Designing for Accessibility: What can an iPad provided to someone with vision issues?


Image: Apple.com

Technology has allowed teachers and schools to transform the classroom so that content and information is now more accessible to all students.  Since I am part of the exploratory schedule for my school I see almost all of the students in the school. One of the most common occurrences in my classroom is for students that have vision problems.   Many students with vision issues have a larger screen that allows them to zoom in when needed.  The students' assignments were given electronically so they could zoom in as well as highlight certain sections to read the text.  Another example of accommodations involved testing and the ability to use a laptop rather than an iPad.  I also work with students that are non-verbal.  These students are provided with a talker iPad.  These iPads have a program that allows the user to hit a series of buttons to put together a sentence or phrase so their thoughts are said to the other person.  This does require a lot of time on both the teacher and aide in order to help the student learn the word, how to push the button at the correct time and use it in a way that others can understand.  

I started by looking at all of the accessibility options on the iPad since we are an Apple district.  When I first went to Settings and then Accessibility my general feeling was that it was set up in a very helpful way.  The different features were labeled and grouped based on the accessibility area it would help: vision, physical and motor, hearing, speech, and general.  Each of these have a variety of features and could be tailored to the person's needs.  One thing that was present on my phone was the Personal Voice but was not accessible on my iPad.  

Image: Personal 


I decided to focus on the vision aspect of the settings and did additional research on Apple.com.  This webpage provided additional information on the feature as well as the type of OS it would be available on since Apple laptops, iPads as well as phones, watches and tv attachments.  I currently have two students with vision issues as well as several students in the past.  This is a common issue and I feel that I will continue to see students with vision issues in the future.  One thing that I noticed with all of these features is that they would need help from someone that does not have vision issues to make sure that they clicked or used the correct features. Each of the features looks to address a portion of the iPad that helps the user see or interact with the features better.  For example, the user can set different portions to zoom in a certain way or what portion of the screen is zoomed in on.  Or the user is able to adjust the display including the color, contrast, and button sizes.  One of the most helpful are the ones that help describe and verbally share the screen, video, or visual to the user.   Apple.com also has several features that can be used by any user who needs to make adjustments.  One that seemed extremely helpful was the ability to adjust specific apps.  Each user will engage in different apps so this will allow more customization and accessibility to the user.     



Comments

  1. NMZumpanoOctober 3, 2023 at 1:47 PM

    Your infographic is easy to read and helpful for those with vision impairments.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ms. PaterOctober 4, 2023 at 6:00 AM

    Hi Katie! Your infographic was great and very helpful for future usage. My district has apple products for the teachers and Chromebooks for the students. Sometimes that makes it hard for myself to know how to work the students devices since I can't see what they see. Inforgraphics like this can help teachers learn more. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robin HartsellOctober 4, 2023 at 4:26 PM

    Katie, I really like your infographic. It is very helpful and well-designed. I appreciate you covering the features of the iPad since I have an iPad that I use for travel. I can now try out some of those features.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pete DrinanOctober 5, 2023 at 5:21 AM

    Hi Katie! I am beyond impressed by your thoughtfulness and commitment to making your classroom more accessible to all students, especially those with vision issues. The examples of the accomodations that you provide, like the using larger screens, pushing out assignments electronically, and allowing students to use laptops for testing are all excellent ways to help students with vision impairments succeed in school. We too are an iPad school, and I agree that the iPad's accessibility features are well organized and easy to use. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bridget SoukupOctober 5, 2023 at 1:05 PM

    Hey Katie! I am so glad that you posted about Apple accessibility features. Although my school district uses Chromebooks, I have my own personal Ipad and Iphone. I am an "Apple" person myself, so it is great to learn about the different accessibility features that I can try out for myself! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Technology and the Teacher

Image
Image: Smithsonian Magazine Oooo Technology!  Not to age myself by I always thought I would be living like the Jetsons at this point but it seems we are a bit away from the flying cars and a robot named Rosie that is doing all of the chores around the house.  Teaching with technology is a double edge sword.  I love having 1:1 technology so students can research something right away or look at a video clip for background research on a particular topic.   But just like any rabbit hole - my students can get lost in it!  It is so easy for them start clicking and suddenly class is over.   I have been fortunate that during my time as a teacher I have been able to grow with education technology instead of having to integrate it after the fact.  I am considered a digital immigrant but most of the time I don't feel that way.  My current district is one of the fortunate ones that has money and support in technology spending.  While other dist...
Read more

Teenagers and the Evolution of the Smartphone

Image
From this: Image: Huffpost.com To This: Image: Personal Photo Smartphones Our technology world has developed so quickly over the last few generations.   I love this infographic from  McCrindle.com .  In this infographic one part that I enjoy looking at is the timeline showing the incoming and outgoing technology.  I remember the days of transiting from a walkman to a discman.  A CD meant you could switch to whichever song you wanted to hear and not fast forward/rewind hoping you land on that song.  But the discman skipped a lot so that made way for digital storage of music as MP3s.  Cellphones to smartphones shows the transition from a large "Zac Morris" sized phones to now ones that can connect us to the whole world.  As I look at the end I think so much about what is ahead for us as a society especially my children.    I see lots of students on their phones in the morning and after school (with a little sneaking in their lock...
Read more

Social Media and Impact on Teenagers

Image
  I mage: Porsche Orland Park "Everyone sees you in your car" said one of my former classmate several decades ago when asked why getting the newest car was such a big deal in southern California.  I went to a university in Southern California with a lot of southern Californians.  There was a lot I didn't understand as a Midwest person who grew up in a lower/middle class household and a comment like that seemed so foreign and backwards (I know a bit judgey but most 20 years old are).  When I think back about this statement what I realized was that for this student her social status was based on what you could afford and that can be seen in what car you were driving.  Since that time there has been a shift in social status and it is now evaluated by your social media account.  How many followers do you have?  How many likes did I get on this post?  Did anyone share our post?  While I love that I can be connected with my cousins across the pond,...
Read more