Accessibility = Inclusivity

Accessibility refers to the ability for everyone to use products and services easily. This means that all people, including those with disabilities, should be able to fully participate in life activities without any barriers. As a special education teacher, accessibility for my students is of the utmost importance to me. When students are given the necessary tools to succeed, their world becomes so much bigger and brighter!

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In my district, students are fortunate to be 1:1 with iPads. With this technology, there are many accessibility features for students to use. While these are great tools for students with disabilities, accessibility features can actually be beneficial for all! Check out my infographic and read below to learn more.

Image Source: Author Created Infographic via Canva

In exploring some of the accessibility features on the Generation 9 iPads, some of the most interesting and applicable features for my current position include VoiceOver, Switch Control, Speech, Magnifier, and Display and Text Size Adjustments. With these features, students reap the following benefits:

• VoiceOver: Reads aloud text on the entire screen, allowing individuals with vision impairments to navigate and interact with apps and content. This would also be beneficial for students who struggle with decoding or are non-readers. 
• Switch Control: Allows students with limited mobility to control the iPad using physical switches or adaptive devices rather than touch.
• Speech: Converts written text into spoken words, helping individuals with reading difficulties or visual impairments. This can also enables users to listen to books, articles, or other written content.
• Magnifier: Uses the iPad camera to magnify real-world objects and text. Users can zoom in on items in their environment and adjust brightness and contrast to increase visibility.
• Display and Text Size Adjustments: Allows for the increase or decrease of font size for easier reading, helping individuals with visual impairments or dyslexia.

While my current students do not rely on all of the above features, they are features that are important for me to understand as a special education teacher. In my experience teaching Extended School Year this past summer, I had the opportunity to work with students with more diverse and profound needs. Features such as VoiceOver and Switch Control were game changing applications for these students to access content and engage in their education.  In my current classroom, my students benefit from using the Speech and Text Size Adjustment features to have content on the iPad read aloud to them and presented in fonts that are easier for them to read when able. Another feature on iPads that is not included in the Accessibility menu but deserves an honorable mention is the Dictation function. This can be turned on through looking at the settings for your keyboards and is used most frequently by my students to dictate lengthy responses for writing. While it requires some practice and can experience glitches, this has been great for my students to use when they are getting fatigued or frustrated in the writing process. 

So, why is this important? Simply put, accessibility allows for equitable and inclusive learning experiences. Furthermore, these features can help foster independence within students, whether they have an identified disability or just need a bit of extra support within the general education setting to succeed. While I know there is still a lot on this topic that I can still learn about, I feel that being an ambassador for accessibility and sharing this information with other teachers at my school would bring us a few steps closer to building a more supportive environment that can benefit all of the students in our school!