Enabling Learning Equity through Accessibility in Education

All students deserve an equal opportunity to learn, regardless of their disabilities. While there are laws in place to ensure that students with disabilities receive accommodations, too often those needs are not met.

In addition, schools have an individual responsibility to provide information in a manner that is accessible to everyone by using ADA-approved accessibility guidelines in their products and curriculum.

Many schools and edtech companies employ the use of digital learning consultants to provide educational accessibility services such as:

• Adapted textbooks and accessible technology, including laptops and digital tablets.

• Interpreters or other means of communication so that students who speak different languages can access the same material as their peers.

• Home tutors for students with learning disabilities or special needs who require extra help beyond what's available at school (this can include homework assistance).

• Exam accommodations such as extra time on tests, separate testing rooms for visually impaired students and Braille books for those who cannot read print well enough without assistance from an electronic text-to-speech program, which allows blind people to use their computers like sighted people do -- simply speaking commands into the microphone rather than having them type them out on keyboards!

• Educational accessibility in assessments also includes robust QTI 3.0-enabled assessments and making allowances for the use of assistive technologies within digital testing platforms.

• Awareness training for professional development and students to understand the effects of the limitations that disabilities could bring to students and ways to overcome them.

In addition, complying with accessibility guidelines such as WCAG 2.1 or WCAG 2.2 (set to release September 2022) for accessibility can greatly improve product adoption for publishers, edtech companies, and educational institutions.

One of the most important steps in creating an inclusive classroom is to build awareness surrounding the types of disabilities and removing barriers to learning. This can be done by organizing workshops that teach students about different types of disabilities, such as visual impairment, hearing loss, invisible disabilities, or mobility issues.

Accessibility in education can only be successful when schools and teachers alike develop strategies for accommodating those with disabilities within their classrooms and curricula. For example: if a blind student needs assistance taking notes during class discussions then they should be provided with note-takers who speak into headsets so that everyone can hear what he or she is saying (or see). To ensure your classroom, content, or products are accessible, try a digital accessibility consultant who can walk you through the various stages in developing accessible content. Stages such as strategizing, identifying gaps, remediating, and continuous improvement of products and content can greatly help your efforts to be more effective.

Digital Learning for Everyone