Ensuring students with disabilities have equal access to educational services is currently receiving a lot of emphasis in educational institutions. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1973 legislated that public institutions were required to accommodate persons with physical limitations, no such legislation existed to improve accessibility to digital resources. As technology became more integrated into education, standards were created to ensure digital environments were also to be accessible to people with disabilities.

 

Making digital environments accessible for persons with physical disabilities takes many different forms. Adjusting the height of a computer station may be necessary for students who rely on a wheelchair. Students who are hard of hearing would benefit from the use of captions with multimedia resources. Students with vision deficits should have access to screen reading software and the ability to navigate a website using the keyboard instead of a mouse. Students with learning disabilities, such as ADHD or dyslexia, often find text-to-speech software helpful. 

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Regardless of whether a disability is physical or academic, these students have a right to to navigate the digital learning environment without impediments. It is our responsibility as educators to ensure that appropriate guidelines and standards are followed in order to provide an equitable learning experience for all students.

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References

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Interactive Accessibility, Inc. (2015). ADA compliance | Interactive accessibility. Retrieved from http://www.interactiveaccessibility.com/services/ada-compliance

 

W3C. (2016, May). Finding your WAI to New Web Accessibility Resources. Retrieved October 14, 2016, from https://www.w3.org/WAI/yourWAI