Questions To Ask When Considering Educational Materials

The most efficient way to provide accessible educational materials to students is to find materials that are already created that way! Why create them yourself when someone has already done the work for you? LCPS works to ensure curricular materials that are provided as resources to educators are already accessible. When reviewing materials, educators can ask themselves a series of design questions to determine if the materials are accessible. These questions can include the following:

  • If there is text, can it be read aloud by a text to speech application?
  • Can items be magnified or enlarged?
  • Can the background colors be changed to provide varied contrast?
  • When audio plays, is there a corresponding text representation of that sound (ie, captions)?
  • When video plays, is there a corresponding optional audio track that can be played, describing the action in the video (ie, video descriptions)?
  • When images are presented, do they have corresponding text describing the image and, if so, can this text be presented in audio format (ie, ALT-Tags)?
  • Does the user interface have multiple input options to allow for access by someone who uses a switch?
  • Is it portable, moveable, adjustable, or mountable to allow for access by someone in a wheelchair?

An Introduction to Augmentative/Alternative Communication from The Virginia Department of Education’s Training and Technical Assistance Centers Assistive Technology Network

The Virginia Department of Education’s (VDOE) Training and Technical Assistance Centers (TTAC) have created a training site related to learning language with augmentative/alternative communication (AAC). The site shares information related to getting started, selection, and the implementation of AAC. The site busts common myths related to AAC by refuting them with evidence and research.

Assistive Technology Network

Banner for the The Virginia Department of Education’s Training and Technical Assistance Centers Assistive Technology Network

 

Adjust screen brightness or color based on time of day

The brightness or whiteness of a screen can impact how easy it is to experience content including text. Many devices, including student Chromebooks, have a setting which allows for automatically adjusting colors based on different factors, including time of day.

Which words do we focus on when teaching language using augmentative/alternative communication?

The most frequently used words are known as Core Vocabulary words. Approximately 80% of the words spoken are from a small set of 350 words which are mostly pronouns, verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, adjectives, and adverbs. They are usually not nouns.

Focus instruction on teaching core vocabulary words by modeling their use.

It may take some time for a child to learn how to use these words. The child will likely need to experience these words being modeled many, many times before using it on the AAC independently. This video provides an explanation with examples: