When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, teachers around the United States shifted to distance learning practically overnight. In both general education and special education, many teachers did not have tools or strategies in place to provide deaf students with accessible lessons and support. Teachers needed to change their materials quickly and…

In early childhood education, ensuring that all students, including those with disabilities, can access and engage with learning materials is a pivotal aspect of educational equity and inclusion. Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) and Assistive Technologies (AT) are central to this endeavor, providing essential resources that accommodate…

Dr. David Rose is perhaps best known for his connection to the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) and as a main and driving force behind the collection of instructional, assistive, and access principles known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). His research background includes principal investigator on National Science Foundation and…

Music is a way of representing the patterns of frequencies and vibrational relationships--and at St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf, it is used it to promote language learning and transform students' educational experiences. Traditionally defined through the medium of sound, music has been seen as an approach that excludes deaf and hard of…

The potential of ChatGPT is explored as an assistive technology tool within the framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to provide targeted support for college students with disabilities. As colleges and universities strive to promote inclusive practices, the implementation of UDL principles has gained significance. ChatGPT's interactive…

In this article, the authors present early research in using 3-D printing to develop tactile experiences to improve understanding and enable broader aesthetic participation in arts learning contexts for all learners that would benefit from tactility and in particular those with low vision. Their exploration of 3-D printing to create assistive…

This paper explores teaching and learning applications at the intersection between Universal Design for Learning, Assistive Technology, and mainstream educational technology. Informed by the SETT framework in which the technology choice is informed by student, environment, and task (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2017; Zabala, 2005), this paper is…

Universal design for learning (UDL) is a construct that first appeared in the literature approximately 20 years ago. Yet, there is little agreement about what UDL looks like in the classroom. The purpose of this article is to assist students, educators, and parents in identifying universal usability designs, behaviors, and tools that reflect the…

Approximately 65% of young children with visual impairments have another disability such as developmental delay, cerebral palsy, or hearing loss. Furthermore, cerebral/cortical visual impairment is the most prevalent visual condition among young children with severe visual impairment in the United States (Hatton et al., 2013). This article…

To efficiently create books and other instructional content from videos and further improve accessibility of our course content we needed to solve the scene detection (SD) problem for engineering educational content. We present the pedagogical applications of extracting video images for the purposes of digital book generation and other shareable…

Color Vision Deficiency (CVD) is a commonly occurring condition in the general population. For medical students, it has the potential to create unique challenges in the classroom and clinical environments. Few studies have provided medical educators with comprehensive recommendations to assist students with CVD. This article presents a focused…

With the advances in open-source technology, many laboratory devices can be built with a modest budget, particularly assistive laboratory devices. The current market cost of most assistive laboratory devices is a major barrier for students with accessibility needs. Specifically, for students with visual impairment, their limited choice of…

Digital technologies can be used to support the inclusion of diverse student groups in education in a number of ways including enhancing accessibility of educational content, increasing personalisation and providing distance learning opportunities, as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, persistent digital inequalities can undermine…

The U.S. Department of Education is committed to supporting innovative advances in educational technology to improve teaching and learning across the nation's education systems and to support educators as they incorporate emerging technology into their learning communities. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education is a complex and rapidly…

The case describes an experienced principal's arrival at a new school, his observations of the school and its teachers, and his experiences as he attempts to ensure all students have access to education, particularly those requiring accommodations or assistive technology. The culture of the school is compartmentalized; early- and mid- to…