Accessibility is an important topic in education and encompasses the classroom space, digital tools and resources and much more.
Creating an Accessibility-Friendly Classroom Environment
- Is the
classroom bursting with patterned borders on the bulletin boards and
bright colorful posters/word walls/anchor charts? Many teachers follow
this trend because they believe more is better (it is touted as best
practice on Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers), but the research shows
that this is detrimental for student focus and ability to retain
information.
- For
all students, but consider those with ADD/ADHD
- Bring
this back to decluttering and focusing on the room being as open as
possible – an empty canvas for the students to paint every day based on
the lessons and activities that will be happening.
- This then returns to the furniture needing to facilitate the day’s tasks by being flexible, and active learning environments.
- How can
seating support a student who learns best with movement?
- i.e.
MooreCo’s Grow stools and sit/stand workspaces
- Making this an option for all students, not just those with an IEP or 504, otherwise they may feel “different” and not want to use the tools available to them
Creating an Accessibility-Friendly Digital Environment
- Going back
to decluttering the barrage of bright colors and patterns in the physical
space, the same holds true for a digital classroom environment and
assignments. If a teacher has created a presentation or assignment
that is bursting with unnecessary Clip Art, distracting transitions
between slides, and heavy text/unreadable “fancy” fonts, they have just
made that information less accessible to their students.
- Also,
if they have a class website that is cluttered with images and
hard-to-read fonts, they are making it challenging for students who
already have difficulty concentrating or reading to access the
information
- Consider – if they are embedding links in assignments online, are they including alt-text for students who use a screen reader?
- How is the
physical and digital classroom layout supporting English Language
Learners?
- All
of this is not to say to get rid of visuals on the walls of the classroom
– make sure they are intentional
- For a classroom with ELL students, labels that include a picture of an object along with the word in English and their native language can be helpful for language acquisition
- Make use of accessibility
tools to support personalized learning in the digital environment
- Microsoft Accessibility Blog
- Google Chrome Accessibility Tools Slide Deck (covers
native accessibility Chromebook settings and extensions/apps)
- Consider
native accessibility settings that can assist students reading
below-grade level access articles and text that are appropriate for their
grade level, as so often they are given books written for younger grades
and miss out on the rich content
Here is a resource document that has resoures on Assistive Technology and Accessibility:
Related:
More Accessibility Resources
Google Accessibility Features and Resources
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