What is it?
According to Deque Systems (2018), 57 million people in the United States depend on assistive technologies to help them interact with the digital world. Without these technologies, the door of opportunity may not open for them.
These assistive technologies could include:
Screen readers,
Braille displays,
Zoom functions,
High-contrast colors on websites,
Captions or transcripts on videos,
Speech-to-text,
Ability to highlight text,
Keyboard only interactions, and
Layouts that are thoughtful (good font size, white space, color scheme), organized and clearly understandable (Deque Systems, 2018; UTS, 2021).
Digital accessibility is defined by Deque Systems (2018) as “the practice of making digital documents, web and mobile apps accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.” The web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) are a set of standards that define what accessibility on a web site looks like, and these are legally required for federal government sites and apps. Many private businesses choose to adhere to WCAG standards too (Deque Systems, 2018). While it is a legal requirement to make government websites accessible and to ensure digital educational content is accessible, creating content in this manner benefits everyone (UTS, 2018; Hashey & Stahl, 2021).
Why is it important?
Not all students are the same. For all to have equal access to educational opportunities, we need to ensure that the learning environment allows them to access the material. Accessible materials may make the difference to a child learning or experiencing a barrier to learning (Special education and accessibility, n.d.; Access to learning, 2022). For students who have vision, hearing, physical, or cognitive impairments, technology allows us to meet their needs in ways that were not possible a few decades ago.
In order for students to be able to use the accessibility features and learn in the digital environment, they must be digitally literate, or they will be at greater risk of falling behind. We must ensure that they are learning the digital literacy skills, beginning in the early grades, so they can learn now and also grow into adults who can participate in a digital society (SREB, 2018; Access to learning, 2022).
How to make content more accessible?
There are many ways to make content more accessible to students. Open communication with students about their needs and thinking about access from their perspective is a good place to start. Teachers can also be aware of how they format their content. Sending presentations and physical handouts to students electronically, so they can utilize the assistive technology to help them access the content more fully is another helpful strategy. (UTS, 2018; Special education and accessibility, n.d.). Microsoft programs have an Accessibility Checker that should be used to assess accessibility of content made using those programs, and Google GSuite products can be scanned with Grackle Suite (Special education: creating, n.d.; Hashey & Stahl, 2021).
The Microsoft Educator Community Article, Special education: Creating accessible content (n.d.), lists many ways that content can be made in a way that is accessible. Some of these include:
Using alternative (alt) text with visuals in all document types (see Everything you need to know to write effective alt text for more info),
Use the built in slide designs in Power Point,
Use high-contrast colors,
Use built-in headings on Documents and unique slide titles in PowerPoint,
Use simple table structures with column headers,
Use san serif fonts with appropriate font sizes for the medium,
Ensure that there is adequate white space to break up content,
Make videos that are accessible for vision and hearing-impaired users,
Make sure that color is not the only way information is presented,
Sheet tabs should have unique names in Excel,
When adding hyperlinks, make the display name of the link match the title of the source (don't use a "click here"),
Leave lessons and materials online, so student can access it on demand,
If alt-text cannot easily describe a graphic, type the text, and
Ensure that any PDFs that are used are accessible.
Teachers can also use many types of resources already embedded into computer programs and apps to provide accessible content to their students. These could include resources like:
Reading assistance with Immersive reader,
Writing assistance with dictation and word prediction,
Math assistance with built in tools like calculators, protractors, etc.,
Hearing assistance using captions on videos,
Speech, language and communication assistance with PowerPoint presentation coach, Flipgrid, and captions
Assistance for neuro-diverse learners through focus assist, organization apps, and alternate assessment methods using digital recording apps,
Mobility assistance using dictation, using keyboard shortcuts, speech recognition, etc.
Vision assistance with screen-readers or AI, and
Executive function assistance using planners, breaking down tasks in One Note, etc. (Special education and accessibility, n.d.)
This video has some great ideas on features that are already in technology, which can be used right now.
A key idea to remember when designing instructional materials are the POUR principles, which are the foundation of the WCAG guidelines. POUR stands for:
Perceivable – all learners can see and hear the content
Operable – students can navigate independently
Understandable – content is presented in a consistent, predictable way
Robust – content is accessible on current and future technologies
This video provides an excellent description of all of these principles.
Selecting Technologies with Accessibility in Mind
When selecting technologies and materials to use in the classroom, it is wise to start with programs that were designed using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, because it was designed with accessibility in mind (Access to learning, 2022). It is easier to build content to be accessible across multiple media types when it is considered first in the design process in consultation with content specialists (Hashey & Stahl, 2021).
Concluding Thoughts
Prior to my research this week, I had heard the term accessibility in regard to technology. I wasn’t sure what it meant beyond making sure that there was a high-contrast on websites to make them easier to read. This was a fascinating topic, and I learned much. I will definitely continue research in this area because I think it is an area that most teachers are not well trained. Providing training to teachers on this topic could be a great way to help them reach disengaged students.
Resources
Access to learning. AEM Center. (2022, January 25). Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://aem.cast.org/get-started/access-learning
Deque Systems. (2018, May 17). What is Digital Accessibility? - youtube. YouTube.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grrx2Lva7T0
Designing for accessibility with pour. AEM Center. (2021, April 21). Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://aem.cast.org/create/designing-accessibility-pour
Hashey, A., and Stahl, S. (2021). Open Educational Resources (OERs). Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning. Retrieved [February 18, 2022] from https://aem.cast.org/publications/2021/open-educational-resources-oers
Special education and accessibility resources for remote learning. Microsoft Educator Center. Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://education.microsoft.com/en-us/resource/0c6e9c42
Special education: Creating accessible content. Microsoft Educator Center. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2022, from https://education.microsoft.com/en-us/resource/b508505f
SREB, (2018). 10 Issues in Educational Technology, 2108. Retrieved December 7, 2019 from https://www.sreb.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/10issues_v8-web_version_accessible.pdf?1521568731
UTS Learner Experience Lab. (2021, April 6). Students explain digital accessibility: Meet the students. YouTube.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkjLnQKX2G0
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