Accessibility in Education

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I remember looking at the clock as it finally blinked over to 2:00 A.M. I was exhausted and had read the assigned social studies chapter at least five times, trying to find the answer to three measly questions that were for homework. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't find what I knew was there. Barely holding it together, I had to wake my mom up to help me so I could finally go to sleep. It took her a few minutes skimming the book to find what I had desperately sought for the last several hours. With a look of concern, she showed me it was right in front of my face the whole time. This experience was just one of many during my grade school years that wrecked my confidence as a learner. It wasn't until high school that I was able to teach myself strategies that helped me. Strategies that I still use today without even thinking about it. I accepted that I might have to work a little bit harder than my friends to organize my thoughts, structure my writing, and comprehend what I read, but I could do it. Did I receive an equal education to my peers growing up? Yes. Was it equitable? Absolutely not.

Diverse Learners

Equality in education would seem to be a positive thing, right? But it assumes that students are all the same and learn the same. It does not account for diversity and student needs. All of my classmates received the same notes, the same text, and the same questions. So why were they succeeding and not me? It wasn't from a lack of effort but a lack of accessibility. I could not access the text like my peers.

As an English language arts (ELA) teacher, this experience is what influences me most when creating lessons and assessments for my own students. I start the year by just asking my students some simple questions. 

• What are you really good at in ELA? 
• What do you struggle with in ELA? 
• Are there things you or your teachers do that help you? 
• Are there things that you or your teachers do that make learning harder? 
• What was your favorite assignment or project you have done in any of your classes? 

All of these questions help me gain an understanding of my students before I have a chance to get to know them. I also conduct periodic checks similar to this throughout the year, as we are forever changing as educators. Once you are able to understand your learners, you can better plan out what accommodations and modifications they may need. But what about accessing digital resources?

Accessibility for Digital and Media Literacy

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Despite my passion for helping all of my students see their full potential, accessibility in digital and media literacy is something that I am still learning. Oftentimes, my students are the ones who teach me new accessibility tools that I can use with others. As a result, it has been my goal this year to introduce myself to some new tools to help my students in this ever-evolving technological world. 

I'm going to start with the basics. Chromebooks. My current school district has provided all students with their own Chromebook. We are a Google school, so starting there makes sense. In my research, I found quite a few accessibility tools for the device. Google Chrome created a wonderful playlist on YouTube that gives tutorial videos on all the accessibility options offered on Google Chrome and Chromebooks. As a quick guide, I picked five of the accessibility tools that I have seen my students utilize most and posted them to the right.

The "Select-to-Speak" function has been incredibly beneficial for my students who are auditory learners or have difficulties focusing. This function helps with comprehension and gives them independence when working on their assignments. While some may argue that it hinders them from becoming stronger readers, there are two things to consider: 

1. They should be reading the text along with the audio.  

 

2. What is the purpose of the text? Is its purpose to build reading fluency, or are they being assessed on a different skill they can't demonstrate because of this hurdle?

 

The "Dictation" feature is probably utilized the most by my students with specialized learning plans. While you have to be careful, as students still need to learn how to organize their writing, it is advantageous depending on the assignment. For instance, I always give my students graphic organizers. The level of support these organizers provide varies depending on student needs, but this allows them the opportunity to practice organizing their thoughts. This feature is a handy tool when they are required to type out their organizers like the rest of the class. Dictation doesn't take away from what they are learning, but it allows them to type up their work at the same speed their peers can without taking away any learning. However, I still have to remind them that dication still needs to be checked for errors as it is not perfect. 

If you like the abovementioned tools, please dig a little deeper. If you're not in the mood to watch all the tutorials linked above, try looking at Google for Education's "Devices Designed for All Learners."