Hi friends! ❤️
As an Apple Learning Coach Member and a special education teacher, I use accessibility features on the IPad to help my students access the curriculum. I want to note that not only students with special needs benefit from using the accessibility features. Students who are learning how to read, struggling readers, and students with language needs (ENL or bilingual) can benefit from them as well! I personally think that the IPad helps with creating UDL (universal design of learning) in any classroom!
My go-to accessibility features are: voice over, zoom, and spoken content.
Voiceover means that the IPad will read aloud what is on your screen. This helps students with visual impairments a lot! It can also help students who are auditory learners. Students can customize the voice, pitch, etc.
Zoom means that the IPad will zoom in on anything you click on. This has helped my students who are waiting on getting their glasses to see the words on the IPad screen.
Spoken content is like text to speech. Students will click on something and the IPad will read it for them. This helps students with reading disabilities or struggling readers. I use this feature a lot for students during research activities. Students will highlight an article (or parts of it) they want the iPad to read aloud for them.
I also enjoy using the dictation fearure in my classroom (it is a general feature under keyboard). While the dictation feature is not under accessibility, it has played a huge role in my self-contained classroom. When you enable dictation, the students will say something and the IPad types it for them. This feature helps struggling spellers a lot. It is also suited for students who are verbally expressive.
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