Exploring Accessibility in Education

Equality and Equity are the Same, Right?

Image Source: 2019 Design in Tech Report

Equality and equity seem identical, but they have very different meanings. Equality tends to skew toward sameness, where every student gets the same resources and opportunities. However, what works for some students would not work for others. Providing the same support for everyone does not mean every student will get all the help they need. So, that is where equity comes in. 

 

Image Source: 2019 Design in Tech Report

Equity deals with fairness and recognizes that every student has different circumstances, challenges, differences, or disabilities. For example, in a classroom, students with special needs will need more personalized help to reach similar outcomes as their peers. Equity means providing every student with the opportunities and resources they need to succeed. Educators can create an equitable learning environment by exploring Universal Design for Learning. 

Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) “aims to give all students equal opportunities to succeed, no matter how they learn.” The teacher must find ways to create, teach, and present materials to diverse students. The teacher must consider students' needs and provide various options in presenting information. In other words, the teacher must be able to accommodate a wide range of learners and create an inclusive learning environment by removing obstacles in the learning process. After all, learning must be accessible for all students, regardless of their abilities, learning styles, or differences. One way teachers can introduce UDL is by incorporating assistive technology. 

Accessibility in Education through Assistive Technology

Assistive technologies, which include software, equipment, and services, help students with disabilities learn independently. Assistive technologies aid students with learning differences and disabilities in completing tasks that they may have a hard time doing. For example, a student with mobility issues would benefit from an on-screen keyboard, a student with low vision would benefit from a larger mouse cursor, and a hard-of-hearing or deaf student would benefit from close captions. When these students access information and do specific tasks on their own, they will have increased confidence. Overall, assistive technology gives students with disabilities an equitable opportunity to access and engage with educational content and activities. It also helps ensure that all teachers can deliver inclusive instruction for all. 

Built-In Accessibility Features for ChromeBooks

The elementary students at my current school use Chromebooks to access the resources, videos, and assignments that their teachers post on Google Classroom. As a library and technology assistant, I have to enable specific in-built accessibility features to help students with special needs participate in-class instruction. For example, I have changed the language for immigrant students with limited English knowledge, enabled live captions for students who are hard of hearing, increased text size, and made the cursor bigger for students with visual disabilities. I also know how to turn off the features for students who accidentally turned them on. Because of this, I wanted to introduce or talk about some in-built accessibility features that Chromebooks have, which include vision, hearing, speech, and mobility support. You can check out some features on the poster below or through the PDF file. Overall, the poster highlights important tools such as: 

• Vision Accessibility tools for students who have low-vision or are blind: High Contrast, Magnifier, ChromeVox
• Hearing Accessibility tools for students who are hard-of-hearing or deaf: Mono Audio, Closed Captioning 
• Mobility Accessibility Tools for students with limited or uncontrollable movement: Sticky Keys

Image Source: Blog Author

As the only Library and Technology Assistant in the building, I cannot be in multiple places at once helping students with their Chromebooks. Therefore, I will place this poster in the Library’s Google Drive so students will know how to access the built-in accessibility features on their Chromebooks. It is also important to remember that these features are not limited to students with disabilities. All students should have access to these features because they can make the learning experience easier and support learning. In fact, I like to use captions when viewing videos for educational or personal use because I comprehend and retain the material easier by using multiple senses. If you are interested in more accessibility features, please check out the Google website. 

Looking Forward

I am confident in my ability to know and enable certain accessibility features on Chromebooks. I am also working on being conscious of specific disabilities when creating visual resources for staff and students. However, I know I have so much more to learn if I want to create an equitable learning environment for everyone. I need to explore more assistive technology and other forms of accessibility. For example, I had no idea that Deaf Verse, A Choose Your Own Adventure online game, is avaialbe for students who are deaf. I also want to explore Bookshare in more detail. Bookshare is free for students with IEP, learning disabilities, dyslexia, blindness, and cerebral palsy. They can find over 1,225,841 titles and customize their reading experience to suit their learning style. Overall, I want to accommodate a wider variety of needs and know the resources to limit potential learning barriers. 

References

Accessibility features in Google for Education. (n.d.). Google for Education. https://edu.google.com/why-google/accessibility/

Assistive technology. (n.d.). Illinois State Board of Education. https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Special-Education-Assistive-Technology.aspx

Equality or equity? (2022, December 2). Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/22/12/equality-or-equity

Maeda, J. (2019). 2019 Design in Tech Report: “Addressing Imbalance.” Design in Tech. https://designintech.report/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/dit2019_v00.pdf