Accessible education promotes inclusivity for individuals with cognitive, mobility, and hearing impairments through tried-and-true strategies. These include the effective use of assistive technologies, ongoing professional development, and designing assessments to accommodate various learning disabilities.
By adopting these strategies, businesses and organizations can work toward full and equal participation for individuals with disabilities.
With 14% of public school students enrolled in special education programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), there has never been a better time to focus on classroom accessibility.
Keep reading to learn more about accessible education, including its importance, barriers to accessibility, technological advancements leading the way, and Accessibly’s role in supporting and improving education accessibility.
Importance of Accessible Education
Accessible education offers students of all ages equal participation, improved grades, greater independence, and a more inclusive society.
Equal participation means ensuring that all instructional materials and platforms are fully accessible to individuals with visual, cognitive, mobility, and hearing impairments. The visually impaired may rely on Braille resources, while text-to-speech technology enables digital textbooks to provide equal access to the written word. Real-time captions and ASL interpretation can also play a crucial role in accessibility.
As for academic outcomes, creating personalized learning approaches for individuals with disabilities can improve grades, retention speed, and overall comprehension. For example, people with dyslexia benefit from flexible testing conditions that offer extra time to complete tasks and digital organizers provided by instructors to help keep their thoughts in order.
Accessible education fosters greater independence. Text-to-speech software, refreshable Braille displays, and similar tools allow those with limited mobility or visual impairments to avoid relying on a school aide to recite materials, enabling a greater sense of independence while supporting self-paced learning.
All in all, accessible education promotes participation and increases the likelihood of success for individuals with disabilities, whether in small classrooms or real-world environments.
Practical Strategies for Educators and Institutions to Enhance Accessibility
Here are some practical strategies for educators and institutions to enhance accessibility in classrooms:
Implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
One of the most effective ways to enhance classroom accessibility is by implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This approach accommodates the diverse learning needs of individuals with disabilities by delivering content in multiple formats.
For example, a math lesson can incorporate audio, visual, and interactive elements, along with various input devices and flexible assessment methods, such as closed captioning, 3D modeling, infographics, and speech-to-text software for students with dysgraphia.
UDL removes barriers to learning by recognizing that every student with a disability learns differently.
Take Advantage of Assistive Technology
Another key strategy for enhancing classroom accessibility is the use of assistive technology (AT), which includes accessibility aids such as text-to-speech software, speech-to-text software, and digitized textbooks to support reading comprehension.
Students with limited hand mobility can also benefit from speech-to-text (STT) software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which allows them to use voice commands instead of their wrists and fingers to control input devices. This ensures equal access to both offline and online learning materials.
Additionally, real-time captioning and transcription services like Otter.ai, an AI-powered transcription tool, enable students with disabilities to view captions during lessons. It also generates searchable transcripts, allowing students to easily retrieve past material for review and retention.
Create Accessible Digital Content
Educators and institutions can improve classroom accessibility by prioritizing the creation of accessible digital content. By following best practices such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), all website elements can be fully understood, regardless of a user’s cognitive, hearing, mobility, or visual impairment.
One key accessibility upgrade is introducing alternative text for all images on a site, including dynamic elements, with proper use of ARIA labeling. Additionally, interactive elements like forms should be fully navigable by a keyboard or alternative input devices, ensuring that individuals with limited mobility can engage fully.
Let’s not forget about optimizing the color contrast between text and background colors and using dyslexic-friendly fonts to help individuals who are color-blind, visually impaired, or dyslexic interpret text more easily.
Assess in Different Ways
Traditional tests are not the be-all and end-all when it comes to addressing the needs of individuals with disabilities. Alternative assessments could use interactive demonstrations or oral presentations instead of simple multiple-choice and written answers.
Those who struggle to write (limited mobility users) can benefit from project-based evaluations, which allow them to pass tests with flying colors by verbalizing instead of writing.
Several assessment tools on the market focus on accessibility, such as Microsoft Immersive Reader (great for dyslexia, ADHD, and visual impairments), Google Read & Write with speech-to-text functionality for the learning disabled, and Quizlet, an interactive platform that allows educators to rely less on written responses and more on flashcards, quizzes, and similar interactive games that keep written tests to a minimum.
Let’s not forget about Otter.ai, one of the more popular real-time transcription services, which is excellent for oral presentations and project-based assessments.
Different Pacing and Deadlines
One of the biggest draws of accessible education is the need for students with disabilities to operate within their own time frame. This means allowing extended time on assignments and offering flexible deadlines, which is especially useful for those with ADHD and cognitive impairments.
One popular program that enables flexible deadlines for students with disabilities is Google Classroom. This program allows educators to adjust deadlines for students based on individual preferences. Apart from providing extended time, it accommodates alternative schedules, allowing students to access course material independently and work at their own pace.
Online learning platforms play a crucial role in making education accessible to students of different backgrounds and learning styles. By embracing universal design principles, educational institutions can create an inclusive learning environment where all students feel valued and have equal opportunities to participate. Programs like Google Classroom, along with other digital tools, allow educators to provide necessary accommodations, ensuring that students with disabilities receive the support they need to reach their full potential.
Quality education should not be limited by rigid structures—course design must consider multiple ways for students to engage with educational content, access essential resources, and contribute meaningfully to their learning experience. The Rehabilitation Act underscores the importance of accessibility in education, ensuring that marginalized communities and students with disabilities are not left behind. By raising awareness and implementing inclusive practices, educators can promote well-being and foster a sense of belonging among all learners.
