Making digital learning more accessible and more impactful begins with understanding the diverse needs of the learners. Digital accessibility in education covers the whole spectrum of students with disabilities. For example, a student may have vision impairment (permanent disability), a student may have broken their glasses (temporary disability), or a student may not be able to view the computer screen clearly because of harsh lighting (situational disability). Accessibility in digital learning benefits students across the entire spectrum.
Educators should embrace universal design principles while developing digital content for instruction. Universal design principles aim to weave accessibility into product design to provide a hassle-free and seamless user experience.
The universal design emphasizes using transcripts, alt text, and captions for digital content that includes audio, video, images, and graphics. It recommends content creators never rely on just a single sensory characteristic to convey information (such as using only color or only text or only audio).
Before acquiring or using any new digital tools, apps, software programs or websites for digital learning, educators should research, test, and evaluate their accessibility.
Digital accessibility testing will help educators determine how easily students with disabilities can use a particular digital resource.
Educators will be able to ensure ahead of time that all students can comprehend, interact and navigate an app or website. They can find a wide range of digital accessibility testing tools online and utilize them to make the best decisions.
A VPAT or Voluntary Product Accessibility Template is a document describing how information and communication technology (ICT) products, including digital content and documents, and hardware and software, conform to the regulatory standards for digital accessibility.
Educators can recommend the IT team in their school or college to require VPATs for any new hardware or software products they buy for instructional purposes. This will help ensure that any new digital tools and solutions used for students are accessible to all.
Educators can upgrade their learning independently about the development of new tools and techniques in digital learning and utilize their independent knowledge to make learning more accessible to all students.
At the same time, they can advocate at the school and district levels for training programs for teachers focused on improving digital accessibility. To generate awareness, knowledgeable educators can initiate conversations with administrators, co-workers, and students to turn digital accessibility into an institutional movement.
Educators are constantly creating and updating digital instructional resources and documents to enhance their students' learning experience. They can learn how to create accessible documents and utilize online tools to test PDF documents, MS Office documents, and Google Drive files for accessibility.
Educators can explore resources, such as Anthology Ally, which provide various tools for improving and monitoring course accessibility. These tools and resources can enhance the experience of both students and instructors by enabling them to customize that experience according to their specific needs and preferences.
The law requires public school websites to follow the ADA guidelines for web accessibility. But from an educator’s perspective, ADA compliance should not merely be about ticking the regulatory compliance box. The goal of an accessible school or college website should enable students with real needs to have a more wholesome digital learning experience.
An accessible web design will allow the digital content to render across different devices, operating systems, and assistive technologies. Innovations such as text-to-speech, synchronized captions, and live transcripts on the school or college website can greatly benefit learners with accessibility needs.
More than 40 million students and educators worldwide now use Google Classroom. With accessibility features, such as Braille displays, screen readers, and voice typing built-in, this secure and easy-to-use online tool helps teachers manage, measure, and enrich digital learning experiences.
For students with vision, hearing, motor, or cognitive disabilities, Google Classroom allows them to adjust accessibility settings to let them learn in a way that works most effectively.