“We have been on this planet for a very long time and we've evolved,” says Kimberly Zajac, a speech language pathologist at Norton Public Schools in Mansfield, Massachusetts. “Society changes with time. Communication has always been a basic human right. Too often we put the onus of the work onto the wrong people to be able to access, engage, and be part of the community and what's happening in this world.”

Zajac aims to end this burden by smoothing the road for all students using technology and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. She has developed a replicable model for integrating Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) as an inclusive practice, providing comprehensive professional development and embedded coaching, ensuring that all educators—not just special education staff—are equipped to support students with complex communication needs. This dismantles systemic barriers, creating a learning environment in which students who have been historically marginalized are given the tools to thrive academically and socially.

Zajac, who was recently recognized with a Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award for this and other efforts, shares her “Guide to Preparing for Title II Accessibility Requirements” as well as tips for those interested in creating the best program possible.

An Evolution in Education

“The work I do around accessibility and inclusion and communication in tandem with policy that we've gotten from the DOJ with the ADA Title II and the WCAG guidelines really elevates this idea that we need to take a long, hard look at what we're doing and how we're doing it,” Zajac says. “We need to redesign that to be more accessible and eliminate the barriers in order to evolve as a human race.”

As communication continues to evolve alongside technology, Zajac suggests it was “a ripe time” to learn about the new developments and new ways to support students with their alternative and augmentative communication needs, and to fill in any gaps. Collaborating with district leadership, Zajac and her team did a survey and came up with a five-year plan to build capacity and elevate access and inclusion through communication from pre-K to 12 plus.

“We were able to articulate and apply to grants on a local level, which were well received,” Zajac says. “We received a significant amount of funding locally and at the state level to not only purchase hardware and software, but also to invite professional development and coaching, which is really the glue to helping things turn into actions and experiences for our students and their families.”

This effort brought positive results for everyone.

“The stewards along that path — the teachers, the stakeholders, the parents — are all in it together to bring our learners into the future and make sure their full capacity is realized,” Zajac says. “The point is that it takes a village. The stakeholders are far, wide and vast — they bring valuable individual-lived experience to the table that creates connection and benefits the learners we serve.”

5 Reasons Digital Accessibility Is Important Beyond Compliance

• One in Five People Have a Disability - Actions help more than you think.
• Legal Risks - ADA complaints, costly investigations, and lawsuits with private right of action.
• Educational Barriers - Digital inaccessibility means students with disabilities cannot access the same education.
• Reputational Damage - Non-compliance signals that equity is not a true district priority.
• Universal Design Benefits All Learners - Accessible design principles — captions, clear contrast, keyboard navigation — improve the learning experience for every student, not just those with disabilities.

How Implementation Looks in the Classroom

Zajac hasn’t reached the end of her five-year plan and is realizing it to be just the tip of the iceberg.

“We've experienced a wonderful transformation,” she says. “We have seen increased use of alternative and augmentative communication processes, systems, devices, strategies and assets within a great number of classrooms in our target range of pre-K to 12. It's making significant impact in the way that students are able to be engaged in and included in all aspects of their day.”

Zajac is seeing improvements in academics as well as in social-specific areas, ranging from circle time to snack time, lunch time extending into extracurriculars. Increasing inclusivity into these social-centered elements of a school day are critical to giving all students a sense of belonging.

“I just can't say how important it is that we inspire educators and families and stakeholders at scale to think about learners from the margins as we develop our systems and policies,” she says. “It's a human process to have blind spots. It's impossible not to have them, but that's where the stakeholders come in. Lived experience can inform who might have accidentally been excluded. You can then move forward with policies and strategic system approaches that do honor all the voices that should be represented.”

This has led to more participation from students, who are more eager to contribute to the conversation. Students who do not face communication issues are also curious and interested about how the technology works.

For example, Zajac says, “I was in a group this morning that included one of my non-speaking students who uses an iPad to support the expressive communication element of his participation. Every single student involved in the activity was choosing to utilize the iPad in addition to their verbal communication. Each time a student reached for the iPad, the non-speaking student’s smile grew bigger.”

The 5-Step Compliance Plan

• The Audit Comprehensive review of all digital properties to understand scope.
• The Roadmap Timeline to bridge gaps; prioritize high-leverage systems first.
• Procurement Reform Update RFPs to include accessibility requirements for all vendors.
• Staff Training Build internal capacity so accessible content is created from day one.
• Documentation Record all actions; publish a public accessibility statement online.

Zajac feels one of the most important things we need to establish for students in schools today is that when they arrive, they feel like they belong there—that they are seen, that they are heard, and that there are more things in common among their classmates than there are differences.

“We've known about UDL in the past, but there hasn't been this call to action for the tools to actually have features that make it possible for teachers to design, deliver, and execute the end goal with the student,” Zajac says, adding there's nothing more exciting than seeing it coming together.

“Today, my student— his face just lit up when other students were choosing to use the iPad,” Zajac says. “It hit me, ‘Oh my goodness, he feels so comfortable here. He's letting his emotions out.’ That's that ‘sense of belonging’ indicator. There is no finish line. You just have to commit to that dynamic ongoing process. But we're doing things right when students can let their guard down and be who they are in the space.”

Compliance, Whose Responsibility Is it? Know Your Role

• IT & Technology System configuration, assistive tech support, platform audits.
• Curriculum & Instruction Accessible lesson plans, screen-reader-friendly materials.
• Procurement Vetting vendors for WCAG compliance before purchase.
• Special & General Ed Aligning classroom tools with individual student needs.
• Leadership Steering the cross-functional team; accountability to the board.
• Families & Community Providing feedback on real user experience.

Tools They Use

• Google Gemini
• Glint by NerChat
• Lightspeed
• Everyway
• Canva

Digital accessibility is no longer optional in education. It is a matter of equity, compliance, usability, and professional responsibility. Whether we frame it as “becoming more digitally accessible” or as aligning our materials with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the underlying principle is the same: design content that all learners can access, navigate, and understand.

Accessibility is not a specialized add-on. It is a core component of instructional design, communication strategy, and leadership practice.

In this article, I will outline practical, high-impact steps educators and institutions can take immediately to improve digital accessibility across documents, presentations, websites, learning management systems (LMS), and multimedia materials.

Start with the Basics: Use Built-In Accessibility Checkers

The most efficient entry point for evaluating accessibility is leveraging the tools already available in productivity platforms. In MS Office, the accessibility checker is built directly into Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. The tool identifies missing alternative text, insufficient heading structures, table issues, and more. Errors are categorized by severity and include guided remediation steps.

Similarly, many LMS platforms, such as D2L and Canvas, provide built-in accessibility checkers for course content. The complete version of Adobe Acrobat includes an Accessibility Checker for PDFs. Web-based tools such as accessibilitychecker.org and WebAdmin’s WAVE can audit web content and contrast ratios.

A simple institutional expectation, “run the accessibility checker before publishing,” can dramatically reduce barriers.

Color Contrast

Digital accessibility has several facets. One of the easiest to address is color contrast, which remains one of the most common accessibility failures.

WCAG 2.0 Level AA requires:

• A contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text
• A contrast ratio of at least 3:1 for large text

WCAG 2.1 extends requirements to graphics and interface components, requiring at least 3:1 contrast. Level AAA raises expectations to 7:1 for normal text. Large text is defined as 14-point bold (approximately 18.66px) or 18-point regular (24px).

Contrast is not about aesthetics; it is about legibility for users with low vision, color vision deficiency, or aging-related visual decline. Tools such as WebAIM’s Color Contrast Checker and browser developer tools can quickly evaluate compliance. ColorZilla can extract color codes from page elements for precise analysis.

Critically, color cannot be the sole means of conveying meaning. If red text indicates “important,” it must also include textual reinforcement such as “Important” or bold/underline formatting.

Typography and Readability

Font choice and formatting significantly influence accessibility. Use simple plain legible fonts such Verdana, Calibri, Tahoma, Georgia, Raleway, Gill Sans, Corbel, Garamond, or Century Gothic.

Beyond that, best practices include:

• Avoid ALL CAPS, which reduce readability and are difficult for screen readers.
• Use left-aligned (or right-aligned in RTL languages) text rather than fully justified blocks.
• Avoid decorative script or overly stylized fonts.
• Use consistent font families and sizing throughout a document.
• Use the largest reasonable font size.

For projected presentations, the minimum font size should be calculated based on viewing distance. Multiply the distance from the farthest seat (in inches) by 0.11 to determine the minimum projected font height in inches. For example, in a room where the farthest seat is 20 feet (240 inches) away, the projected text should be at least 2.64 inches high. Design for the person in the back row or the student viewing on a small screen.

Alternative Text: Describing Visual Information

Images, charts, and graphics must include alternative (alt) text so screen reader users can understand the content. Alternative text should convey the purpose of the image, be concise while still descriptive, and avoid redundant phrasing such as “Image of…” unless necessary.

For example, instead of writing “Photo,” write: “Bar graph showing 15 students prefer chocolate ice cream, the highest category.” If an image is purely decorative, it should be marked as decorative so screen readers skip it.

Use Informative Links, not “Click Here”

Screen reader users often navigate by scanning a list of links. If every link reads “click here,” the content becomes meaningless out of context.

Link text should describe the destination. Instead of “Click here,” use “Accessibility Guidelines from the National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials.”

Descriptive link text improves both accessibility and usability for all users.

Structure and Navigation Landmarks

Accessibility depends on structure, not visual formatting. Make sure to use proper heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) rather than bold text alone. Include page numbers, headers, and footers when appropriate. Use bullets or numbered lists instead of narrative listings separated by commas.

These structural elements create navigation landmarks for screen readers and magnification software.

Designing for Magnification and Reflow

Users who rely on magnification software often zoom content to 120% or more. Content must remain usable at increased magnification without requiring horizontal scrolling.

Consider the following:

• Avoid fixed column widths.
• Ensure text reflows dynamically.
• Avoid overlapping text boxes.
• Use solid backgrounds instead of complex textures.
• Enable reflow in PDFs.
• Avoid horizontal scrolling; screen readers rely on vertical flow.

Responsive web design principles inherently support accessibility by adapting content to screen size.

Tables: Use for Data, not Layout

Tables should present data and not be used to control layout. Accessible tables should include:

• A clearly defined header row.
• Avoid merged or split cells.
• Avoid complex nested structures.
• Include alt text describing the table’s structure or purpose.
• Do not split rows across pages.

Do not “fake” tables using tabs or spacing as screen readers will not understand how to present that information appropriately.

Multimedia: Captions and Transcripts

Audio and video content must include text alternatives. Creators should include closed captions for video and transcripts for both audio and video files. Many platforms, such as Zoom, automatically generate transcripts, though these should be reviewed for accuracy. Transcripts can also support translation for multilingual communities.

Accessibility in multimedia supports not only individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, but also multilingual learners, users in noisy environments, and those who prefer reading to listening.

Keyboard Navigation

All web content and LMS environments should be fully navigable via keyboard. Users who cannot operate a mouse rely on tab navigation, logical focus order, and accessible form controls. Institutions should regularly test their sites by navigating using only the keyboard.

Emerging AI and Assistive Technologies

Emerging tools that expand accessibility possibilities:

• DeepL and Google Translate support multilingual access.
• Read&Write Gold supports dyslexic learners.
• Google Lens and Microsoft Seeing AI assist users with visual impairments.
• Khanmigo and other AI tutors can provide alternative explanations.

Remember that technology is not a substitute for accessible design. An AI tool can augment accessibility; it does not excuse inaccessible content.

Accessibility as Leadership Practice

Digital accessibility is not merely a compliance requirement under ADA or Section 508. It reflects institutional values around inclusion, universal design, and educational equity.

Resources such as these provide frameworks for systemic implementation of accessibility.

• The National Center on Accessible Digital Educational Materials
• The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)
• The DAISY Consortium

Leaders should move from individual compliance toward institutional culture. Establish accessibility review processes and provide faculty development. Consider creating accessible templates from which faculty can work. Include accessibility considerations in procurement decisions and embed accessibility expectations in instructional design policies.

Accessibility improves usability for everyone. Clear structure benefits busy professionals. Captions support multilingual learners. Strong contrast improves readability in bright rooms. Accessible PDFs improve mobile usability. In short, accessibility is good design.

Accessibility is iterative, not perfectionist. Each improvement removes a barrier for someone. When educators design with accessibility in mind from the outset, they signal that all learners belong and that access to knowledge is not conditional on ability. That commitment is not merely technical. It is ethical.

With 40% of its 850 students at Upper Bucks County Technical School (UBCTS) in Pennsylvania having an IEP, and 50% overall being economically disadvantaged, school leaders realized that their instructional staff might need more professional support than many traditional schools.

“I just wanted to make sure all of our CTE educators and staff had the materials, resources, and knowledge to support all learners,” says Michael Herrera, Executive Director of UBCTS. “Many of our instructors are technical experts who have to come into career tech ed and then learn how to become teachers.”

While looking for help, Herrera discovered Amanda Bastoni, Director of Career Technical & Adult Education for CAST, and realized that the organization's Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which offers learning principles to support diverse and special populations, might be the solution he was looking for to bridge that gap. Bastoni was eager to offer support.

“We first asked how we could build self-efficacy in the teachers, how we could help them see that they could be successful and give them the skills they needed,” says Bastoni. “Many CTE teachers are already using the strategies in universal design for learning but they haven't been told or identified that these are best practices in education. So part of it is just saying, ‘Look this is what you're already doing really well. Keep it up.’”

As a result of the partnership, UBCTS has developed a specialized credential for educators designed to enhance understanding and application of UDL. It also includes a professional badge from NOCTI, the leading provider of industry credentials and resources for CTE.

Herrera says embedding this type of professional development has become sustainable, provided a common language, and built trust, all of which has validated the process. “We saw that it could be the most effective way to change the paradigm and help our teacher support all learners,” he adds.

Now, more than 45 UBCTS staff members have been trained in UDL.

Building Supports

Implementing UDL throughout the program has helped to create a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS), says Daniel Cullen, UBCTS Assistant Director of Student Services.

“Tier One core instruction is going to be founded upon our UDL principles and the tenants of instruction that are associated with each principle,” Cullen says. “And in that system, our Tier Two interventions’ common language is really going to be influenced and informed by UDL because it takes the wonderful instructional pedagogy methods and it qualifies them. It creates a common language amongst the staff, so you see a little bit of fidelity start to take root across programs, which increases that teacher sense of efficacy.”

Building that efficacy is accomplished by the systemic approach that UDL provides, for both educators and schools. Learning to make data-informed decisions is part of that process, and doing so helps teachers build belief in their own skills, says Cullen. If that isn't there, when a student with cognitive, emotional, or language barriers comes in, they’re not going to succeed.

Herrera says that implementing UDL has increased engagement from nontraditional students and special populations, which has freed instructors to focus on delivering content. “It has helped empower the students to own their own learning,” he says.

Bastoni agrees. “The goal of UDL is to create expert learners, or learners who know what they need to learn,” she says, “And so I tried to reinforce that with the teachers. We're trying to create learners who can go out in the world. You don't have to have students who can walk away doing everything perfectly.”

“When you connect UDL to the power of career connected learning, that's when the real magic happens,” adds Cullen.

5 Tips For Implementing UDL In Your CTE Instruction

Bastoni offers advice for those considering UDL.

