set up a scenario like, "You are an Inorganic Chemistry instructor presenting details to high school students to spark their interest in this complex subject for college. Ensure you fully read out acronyms to avoid confusion and provide everyday examples of where this knowledge might be applied." This can be set up via the edit button for audio generation.

I have generated audio discussions only using SMILES code for content (chemical bonding structures). Without a prompt, it went wildly off the path and made incorrect statements. With prompt, I was able to understand how to read the SMILES code.

Best,


Joshua Hori

Accessible Technology Coordinator

Information Educational Technology

Academic Technology Services

50 Hutchison Dr.

Davis, CA 95616

530-752-2439

Schedule a meeting via Calendly<https://calendly.com/d/ytt-hsj-vbn>

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman22.u.washington.edu> on behalf of Deborah Armstrong via athen-list <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Date: Monday, January 12, 2026 at 9:13 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Athen] Notebook LM

Notebook LM, from google is absolutely one of the coolest tools for a student with a print impairment. A great deal of AI training and examples are focused on work productivity and Notebook LM is great for that too, but if your student dislikes or doesn’t have the time to read reams, it can not only summarize, but answer questions.
It’s completely accessible to the screen reader user, and Freedom Scientific just did a webinar demonstrating tasks using it with JAWS:
Research Reimagined: Mastering Google’s NotebookLM with JAWS – Freedom Scientific<https://www.freedomscientific.com/webinars/research-reimagined-mastering-googles-notebooklm-with-jaws/>
Video or audio only can be downloaded from the above website or if a student asks Siri or Alexa to “play the latest Freedom Scientific Podcast” that’s what is going to play now. It’s also the latest entry on their YouTube channel so users can see as well as listen to the demo.
Students with good vision can also surf YouTube for tons of more visually-oriented training, some amateur and some professional.
As the Vispero trainer points out, she loves to upload all her user guides to it and then can ask a question like “how do I pair my supersonic headset to my computer?”.
A more student oriented example would be to upload notes or textbook chapters to it and then ask it to compare Sparta and Athens, or clarify a formula in chapter 12 or which textbook chapter covers how to delete an item from a list in python. I can see it being especially helpful for paralegal or real estate studies where many laws must be mastered.
The idea is that you create a “notebook” with the material and it can accept a wide variety of file formats, and then you can query that data and get answers fast.
Though the free version is limited, google has adoption programs for many colleges that allow students to freely use the professional version.
I know professors feel AI is cheating, but in crafting your query, you are not cheating. Learning how to effectively create prompts is a valuable art and it takes practice.
You can get to the material you need to memorize for an exam faster this way. And in the real world, we look up stuff all the time, which is what I’d tell a professor if I got scolded for using AI.
--Debee

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