Design With Accessibility in Mind

All students deserve an equal opportunity to learn and access learning materials. However, this is not always the case. In fact, remote learning has added new barriers to those that have already existed in a traditional classroom. For instance, some students may lack basic access to the internet or a computer—a clear barrier to remote learning. Others may have learning disabilities, which make it more difficult to access academic content in the digital format presented. When students struggle to simply access the learning materials, they are immediately at a disadvantage and will have less time and energy left for learning. This lack of accessibility is an equity issue that can leave some students behind.

As teachers, we must strive to make learning accessible for all of our students. The articles in this collection explore ways that you can improve accessibility by designing lessons with accessibility in mind and also by empowering students with digital tools that they can use to overcome their access barriers.