1. Create A Baseline Understanding - Ensure all teachers have a foundational understanding of best practices, with UDL as the common language. “And then you can build off of that with all these awesome programs,” Bastoni says. “It's much easier to expand when everyone's on the same page originally.”
2. Get Administrative Buy-In - Strong leadership with a clear vision, consistent support (funding, attendance, collaboration time), and integration of UDL training with school goals are crucial.
3. Teacher-Centered PD - Professional development should be designed based on teachers' needs and feedback, modeling UDL principles in its delivery (e.g., multiple modalities, former CTE educators as trainers).
4. Focus on Problem-Solving - UDL implementation is most successful when it addresses specific problems or barriers faced by educators and students.
5. Build Authenticity and Trust - Genuinely listening to teacher feedback and building trust are key to successful adoption. “When administrators have a vision and they force it on their staff, it's not going to be well-received,” Bastoni says. “If you want UDL to be implemented and loved, and to have it really work and be accepted, you have to demonstrate that it's valuable and authentic.”

Helping All Students Find Their Own Way

Ultimately, empowering the teachers with UDL certification has trickled down to success for students.

In particular, Cullen touts the success of the UBCTS ELL population, many of whom leave the school with workplace skills, an industry certification, and a credential in their native language, thanks to UDL pillars that allow them to select different tasks based on level of skill complexity, represent how they're learning, and build autonomy. “It's like a triple threat in the workplace,” he says.

“Over the last two years, 277 students had the opportunity to make $1.8 million just during the school day,” says Herrera. “It's a wonderful opportunity for our students once those barriers are removed and we focus on skills from a strength-based approach. It really helps students find their way.”

• What is Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?
• CTE Showcase: From Early Exposure to Earlier Exposure

AI can provide many new opportunities for accessible education, Crystal Yang says.

The recent high school graduate is about to start her first year at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and knows this firsthand. While a high school student, Yang was friends with a blind classmate and realized that the student didn’t have the same educational opportunities that Yang did.

“I grew up playing cool math games, like Khan Academy and PBS Kids Games. And these are all educational games that are all very visual, and there wasn't really a tool like that for blind students,” Yang says.

She decided to fix that, and launched Audemy, a nonprofit educational gaming platform designed for the visually impaired. So far, Audemy has partnered with 26 schools for the blind, and the platform has been used by more than 10,000 blind students.

Along the way, Yang has learned several best practices that she thinks can help others--including high school and college students--launch AI-powered apps that make a difference. Here are her tips for starting a tech nonprofit or company.

1. Embrace AI

“For the general public, there's this huge fear of AI right now,” Yang says. “But I think it's really necessary to embrace it. It is the future.”

She advises those interested in tech entrepreneurship “to shift your perspective and see how it can be used to help society, increase efficiency, and make things more accessible,” she says.

2. Use AI To Get Started With Code

Learning to code without any experience can be really intimidating, but the process is getting easier and easier.

“A lot of AI tools are able to code pretty well right now, and there are a lot of resources online that teach how to code,” Yang says. “I think someone without any coding skills can make an interactive website or create a small app. When it comes to editing the code, that gets a little harder, but overall, I think people would be surprised at how much AI can do right now.”

3. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help From Experienced Volunteers

People across the globe are passionate about using technology to help solve problems, and Yang was able to use the website VolunteerMatch to get volunteers to help launch and run her nonprofit. She now has a team of 60 professional developers and designers from all over the world, a response that has surprised her.

“I remember when I put out my first volunteer request for a software engineer, I was like, ‘There's no way I'll have professional people offering to build software,’” Yang recalls. “But I just put out the request anyway. And the next day, I had 15 people from all across the world with different skill levels who were interested in helping me out.”

This response has really inspired her. “I was so excited to see that people wanted to use technology to make an impact in the world,” Yang says.

4. Seek Out Grants

Many grants are available for nonprofits, particularly in the technology space. Yang says those looking to build new organizations should look for these.

Audemy was one of Intel’s AI Global Impact Festival award winners in 2024, and has received grants from Google in the form of Google ads that have helped the platform grow.

“People are willing to help nonprofits, not only via volunteers, but also financially as well,” Yang says.

5. Harness Tech For Accessibility

For those looking to work in the accessibility space in particular, Yang sees lots of opportunities. “I think accessibility is a really under-addressed theme when it comes to development,” she says.

Yang advises other students interested in working in the world of accessibility to connect with people from various communities and see what their needs are that are not being addressed.

“Use your creativity to build tools to address their specific issues,” Yang says. “There are infinite possibilities when it comes to technology.”

• Using 3D Printing and Student Input to Aid Accessibility
• 4 New Teaching Features For Google Classroom: AI, Accessibility, and More

In today's increasingly globalized world, the importance of culturally inclusive education cannot be overstated. As K-12 classrooms become more diverse, educators are faced with the challenge of addressing cultural gaps that may impede student engagement and learning as they learn to acclimatize to the American school system.

One promising solution to this challenge is the use of generative AI to transform educational practices and create more inclusive learning environments.

Understanding Cultural Gaps in Education

Cultural gaps in education refer to the differences in cultural backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that can affect how students learn and interact with their peers and teachers. These gaps can manifest in various ways, including language barriers, differing educational values, and varying levels of familiarity with certain cultural norms.

Addressing these gaps is crucial for fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment where all students can thrive. Some may prefer to refer to these gaps as opportunity gaps instead of cultural gaps. In some way, that is a better term, as gaps are often tied to socio-economic status as well as cultural foundations.

In the context of education, generative AI can be harnessed to bridge cultural gaps by providing personalized learning experiences, enhancing communication, and fostering cultural awareness.

1. Personalize Learning Experiences

One of the key advantages of generative AI is its ability to tailor educational content to the unique needs and backgrounds of individual students. By analyzing data on students' learning styles, preferences, and cultural backgrounds, AI algorithms can generate customized lesson plans, activities, and assessments that cater to diverse learning needs.

This personalization can help ensure that all students, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, receive an education that is both relevant and engaging. Providing links to foundational materials from a student’s background can be helpful in sharing new content.

2. Provide Language Support

Language barriers are a common challenge in culturally diverse classrooms. Generative AI can assist in overcoming these barriers by providing real-time translation and language support. AI-powered translation tools can help students understand instructions, participate in discussions, and access educational materials in their native languages.

Additionally, generative AI can create language-learning resources that are tailored to the specific needs of students, facilitating language acquisition and improving communication within the classroom. Look at the ability of productivity suites to be able to provide real time translation for students as well.

3. Enhance Communication and Collaboration

Effective communication and collaboration are essential for fostering an inclusive learning environment. Generative AI can play a pivotal role in enhancing these aspects by facilitating cross-cultural interactions and providing tools for collaborative learning.

AI-driven communication platforms can help bridge cultural gaps by enabling students and teachers to interact seamlessly, regardless of language or cultural differences. These platforms can include features such as automated translation, sentiment analysis, and personalized communication strategies, ensuring that messages are conveyed accurately and respectfully. By improving communication, generative AI can help create a more cohesive and inclusive classroom environment.

Collaborative learning is an effective way to promote cultural understanding and inclusivity. Generative AI can support collaborative learning by developing interactive and culturally relevant learning activities that encourage students to work together and share their perspectives. AI-powered tools can facilitate group projects, discussions, and peer-to-peer learning, helping students build meaningful connections and learn from each other's experiences. AI tools can also be instrumental in fostering cultural awareness and appreciation among students. By exposing students to diverse cultural content and perspectives, AI can help create a more inclusive and empathetic learning environment.

4. Create Culturally Relevant Content

Generative AI can generate culturally relevant educational content that reflects the diverse backgrounds of students. This content can include stories, examples, and activities that highlight different cultural traditions, values, and experiences. By incorporating diverse perspectives into the curriculum, educators can help students develop a deeper understanding of and respect for different cultures.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, powered by generative AI, can provide immersive cultural experiences that bring learning to life. Students can explore virtual environments that simulate different cultural settings, participate in interactive cultural activities, and engage with virtual characters from diverse backgrounds. These experiences can help students develop cultural empathy and broaden their horizons, making them more open-minded and aware.

Challenges and Considerations

While the potential of generative AI for bridging cultural gaps in K12 classrooms is immense, it is important to address some potential challenges associated with its implementation.

The use of AI in education raises ethical and privacy concerns, particularly regarding the collection and use of student data. It is crucial to ensure that AI tools are designed and implemented in a way that protects students' privacy and complies with relevant data protection regulations.

Educators and policymakers must work together to develop guidelines and best practices for the ethical use of AI in education. Make sure your school’s data security policies align with the use of generative AI tools.

To maximize the benefits of generative AI, it is also important to ensure that all students have access to the necessary technology and resources. This includes addressing disparities in access to devices, internet connectivity, and digital literacy. Efforts must be made to provide equal access to every student so they can benefit from personalized and culturally inclusive learning experiences.

Generative AI holds great promise to bridge cultural or opportunity gaps within K-12 classrooms. By providing personalized learning experiences, enhancing communication and collaboration, and fostering cultural awareness, AI can help create more inclusive and supportive learning environments, transforming education.

• 9 Ways School Leaders Can Use AI
• AI Resources for District Leaders

When Laurie Dale started her role as Senior Leader of Assistive Technology Solutions at Ability Beyond, she knew she had to get creative when it came to providing technological assistance to young adults with disabilities.

“It was me, myself, and I,” Dale says. “So I looked around and thought, 'Well, who am I going to trust to help me with this project?' And the only people I really trust, as far as their opinions go, are the people using the technology for themselves. So that's how we came up with the TIP Squad.”

The TIP (Technology Innovations for Peers) Squad provides young adults with disabilities the chance to learn technology skills and build adaptive solutions to barriers they and their peers face.

These days Dale and the students she works with are quickly and cheaply building adaptive tools with the help of 3D printers. It’s been a very successful program at Ability Beyond, a nonprofit with locations in Bethel, Connecticut, and Chappaqua, N.Y., that educates and assists people with disabilities. The organization recently received $32,000 in grants from Verizon for the TIP Squad.

Dale says that educators looking to start similar accessibility programs with the help of 3D printing should remember it’s easier than it looks and that students benefit in many ways.

3D Printing and Accessibility: Listening To What Those With Disabilities Need

3D printers are amazing devices, and designing accessibility tools can sound high-tech, but the process itself is straightforward.

“We just make what's needed,” Dale says. “Somebody has a need. And they say, ‘What about this?’ Or ‘How could we help this person with that?’ And we just make it from there.”

The types of tools they make with 3D printers include a device that makes it easier for someone to hold a pen or crayon, and another tool that can steady a key so someone who might not otherwise be able to open a lock now can. Another tool is a device that rolls dice, which can allow for more accessible gaming.

Sometimes Dale and her team design their own tools, while in other instances they find existing designs at Makers Making Change, a nonprofit that provides open-source 3D printing designs for assistive tech tools.

Starting a 3D Printing Program and Jobs Training

If you’re an educator thinking of starting a 3D printing program with students, Dale’s advice is: Go for it!

“It's easier than you think, and you just have to do it," she says. "The only way to really understand it is when you start printing it, and you go. 'Well, why did it do that?' And then you can figure out why it did that.”

Her program has been designed as a job-training program as well.

“The TIP Squad has always been about getting an honest opinion from someone with a disability and using the technology and working toward soft skills for employment,” she says. “The TIP Squad members have to come on time. They have to wear specific clothes. They have to be neat. They have to work together as a team, all those beginning steps that make for successful employment.”

AI and The Future of 3D Printing

Dale says that while many new tech advances are not designed with accessibility in mind, “the byproduct is, people with disabilities can be more independent.”

That’s very true of AI technology, which will help bolster assistive technology in many ways and could make 3D printing easier for everyone.

“Within a year or two, you're going to be able to say, ‘I need a hand brace.’ Just say it, and it will print it,” Dale says, which isn’t as far out as it may sound since 3D designs are already available on the internet. AI might also be able to help guide students through the 3D printing process.

“A large part of the difficulties TIP Squad members face is communication,” Dale says. “Reading, understanding certain things, understanding how people are talking to them. AI can really help change that.”

• Best 3D Printers For Schools
• Teaching Robotics And STEM With The Help Of 3D Printers

When it comes to a student’s ability to convey information in a clear manner, sometimes it can be a difficult task to undertake. Special needs students may have this experience more often than most, and it might take more to help them communicate effectively both in and out of the classroom, which is where AI can play a role.

Here we speak with Matt Gorin (Civics Lead Teacher at New York City Department of Education), Claire Keller, (Visual Arts, Education Liaison for the New York City Department of Education ), and Erin Laraway (Special Education Teacher and Sustainability Coordinator for the New York City Department of Education), about implementing AI solutions to help students better express themselves.

Simplified Communication, Extraordinary Results

Giving students the ability to impact their learning environment is key, and communication is critical in making that happen. Technology use in the classroom doesn’t have to be complex in order to help students get their point across.

“First [we] highlighted the use of just very simple tech,” says Gorin. “Single switches to enable student choice. Then I wanted to show a progression of learning from available technology and how we can use that, especially with new AI tools, to really have the student’s thoughts come alive, and have them show interest. When they’re interested in things, then they want to learn more. They want to be more involved.”

Giving students the ability to communicate with ease can drastically improve attention spans in the classroom, in addition to improving interaction with the subject material. And finding tools that feature accessibility and ease of use can go a long way in helping special needs students get more involved.

“CoughDrop is a cloud-based AAC program (adapted and augmented communication program),” says Keller. The platform allows users to communicate in alternate ways, such as choosing images or symbols to form sentences. “I had been introduced to it through PD in District 75 with Amanda McFee (our Director of Arts). You can create your board and then access it from even an Amazon Kindle.”

With an AI-boosted program such as CoughDrop, students and teachers can access it from almost any device you have. But the main point is that students have the ability to interact in a way that allows them to help create the subject matter they use.

“Creating our rubrics, our kids co-generate our rubrics for every unit that we do,” says Keller. “The kids decide the levels of the rubrics. The kids describe the things at those levels, and then the next steps. I think [it was hard for the students] to vocalize what they thought the next steps should be. So we did the process and took video snippets and put that in the button so the next step would literally be a video of the next step happening, so that when they were in their peer discussions about their work for formative assessment, they were able to offer next steps to each other in a really impactful way.”

Even when a student has difficulty expressing themselves to a teacher or to their peers, finding simplified ways to provide communicative power to your students can make all the difference.

How to Get More Out of Your AI Tech

Helping students and teachers is well within the wheelhouse of AI, but we might not know the full extent of what certain tools can do for us. To realize those potential outcomes, Gorin says start by forging a good relationship with tech liaisons.

For example, “A thing I would suggest to teachers is that most buildings have an Adobe liaison or a tech liaison,” he says. “These companies love to reach out and give suggestions and show what’s going on. It’s good for teachers to learn, to feel comfortable, and to reach out to their vendors directly.”

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. The more information you garner from your vendors, the more information you have to give to your students. As Laraway explains, having this extra information can help immensely when dealing with special needs students.

“Technology has really opened doors for students with special needs,” says Laraway. “Some of our students have limited verbal abilities. What I’ve found, particularly teaching students with autism who do not like to make eye contact, is that using technology in the classroom through multiple types of applications has allowed me as a teacher to assess their knowledge in real time.”

Laraway also mentions the need to involve teachers in the decision-making process when it comes to what sorts of AI technology might fit best.

“Survey the teachers,” says Laraway. “Find out what their needs are. Every school district is different. Some school districts have more students with multilingual learners. They may rely more heavily on translation features or accessibility features. I think it varies depending on the population that the school serves.”

Keller cautions against trying to do too much at once. Picking your AI tech battles can help focus efforts.

“Pick a thing,” says Keller. “Figure out this particular program right now and they keep track for yourself of what areas you wish were different, or what doesn’t fully meet the needs of your students. It’s better than saying ‘I have to do all of this at once.’ Depth over breadth.”

As always, the support of your decision makers is critical.

“[We would like to] give a shout out to our wonderful principal,” says Laraway. “ Without her, none of this would be possible. She always gives us support.”

“A big thank you to [Barbara Tremblay], who really wants the teachers and the students to succeed,” adds Gorin.