Flexible deadlines, alternative schedules, and accessible educational resources are just a few of the ways institutions can support diverse learning styles. When education is designed with inclusivity in mind, it opens doors for more students to thrive, reinforcing the idea that quality education should be available to everyone, regardless of their circumstances.
These types of programs are beneficial for those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, dysgraphia, or anyone suffering from an anxiety disorder where facing rigid deadlines can be a psychological burden.
Be Clear
When dealing with different students who may suffer from cognitive disabilities such as ADHD and autism, it’s essential to provide clear instructions.
This may mean forgoing a long list of instructions in favor of a step-by-step breakdown or using multiple communication formats (e.g., written and verbal). Accessible classrooms also use visual aids like charts and infographics to reinforce written instructions.
A critical role of assistive technology is providing clear instructions. Speech-to-text software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking allows those with limited mobility to dictate their thoughts out loud instead of typing them on a keyboard. Another, Kurzweil 3000, does a great job of audio note-taking, highlighting, and annotation, which is especially useful for people with dyslexia.
Let’s not forget about mainstream programs like Adobe Acrobat Pro and Microsoft Word, which have built-in accessibility checkers that automatically include alternative text for images, readable fonts, and other accessibility upgrades.
If your existing website or mobile application doesn’t meet ADA and WCAG compliance, we recommend using accessibility overlay widgets like Accessibly. Today, Accessibly has attracted over 5,000 clients with a simplified interface, introducing dozens of accessibility upgrades to how individuals with disabilities interact.
Role of WCAG Accessibility Standards and Educational Accessibility
One set of guidelines that covers a wide swath of accessible education is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which provide a framework for educators to comply with accessible online learning environments.
Specifically, WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 guidelines call for perceivable content, making content operable, improving understandability, and guaranteeing robust compatibility.
Let’s see exactly what each of these entails:
Perceivable
Perceivable ensures that text, images, and multimedia are correctly interpreted by assistive technologies like screen readers, allowing students within the release to enjoy full and equal participation. Whether through screen reader support or manual transcription options for the deaf and hard of hearing, everyone can benefit from accessibility upgrades focusing on this aspect.
Operable
Operability within the guidelines means ensuring that students with disabilities can use various alternative input methods to work with digital content. For example, many specialized tools like Canvas and Schoology allow users to control entire website functions using only a keyboard and adaptive switches for severely limited mobility users.
This also includes voice control tools like Apple Dictation, which allow everything from composing essays to panel discussions without relying on a mouse or keyboard. Even those with severe mobility impairments can use assistive devices like Tobii Dynavox, which works for the controls of a screen using only eyeball movement.
Understandable
Understandable ensures that all students with disabilities have access to clear, consistent instructions across different types of platforms. For example, those with dyslexia and color blindness can benefit from more readable fonts and text customization on websites and mobile applications, made possible with tools like Beeline Reader or fonts like OpenDyslexic.
Additionally, digital textbooks can be broken down into easily digestible summaries with plenty of bullet points and short paragraphs so students with ADHD can better absorb content.
Robust
Lastly, the robust principle within the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ensures that assistive technologies are compatible with websites and mobile applications. For example, many educational websites operate based on HTML5 so that students accessing content on virtually every platform, from mobile phones to screen readers, can easily access content.
There are also specialized keyboard-accessible and speech-enabled coding environments mainly used to teach programming to students with disabilities.
All in all, the WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 guidelines play an important role in increasing accessibility within the field of education. Without accessibility, individuals with disabilities will not have all the necessary tools they need to take their next step.
Future Trends and Predictions in Accessible Education
Within the field of accessible education, continuing advancements in technology promise to create even less of a gap between non-disabled students and students with disabilities.
With the rise of AI, fintech to forecast spending patterns, and other AI platforms, it only makes sense for accessibility to factor into the mix. AI can improve accessibility by enabling personalized lesson plans with tailored lessons for each student with disabilities.
Another area AI can enhance is predictive analytics—educators can gain insights into the types of accessibility aids students may require in the future (not just currently) based on actual progress.
Artificial intelligence can focus on the field of virtual reality. Currently, augmented reality can deliver accessibility aids through real-time annotations and visual overlays on physical objects so that students with cognitive disabilities can better understand the world around them.
There are already several tools designed for this purpose, such as Google Lens, which can do everything from providing real-time translations to interactive content as a means of offering an alternative way for students to learn rather than focusing on the written word.
Lastly, let’s not forget about advancements in today’s accessibility widgets and overlays. Accessibility is constantly evolving, implementing new features with an eye toward artificial intelligence.
Accessibly’s Role in Supporting and Improving Education Accessibility
One of the best ways to enable accessible education in the classroom is to install Accessibly, one of the web’s leading accessibility overlay widgets, on your website.
No matter what platform you’re using, from a student library page to resource guides, Accessibly helps to improve accessibility and supports compliance efforts by introducing several key features to your website to create the most accessible learning environment possible.
Features include alternative text for images, larger text, grayscale, hidden images, and even the ability to invert colors, making it easier for people with dyslexia and color blindness to read the content. Plus, Accessibly is integrated with Google’s Vision AI, generating powerfully written descriptions of all images.Getting started with Accessibly is easy. All new users can start with a free 7-day trial before committing to a monthly subscription.
