Accessibility & IEP Accommodations

Accessibility Built In: Our Approach

Accessibility is not an add-on in American Digital Education. It is designed into the core platform, so every lesson, every check for understanding, and every quiz works with assistive technology and honors each student’s accommodation settings automatically. A teacher sets a student’s needs once, and the platform applies them everywhere without any further work.

1. How It Works for Teachers

Teachers manage all accessibility settings from My Students → Accommodations. Settings are per-student, saved once, and applied everywhere: lessons, check-for-understanding questions, and quizzes or assessments.

Simple Toggle System

• Turn on screen reader optimization with one click.
• Enable closed captions automatically for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
• Switch from voice recording to typed responses for students who cannot or prefer not to speak.
• Activate keyboard-only navigation for students with motor impairments.

Assessment Format Options

Accommodation Profiles and Bulk Tools

• Apply accommodation profiles for common needs (visual impairment, hearing impairment, cognitive support, motor impairment, speech impairment), each with a severity level.
• Bulk tools apply common settings across multiple students at once.
• The Accommodation History tab shows every change, when it was made, and by whom.

IEP Program Tracking (California Compliance)

• Mark a student as having an active IEP.
• Set an IEP-alternative minimum for daily Attendance Recovery minutes (EC 46210). The attendance register honors the IEP minutes automatically.
• Independent Study agreements for students with an active IEP are automatically stamped as requiring a special education signature, and that signature is captured on the agreement and in audit packets.

IEP Goals

Parent and Guardian Communication (FERPA)

• When accommodations require parental consent, the consent status (pending, approved, or revoked) is tracked on the student’s record.
• Parents and guardians receive an email notification whenever accommodation settings are created or changed. The email never includes the accommodation details, only that a change occurred and who to contact.

2. No Extra Work Required

Once you set a student’s accommodations, the platform does the rest:

3. Visual and Reading Accommodations

Font Selection for Dyslexia

OpenDyslexic, a specially designed typeface with weighted letter bottoms that reduce letter confusion, can be enabled per student and applies across all lessons and platform content.

Motion Control for Sensitivity

“Reduced Motion” disables animations and transitions for students with vestibular disorders, ADHD, autism, or seizure sensitivities. The platform also honors the “reduce motion” preference set at the device or operating-system level automatically.

Line Spacing for Reading Ease

Spacing between lines of text can be increased from standard up to double spacing, in fine-grained 0.1× increments, and combines with text size and font settings for optimal readability.

Theme Selection

• High Contrast for students with low vision, for maximum readability.
• Dark Mode for reducing eye strain during long study sessions.
• Standard, the default comfortable theme.

Text Size

Text can be enlarged up to 250% of the default size, and layouts adjust automatically.

4. A Real Example: Accommodations in Practice

Ms. Johnson has a 4th grade student, Alex, who is deaf and gets overwhelmed by answer choices. She opens Alex’s accommodation profile and sets three options:

• Text responses instead of voice recording On
• Auto-enable closed captions On
• Assessment format: Reduced Multiple-Choice Options On

Student Experience

Alex opens the same 4th grade fraction lesson as classmates. Automatically, all audio has synchronized captions. Where other students record verbal answers, Alex sees a text box to type responses. On multiple-choice questions, if Alex picks a wrong answer, that choice disappears before the retry, so the choices narrow from four to three to two as needed. Everything else looks identical to peers, with no separate curriculum.

Teacher Grading

Ms. Johnson grades Alex’s typed responses just like voice recordings from other students. The platform marks them the same way, with no extra steps.

Parent Notification

Alex’s guardian receives an email that accommodation settings were updated, with no sensitive details in the email itself.

5. The Student Experience, by Need

Students with Visual Impairments (Blind or Low Vision)

Full keyboard navigation. Press Spacebar to advance through lessons (no mouse required), press 1, 2, 3, or 4 to select multiple-choice answers (the keys always match the choices on screen, even when choices have been reduced), press Enter to submit, and press Escape to try again after an incorrect answer.

Screen reader optimization. The platform is compatible with JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and other screen readers. Images include descriptive alt text, audio descriptions explain visual diagrams, live regions announce feedback (“Correct,” “Loading next question”), and auto-advance is disabled so the screen reader is never interrupted.

High contrast and text size. A high-contrast theme is available for maximum readability, and text can be increased up to 250% without breaking the layout. Students can turn both on themselves in their own settings.

Students with Hearing Impairments (Deaf or Hard of Hearing)

Closed captions. Every audio lesson has synchronized captions displayed at the bottom of the lesson. When the teacher enables auto-captions, captions are on from the start of every lesson.

Typed responses replace voice recording. Questions that normally require speaking show a text input box instead. The student types the answer and submits, graded the same as voice responses, with no audio required at any point.

Students with Cognitive or Learning Disabilities

Reduced cognitive load. Gradual choice de-escalation shrinks the decision space exactly when the student needs it, extended time removes timer pressure and lets the student control pacing, the consistent Explicit Direct Instruction structure keeps every lesson predictable, and a clear visual hierarchy guides attention to what matters.

IEP-specific adjustments. Teachers customize exact accommodations per the student’s IEP, the system remembers settings across all lessons and assessments with no re-configuring, and the student’s actual IEP goals are visible to their teachers right alongside their accommodations.

Students with Motor Impairments

Lessons are fully driveable from the keyboard with no mouse required, touch targets are large for touchscreen users, and the platform works with voice-control software that simulates keyboard input.

Students with Dyslexia and Reading Difficulties

The OpenDyslexic font (with weighted letter bottoms to prevent letter confusion) applies across the entire platform, including lessons, menus, and all content. Adjustable line spacing up to 2× default, in 0.1× increments, reduces the visual crowding that makes reading difficult. Both settings save automatically and persist across sessions, and combine with text size adjustments.

Students with Motion Sensitivity

Reduced Motion eliminates animations and transitions that can cause dizziness, nausea, or distraction. It honors the device-level “reduce motion” setting automatically and can also be enabled per student by the teacher. When enabled, the student controls pacing, loading indicators are static, transitions are instant, and all feedback remains clear without motion effects.

Visual Comfort Options

High Contrast Mode provides a maximum-readability theme for low vision or light sensitivity. Dark Mode offers a comfortable dark background with soft-contrast text to reduce eye strain in low-light environments. Text Size adjusts up to 250% with automatic layout adjustment.

Focus indicator customization lets students adjust the thickness of keyboard focus outlines (2px to 6px), choose the focus indicator color for maximum visibility, and select the outline style (solid, dashed, or double line), so they can always track where they are when navigating by keyboard.

6. Content Complexity Adjustment

The platform can present the same grade-level standard at an easier or more advanced reading level, from +2 grade levels down to -2 grade levels. For a -2 example, a 4th grade math concept can be explained with 2nd grade vocabulary for a student with dyslexia. In the other direction, enriched language can stretch advanced learners.

Because ADE lessons use professionally narrated audio with word-by-word read-along highlighting, each complexity variant is generated with its own matching narration, so the read-along stays accurate at every level. The teacher-facing setting already exists, so IEP teams can set the intended level today.

7. Privacy, Consent, and Accountability

8. Quick Reference: Accommodations by Need

Every accommodation above applies across both lessons and quizzes or assessments, set once by the teacher and honored everywhere automatically.