If you want to achieve a higher level of communication with your special needs students, simplifying your tech offerings, learning what AI tech can accomplish by building rapport with your tech liaisons, getting your administration on board by showing the benefits, and learning what AI tech can best serve your students needs can help usher in a new level of accessibility for those who may not normally feel comfortable in a classroom.

• enCORE: How to Use It For Teaching Students With Special Needs
• The Ups and Downs of AI in Special Education: Legal Considerations

The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps low-income families pay for home internet services, will end without Congressional action. The program, known as the ACP, will stop enrolling new applicants on Feb. 7, and funding for all participants will run out by May. This has huge implications for school connectivity and the digital divide as the program aids nearly 23 million households to obtain internet access. 

Despite the dire state of the ACP, John Harrington, chief executive officer of Funds for Learning, says there’s a possibility for better funding for schools going forward. 

“One of the shortcomings of the ACP has been the fact that it still relies on families applying for it,” he says. “It certainly helped reduce or shrink the number of students who are not connected, but there's still a certain percentage of students that when they go home, they're not connected.” 

Instead of funding for ACP, many of the school stakeholders who Harrington speaks with are focused on encouraging the FCC to expand eligibility for E-Rate funding. The E-Rate is an FCC program that makes internet access more affordable for schools and libraries but currently cannot be used to provide wireless hotspots to students to take home. 

Affordable Connectivity Program: A Best-Case Scenario  

The FCC has proposed a rule change to E-Rate that would allow wifi hotspots to be eligible for funding. If enacted, it could be a better means for schools to ensure internet access for students than the existing ACP programs, which require individual households to apply, something that isn’t always feasible for all students' families. Expanding E-Rate eligibility to the home would bypass this. 

“That would be a game changer for schools and libraries because then we would put them in the driver's seat for getting those connections into the hands of students and library patrons,” Harrington says. “They don't have to urge the parents to apply for it. They don't have to try to get community support drummed or run awareness campaigns. They literally can just get the wifi hotspots that they need for the students who need it.” 

He adds, “Another significant advantage of that is that schools can also manage things like filtering cybersecurity for that device that is connected to the student’s networks, so they have a lot more control.” 

The Worst-Case Scenario  

Harrington stresses the best-case scenario described above may not come to pass. Instead, E-Rate funding may not be broadened and ACP might lose funding.

“That's the real nightmare scenario,” Harrington says. “We've got all these devices in the hands of all these students, which is fantastic. We're really seeing how these learning management systems and content systems and all this stuff has really been incorporated to provide personalized learning, all these opportunities, and now we're approaching this cliff.” 

On top of these concerns, ACP funding has many applications beyond its use by students that wouldn’t be covered by E-Rate. “It doesn’t address the overall need for connectivity,” Harrington says. He notes that not every household has a student and people still need internet access for many aspects of modern life from applying for work to telehealth. 

Reasons For Optimism  

E-Rate funding was recently updated to include providing wifi access for schools. “That's a big step forward,” he says, which makes him optimistic the FCC is willing to update E-Rate. In addition, the FCC can change E-Rate without the need for increasingly elusive bipartisan political support, and possibly without allocating more funding. 

“The program has about a billion dollars in available spending that’s not requested each year. So there is money available. And it doesn't require an act of Congress to make those funds available, so that's why I'm pinning my hopes on this solution,” he says. “The FCC is well positioned to help support this need in a way that would better serve the community.” 

• How Schools Use Drones to Deliver Internet to Students
• How School Leaders Can Address the Inequities of the AI Digital Divide

Technology in the classroom is part of our everyday world and, as part of that, we must ensure that all students have access to the devices and the content they need for learning. Accessibility ensures everyone, including those with disabilities, can use and benefit from products, services, and information.  

“In many cases, students with IEP and 504 plans and students who do not have an identified disability need access to tools to leverage that content,” says Christine Fox, Project Director, Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems (CITES) at CAST, a nonprofit that helps students with learning differences succeed in school and life. “Inclusive practices previously have been siloed in school districts, with the special education and assistive technology department focused on supporting students with disabilities, while the edtech and IT department focused on providing resources for everyone. However, there is a genuine need for collaboration across the district from the top down with edtech solution providers to ensure that inclusive practices start at the top.”

Fox will present on this topic at Tech & Learning’s upcoming EdExec Summit. Below, she shares insights and guidance for solution providers to ensure inclusive technology ecosystems so all learners can access personalized tools and resources. 

Develop and Design 

Prioritizing accessibility in development and design doesn't ensure equitable student learning. Simply accommodating accessibility needs without a broader understanding of district requirements leads solution providers to modify tools retroactively. Fox says that technology should be seamlessly integrated into the district's existing systems rather than treated as a mere add-on.

To ensure that edtech products and programs are available to all learners, Fox offers the following basics for solution providers to help create a more inclusive educational environment, improve their company's reputation, and promote positive change in the industry:

• Make sure products and programs are accessible to people with disabilities.
• Consider the needs of all learners, including those from diverse backgrounds and with different learning styles.
• Use inclusive language and images in products and programs.
• Collect feedback from learners and use it to improve products and programs.
• Partner with organizations that are working to make education more inclusive.

Forging Partnerships

The assistive technology sector is witnessing an emerging trend of collaboration and comprehension. 

Fox advises solution providers to collaborate with state and national assistive technology organizations implementing these technologies in schools. A partnership enhances their understanding of students' disability-related needs, providing optimal and effective solutions.

Specifically, these partnerships would allow solution providers to:

• Gain access to a network of experts in the field of assistive technology
• Learn about the latest trends and developments in assistive technology
• Get feedback on their products and services from educators and students with disabilities
• Develop new assistive technologies that meet the specific needs of students with disabilities

A few organizations to consider:

CAST is an example of a nonprofit that provides educational resources and support for students with learning differences, including tools for assessment and intervention and advocacy support. The Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems (CITES) at CAST provides a framework to empower school districts to create and sustain inclusive technology systems that serve all students, including students with disabilities who require assistive technology or accessible educational materials. 

The Office of Educational Technology (OET) is developing policies and support to provide an inclusive platform for learners with disabilities. The Valuable Perspectives for EdTech Companies one-pager, webinars, and blogs support the value of accessible tools and solutions for everyone. 

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is the government agency that ensures education access and promotes excellence nationwide through vigorous civil rights enforcement, including accessibility. 

The GAAD Foundation, established in 2021, expands on the Global Accessibility Awareness Day's mission and aims to make accessibility a core requirement in technology and digital product development. 

Fox hopes to continue to raise awareness of the importance of inclusive technology, understanding the law, and, most importantly, understanding that building with accessibility in mind from the start is the easiest and most ethical thing to do for all learners. 

“Numerous resources are available to help district leaders and solution providers in the community,” Fox says. “They can use this as an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to accessibility, just as many people are obtaining security certifications to demonstrate their commitment to security. We hope that accessibility will become a goal people strive for rather than scramble to achieve.”

• EdExec Summit
• Virtual ASL Interpreters: 5 Tips for Using Technology to Improve Accessibility

Linnae Janky knows firsthand the importance of having American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters available at school events. 

“I have a child who can hear, and at my child's school, I was thrilled to see that they spotlighted the interpreter,” says Janky,  the American Sign Language Department Chair for Proximity Learning.

Having a clearly visible ASL interpreter allowed Janky and other deaf parents to understand the information that was being presented to them at the event. However, this doesn’t always happen at school events. 

There is a national shortage of ASL interpreters, particularly in rural parts of the country. Fueling this further is the fact that ASL teachers are increasingly difficult to find for many universities, however, technology can help with both shortages. Proximity Learning recently partnered with Gallaudet University to live stream ASL interpreters into classrooms. 

Janky, who is also the Learning and Development Specialist of Instruction, and the Vice Principal for Proximity Learning, recently spoke with Tech & Learning  through an ASL interpreter to share tips for successfully utilizing a remote ASL interpreter at school events. 

1. The Needs of Students Should Dictate the Hiring of Virtual ASL Interpreters  

Before live-streaming a virtual ASL interpreter to an event, school leaders should consider the individual needs of students in their district. 

“Are they able to see the interpreter?” Janky says. “Is the student able to participate in the communication? You want to make sure it is both ways, so I say 'receptively and expressively,' so that they are equally included in the conversation.” 

Additionally, organizers should take into account how the child will be participating in the event, Janky says. “Will the individuals receiving the service be on site, or will they also be remote watching too?” 

2. Make Sure Your Tech is Up to The Task  

ASL interpreters who are participating in events virtually should ensure they have high-quality cameras and good lighting with limited backlighting, Janky says. They should also wear clothes that contrast with their skin tone and their backgrounds to make it easier to tell what they are signing. 

“You want a contrasting color from your skin tone and the background [without] any busy or competing clothing patterns because you're having to watch that interpreter and the language as the backdrop,” she says. 

3. Provide Your ASL Interpreter with Lesson Plans Ahead of Time  

When working with an ASL interpreter in the classroom it’s important that information about each lesson and lecture is provided to them ahead of time, in addition to any key vocabulary or terms that the teacher would like emphasized. 

“The word interpretation is different than translation, it’s an interpretation of the message, it is not a word-for-word translation,” Janky says. “So having that background information prior is essential to making that content accessible and clear for those students who are receiving services.” 

4. Pause to Let All Students Catch Up  

If you’re interacting with students and a virtual ASL interpreter is present in your class, Janky says to make sure to pause regularly so that all students can participate. “There is a little bit of lag time with technology,” Janky says. ”Also, interpretation is not instantaneous, there is sometimes a one- to five-second delay.” 

Pausing after asking questions will give those students who are relying on an ASL interpreter time to communicate their thoughts on the lesson or to ask questions. 

5. Verify Any ASL Interpreter Has the Necessary Skills  

When hiring a virtual or in-person ASL interpreter, school leaders should make sure a potential candidate has scored high enough on the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA). 

“It rates interpreters on their signing ability and assigns a level,” Janky says. “Every state has specific criteria and minimum requirements for the EIPA. It is on a scale from one to five, one state may say 3.0 is acceptable as a minimum standard for entry. Others may have 3.5.” 

However, these scores are linked to certain grade levels, so someone who scores a 3.5 rating for elementary school may not be able to provide ASL interpretation for a high school event. 

“When hiring, I would always ask, ‘What is your EIPA score? And at what level?'", says Janky. "And if they tell you less than 3, they're probably not qualified for the job.” 

• Instructional Audio: 4 Benefits to Improving It
• Best Deaf Awareness Lessons & Activities

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework designed to make learning efficient and effective for all students. The framework is based on what science reveals about how humans learn and is updated regularly in order to evolve by incorporating the latest research into the cognitive process in humans. 

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework is used by teachers in all subjects and at all grade levels, from pre-K to higher education. 

Here is what you need to know about the Universal Design for Learning. 

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Framework Explained

The Universal Design for Learning framework was developed by David H. Rose, Ed.D of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) in the 1990s. 

The framework encourages teachers to design their lessons and classes with flexibility and to prioritize student choice in how and what they learn while highlighting the real-world relevancy of each lesson. According to CAST, Universal Desing for Learning encourages teachers to: 

• Provide Multiple Means of Engagement by optimizing student choice and autonomy, and relevance and authenticity of the learning experience  
• Provide Multiple Means of Representation offering students the opportunity to customize how they learn with multiple audio and visual elements that are accessible for all students 
• Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression by varying the types of responses and interactions that are required from students and creating clear and appropriate goals for each student  

Schools or teachers who implement universal design for learning advocate for the widespread use of assistive technology and for students to engage with practical, real-world learning experiences that are meaningful to them. Students should have multiple modes to demonstrate what they’ve learned, and lessons should tap into their interests, helping motivate them to learn.  

What Universal Design for Learning Looks Like in Practice? 

One way of thinking about Universal Design for Learning is to picture it as a framework that provides students the opportunity "to work toward firm goals through flexible means.” 

In a math class this might mean more emphasis on real-world problem-solving and more scaffolding to make sure each student is appropriately challenged, while also providing an opportunity for students to learn through multiple means. In a writing class, a reading assignment might be provided via text but also in an audio or visual format, and students could then have the opportunity of writing and recording a podcast or video to demonstrate their knowledge rather than doing so through a traditional research paper. 

Amanda Bastoni, a research scientist at CAST, says that CTE instructors often inherently incorporate many elements of Universal Design for Learning into their classrooms. “We have these teachers coming from industry and teaching in this really unique way that we don't necessarily teach if we've gone from kindergarten to high school to college to be a teacher,” she says. “In UDL, we say, ‘Bring relevance to the learning.’ They bring authenticity, they bring some really key components of engagement. They're giving the students more autonomy. Students are working on the car themselves, not just watching someone else work on the car.”

Misconceptions About Universal Design for Learning 

Many misconceptions about Universal Design for Learning exist, including the following:

False Claim: Universal Design for Learning is for students with specific learning disabilities. 

Reality: While Universal Design for Learning seeks to improve outcomes for these students it is also designed to improve outcomes for every student. 

False Claim: Universal Design for Learning Coddles Students 

Reality: Universal Design for Learning aims to make the delivery of learning materials more effective. For example, jargon is explained and students can digest information in multiple ways, but the overarching material in a class or lesson is not made easier. 

False Claim: Universal Design for Learning Eliminates Direct Instruction 

Reality: Direct instruction is still an important part of many classes that follow universal design for learning principles. However, in these classes, a teacher might provide multiple ways for a student to engage with and build on the learning from that direct instruction including readings, recordings, video, or other visual aids. 

• 5 Ways CTE Incorporates Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• What is Project-Based Learning?

Inclusive websites are written in plain language. By using everyday language, potential users can more easily: 

• Find what they’re looking for 
• Understand it 
• Get a better translation from online tools 

During the recent Beyond Access Forum, a workshop dedicated to supporting educators gave participants a number of ways to ensure that what they write meets these goals.

“If you make accessible content, it doesn’t just benefit the population you’re trying to help, it really benefits everybody,” said presenter Laura Ogando, program manager for the Office of Digital Literacy & Inclusion, NYC Department of Education. “Communication needs to be instantaneous. People need information at their fingertips.”

Watch the presentation free on demand here 

Plain Language: Writing for Effective Translation 

In New York City, half of students speak a language other than English at home, and there are many school-related communities that need access to information. “So anytime we’re dealing with a population who needs information in another language, it can be tricky,” said Ogando. “Often translation is not a word-for-word thing.”

According to Ogando, writing for effective translation ensures:

• An inclusive experience for students and families 
• Speakers of all languages can access content 
• Content is more accessible to English readers 

When you create more translatable text, it’s easier for everyone to read, she said. 

Also, when writing for effective translation, Ogando suggests that it’s a good practice to lower the reading level (target grade 6-9), be mindful of sentence subject language, and include relative pronouns. “We may not realize it, but teachers tend to write at a collegiate level,” said Ogando. “And that’s difficult for many of our families to read.”

That doesn’t mean you have to “dumb it down,” said Orgando. When writing, she suggests using simple, everyday words, short sentences, active voice, and written out dates. “This is about being precise and clear with your language.”

Sentence subject order matters, however. It’s also important to not use different words for the same subject, which can change the translation. In addition, including relative pronouns, such as who, whose, whom, which, and that, help better connect nouns to descriptions. “We tend to leave these out,” said Ogando. “But for non-native speakers of English, this can really change the meaning.”

Writing in Plain Language 

Plain language is writing designed to be easily understood by all readers the first time it is read. 

“If you think about it, a lot of the communication that we send out to our families flies in the face of this,” said Ogando. “It’s not easily understood. It’s a lot of edu-jargon.”

Writing in plain language makes information more easily:

• Found through online searches 
• Understood by all readers, including those with disabilities
• Translated using online tools  

“Who wants to read 17 times something the DOE sends just to understand it?” asked Ogando. “It’d be nice to just understand it the first time."

When thinking about vocabulary, consider the three tiers:

• Tier 1: Frequently used words, such as clock, baby, happy, walk 
• Tier 2: General academic words, such as obvious, complex, establish 
• Tier 3: Domain specific words, such as scaffold, inquiry, pedagogy 

Avoid Tier 3 words, said Ogando, which is hard for teachers who are used to using a lot of domain specific language. “We sometimes realize that when we use these words, our families have no idea what we’re talking about,” she said. For example, every teacher knows what scaffolded instruction is, but if you ask any parent what it is, chances are most don’t know what it is. “We’re taking a word from the construction world and marrying it to an education concept, and then add on top of that the idea of translating it into another language, such as Korean, it loses all meaning,” she said.

Tier 1 and 2 words will provide the “most bang for the buck” in terms of communication.

Also be wary of acronyms, said Ogando, such as SEL (social-emotional learning). Spell it out the first time, and then you can use it in the rest of your communication. “You have no idea how many people have no clue what our alphabet soup means,” said Ogando. “We have to be mindful of all these little things we do that can confuse the heck out of our families.”

Avoid passive voice, as it can be unclear and typically leaves out the subject. Active voice makes it clear that the subject of a sentence is taking the action. “Active voice leads to better understanding,” said Ogando. 

When it comes to determining reading level, Flesh-Kincaid is one of the most widely used measures. A raw score of 70-60 indicates an 8th-9th grade reading level, and the lower the raw score, the more difficult it is to read. The closer you are to 100, the more simplistic the text.

Microsoft and Google both provide readability tools for testing text. “Remember to not only check your writing but to fix it as needed,” said Ogando. 

“Writing in plain language and writing to make sure your content is acceptable, is really tricky,” said Ogando. “Be clear and precise with what you mean. We tend to use 20 words when we really only need 10.”

• Accessible Websites: Best Practices for Educators
• Best Free Language Learning Websites and Apps

Digital equity goes beyond having a working device and basic internet. Educators need to address three dimensions of digital equity to successfully support access and inclusion in teaching and learning. 

The 2021 National Leadership Technology Summit held at the National Press Club in DC, supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the National Education Association, and the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, provided the opportunity for edtech association presidents, journal editors, and emerging leaders to discuss these aspects in shaping future edtech policy. 

During the event, these subjects were explored as part of the effort to ensure that all students, families, and teachers can be properly supported in order to get the most out of edtech and learning.

1. Pay Close Attention to Biased Coding Algorithms 

As edtech continues to emerge, we rely heavily on machine learning and artificial intelligence to support teaching and learning. For example, bots are used in different edtech applications to help students navigate online learning programs, to help grade assessments, and serve as virtual advisors. 

While bots have the potential to make teaching more efficient, these programs perform based on code that was created by humans, who are flawed and bring their real-world experiences to their work. Consequently, code may have unconscious biases in regard to race, ethnicity, and gender. The 2020 Coded Bias movie on Netflix documents this, and viewing it may be a starting point to understanding that even machines can contribute to the perpetuation of stereotypes and bias. Consequently, as we work toward digital equity, the potential of bias in coding algorithms needs to be kept in mind as more schools use programs that rely on bots.  

2. Maintain a High Level of Technoethics 

As more and more students are required to use edtech devices and learn through online platforms, we must, as educators, be sure to protect their privacy, data, and personal information. 

Misuse of students’ and their families’ information for marketing and other purposes goes against the ethical standards and oaths that we take in doing no harm to students. Remember, families trust educators to not only teach their children, but to also keep them safe. Yes, this includes physical safety, but also includes their privacy and information. 

If it has been a while since you reviewed some of the laws that protect students when learning through online means, it may be time to review the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) and The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). 

Additionally, we must be responsible and ethical with our use of information from other sources, and give proper credit. If you are unsure when to use content found online from other sources, or how to cite these sources, review related laws on Fair Use and Copyright. A variety of open-source websites are available, and one in particular that may be useful is Creative Commons. 

3. Leverage Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices Online 

Providing students access to academic content though edtech tools and virtual spaces does not automatically equate to equitable learning experiences. In fact, the digital divide continues to grow as issues of access to strong and consistent bandwidth and internet in low-income and rural areas remain, as does the lack of digital literacy skills needed to navigate virtual spaces. Family engagement also continues to be a challenge, including issues with work schedules, learning times, and antiquated school-sponsored devices. 

Coupling these issues with the challenges of making a safe classroom community in an online context -- that takes into account the cultures, beliefs, and perspectives of all students -- only exacerbate the digital divide and equity discrepancies when it comes to online learning and use of edtech tools in education settings for certain marginalized school communities. The ways in which in-person learning environments must be free from bias and discrimination, the same must translate to online learning environments. 

Culturally Responsive Teaching Online & In-Person: An Action Planner for Dynamic Equitable Learning Environments, a forthcoming book through Corwin, has myriad pedagogical strategies and techniques to incorporate culturally responsive and equity-minded teaching practices in online and virtual learning environments. For example, leveraging virtual and augmented reality edtech tools such as Google Arts and Culture is a seamless way to digitally connect history, geography, and the arts curriculum to the diverse cultures of the students in the class. Another way to embed culturally responsive teaching into online learning environments is to make sure all edtech tools used incorporate features that are inclusive to all students. This includes having avatars, emojis, and bitmojis that come in different shades, hair styles, and facial features so they can represent all of the diverse learners in the classroom. 

These areas within digital equity must be addressed to ensure that all students, families, and teachers can experience equitable technology-infused education, and are only the beginning of what could be done to ensure inclusive access to digital learning materials. 

• 4 Ways to Use Master Scheduling to Support Equity
• Remote Learning and Digital Equity: Best Practices

For educators, one of the best things about creating a district, school, or classroom website is being able to easily and efficiently communicate critical information with students and families. By focusing on making it accessible, educators can be sure that all stakeholders are on the same (web) page. 

“If you have an accessible website, guess what? You’ve reached the widest possible audience,” said Laura Ogando, program manager digital literacy and inclusion for the New York City Department of Education, during the recent #NYCSchools Tech Summit. (Available free on demand here). “When we don’t, we leave people out.” 

Here are some best practices for educators looking to connect with everyone, from Ogando.

Remember The Basics 

To create an accessible website, Ogando said educators should: 

Use proper formatting
- This includes headings and subheadings, both of which should be correctly tagged by using the proper style format that can be read by the screen readers used by visually impaired. Ditto using numbered lists versus bulleted lists.

Write in plain language
- Content should be written between a 6th- and 9th-grade reading level so it can be easily perceived and understood the first time it is read. Teachers should be wary of using “edu-jargon” and be mindful of presenting information clearly for parents and students. Plain language is also more easily understood by AI-translation devices.

Provide alt text for all images and tables
- Again, this is critical for screen readers to help describe the image. “If you don’t have alt text, it’s like the image is not there,” said Ogando.

Have at least a 4.5:1 color contrast between the text and the background
- People don’t perceive color the same way. For example, gray on white may be hard for some to see. This could be tricky with some schools’ colors, which should be used as accents not in the main body of pages

Link correctly - Links should be meaningful. Be mindful to avoid using “click here” every time as it can be confusing for screen readers, and to indicate if a link opens in a new window or not.

Publish Web Pages, Don’t Post Documents 

By taking the time to create a web page rather than just uploading a document, it can be more easily found by search engines, including your own site’s search tool. “When you embed a document, yes, it’s on the page, but it’s like on top of the page, not really in it,” said Ogando. This construction makes it harder to find keywords and be accessed by screen readers. 

An embedded document can also be trickier to read on smaller devices, such as a phone or tablet, and require swiping side to side to view, which is inconvenient. “If the content is loaded on that page, it’s going to be properly formatted for that screen size,” Ogando said. “So if you have longer content, you can keep scrolling to read it, not have to go back and forth to read a whole sentence.”

Be mindful of using tables as sometimes content needs to be read vertically rather than horizontally (or vice versa), and a screen reader will not be able to make that distinction. Also avoid PDFs as much as possible unless you have the proper software (Adobe) to create one, and even then, screen readers can have trouble with these (see below).

Note: Some very specific items should not be posted as web pages, such as forms that need to be signed, anything with personally identifiable information, or in-language translations.

Link To Originals

Although you may get asked to post PDFs, it’s not always a best practice as you may be duplicating content from another site. In addition to concerns around rights and responsibility, you also cannot ensure accessibility, make updates, or create translated versions.

“The moment you download and upload a PDF, it’s practically obsolete,” said Ogando. 

Instead, link to the PDF on its original site and make sure it opens in a new (marked) window. “And once you link to the proper page, you never have to think about it again,” Ogando said. 

Also remember that as the webmaster of a site, you’re the gatekeeper, and you have every right to question where something is coming from or why it’s being posted. “Part of being a webmaster is being an advocate,” said Ogando. “So when you see that people are not creating accessible content, remind them to make it accessible.”

NYC DOE InfoHub Resources

Digital Accessibility

Making Accessible Content

Making Print Documents Accessible 

Accessible PDFs and Fillable Forms

Plain Language

NYC DOE Training Info

Person-lead remote learning

Register for FREE on-demand sessions through OTIS.Teq

See the full presentation slide deck here 

• How Schools and Districts Are Connecting with Families
• Classroom Engagement: 4 Tips From Students for Teachers

Officials at Northland Pines School District in northern Wisconsin are working with a tech company and local entrepreneur on a pilot program to deliver internet to students via drone. 

The program, which received a $100,000 grant from the state of Wisconsin, will utilize drones that are tethered to a power source on the ground and can stay airborne for weeks, and even months. The drones will serve as flying cell towers, able to beam internet down to rural students who live in areas without high-speed internet access. 

“We’ll be testing it over the next few months,” says Harlan Leusink, director of technology for the district. 

About 10 percent of Northland Pines students don’t have any internet connectivity at home, while as many as 40 percent have inadequate connection speeds to meet the demands of remote learning. District leaders have tried for more than a decade to close that gap, but there are no easy solutions. “We’re a district of about 500 square miles and getting wired internet connection to those households that are at the end of that 500 square miles is a challenge,” Leusink says. In many cases, it isn’t feasible at all. 

Since the pandemic began, school districts have gone to extensive lengths to close the digital divide, in some cases even becoming internet service providers, but Northland Pines School District is one of the first to take to the skies to try to solve this problem 

The Tech  

The district is working with the drone companies Spooky Action and Wisconsin Telelift, which was founded by local entrepreneurs Scott and Greta Williams. 

Several years ago, Scott Williams developed the tethered drone technology while working with a nonprofit in Africa. It was conceived as a way of monitoring huge game preserves and preventing poaching. Rahul Tiwari, Spooky Action’s founder and CEO, worked with Williams in Africa and used the drone technology developed there to launch his company. 

Spooky Action drones are attached to a wire that transfers data to the drone as well as electricity. The tether is 400 feet, but usually the drone is not flying nearly that high. “What we find is for most radios, the sweet spot is about 100 feet,” Williams says. “Once you go above 100 feet, it starts to dissipate. Anything above 200 feet creates a little bit more complicated issues with the FAA for airspace, so we definitely want to stay under that.” 

The drones also offer flexibility that isn’t available with permanent structures. “One of the neat things about this technology is you can put it at 100 feet and go, ‘Well, we're not getting great coverage there, let's go to 120 or go down to 80,’” says Williams. “So you can kind of vary it based on terrain.” 

Spooky Action’s drones were originally designed to provide access during events and as part of disaster relief efforts. “A hurricane comes in and blows down all your cell towers, it's pretty easy to put up a flying cell tower,” Tiwari says. “It's not necessarily to replace a cell tower, we're not going to be able to do that. The idea is to dynamically address the internet needs of a community without having to build a million cell towers everywhere.” 

While Spooky Action drones are capable of staying in the air for more than a month, that’s not usually necessary when providing internet to students. Tiwari envisions a scenario where the drones will be active during peak class and homework times, and maybe won’t be flying overnight. 

Leusink says his district is looking at the drone service as a proof-of-concept for where and how they need to deploy more permanent equipment. If a drone in a certain area gives students good coverage in that area, he says the next step will be for the district to look for more permanent land-based solutions. 

The Cost  

Emmett J. McBride, director of technology for The D.C. Everest Area School District in Wisconsin, started looking into providing internet via drone independently of the Northland Pines project. Though a mostly suburban district, McBride’s district serves many students who live in remote wooded areas where cable is unavailable and cell service is frequently nonexistent. 

Getting reliable internet to these students remains a challenge despite the district’s best efforts, says McBride. Wireless hotspots didn’t work well and satellite internet connections were plagued by latency (lag time). They explored building their own cell towers, but the cost was astronomical.

“We realized the couple towers we  wanted to put up were going to cost close to a quarter of a million dollars and they were going to cover like 10 houses,” McBride says. “Can you imagine telling your taxpayers, ‘We spent a quarter of a million dollars and 10 people got internet, and it's okay internet, it's not even great.’” 

McBride read about Google’s efforts with Project Loon, which was an initiative aimed at beaming high-speed internet to parts of the globe where it is unavailable with a fleet of high-altitude balloons. Google’s parent company announced in January Loon was ending, but last year McBride was inspired enough by the idea to begin exploring the possibility of his district doing something similar, albeit on a much smaller scale. He ultimately connected with the Northland Pines School District. 

Though drones are only one of several possible solutions McBride’s district is looking at, he likes the idea of delivering internet access via drone. “It's like a cheap tower,” he says. “We have a tree cover canopy of about 100 feet, so you have to build a big tower, and it's expensive.” But with a drone it's easy to fly above and around any obstacles. 

What Your District Should Know  

McBride advises connecting with others in the education community through organizations such as Digital Promise and to connect with local, county and state organizations about potential resources. 

Tiwari recommends reaching out to companies such as his so developers can better tailor their products to addressing the real-world problems occurring within districts. He notes that the challenge of providing universal internet is so complex, there is no one-size fits all solution. “The magnitude of the problem is so big that they're going to need technology like ours and technology like other folks have, all working in tandem to try to close this gap.” 

• Overcoming the Digital Divide: School Districts Create Their Own Wireless Networks
• How Public TV Stations Are Partnering with Schools to Increase Educational Content for Students Without Internet

When it comes to seeing all students through this time of remote and blended learning, it is crucial to look at the relationship between Instructional Technology (IT), the use of computers, tablets, software, smartboards, the tech tools that enhance the learning environment both in the classroom and at home, Assistive Tech (AT); in which the focus is on identifying the individual needs of students and the specific tools they might require to access the curriculum; and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), in which the focus is removing the systemic barriers to instruction for all students. 

During the recent NYC DOE Beyond Access Forum virtual event, David Carroca, Assistive Technology Coordinator-NYCDOE, District 75, and Lindsey Huntley, AAV/AT Speech Supervisor-NYC DOE Center for Assistive Technology, shared strategies, resources, and best practices in regard to assistive technology.

Watch the full session:

A Picture of Support

“In picture one is Instructional Technology—everyone is treated equally receiving the same devices and programs, but as we can see they still can’t access the game, aka curriculum,” said Carroca. “They are treated equally but not equitably based on their needs. In picture two, Assistive Tech, the participants can all experience the game/curriculum—here we see a reflection of equity. In picture three, Universal Design for Learning, the systemic barrier or wooden fence is removed and all three students can access the game/curriculum. An important note, sometimes students will not need additional supports if the curriculum is designed with an UDL framework.”

The relationship of all three contributes to enhancing the learning experience of students. 

One District’s Approach

How does the largest school district in the county, serving more than 1.1 million students in over 1,400 schools, handle these challenging times? The NYC DOE has instituted a number of programs and protocols during this time of blended and remote learning to ensure everyone has the tools they need for success. This includes a device distribution with a goal of 1:1 for all students, internet access to all families (devices are LTE-enabled to make use of local hotspots), access to secure video-conference platforms (Zoom, Meet, Teams), and multiple instructional apps. The DOE HelpDesk Support has also been expanded to make sure everything runs smoothly regardless of a student’s physical location. 

