Back to School: Making Sure Students with Disabilities Can See, Hear, and Use their PC

For many parents and teachers, this time of year means preparing for back to school and looking forward to a new school year full of possibilities. Parents are busy making sure their children are ready and have the gear they need for school. Meanwhile educators are preparing their lessons and personalizing their classrooms for the students.

While not on the traditional back-to-school checklist, making sure student technology is prepped for a student that has a learning or physical disability is worth remembering. Whether you are a parent, educator or both – you understand the challenge of supporting students with different learning styles. When a student has a disability, supporting their educational success includes making sure their PC is comfortable to see, hear, and use.

At Microsoft we have published Accessibility: A Guide for Educatorswhich explains to educators and parents how to make sure students with disabilities can comfortably see, hear, and use their PC to enhance their learning. For those new to accessibility and working with a child with a disability, accessibility can seem overwhelming. The guide explains types of disabilities and possible accessibility solutions and products, including walking you through how to use the accessibility features and program that come with Microsoft Windows.

As schools encourage students to use technology to acquire new skills, parents and schools have a responsibility to provide accessible technology that can be personalized for each student’s needs. We at Microsoft take that responsibility seriously and want to help parents and teachers understand how to make sure students with disabilities have equal access to learning.

Too few people know about the accessibility features and programs that built into their Windows computers. I encourage you to share this information with the parent of child with a disability or a teacher you know. After all, nearly all of us know someone with a disability.

LaDeana Huyler, Senior Product Manager for Accessibility, Microsoft

LaDeana is passionate about increasing awareness about accessibility, especially for children with disabilities. For more than ten years, she’s worked on accessibility at Microsoft including publishing the Microsoft Accessibility Web site.