For students with disabilities, accessibility is a critical issue, but technology has played a significant role in improving access and working to ensure all students get what they need. Given assistive technology’s effect on improving accessibility, virtual learning is assumed to be even more accessible than in-person learning. But in The Learning Accelerator’s (TLA) work with school systems across the country running virtual and hybrid programs, accessibility has surfaced as a consistent area of concern for virtual and hybrid programs; in our Strategy Lab cohort team assessments of virtual and hybrid learning, just seven of the 20 school systems felt that they consistently ensure that, “Our tools, materials, and supports are universally accessible so that ALL students can interact with them using screen readers, dictation tools, translators, etc.”

Through their work with peers, experts, and coaches in Strategy Lab, a number of those school system teams explored ways of improving accessibility, shedding light on key actionable ways to address this critical need. Here, we share three areas of virtual learning that can support virtual, hybrid, blended, and other tech-enabled learning programs to achieve their potential as accessible learning environments: the technology base, communication, and learning design.

  • Leverage Technology Infrastructure to Advance Accessibility All schools – not just virtual ones – must ensure that every student has access to learning with high-speed internet access and an adequate device, as TLA’s Digital Equity Guide highlights.
  • Create Accessible Learning Experiences According to our research, quality virtual and remote learning relies on technology and a foundation of self-directed learning. While students may enter virtual schools with varying degrees of prior experience with self-direction, virtual schools must support all their students in developing their self-direction and independent learning skills for them to access virtual learning.
  • Ensure Accessible Communication Virtual schools face an uphill battle with communication. Unlike brick-and-mortar schools, there is no virtual equivalent to putting flyers in a backpack or running into a parent at carpool. Instead, many virtual schools focus on email communication, which relies on parents or guardians to have a reliable internet connection and device to access email, along with the digital literacy skills to navigate both.

Read the full article about accessibility in virtual learning by Nate Kellogg at The Learning Accelerator.