In addition, the Division of Instruction and IT has been working with the Special Education Office to enable device accessibility features and other specialized supports. Accessibility features integrated in computer and tablet operating systems (iPad iOS, Mac OS, Chromebooks and Chrome OS, Microsoft Windows OS) place students with disabilities on an equal footing with their peers. Use of these features allows students to focus on learning. These technologies can be added as student assistive technology on their IEP.

Assistive Technology 

Digital learning does not equal curriculum accessibility for all. Assistive technology, by definition, is any item, piece of equipment, or product system that is used to improve a student’s functional capabilities. 

In the school setting, parents, teachers, and related service providers collaborate to determine the needs of each individual student. Current remote and hybrid changes require creativity. Under the direction of NYC DOE, the central AT teams have partnered with non-DOE AT specialists to conduct in person and remote assessments and to distribute AT and 504-driven equipment to students and families in their homes or alternative locations. 

“Low-tech, IT, and UDL should be the first steps considered when a student is having difficulty accessing the curriculum,” said Huntley. “After considering the current technologies in place, the school-based team can assess and determine AT supports the students may need. For students with complex needs, an AT assessment can be requested through a central team.”

SETT for Success 

A best practice when considering AT is the SETT Framework:

Student—What is the functional area of concern, special needs related to the concern, and the student’s strengths, abilities, and expectations.

Environment—Where educators were once looking at the environment of the classroom and school building, they now need to consider the home environment. What are the arrangements and supports available there?

Task—What specific thing does the student need to be able to do, and what are the functional things actively involved in remote learning.

Toolkit—What can we use to help the student access their curriculum. 

AT Toolkit 

Some of the resources available to educators to support learning for students with disabilities.

Communication—Augmented and alternative communication is utilized when a student is nonverbal, unintelligible, has limited verbal capability, or doesn’t have functional communication. Proloquo2Go, Snap Core First, Go Talk NOW, LAMP Words for Life, Speak for Yourself, TouchChat + WordPower, and Talk Suite are a few hi-tech tools to help students express themselves using elements such as word boards with image icons and phrases. Some of these tools (such as Snap Core First) have the ability to integrate with an accessible curriculum, so a student can be within the communication system or app and access their curriculum. Some programs, such as LAMP Words for Life, are motor planning and use motor memory to place where word icons are located. 

Reading—Dolphin is a reading app for students with dyslexia, low vision and blindness, while Voice Dream Reader supports various documents such as PDFs, Microsoft Suite, and Google Suite, and is available in multiple languages. Instead of digitized books, Learning Ally uses human voices and can read pictures. (Some students have difficulty comprehending computer-generated voice.) Tar Heel Reader offers simplified digital books for beginning readers. Bookshare has partnered with NYC DOE to offer nearly a million titles organized by categories such as core curriculum, lexile level, and teacher’s college list. 

Writing—CO:Writer Universal offers universal access, particularly important during hybrid learning, so if a student is working at school one day and then remote the next, the cloud-based system allows them to continue uninterrupted on alternate devices. Another perk is that a teacher can turn on specific topic-based dictionaries to allow easily generated and predictive language. SnapType Pro is a simple app that uses an iPad’s camera to take a picture of a worksheet, instantly creating a digital format so a student can look at the word bank and type directly into the fields. It also allows pen function, dictated answers, and speech-to-text input directly onto the worksheet. WordQ5, Notability, Clicker 8 and Clicker Writer, CrickSoftware Suite with DocsPlus, and Snap&Read Universal are other writing helpers for students with challenges.

Math—ModMath is a digital graph paper that helps with organizational issues and challenges with legible writing. Equations can be worked on and then copied into Notes, email, or other documents. Math Paper, GeoGebra, and Free EquatiO Premium for Teachers are also used.

Accessible Educational Materials (AEM)—AEM are print- and technology-based materials that allow students with print disabilities to access the curriculum. Print disability is a difficulty or inability to read print and digital materials, due to physical, perceptual (for example dyslexia) and visual disability. Epic Books and Razz Kids are popular resources, but some students may need more robust supports such as access to Bookshare with Capti as an ebook reader or Voice Dream reader.  

• NYC DOE Beyond Access Forum Provides Professional Development Around Inclusive and Individualized Education
• Rather than Back to ‘Normal,’ Let’s Get Back to Something Better

As we grapple with pandemic fatigue, we hear a lot about “getting back to normal” and longing for the “before times.” However,  Cornelius Minor does not feel nostalgia for life pre-March 2020. 

“The normal we left behind was a normal that left far too many kids at the margins,” said the Brooklyn-based educator while sharing his philosophies and teaching strategies with fellow New York City educators at the recent virtual 2020 NYC DOE Beyond Access Forum.

Though educators have long been aware of the equity gap that persists in U.S. schools, the scope of the problem has been better exposed to the public as a result of the schools shifting to remote learning. “Remote and hybrid learning has revealed to many what educators representing historically marginalized groups have been articulating for years, and that is the reality that there are profound inequities in schooling,” said Minor.

“We are working through the greatest period of professional uncertainty in the last decade, and what we are attempting to do right now has never been done before,” he continued, affirming support for educators. He suggested that there is more than one way forward, and that educators have to increase their systemic awareness and understanding of the multiple challenges and systems of oppression that exist outside of school, and how those things make their way into classrooms.

“We have to grow our capacity to actually build the change,” Minor said. “We don’t have to continue doing as we’ve always done. Embracing discomfort is necessary. Justice matters.”

What to Preserve in Remote, Hybrid, Socially Distanced Learning 

Much of classroom practice has been upended by the pandemic, but Minor believes there are essential relationships from the classroom that need to be encouraged and preserved in remote learning. For example, it is twice as likely that students learn from peers than the teacher. So, educators need to find ways to foster and maintain the authentic connections students have with one another. Minor also advocates that skill acquisition is more important right now than content acquisition—that skills can transfer from one academic context to another.

“It’s not our job to keep students busy,” said Minor. “It’s our job to keep them curious as we figure out what it means to move forward.”

How to Create a New Kind of School 

Minor is adamant that students will opt into learning if they are curious, and is working to keep them engaged with activities that are creative. He posed a self-reflection question to the attendees: “Think about the values that guide your work as an educator. In these last seven months, what have you discovered about yourself, your students, your school, your community, the country and the world?”

Challenging educators to think about education in new ways, Minor suggested that schools would:

• Allow students to learn in ways that work for them 
• Affirm students as learners and people 
• Grow students powerfully by providing access to rich opportunities in class and beyond
• Keep students intellectually, emotionally, and physically safe  

“What gets in the way when not every kid has access to those things?” Minor asked. He believes that too often, we value compliance over learning; assignments over learning outcomes. “Access is a bridge,” he said. “We know that learning outcomes, especially right now, matter more than assignments.” 

Sharing his own self-examination, Minor said, “If I want the kind of access we all profess to value for all children, then I’ve got to be ready and willing to look at my own classroom, in my own department, in my own school, and ask myself some really tough questions.” 

“I want to dig beneath the surface to see what our kids are left out of, and once I name that thing, I get to reimagine that thing in order to give people more access,” he said. “But the key here is to fix the injustice, not the kids.”

His conclusion? “I had to reimagine what it means to engage in remote learning. And, so I created different options for engagement,” he said. 

Students are not naturally disengaged, Minor said, taking up the challenge to develop ways to pull in students for learning. He acknowledged that access is a problem for other reasons than lack of technology. For example, some students are taking care of younger siblings while their parents work outside the home. 

Minor shared some of his expanded options for student engagement:

• Allow students to attend a live class OR watch on video 
• Let students send in a photo of themselves working independently or with a friend 
• Work directly with individual students to reach learning outcomes 
• Create an online space so kids can talk to each other about a non-school topic, such as the NBA finals, hip-hop, rock, or reggae 
• Host an online support group for students taking care of younger siblings 
• Hold regular story times for younger students 

Minor closed his presentation with his belief that returning to “normal” was not an option--it left far too many students behind. 

“We can use the power of our imagination and the power of our active labor in classrooms and in community to craft something that is radically better than that which we left behind,” Minor said.

More on Cornelius Minor’s work can be found here 

• NYC DOE Beyond Access Forum Provides Professional Development Around Inclusive and Individualized Education
• How Public TV Stations Are Partnering with Schools to Increase Educational Content for Students Without Internet

Tech & Learning recently partnered with the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) to offer the Beyond Access Forum: Inclusive and Individualized Education, an interactive and thought-provoking virtual event focused on digital accessibility, inclusion, and teaching information fluency.

The virtual event was a result of a special partnership between the Division of Specialized Instruction and Student Support, the Division of Instructional Information Technology, and the New York City School Library System. “This partnership ensures that conversations around inclusion, individualized education, and accessibility are happening across the DOE at all levels,” said Jose Rios Lua, Director of Family Empowerment and Communications, during the opening remarks. 

Partnerships, sharing, equity, and inclusion were all major themes for the day. 

“This pandemic has been an exercise in understanding our interdependencies,” said Christina Foti, Deputy Chief Academic Officer, NYC DOE. “Interdependence embodies the belief that every child benefits from being part of a community that is rich in diversity.”

Watch the full welcome

‘School is weird right now’ 

Drawing nearly 2,000 remote attendees, the day featured 25 professional development sessions spread along three main tracks: special education, digital inclusion, and libraries. Three more tracks were dedicated to PD-focused presentations from some of the Beyond Access Forum’s 25 partner solutions who supported the event. 

Sessions covered assistive technology and support, including subjects such as accessible website platforms, designing accessible digital content, instructional resources for teaching information fluency and digital literacy, and transition planning. Attendees were also able to engage in discussions and workshops, network with one another, share best practices and strategies, and connect with industry leaders. 

Of course, much of the focus was on addressing accessibility and inclusion in remote and hybrid learning, and the challenges involved. “Now that we’re working so much with digital content, it’s now more important than ever that we create content that is accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities and those who speak languages other than English,” said Lisa Nielsen, Senior Director Digital Literacy & Inclusion.

That was echoed by Laura Ogando, Program Manager Digital Literacy & Inclusion, who also lauded teachers for their incredible dedication and hard work over the past few months, and reminded them to have a little fun, too. 

“School is weird right now,” Ogando said. “Students are not able to play or interact in the ways they’ve done previously, so it’s important that we don’t lose sight of this quality.” She implored educators to laugh along with students and build connections in the process. “Let them see that silly side of you,” she said. “Play virtual games, let the first few minutes of Zoom meetings be for catching up. And don’t be afraid to let them see you make mistakes.”

New approaches for a new world 

Cornelius Minor, Brooklyn-based educator and literacy activist, talked about how educators are trying to do more than ever before under extraordinary circumstances, and are in an incredibly stressful situation. 

“As I’ve been working the past few weeks, one thing I’ve learned is that we can’t pass this stress on to children by doing to them what the world is doing to so many of us educators,” Minor said. He added that, “Expecting kids to do the same amount of work as in the past is a flawed expectation. We can still have high expectations for kids, but those expectations also have to be humane and realistic and flexible.”

Educators and students also need to adjust their energy and focus to these new learning environments. “Giving 100% of my energy to every task is not sustainable for me, nor is it sustainable for kids,” Minor said. “Rationing energy isn’t irresponsible or lazy, but what responsible people do in extreme situations.” He explained how it can be an investment in the future, and discussed how he intentionally spreads his energy and focus throughout the week so he’s not spent by Friday. “No community needs a tired teacher, but we can’t be at 100% every day,” he said. 

Minor also encouraged teachers to allow students to use technology to direct some of their own learning, as it’s good for both educators (providing a break) and for the students (asserting independence). “In a physical classroom, we would never talk to kids for 40-minute stretches, but we’re doing something like that in Zoom now,” he said. Repurposing physical classroom methodologies for virtual classes is critical.

Finally, he discussed the values that should guide education.

And although this year’s event was virtual, the enthusiasm from the presenters and attendees was strong all day long, as always.

“Our dedication to learning, collaboration, libraries, and our New York City students has not ended,” said Melissa Jacobs, Director of Library Services, NYC DOE and NYC School Library System. “It just looks a little bit different.”

Educators can access the on-demand content by registering for free here.  

Teaching has always been a part of public television’s mission. The stations grew out of a network of university-run radio stations and the link with instructional content was formalized in 1952 when the FCC reserved 242 local channels for noncommercial educational TV. 

Never has that link been more important than now. 

With many schools forced to offer hybrid or online-only classes, TV has become something of an education lifeline for those students across the U.S. who do not have internet access. 

“Since March, public television stations in all 50 states have really responded to this emergency challenge of remote learning in a very impressive way,” says Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America's Public Television Stations.

Millions of households in the U.S. do not have internet access. “Nearly every household in America has over-the-air television and it’s free,” says Lonna Thompson, executive vice president of America’s Public Television Stations. “We reach nearly 97 percent of the population.”

Mindful of this, most stations have revamped their broadcast schedule to prioritize airing existing educational content, but many have also gone further, utilizing old technology in new ways to provide students with an interactive remote educational experience. 

Datacasting

One of the most innovative ways public TV stations are supporting education is through datacasting. The technology, which involves broadcasting encrypted data over broadcasting channels that are not generally used, has long been utilized for public safety purposes, helping first responders receive information when communications systems become overloaded during disasters. The technology has only recently been applied to education, but offers good potential. For example, using existing broadcasting systems, stations can transmit detailed information that can be downloaded onto a computer connected to a digital antenna. 

“Most people, when they think about datacasting, they think only videos, but you can send a word file, you can send excel spreadsheets,” says Dr. Stephanie Frazier, vice president for education at South Carolina ETV. “If you can load it to an LMS or if you can download it onto a laptop, you can send it via datacast.” 

ETV is pioneering a pilot program in three South Carolina school districts to bring datacast content into students’ homes. 

“We are using it to really create a personalized learning experience for the student who isn't able to access Google Classroom or another learning management system at home,” Frazier says. “So we are mimicking a web-browsing experience for the students so that they can have access to some of the same videos and digital content.” 

The plan, Frazier says, is for ETV to provide datacasting services to somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 students within a year.

Teacher-Created Content

When the pandemic began in March, employees at Rocky Mountain Public reached out to about 1,000 community members. 

“We asked, ‘What do you need? What are you seeing? What are you experiencing right now?’” says Amanda Mountain, president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Public. “Out of those conversations we developed something called Colorado Classroom.” 

Created in partnership with the Department of Education and various community organizations, Colorado Classroom is a digital learning curriculum. “That curriculum really engaged organizations such as zoos and museums and NASA, and just a lot of teachers who were building lessons from their home—we sent them cameras, we trained them over Zoom,” says Mountain. “We also built partnerships with people who were developing social-emotional curriculum for early childhood, and we developed curriculum in multiple languages. We printed out bound books that included all of the curriculum and had an 800 number available to parents and caregivers who didn't have internet access. We got nearly 1,000 requests for those printed booklets.” 

From 8 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, there are teacher-hosted lessons mixed in with short content from local museums featured on the station. 

Kate Riley, vice president for government and public affairs of America's Public Television Stations, says that while Rocky Mountain Public has been a leader in this area, they are not alone. Stations in every state have launched programing, and Riley says they have frequently worked with top local educators to produce district-centric content. “The teachers of the year are the ones creating the lesson,” she says. 

Back to The Future

Next Gen TV will be launching over the next few years. This new broadcast standard will offer more channels, better reception, and increased opportunities for internet-like functionality such as datacasting. 

