AEMing For Access Learning Series

Join us for an inspiring webinar with Ben Scott from Estendio, where we delve into the transformative potential of educational technology in overcoming reading challenges. Discover how early reading difficulties can impact academic success and explore the psychological barriers faced by learners with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and anxiety. Learn how innovative EdTech tools can customize and enhance the reading experience, making learning accessible and engaging for all. Access this webinar’s slide deck.

3 Key Takeaways

• Reading Challenges: Early reading difficulties can significantly impact students’ future academic success.
• Cognitive Barriers: Dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and anxiety each present unique challenges to reading comprehension.
• EdTech Solutions: Educational technology tools can effectively support and enhance reading for learners with diverse needs.

In this AEMing for Access session, Amanda Bastoni, CAST’s Director of Career Technical and Adult Education and Laurie Prewandowski, Technology Integration Specialist at Kearsarge Middle School, NH, discuss strategies for increasing access to STEM. In particular, they highlight strategies that support rural learners and girls, both groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields. Bastoni and Prewandowski provide specific strategies and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) “moves” developed through the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project, Take Flight (#2146613). Presentation slides are available.

3 Key Takeaways to Increase Access to STEM learning and STEM careers:

• Start by understanding the problem. What barriers are learners and/or teachers facing? In the case of STEM, for example many teachers in rural communities don’t have the tech support they need to feel confident using drones in their classroom.
• Co-Design – design with end users. Make sure you are collecting feedback on the STEM learning experience from students and educators.
• Proactively design materials. Make sure you are providing materials and resources in multiple formats – written, visual, etc.

Explore the critical role of accessibility in social media, specifically emphasizing the power of short, informative videos to disseminate information effectively. By making content accessible, we ensure that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can engage with and benefit from the information shared. Access the Quick Learn slide deck.

3 Key Takeaways

• Improved User Experience: Accessible social media ensures that all users, including those with disabilities, have a seamless and enjoyable experience, fostering greater engagement and satisfaction.
• Inclusivity Enhances Reach: Accessible social media content, particularly through short videos, broadens your audience by including individuals with disabilities, ensuring no one is left out.
• Engagement and Retention: Short, informative videos are more likely to capture and retain viewers’ attention, making the information more memorable and impactful.

Circle Up aims to integrate academic, social, and emotional learning using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to ensure access and agency for all learners. We will co-design with teachers, coaches, administrators, and other partners a comprehensive model of academic, social, and emotional learning using the UDL framework, the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) model, and the Check and Connect intervention.

3 Key Takeaways

• The basic premise of UDL is that barriers to learning occur in the interaction between learners’ strengths and challenges and the curricula.
• Circle Up enhances UDL by developing a model of expert learning that integrates UDL with the latest insights on self-regulation, motivation, and affective neuroscience.
• Circle Up also leverages the power of UDL, CPS, and Check and Connect to identify barriers in design and reduce them for all learners.

To empower education leaders to identify EdTech products that center equity, diversity, and inclusion in design and development, the CAST UDL Product Certification provides a process for documenting how EdTech products prioritize accessibility requirements in product development and align to the UDL principles in order to provide multiple ways for learners to engage with the learning experience, access the learning materials, and express
their knowledge and skills.

3 Key Takeaways

• The CAST UDL Product Certification is meant to assist decision-makers in identifying products that address learner variability by aligning to the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
• The certification consists of two badges: Accessibility Baseline and Alignment to UDL. Completing the requirements for both badges results in the CAST UDL Product Certification being awarded.
• The Accessibility Baseline ensures products provide transparent communication about the steps taken to address accessibility requirements through a public accessibility statement and an up-to-date Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR).

Discover how Bookshare, a library of more than one million audiobooks for people with learning disabilities, aligns with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. In just 30 minutes, learn how UDL’s focus on multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression intersects with Bookshare’s mission to ensure all learners, including those with print disabilities, have equal access to the educational content they need. Access the presentation slide deck. Learn more about how Bookshare fits into the UDL Model (PDF).

3 Key Takeaways

• Understand how accessible digital materials support UDL principles by designing flexible options for engagement, representation, and expression.
• Learn how audiobooks help remove barriers to learning for students with print disabilities.
• Learn how to access Bookshare for learners.

In April 2024, the United States Department of Justice issued a final rule requiring state and local governmental entities — including early childhood, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary institutions — to ensure web or mobile app-based digital learning resources are appropriate for and usable by students with disabilities. Join CAST’s Accessibility team to break down the updates and requirements and what that means for schools.

3 Key Takeaways:

• Don’t wait to start ensuring your website and documents are accessible and following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA.
• Take into consideration your current contracts with vendors and new contracts to ensure accessibility is part of your procurement process.
• Know your baseline, what is already accessible, what is not accessible this will help you prioritize where to start.

Accessibility is a foundational component of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the instructional design framework pioneered at CAST that seeks to remove barriers and optimize teaching and learning so that it works for everyone. Starting with a shared definition of what is meant by “accessible,” participants will explore examples of the four principles that make up the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), with the goal of creating educational materials that work for everyone from the start, by design.

