Accessibility in the Classroom

 What is Accessibility? 

Accessibility is something that is available to help technology users use the technology more easily. This is not just something available for students. All sorts of technology has accessibility features. Even the Iphone you use has accessibility features. Simple things such as increasing your font size or what the side buttons on your phone do are accessibility features that you may not even realize you use. 

Accessibility for Students

Students need to have access to a variety of tools that will make them successful in the classroom. Majority of students today have a device they use daily. Within the device there are things called accessibility features that allow students to access technology conveniently. All technology has accessibility features, it is up to the user (or in education sometimes the teacher) to turn these features on. 

Majority of my teaching career (in my old district) I used Apple products. My students had iPads and I had a Macbook Air. I knew those accessibility features inside and out to support my students. Now in my current district, students in third through eighth grade have their own chromebook. We use them daily for almost every subject. Currently in my classroom, I have a wide range of abilities. Therefore some students need more support completing certain tasks than others. If it weren't for accessibility features, some of my students wouldn't be able to complete daily fourth grade assignments. Over the last year, I have learned about the use of Chromebooks and the accessibility tools available for them. In the infographic below, those are the ones that are used the most in my classroom by my fourth grade students.

Source: Created by Blog Owner via Canva

1. Text to Speech: This accessibility tool is the fan favorite. Student love having things read aloud to them. This feature is also extremely helpful when students require this accommodation. Instead of having the teacher read everything aloud to them, the chromebook is able to do it. If students want something read to them multiple times, text to speech gives them that access to that.

2. Dictation: This feature is the second most used in my classroom. I have students at a variety of levels when it comes to both writing and spelling abilities. Dictation allows students to speak to their Chromebook, and the Chromebook will write whatever the say. It is extremely helpful for English Language Learners too as they may know the word but be unsure of how to spell it. I feel this tool gives students confidence to write responses to the best of their ability because they don't have to worry about spelling things incorrectly.

3. Captions: In fourth grade, we do a good amount of independent work. If for some reason a video that students are watching doesn't offer captions, the Chromebook offer live captions as long as the video is being played in a Chrome window.

4. Visor: This feature is another favorite of my students. This tool is a line reader. It allows students to focus on one line at a time as they read something on the Chromebook. They often use this accessibility feature on standardized testing such as NWEA MAP or IAR. Therefore, when my students realize they can add this extension, they go nuts! It definitely helps students stay focused on what they are reading and not get lost in the whole text on the page.

5. Site Blocker: This Chrome extension, is one that I will usually assign to students when they need support in staying focused. The extension allows you to block other sites while you are working on something. There are other websites and extensions that may do this as well such as GoGurdian, however Site Blocker is specific for Chrome.

Providing our students with different tools to be successful can be easy. It is knowing which tools are right for your students that may take some time to figure out. Which accessibility tool are you willing to try with your students?