While the challenges of the pandemic will hopefully be temporary, problems arising from lack of connectivity to high-speed internet for many students will likely persist even after the coronavirus is no longer dominating life. Public TV officials are dedicated to helping bridge the digital divide by developing new opportunities and utilizing existing ones. 

In the meantime, Butler says he is proud of what U.S. stations have already accomplished. “Public television stations, which were born to provide educational services, are returning to those roots in a very impressive way in the midst of this pandemic and providing a very useful service to millions of students,” Butler says. 

• Class for Zoom Launches to Take Learning Online
• How Crowdsourcing Can Transform Education

Rushing to create online curriculum and activities? That content must be made accessible. If you are taking screenshots or pictures of documents that you share or post online, it's probably not accessible. At this point, you should assume that the documents you create will end up on the device of a person with a disability.

There's a lot of support to ensure they access it!

In NYC, The Office of Digital Inclusion & The Mayor’s Office of People with Disabilities are partnering to support schools with this work.

Here are some classes and resources for educators:

• Encourage staff to attend an upcoming online session
  *Inclusive classroom, ELLs, creating inclusive content and more!
  *NYC DOE staff can take Siteimprove Academy Digital Accessibility classes and receive a free license, worth $250
• Visit the Digital Accessibility page
• Read the guide on making accessible documents from the Mayor’s Office of People with Disabilities
• Read the guide on creating accessible slide decks from the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities
• Join our Digital Inclusion Community (for NYC staff)

Innovative educators understand the importance of including all learners and their families in the content we create—and they help others do the same.

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.  

The Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) at NC State University today announced formation of Building a New Digital Economy in NC (BAND-NC), a new support program designed to make the state “first in digital inclusion.” 

BAND-NC, which  launched with initial support from Roanoke Electric Cooperative and the North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, in partnership with the NC Broadband Infrastructure Office (BIO), will provide grants to counties to develop plans to increase the percentage of their residents that adopt and are able to use broadband services. BAND-NC seeks to help North Carolina become the first state in the nation where every county has a digital inclusion plan by the end of 2022. 

Digital inclusion plans will include strategies to increase access to devices and make broadband affordable to more people. They also aim to equip a range of stakeholders with knowledge of how to utilize broadband: enabling young learners to do homework online and older learners to retrain online, expanding job possibilities through telework, improving access to telehealth services, expanding business markets, improving crop yields and adding efficiency to farm operations. 

Data from the NC Broadband Infrastructure Office show disparities in adoption of broadband services, with both a rural-urban and an income divide. Rural households subscribe at lower rates than urban households (as low as 49.7% in Graham County and as high as 89.7% in Wake County). Households making under $20,000 a year subscribe at a 51.2% rate compared to 93.8% of those making $75,000 or more a year. 

As part of BAND-NC, the state Broadband Office and IEI will host a series of meetings to assist community leaders in developing and implementing county-level digital inclusion plans. Roanoke Electric’s work will support development of plans in Bertie, Halifax, Hertford, Northampton, Gates, Perquimans and Chowan counties, while North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives will fund three selected county plans from among its 93-county service area. 

Over the next few months, the Institute for Emerging Issues is seeking other investors in BAND-NC, with the goal of making $5,000 grants available across the state to counties developing digital inclusion plans.  Interested counties would submit plans August 6 for review on a competitive basis, with selected plans receiving grants to begin implementing their initial strategies. 

To see a full listing of North Carolina broadband adoption rates, by county and income level, go to iei.ncsu.edu/band-nc-data/

All schools receiving public funding must make content accessible to everyone including those with disabilities. If your school or district is interested in helping staff understand why this is important, then consider Accessibility for Everyone for your next great book study.

Inclusive research

In the book author Laura Kalbag talks about the importance of including people with disabilities in user research studies. This can serve as a reminder to educators about the importance of designing learning in ways that includes feedback from students as to the ways they learn best.

Real life experiences

Throughout the book, Kalbag points to real life experiences of how accessibility helps her brother Sam, who grew up with cerebral palsy. As an educator, hearing how her brother interacts with technology provides a strong case for the need to have technology integrated into the curriculum. Her experiences with Sam also point to the importance of every individual being able to manage the accessibility options that best work for them. 

What's inside?

The book is 160 pages or nearly four hours on Audible and goes through the following topics:

• Considering Accessibility 
• Disabilities and Impairments 
• Planning for Accessibility 
• Content and Design 
• Accessibility and HTML
• Evaluation and Testing Laws and Guidelines

Continued Learning

Only digital content is accessible content. Learning how to create accessible content should, and possible in the future, will, be a requirement for all educators. To help keep up with the field you can follow Laura Kalbag on Twitter. She also recommends following the hashtag #AXSCHAT where people talk about their accessibility needs and possible solutions. The A11Y Project, a community-driven effort to make web accessibility easier,  has a whole list of people to follow. Many of those listed have accessibility needs and can provide a personal perspective. 

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.   

Educational Leaders from various US districts gathered in New Orleans, LA on December 2019 to discuss current trends in education and technology and share how each of us have been working to solve some critical problems. At the top of the list was digital equity.

Leaders from urban, suburban, and rural districts were challenged to consider what digital equity looked like and discuss pain points and solutions. 

Home access

Access at home was a pain point for several districts, however, this included both ends of the spectrum:  

Pain point: Home WiFi

• Teachers perceive students DON’T have internet access at home, but they do. 
• Result: They are not integrating work that includes the internet.
• Teachers perceive students DO have internet access at home, but they don’t.
• Result: They are integrating the internet even though many students don’t have access.

Possible solutions: 

• Survey students so expectations are based on reality rather than presumptions.
• Determine ways to provide home internet for students who need it. 

Technology Integration

Across districts, even when there is digital equity, adults often get in the way of student learning because they are not integrating the technology students know and want to use. Ensuring teachers are comfortable using digital content was a challenge for several reasons:

Challenges

• Time is not allocated to provide professional learning opportunities
• Teachers are not evaluated on tech integration
• Veteran teachers are resistant to change 

Possible solutions

• School and district leadership must be intentional about providing time for teacher learning
• Work to include tech integration in teacher and leader evaluation
• School and district leadership can model effective tech integration
• Ensure veteran teachers understand real benefits and provide them with in classroom coaching and support
• Include technology leadership in the central and cabinet level

Device damage

Another issue for districts is intentional damage to devices. This was most likely to happen in cases where devices are not being used in meaningful ways. When teachers don’t integrate technology or understand it’s value the students respond accordingly and are not respectful or responsible with their devices. 

Access points

In rural communities, access points are a pain point. Ways this is being addressed ranged from hotspots on activity buses to mifi and other hotspots to take home, some points;

• On buses, many start with activity buses and then expand
• Buses can be parked in neighborhoods
• Provide Verizon hotspots
• Should added costs be pushed to families?
• It needs to be metered so you know how it is being used 
• Companies provide grants for this 
• Access must be filtered, otherwise it becomes mom and dad’s device for the household

Digital Accessibility for Families

Urban districts discussed the problem of families not understanding anything that is happening in schools because they are unable to access content due to language barriers or disability. This led to a discussion of the importance of ensuring staff understand how to create accessible content written in plain language so it is easily translatable by a machine and can be perceived by those with disabilities. Most districts have yet to take on this challenge. However, the Office of Civil Rights is approaching more and more districts requiring them to ensure content adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.  Many website platforms are not up to the challenge. However, companies like eChalk and Edlio do support content accessibility. There is a desire for eRate funding to help cover the cost of using such solutions. 

Resources

• Kajeet provides innovative WiFi solutions.
• Waterford Upstart provides four-year-old children access to the highest form of academic support in their early education at no cost to participants: personalized family education and coaching, a new computer and Internet if needed, and adaptive educational software.

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal. 

PDFs are one of the biggest issues for website accessibility. In fact, research from WebAim showed that 75.1% of respondents indicated that PDF documents are very or somewhat likely to pose significant accessibility issues. That's because making PDFs accessible takes work, training, and includes a software purchase.

Common PDF Accessibility Errors

To make PDFs accessible you should have a paid for version of Adobe Acrobat. These are the most common accessibility errors to check for:

• Missing document title
• Missing or illogical reading order
• Images missing ALT text
• Wrong/confusing heading semantics
• Language settings
• Tables with no defined header

What Does it Look Like to Check PDFs for Accessibility

You can visit see how one goes about checking and remediating a PDF with the Adobe Acrobat software in this video from campus suite.

PDF Myths

The question to ask, is do you really need a PDF on your website? Sometimes people want a PDF because of Often people have false views on why PDFs are needed such as:

• Myth: The content is secure.
• Reality: All digital content can be manipulated.
  
• Myth: It can be read more easily across platforms.
• Reality: Content placed directly on your site following WCAG guidelines can be read more easily across platforms.
  
• Myth: People will want to print my content from my website.
• Reality: Today most people prefer to read via mobile.
  
• Myth: PDFs should be used for forms.
• Reality: Rather than having visitors print forms out, you can provide them with an accessible digital form they can submit.

The Verdict

The best way to ensure your website is accessible is to place content directly into your website following web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG). If, for some reason, a document absolutely must be provided via PDF, provide the same information on your website in HTML as well.

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.   

Easy peasy accessibility tip:

Provide participants with handouts before, not after, workshops, learning opportunities, or any type of event.

What do you mean?

Have you ever been to an event where they tell you that you'll get slides and handouts after the event or in a follow up email? This is an example of getting materials after an event. This reduces accessibility. This is because for some people, having a digital copy of the materials makes learning about and understanding the topic easier. This can apply to a variety of learning styles, disabilities, or for those not fluent in the language. 

Why not just provide the material afterwards?

Some people may want to follow along during, not after, an event. They may want to access the material live. 

How does providing digital content before an event help?

Providing access to materials in advance can be helpful in obvious ways as well as ways that may never have occurred to us. Here are some of the more obvious ways having materials in advance can help.

Those needing visual accommodations can access the materials by adjusting size, color contrast, or using a braille or screen reader.

Providing materials in advance of an event helps those needing hearing accommodations in a variety of ways. For example, if you have a slide show, ensure the transcript is in the presenter notes, so those who do not hear well can read what you are saying. During the presentation, turn closed captioning on your slides, to provide additional support.

When participants have the materials, they don’t have to worry as much about missing something. They can go back and reference it. Additionally, for some people it is helpful to have the material that is being presented, in advance so they can interact with it in a variety of ways and focus on the learning. They may want to highlight pieces, take notes on what they are learning, file or store the information in ways that make sense to them, for later access, etc. 

Practical Considerations

An easy way to provide access to all materials is to provide a hyperdoc agenda. This means an agenda with links to all relevant materials, handouts, and presentations. Place a link to this agenda in promotional materials, emails, calendar invites, flyers, etc.

Why isn’t everybody doing this?

Some people may feel that if someone wants an accommodation such as receiving materials in advance, they should just as for it. While this does provide access, it is not inclusive and it singles people out. 

Presenters may be hesitant to provide materials in advance because people may:

• Not to attend if they have the materials in advance
• Not to pay attention to the presenter  
• Steal their proprietary content 

Each of these hesitations can be addressed in the following ways.

• Attendance
  Ensure you make clear the benefits of attending face-to-face i.e. interactive activities, networking opportunities
• Paying attention to the presenter
  Direct participants on where their attention should be focused
• Stealing content
  On slides and handouts indicate the author and sharing permissions

Your turn

Now that you know providing materials in advance, doesn’t take any more effort and it provides a better experience for your participants, how might you change your practice? Do you still hold some fears about sharing content with participants or are you ready to give it a shot?

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal. 

All public schools must have accessible websites. With so many options, which platform should you choose? To help you figure that out in the alphabetical listing below you can:

• Visit the site
• Check out the accessibility guidance
• Watch a video clip from each platform as they share information about what they provided in a showcase to New York City school webmasters.

The platforms listed below are ones who demonstrated their commitment to school website accessibility by participating in the Website Accessibility Summit on November 5th in New York City.

This is the whole video and after that you can click on the link to go straight to a particular platform vendor.

Blackboard / Schoolwires

• Blackboard / Schoolwires Accessibility guidance 
• Website Accessibility Summit Showcase video for Blackboard Schoolwires
• Presentation: Blackboard / Schoolwires Accessibility Showcase

eChalk

• eChalk accessibility guidance
• Website Accessibility Summit Showcase video for eChalk
• Presentation: eChalk Showcase

Edlio

• Edlio accessibility guidance 
• Website Accessibility Summit Showcase Video for Edlio 
• Presentation: Edlio Showcase

Google Sites

• Google Sites accessibility guidance
• Website Accessibility Showcase Video for Google Sites
• Presentation: Google Showcase

SchoolMessenger

• SchoolMessenger accessibility guidance 
• Website Accessibility Summit Showcase Video for School Messenger

Wix

• Wix accessibility guidance
• Wix Accessibility Checklist
• Website Accessibility Summit Showcase Video for Wix
• Presentation: Wix Showcase

WordPress

• Make WordPress Accessible
• Website Accessibility Summit Showcase Video for WordPress
• Presentation: WordPress Showcase

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.

All government agencies must have accessible websites. This means all public schools or schools who receive federal funding must have accessible websites. The United States Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights has agreements with various school districts to help ensure institutions provide content that is accessible to everyone including people with disabilities and those who speak languages other than English.  And it’s the right thing to do! 

Pick me! Pick me!

On Tuesday, November 5th, more than 200 school webmasters and content contributors came together from across New York City schools to hear from representatives from a variety of platforms. 

They came from around the globe to be a part of the largest school district accessibility projects in the world. In attendance were the following website platforms:

• Blackboard / Schoolwires
• eChalk
• Edlio
• Google
• Intrado / School Messenger
• Wix
• WordPress. com

Representatives from each company shared:

What each website provider offers, in terms of: 

• their platform
• how they would ensure all website content—pictures, documents, and text on a page—would be made accessible
• support provided to schools 
• costs 

What webmasters need to do to make content accessible

Bringing all the website platforms together in one space to speak with staff provided an effective way for schools to make an informed decision. It also enabled these platforms to learn what the other is doing and get ideas how to provide better products for schools.

What people were saying

Participants were abuzz with their learning on social media. In fact the project hashtag trended on Twitter that day. You can see some of what they were saying on social media as follows:

• #NYCSchoolsDigIn on Twitter
• Periscope
• Tech & Learning Magazine Page
• Across Facebook

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.

As accessibility consciousness increases, more and more people are wondering what provider to use to make accessible content? WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind)* surveyed preferences of screen reader users comparing Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF. 

Creating accessible content is not only important because it is the right thing to do. It is also important because not doing so leaves institutions and businesses at risk for lawsuits and loss of funding. 

The verdict?

WebAIM research showed that respondents were much more favorable of Word documents than of PDF documents - 30.9% indicated that Word documents are very or somewhat likely to pose significant accessibility issues, compared to 75.1% for PDF documents.

Implications

Because it is a challenge to make Adobe products accessible, a institutions like Penn State, are suggesting staff avoid Adobe.

Accessible first. Not accessible search.

It’s not that Adobe can’t be made accessible. The problem is it’s not intuitive. For example, the two most important tools for reviewing and repairing PDF accessibility are the Tags pane and the Accessibility tools pane. They are both hidden by default in Acrobat. Accessibility should be the default, not the thing some people search to try to accomplish. Another problem is that several languages are not supported and there is no timeline for a fix. 

Heading navigation is key

Regardless of the platform used, the research indicates that navigating headings remains the predominant method for finding page information by those using screen readers. It also makes a page much easier and comfortable for everyone to digest. 

Up next?

Let’s put out a challenge for WebAIM to see how Google and Apple fare with feedback from respondents who use screen readers.

          ___________________________________________________________________

*WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) provides comprehensive web accessibility solutions and is a leading provider of web accessibility expertise internationally. WebAIM is a non-profit organization based at the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University. WebAIM's mission is to expand the potential of the web for people with disabilities by providing the knowledge, technical skills, tools, organizational leadership strategies, and vision that empower organizations to make their own content accessible to people with disabilities. 