4 Key Takeaways

• The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), currently at version 2.2, are an international accessibility standard that is referenced in many national accessibility laws such as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in the U.S.
• The four pillars of WCAG make up an easy-to-remember acronym of POUR: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust, four qualities of an accessible experience for everyone, including people with disabilities.
• Learn more about techniques for implementing POUR by visiting Designing for Accessibility on the AEM Center website.
• The No Mouse Challenge (nomouse.org) is a quick test of keyboard accessibility that is often the first step in manual testing, which along with automated testing with tools such as WAVE and assistive technology testing with a screen reader make up a comprehensive testing protocol for accessibility.

Join us to learn how Corgi, the digital graphic organizer, transforms traditional graphic organizers into flexible, accessible digital tools for learning and can build higher-order thinking skills. Access the presentation slides.

3 Key Takeaways

• Corgi is a suite of free digital graphic organizers (guides) that are flexible, accessible, and support students to develop content-specific practices and habits of mind.
• Corgi guides offer students the opportunity to explore complex topics using a format that supports critical, higher-order thinking. Students can use Corgi to make meaning of a given concept through a series of steps, supported by targeted guidance provided by teachers.
• Corgi leverages the three core UDL principles to support student learning. Teachers and students can customize the display, use multiple means to document their learning, and utilize supports including a dictionary, translation, text-to-speech, sample guides, and multimedia features.

The Myths/Facts graphics from CAST’s Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems (CITES) highlight the content from the Assistive Technology (AT) Guidance released in January 2024 and are intended to provide administrators, educators, and families tools to help avoid misconceptions regarding AT, and provide examples of the use of AT devices and services for children with disabilities.

3 Key Takeaways

• Understand where to find the AT Myths and Facts cards and policy resources on the CITES website.
• Understand that the AT Myths and Facts cards are free for anyone to use and share on social media and websites.
• Know that CITES has a Community of Practice that anyone can join for free to support their AT and Edtech practices.

In this AEMing For Access session, we will explore how to vet a variety of assessments against the POUR principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, robust. POUR lays the foundation for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and, when used, can support all students, especially students using assistive technology.

3 Key Takeaways

• Understand the purpose of the assessment and how the results will be used.
• When vetting assessments for accessibility ask for a demo with assistive technology or ask for access to practice questions and test the accessibility.
• Keep in mind 3 main questions: can students enter into the content, respond to the content, and is the content itself unbiased?

The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) at CAST Online Learning Series on Accessible Materials & Technologies mission is to empower educators in understanding and implementing accessible materials and technologies. Whether you are a beginner eager to start or a seasoned learner aiming to deepen your knowledge, we are excited to be a part of your AEM learning journey.

We highly encourage state agencies, districts, teacher education programs, universities, workforce agencies, and other entities to consider adopting the Canvas: Online Learning Series on Accessible Materials and Technologies course for training on best practices for providing accessible materials and technologies for all learners who need them.

3 Key Takeaways

• Accessibility is everyone’s responsibility.
• The online learning series on AEM and technologies are pre-approved for Continuing Accessibility Education Credit (CAEC) for the IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) credential.
• Users may import the learning series into their own Canvas LMS.

The U.S. Depart of Ed released the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP): A Call to Action for Closing the Digital Access, Design and Use Divides. The Plan articulates a vision of equity, active use, and collaborative leadership to make everywhere, all-the-time learning possible. While acknowledging the continuing need to provide greater equity of access to technology itself, the plan goes further to call upon all involved in American education to ensure equity of access to transformational learning experiences enabled by technology. Access the presentation slides.

3 Key Takeaways

• The learning environment and space must be accessible to all learners.
• Maximize each digital tool used within the learning environment/ space to its fullest potential to benefit all learners.
• Ensure that all edtech tools, materials and/or adoption of curricula are accessible.

Families play such an important role in helping ensure their child with a disability has the best learning experience possible and receives the educational materials they need to learn and succeed. That’s why we created A Family’s Guide to Accessible Educational Materials, a new resource that helps you understand and advocate for your child’s educational needs. In this guide, you will find information on what accessible educational materials are, how they can benefit your child, and how to request them from your child’s school. You will also get some handy templates that you can use to communicate with teachers and other professionals about your child’s learning preferences and challenges.

3 Key Takeaways

• Families play an important role in ensuring their child with a disability has access to the educational materials they need to learn and succeed.
• The IDEA requires that students with disabilities who need AEM receive them in a timely manner.
• A typical barrier for some students with disabilities is actually the educational materials used for learning, like textbooks, handouts, and websites.

Kelli Suding, Professional Learning Specialist at CAST, is kicking off the series with a quick overview of this new event and to develop a shared understanding for access for every learner.

3 Key Takeaways

• Families play an important role in ensuring their child with a disability has access to the educational materials they need to learn and succeed.
• The IDEA requires that students with disabilities who need AEM receive them in a timely manner.
• A typical barrier for some students with disabilities is actually the educational materials used for learning, like textbooks, handouts, and websites.