          ___________________________________________________________________

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.  

There may be times when you think it is okay to provide a print/paper only version of content for a student. The reality as is you should do this never, ever, never, never, ever.

That's because, if you’re thinking paper first, you’re not thinking accessible first. 

If content is not digital FIRST, it is not: 

• Find-able through CTRL+F or tabs
• Increasable to a variety of sizes 
• Readable by a screen reader
• Searchable by search engines 
• Translatable by Artificial Intelligence

Credit for creating the FIRST acronym to my digital accessibility and inclusion colleagues at the New York City Department of Education: Clay Smith and Patricia Paddock.  

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.

Lynn Wehrman, President and Founder of WeCo Accessibility Services, will deliver the keynote address at the #NYCSchoolsTech Website Accessibility Conference.

As the leader of a company founded and run by digital technologists, all of whom live with disabilities, Lynn will spotlight the positive impacts of website accessibility for students, parents and the community.

Her talk will include the following:

• Lynn’s own journey to grasp digital accessibility in a government role
• Beyond just blindness: a brief primer of the disabilities people live and how they impact computer use
• How accessible websites include and empower others
• Ways accessibility improves user experience for everyone
• Knowing when to update for accessibility and when to start over

The Website Accessibility Conference, co-hosted by Tech&Learning and the New York City Department of Education, will be held November 5th 2019 at Wagner Middle School, 220 East 76th Street, New York, NY.

To learn more about the conference or to register, visit https://www.techlearninglive.com/nycdoe_website_accessibility_summit/363566

In her book, Haben Girma, the first deafblind student to graduate Harvard Law, explains her frustration with not being able to access the cafeteria menu at her college. Like most humans, Haben loves delicious food. Fighting for this access was part of her inspiration for later pursuing her law degree.

It's surprising that large food chain like Domino's pizza, doesn't get that everyone, including those with disabilities, want access to the food they find delicious. 

The Domino's Decision

Fortunately, the  U.S. Supreme Court understands this. Their recent decision to not hear Domino's petition on whether its website is accessible to the disabled is a win for everyone who believes in inclusivity. While Domino's, and some other retailers, consider this a loss, their view is short-sighted.

• First, it's a terrible look from a public relations perspective to take a stand against providing access to your goods to those with disabilities. 
• Second, it's a terrible business decision to cut off the largest minority community in the world, those with disabilities. 

Accessibility on School Websites

Retailers are not the only ones being sued for not providing accessible content. The largest school system in the nation, the New York City Department of Education has an agreement with the Office of Civil Rights to ensure all websites are accessible. More and more schools should anticipate being the focus of increased scrutiny and challenges to the accessibility of their websites. Failure to do so can have devastating consequences. These include costly lawsuits as well as possibly losing millions of dollars in federal funding. 

Fortunately, most school staff are excited to discover ways to learn how to include more of their school community into communication.

Preparing for Accessibility

To prepare and respond accordingly more and more businesses and government agencies are creating digital content with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in mind. This means they provide training and support to staff to ensure they understand how to do this.  

Accessibility isn't just the right thing to do, it also makes content better for everyone. Doesn't it make sense to invest time and money into making content better and available to those with disabilities rather than investing time and money into lawsuits?

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.

Seeing AI

Free app uses AI to communicate the world to visually impaired kids

Pros: With options that include bar code scanning; screen reading; facial, color, and scene recognition, this one free tool does the job of many.

Cons: There are some issues with accuracy, and not all text is readable; for nonlinear texts, there might be issues reading text in order.

Bottom Line: Students who are blind or have visual impairments will likely find this multifunctional tool to be a welcome and useful shift from more limited apps.

Read more 

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. 

By Common Sense Education

Part of making content accessible includes ensuring that the contrast ratio is set to be fully accessible to anyone. Inaccessible color contrast is the top issue for digital content, but fixing it, or having it right from the start, is easy. In this article you'll learn why this is important, what the standard is for color contrast, and how to make content with accessible color contrast.

Why this is important

• 6% of population is color blind 
• 2.3% of population has low vision (BCVA of less than 20/70, visual field loss, or legal blindness)
• Everyone using a device in bright sunlight struggles with poor color contrast

The Web Content Accessibility Guideline Standard for color contrast:

• 4.5:1 or higher for most text 
• 3:1 or higher for large text (18 font) or large bold text (14 point, bold)

How to find out if you're meeting the standard

• Use ColorZilla to find the color codes of text and background
• Paste the color codes into WebAim’s Color Contrast Checker

What if you don't meet the standard?

• Use the lightness slider to adjust the color so it has a contrast ratio that passes.
• When you have a passing ratio, replace your colors with the new colors.

Back In the classroom

When educators use color contrast that meets accessibility standards, they help to make content that all students and their families can access. They should also teach their students to create accessible content as well.

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.   

Tech&Learning and the New York City Department of Education are co-hosting the Website Accessibility Summit, to be held November 5th 2019 at Wagner Middle School, 220 East 76th Street, New York, NY.

Summit attendees will learn about the offerings of website providers and how to create and manage accessible school websites. 

To register or learn more, visit techlearninglive.com.

Website owners want all visitors to their site to be able to access the content. This requires ensuring the site is accessible so no one is left out. Making a site accessible is not intuitive, but once you understand the basic concepts you'll discover:

• It is not difficult, 
• it becomes second nature, and 
• accessible content is better content. 

Fortunately, more and more platforms support the ability to create and maintain websites that are compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Here are steps you can take to ensure you have a site that can be accessed by everyone including the 15-20% of the population who have disabilities.

Step 1: Choose WCAG 2.0 Compliant Theme or Template

The first step is to select an accessibility-ready theme or template. Most sites allow you to search for accessible themes or templates. Some are even moving toward making them all accessible. 

While many accessibility issues can’t be addressed effectively if you have an inaccessible theme, some sites, such as Wordpress, have plug-ins that may help with common accessibility problems. 

If you are having trouble, contact your provider for guidance. They usually have a list of accessibility-ready options. 

Step 2: Accessible Content Creation

Once you have a theme or template chosen, or a plug-in added to solve the underlying accessibility of your site, you need to create, or re-create, accessible content for the site. 

Content remediation/creation includes: 

• Add alternative text [Alt text] -descriptive text for images and graphics 
• Use proper color contrast 
• Structure headings in an accessible format 
• Caption videos
• All documents on your site must be accessible (avoid PDFs)
• Provide meaningful hyperlinks

Here are a few resources to help you learn about accessible content:

• Web Fundamentals: Accessibility, Analytics, and SEO - Siteimprove
• Tutorials - W3C 
• Creating Accessible Documents  - National Center on Accessible Educational Materials

Step 3: Develop Accessibility Testing Plan

Ensure ongoing compliance by creating a regular WCAG 2.0 AA evaluation schedule.  

• Select a testing tool
• WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool is one that is free, easy to use, and works well if your site is small
• If you require more robust testing, you may want to purchase an evaluation tool
• Determine priority page(s) for automated and/or manual testing 

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.

The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 say the websites of all government agencies and those that receive federal funding must be accessible to everyone including those with disabilities. This means all public schools and schools that receive any federal funding.

Making your website accessible requires content contributors to know strategies such as using meaningful hyperlinks, proper color contrast, using alt text for images, and formatting with proper heading structure.

Determining your website's accessibility

Fortunately, determining a websites accessibility is quite simple using a tool call WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool.  Simply visit the site and paste the url into the field.

The WAVE Report

Once you hit enter you will get a report with errors and alerts. 

Reading the Report

To read the report, simply click the red flag to determine your issues. In this example we see there are issues such as missing alternative text. To learn about the issue, simply click the "i" next to the issue for more information.

More information

When you select the little "i" you receive more information about the error. You'll learn the following:

• What it means
• Why it matters
• How to fix it
• The standards and guidelines

This is the first step in testing a websites accessibility. After the automated testing, a human can take a closer look at the errors and alerts. When you do, you may find that the content management system hosting the website is not accessibility friendly. If that's the case, do your best to reach out to them to change that or switch platforms.

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.  

Innovative educators often use print documents. This may occur when displaying posters, student work, or infographics on a wall or bulletin board. Another common reason for print is when information is handed out, mailed, or back packed home to families.  Usually this material is not accessible to all people including those with disabilities or who speak languages other than English, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Making Print Documents Accessible

People who need assistive technology to read materials--whether because of a disability or because of their needs for translation--have to have digital versions to use with their assistive technology.  For that reason, whenever you create something that's “for print,” you must:

• Host a digitally, accessible copy of print documents somewhere such as on your website. 
• Include a link to this document, or the website where it is hosted, on the printout you provide.

The way you format a print document also affects how accessible it is. Here are some tips to keep in mind.

• Use large print with at least 16 point font
• Use a sanserif font like Arial or Calibri
• Use high contrast of at least 3:1

QR Codes

QR Codes are one way for people with disabilities to get from a printout to an equivalent web page. 

• To generate a QR Code, visit your favorite QR Code generator. Pick one that won't expire. If you're not sure how, check out these tips and these instructions on how to generate a QR Code.
• Once you provide a link, a code is generated that can be placed in a document, along with the phrase, Access a digital version of this < poster, flyer, etc> above the QR code.

Alternative Experience

Keep in mind however, that QR codes may not be a preferred option for everyone. Your best option is to provide access to content in a variety of ways such as:

• Braille copies of your print document
• A large print version of the content
• Have flash drive handy for digital download
• Send the content to your audience digitally via email or text

Inaccessible Digital Platforms

There are still many digital platforms that are lagging behind in their ability to make accessible content. This is particularly true for publishing platforms that create content like brochures, flyers, and infographics.

Alternative Digital Content

The best option is always to generate original content on an accessible platform. If that is not possible, you must provide an alternate, accessible version of the content. This can be:

• An accessible Word or Excel document
• An accessible Google document
• A webpage which contains all of the information provided by the inaccessible platform

cross posted at The Innovative Educator 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal. 

Capstone announces substantial updates to its PebbleGo™ database to facilitate accessibility for all students. Among the improvements include compliance with Section 508 standards (U.S. Workforce Rehabilitation Act of 1973) and WCAG 2.1 AA (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), ensuring PebbleGo is accessible to children with vision, cognitive, physical, and hearing disabilities.

New accessibility features include:

• Simple, predictable navigation
• Text-to-Speech on all articles
• Transcripts for all videos
• Alternative text and descriptive titles for meaningful images
• Screen reader support
• Access keys for keyboard-only navigation
• Color contrast design to support students with color-blindness and low vision

PebbleGo is now also mobile-responsive, offering touchscreen navigation and providing at-home and on-the-go access on smartphones, tablets, and computers to support school-to-home programs, independent learning and English language learners. 

All PebbleGo modules include text written for the needs of K-3 learners, narrated by professional voice-over artists to provide scaffolds for emerging and struggling readers and English language learners.

PebbleGo was named a Best of Show at ISTE 2019 winner by Tech & Learning

Are you doing everything possible to create an inclusive environment for your students?

Haben Girma, author of Haben: The DeafBlind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law spoke to educators at an Accessibility Expo in New York City. She shared advice for making schools more accessible for students.

Check out her six tips and consider how you can integrate them into your classroom this year.

6 tips for creating a more accessible and inclusive classroom

Multiple Formats

Use as many formats as possible to help students learn. The more formats you use; the more students you will reach.

Assumptions

Don’t make assumptions. Girma had teachers who assumed because she was blind she could not use computers or do art. She loves computers and they support accessibility. She also enjoys creating art. Rather than assume what a student can or can’t do, and before excusing them from an activity, start by trying to figure out how a topic can be made accessible. Speak to the student, other students, colleagues, and experts.

Role Models

Hire teachers with disabilities. Bring in speakers with disabilities. Have students with disabilities share ways they learn and live in this world.

Accessible Digital Content

All content you share with students should follow the web content accessibility guidelines. This enables students with disabilities, those who are not fluent in English, and everyone else, access content more effectively.

Teach Inclusion

Commit to teaching inclusively. If you’re not sure how to start, there are endless free resources online to help you get started.

Remove Barriers

Look around your school community. Identify barriers. Work to remove the barriers. Invite students to help.

Girma asks educators to just commit to doing one thing to make their school more accessible to students with disabilities. What could you commit to?

cross posted at The Innovative Educator

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.   

Comcast announced today it is significantly expanding eligibility for Internet Essentials to include all qualified low-income households in its service area.  The Company estimates that more than three million additional low-income households, including households with people with disabilities, are now eligible to apply.  It estimates a total of nearly seven million households now have access to low-cost Internet service, which doubles the total number of previously eligible households.  

To be eligible to apply to the program, low-income applicants simply need to show they are participating in one of more than a dozen different government assistance programs.  These include: Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).  A full list of these programs can be found at www.internetessentials.com.  The Company already accepts applications from households that have a student eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program, live in public housing or receive HUD Housing Assistance, including Section 8 vouchers, or participate in the Veterans Pension Program, as well as low-income seniors and community college students in select pilot markets.  

According to U.S. Census data, households living in cities with the highest poverty rates, are up to 10 times more likely than those in higher earning communities not to have fixed broadband at home.  For example, in Palo Alto, California, or Bethesda, Maryland – where poverty rates are very low – only about six percent of households do not have a broadband Internet subscription – 94 percent are connected.  But in Trenton, New Jersey, and Flint, Michigan – where poverty rates are way above the national average – 60 percent or more of households do not have fixed broadband at home – that is, less than half are connected.  That gap of more than 50 points defines the digital divide in this country.  

The program includes: multiple options to access free digital literacy training in print, online, and in person, the option to purchase an Internet-ready computer for less than $150; and low-cost, high-speed Internet service for $9.95 a month plus tax.  The program is structured as a partnership between Comcast and tens of thousands of school districts, libraries, elected officials, and nonprofit community partners.  For more information, or to apply for the program in seven different languages,  visit www.internetessentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376.  Spanish-only speakers can also call 1-855-765-6995. 

“One out of every 300 Americans will attend a New York City school,” said NYCDOE Chancellor Richard Carranza (@DOEChancellor) in his opening welcome at the #NYCSchoolsTech Conference, held at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (https://www.laguardiahs.org/ ) this week. “Ensuring all of these students have access to technology is crucial.“

This pledge was evident in the day’s robust program that focused on digital inclusion and kicked off with a spirited performance by the EPIC Players, a neuro-inclusive theatre company, performing the prologue to Little Shop of Horrors. 

Victor Calise: Mayor’s Office of People with Disabilities

Victor Calise, the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of People with Disabilities shared that they are working to make New York City the most accessible city in the world. He told the audience that each and everyone of them needs to think about accessibility and how it affects us, our students, and their families. We can do this my ensuring people with disabilities are included.

There are two ways to ensure we include people with disabilities: 

1. Ensure we have truly inclusive education and inclusive classrooms:
   We can do this through technology in classrooms. We must provide the technology tools that students need.
2. Include people with disabilities in the workforce:
   79% of people with disabilities are jobless. It is the job of schools and educators to help prepare students who can be employed.

Keynote: Jason Green

The program kicked off with a keynote from Jason Green, CEO of Learning Innovation Catalyst (LINC) and author of Blended Learning in Action.  Mr. Green asked the audience of about 1,000 New York educators about their own experiences with learning, and noted that “most teachers model their classrooms not by how they learned, but by how they were taught.”

“Your students might be the first generation to never finish college,” he said. How do schools prepare this new generation for jobs that don’t yet exist?  He outlined three key elements:

1. Teachers must become the 21-century learners they are trying to create
   He noted that most professional development models don’t work, and highlighted the Stanford “model of generative change” (https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/library/publications/93 ) that outlines a PD timeline to help teachers become agents of change.
2. Teachers must create classrooms where students love learning.
   To achieve this, Mr. Green recommended the “PAACC” approach that includes: Personalization; Agency, Authentic audience; Connectivity; and Creativity.
3.  Schools must become cultural catalysts for change
   He suggested these tenets to help change school community cultures: Equity; Trust; Agency; Collaboration; and Risk taking. He asked the audience: how are you embracing these tenets? Do you invite colleagues to visit your classroom? Do you visit theirs?

Breakout Sessions

The dozens of breakout sessions throughout the day offered deep dives on a multitude of topics, many with a focus on how to support digital inclusion. Each session included links to helpful resources. There were classes for those starting their journey like “Get Going with Digital Accessibility & Inclusion” and “My Journey to an Inclusive Website.” There were also workshops for those ready to dig in and begin creating inclusive content such as “Writing for Effective Translation” and “Having a Broader Vision for Screen Readers. There were also workshops from Google, and Microsoft on how to “DigIn to Accessibility.” You can view all the #NYCSchoolsTech Summit agendas and resources on the tabs in the Summit “Workshops at a Glance.”

NYCDOE Walks the Walk

I had the pleasure of talking to staff members of the Office of Digital Communication and Inclusion including John Kirkwood, Digital Inclusion Director, Nica Lalli, Senior Director of Digital Communications, and Patty Paddock, Director of Digital Communications and Inclusion, about New York City DOE’s digital inclusion initiative.

After entering into an agreement with the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights in 2016, the New York City Department of Education vowed to create a fully accessible website. This spurred intense research by the department as they figured out what it would mean to make their website accessible.

Offering accessible websites has been an ADA requirement since 2008, but until recently, most agencies hadn’t held public institutions accountable. The NYCDOE knew they had an obligation to change that not just for their own schools, but to become a model for other districts around the country.

“To achieve accessibility, we must think digitally,” said Nica Lalli. Once content is digital it can be accessed by screen readers, translated, captioned, and much more. This it is why it is important that we inspire and teach staff how to make content that is digitally accessible to those with a wide range of disabilities. 

The Office of Digital Inclusion helps staff learn to create digital content with these three easy ways to get started:

Make sure your content is written… 

• at a grade 6–9 reading level 
• find out the reading level at Tinyurl.com/MSReadingLevel 
• use short sentences and common, everyday words 

Check to see if you have... 

• headings (formatted from a style ribbon) 
• bulleted lists 
• descriptive hyperlinks (no "click here") 
• proper contrast 
• contact information

Give all of your images… 

• alternative text (alt text) 

Once the district launched the accessible website, they began teaching staff at central, districts, and schools about how to create digitally inclusive content.

“We need to embed accessibility into everything we offer,” Mr. Kirkwood said. The district is using school webmasters who are often a school’s Technology Single Point of Contact (SPOC) or Parent Coordinator to help them learn how their school community can digitally inclusive.  “We want to change the cultural mindset around accessibility,” he continued.

“Once you start down the road of accessibility, you will keep going down that road,” said Ms. Lalli. “We’re okay dong this slowly, as long as we keep moving.”

The NYCDOE has generously assembled Digital Accessibility and Inclusion guidance that any district can use: Schools.nyc.gov/DigitalInclusion.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Lisa Nielsen, Senior Director Digital Literacy and Inclusion, Jane Pook, Chief Digital Communications Officer, and to JoJo Farrell, Ed Tech Program Manager, for their hospitality throughout the conference. 

It was inspiring to see a district the size of New York City not just take on the complex issue of digital inclusion, but also position itself as a model to districts of all sizes around the country.

Bookshare

Unique digital library gives access to those with print disabilities

Pros: Once registered, students with disabilities have access to a huge library they can read for themselves.
Cons: The registration process must be followed with care.
Bottom Line: This fantastic digital library service provides a powerful sense of independence for students with print-related disabilities.

Read more here.

App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best ed-tech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

As a former middle school teacher who taught in a lower-income, majority-minority school equipped with lots of "high tech" tools, I often wondered about equity when it came to edtech. For me, students' access to tech at school wasn't the issue. However, I knew that things were a lot different once students left my classroom. Because the majority of my students lacked internet access at home, I never assigned homework that required technology.

But that was over 10 years ago, and a lot has changed since then. Today, using tech for teaching and learning -- both in class and for homework -- is a lot more common than it was. Nevertheless, many teachers and students are struggling to adapt to a world where it seems like everyone is connected, yet not everyone has the same access.

Curious to learn more about digital equity and its implications today, I attended a local community roundtable focused on how digital inequity affects schools and their communities. I wanted to know more about what students, educators, and community leaders think about leveling the playing field when it comes to edtech. At one panel, a distinguished group of experts, from city officials to district tech leaders, discussed what they saw as the most pressing issues. Solutions they proposed ranged from providing free citywide broadband access to giving students cellphones with preloaded data plans.

I learned a lot, but it was all about digital equity at a district and citywide level. As a teacher, these technical and infrastructural issues felt so far outside of my control. Then, a group of seven high school seniors took the stage and brought a whole new perspective to the conversation.

One after another, the students spoke about their challenges with technology and what a lack of access actually felt like to them. What surprised me was that the students didn't focus on the lack of hardware (one working printer for over 1,000 students) or lack of high-speed networks (having to sit in a dark parking lot to use the public library's internet). Instead, they shared a more down-to-earth perspective, centered on their teachers and the happenings within their classrooms. From inconsistent homework policies to a perceived lack of empathy and understanding from their teachers, the students were coming at the digital equity issue from a whole different angle.

Of course, issues of digital equity are multifaceted, multilevel, and, at times, technical. But hearing these students' perspectives inspired me to think about some small changes that we, as educators, can make in changing what digital equity looks like for our kids.

Here are four simple things you can do right now to bring more digital equity to your classroom:

1. Seek first to understand.

Recognize your students' current tech capabilities and their concerns. Consider using a survey at the beginning of the year to get a baseline understanding of your students' access to tech. Make sure to let your students know you'll use the results to inform your teaching (and that their answers will remain confidential to their peers). While you may have strong rapport with your students, don't assume too much -- it's important to ask questions to understand what tech use is really like in their homes so you have a clearer and more accurate understanding of needs and constraints. Try to learn from your students: How many have computers at home? How many of those computers have access to a high-speed network? Are there families who use only phones (or tablets) to access the internet? Where do students access the internet if they can't do it at home?

2. Try it out!

It may seem obvious, but before giving assignments on a new platform or app, try it out for yourself! A lot of times, things we'd never assume could go wrong actually do. But trying out the experience beforehand -- just as students will -- can help us catch some bugs before we turn students loose. And it gives us some valuable insight into what students will experience in our classes. From there, you can give kids ample time to complete their work and maybe even offer some pro tips in the process. Everything from log-in problems to having the right browser can affect how long it takes for students to get the work done.

3. Create a tech equity vision with your students.

What exactly is a "tech equity vision"? It's a fancy way to describe the act of involving your students in conversations about how tech use happens in your classroom (and beyond). What better way to elevate student voices and partner with students on how to use technology for teaching and learning? Ask questions like, "What do we use technology in the classroom for?"; "How do we want technology to help us learn?"; "What are some challenges you face using technology in and out of school?"; and "When does technology actually enhance our learning, and when can it get in the way?" Document and post responses on a tech equity vision so students feel (and see) accountability and ownership.

4. (Re)consider your homework policies.

One student on the panel shared that his teacher had an "Absolutely No Late Work" policy, and when he couldn't turn in an online assignment due to lack of access at home, he simply received a zero on the assignment. Another student shared that her teacher gave a week between assigning online homework and turning it in, which allowed for more flexibility in finding access to a network.

Consistency between classes can really help kids, too, so if you're working as part of a team, collaborate with your colleagues on creating consistent policies around homework and digital assignments. Don't be afraid to rethink how your team handles digital learning, and be mindful of the constraints students may face in how they access technology.

cross posted at Common Sense Education

Kaili Hwang has over 10 years of experience as both an educator and administrator in school communities around the world. Kaili joined Common Sense as the Foundations Manager of education-related grants in 2018. 

Funds For Learning has released findings from its ninth annual E-Rate Trends Report. 

Results reveal that the E-rate program remains critical in establishing broadband connectivity for schools and libraries. Key provisions of the 2014 E-rate Order that expanded federal support for broadband internet connections will expire in 2020. The FCC calls upon stakeholders to present insights to determine how the program will serve schools and libraries in the upcoming decade.

Key 2019 survey findings include: 

• Digital learning continues to explode. 88 percent of applicants expect bandwidth needs of schools and libraries to increase in the next three years.
• New admin creates positive results. 81 percent of applicants are satisfied with E-rate’s management under Radha Sekar, FCC Chairman Pai’s pick to improve customer service.
• Barriers to internet still exist. 82 percent of applicants agree that insufficient internet access to home of students or library patrons is significant issue in their community.
• New policies yield lower prices. 70 percent of applicants agree that E-rate competitive bidding rules are lowering prices for their internet access services.
• Wi-Fi remains mission critical. 88 percent of applicants feel Wi-Fi is extremely important in fulfilling their mission. 79 percent of applicants in FY18 cited the same need, showing a consistent trend in Wi-Fi access for schools and libraries.

Visit https://www.fundsforlearning.com/2019ErateTrends to download the complete 2019 Trends Report.

Microsoft Education has announced new technology to support inclusive, student-centered learning in the classroom: 

Windows 10 and Office365 accessibility features including new voices in 50 different languages for Narrator (without having to download language packs), cursor and pointer size settings and more. 

Immersive Reader is now available in Minecraft: Education Edition (to read in-game text, character dialogue and more) and available as an Azure Cognitive Service, allowing third-party apps and partners to add Immersive Reader into products, helping students and parents read text within apps.  

Presenter Coach in PowerPoint gives on-screen guidance on pacing, inclusive language, conciseness, profanity, filler words, and originality as students speak into a microphone to practice presentations and improve public-speaking. 

Read more 

Haben Girma, the first deaf-blind student to graduate Harvard Law spoke at an Accessibility Expo to a New York City Department of Education audience about the importance of sharing positive disability stories and services available. 

At the Expo attendees saw amazing work happening in schools with students. If you did not have the opportunity to attend, you don't have a way to find out about what's happening. That's because schools, districts, government agencies, and those who use their services, often can do a  better job of sharing. They forget about sharing their QR codes and hashtags and websites. They forget to celebrate on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.

As a result, important stories and services are not widely known. Haben Girma has useful advice for how educators about how they can do a better job of posting positive stories. 

Girma advises the following:
 

Frame

Frame the story in a respectful, positive way.  

Post accessibly

If you're posting a video, make sure the video has captions. 

If you're posting a photo, add an alt text.

You can learn from Girma directly in the video below. You can also find out how she is able to communicate with hearing person communicate. When you visit the video, turn on the captions. You'll see why they are helpful for people with and without disabilities. 

Want to know more? Check out Girma's Brief Guide to Producing Positive Disability Stories.  

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal. 

Victor Calise, Commissioner at the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities and Haben Girma, the first deaf-blind person to graduate from Harvard Law, shared several lessons about the world's largest minority group with attendees at the NYC Department of Education's Accessibility Expo. The Expo was held at Brooklyn Law School on May 31st. 

Don't know what the largest minority group is? It is people with disabilities. They make up about one billion people world-wide.
 

Lesson's about the world's largest minority group

Innovation
Disability is an opportunity for innovation.

Accessible environments
People with disabilities are not disabled. The only thing that disables people is their environment. If we make the environment (physical, social, digital) accessible, we enable the person.

Special needs
When describing people with disabilities, you may want to rethink the term "special needs." We all have special needs. 

Hold the mic
If a microphone is available when you are speaking, use it. Someone may need you to use it so they can hear better. Don't make them ask or stand out. 

Employment
75% of people with disabilities are jobless. Communities do a bad job of transitioning disabled youth from school to college or career. 

Communities like New York City are getting better at addressing this need with programs such as NYC: AT WORK and Access VR. These programs help match people to jobs.

Overcoming disability
Reconsider thinking about how successful people with disabilities "overcame" their disability. Victor Calise said he would never trade in his disability. His disability is not to be overcome. Instead communities must help to remove digital, attitudinal, and physical barriers so those with disabilities can do whatever they want. 

Nothing about us, without us
Do not create, decide, build, name, make policies about something affecting disabled people without their participation and input. 

Don't be grateful
Non-disabled people should not feel grateful about not having disabilities. Haben Girma explains that this perpetuates hierarchies of us versus them. This continues the marginalization of people with disabilities. 

Just ask
If you are unsure how to refer to someone's disability, ask them.

Want more?

You can watch an amateur Facebook livestream of each speaker. Unfortunately, captions are not automatic on Facebook, so the videos are not completely accessible. However, I did try to capture the sign language interpreter as I captured the videos, so there is some accessibility available. 

Watch the 11-minute livestream.

Part 1: 29 minutes. Haben begins at at 10:00
Part 2: 4 minutes
Part 3:  25 minutes

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal.

Accessibility options exist with each of the big three tech companies, Google,Microsoft, Apple. That’s a move in the right direction, but it is not enough. Currently, creating accessible content requires content creators, rather than platform providers, to do the heavy lifting. Each company’s platform design places accessibility in the hands of the content creator as an afterthought.

Call to Action: #AccessibilityFirst

• Make accessible the default, rather than a technique that content creators must be trained in and work to access.
• Make accessibility a core functionality, not just a feature.
• Incorporate accessibility into the design rather than something that is checked afterwards.
• Ensure accessibility is visible in main menus rather than something you need to leave the document for and click multiple times to access.
• Integrate accessibility rather than making it an add on.
• Create default settings that make accessibility automatic rather than something that must be turned on.
• Show an error message when inaccessible content is being created, just like when you have a misspelling.

People with disabilities are the world's largest minority group. When accessible is not integrated into the design of content creation platforms, that sends a message from these companies that more than 1 billion people around the world (source: World Heath Organization) with disabilities are an afterthought.

These companies were created by young, able-body individuals who themselves are becoming older and less able-bodied. As the leaders of these mega-billion-dollar company’s age, and their users age, it is clear there needs to be a shift to a more inclusive default.

The Challenge

Let’s put out a challenge to the big three, Microsoft, Apple, and Google. Lead the way to making inclusive digital content a core feature, not an optional afterthought. 

Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She is a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator. Nielsen is the author of several booksand her writing has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, Tech&Learning, and T.H.E. Journal. 

SETDA, the principal membership association of U.S. state and territorial digital learning leaders, today released a new national report, State K-12 Broadband Leadership: Driving Connectivity, Access and Student Success. This report highlights the impact of state leadership in driving policy decisions at the state level to support broadband networks, bandwidth capacity, Wi-Fi implementation, and off campus access for low-income families. Educators, policy makers and the private sector can benefit from organized and accessible information regarding states’ K12 broadband approaches. The work includes examples of states providing leadership for effective and efficient broadband and Wi-Fi implementation and case studies for Connecticut, Kentucky and Minnesota. Accompanying this report is an online State K12 Broadband Leadership map which includes an overview of the approach for broadband implementation for all states and Guam. 

Full Report
Online State K12 Broadband Leadership Map

The latest release of the itslearning management system focus on increasing the functionality of the system’s built-in Microsoft tools and ensuring that content is accessible for all students.

In addition to being faster when starting up, itslearning’s built-in Microsoft Office tools -- Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- now have support for accessibility checking. This allows teachers to create content for screen readers or check that previously-created content works well with screen readers in order to accommodate students with disabilities.

The Word tool now comes with word count and the ability to insert emojis while PowerPoint has more transitions. The Excel tool has the most updates, now supporting conditional formatting, sort and filter functions, improved pivot tables, pictures and shapes, additional charts and more options to freeze panes.