AccessSTEM

Many individuals with different types of disabilities have difficulty accessing the information in graphs, charts, drawings, and three-dimensional models. For example, a student with a visual impairment may be unable to visually extract the information in a graph. A student with a mobility impairment may be unable to physically manipulate a three-dimensional model. A student with a learning disability may have difficulty decoding the information in a graph.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that video programming distributors (like broadcasters and cable operators) make local emergency information accessible to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. This means that if emergency information is provided aurally, such information also must be provided in a visual format. More information can be found in the FCC consumer facts document Accessibility of Emergency Information on Television.

With growing concern over the low academic achievements of American youth, summer camping programs can be part of the solution while providing new, exciting experiences for their campers. Camp Courage, a residential camp in Minnesota for youth with disabilities, has developed technology-rich offerings for its campers in "Teen Camp."

DotsPlus Braille is a two dimensional Braille format designed to express complex mathematical equations in a format similar to standard print math notation. DotsPlus Braille allows standard Braille and tactile graphical math symbols to be used simultaneously within spatial equations in a form identical to that used in standard printed math documents.

According to the website for the Americans with Disabilities Act:

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, State and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation. It also mandates the establishment of TDD/telephone relay services.

Online mentoring can help students with disabilities with their social development and goals in education and careers. Some youth with disabilities are not accepted by their peers and experience isolation as a result. They have few friends or little contact with other students with disabilities and thus have limited access to positive role models with disabilities.

Some learning disabilities make it difficult for students to acquire math skills. Students may not be able to fully understand mathematics content in standard print form because of the additional mental processing required to interpret math expressions. They may react to math problems on the page as signals to do something, rather than as meaningful sentences that need to be read for understanding. In particular, they may face difficulties with self-verbalizing math equations. Using synthetic speech to verbalize digital mathematics expressions may aid students with these challenges.

Mathematics and science are disciplines that have historically communicated ideas visually. This is especially true of formulas and equations, where relationships between parts are understood by their spacial relationship to one another. Communicating these same ideas to people who are unable to see poses significant challenges. However, a variety of solutions exist.

Yes, there are funds available specifically for producing captioning. While the U.S. Department of Education is still a major source of caption funding, a good deal of captioning today is made possible by corporate support. Corporate contributions supplement or match those allotted by a program's producer and its distributor (i.e., the broadcast or cable network or syndicator).

Distance learning courses may include web-based materials, videotapes and other multimedia, printed materials, video conferences, and telephone conferences. These courses should be accessible both to the students who use them and to the instructors who create them.

The best way to begin is to consult print and web resources for making distance learning materials more accessible to people with disabilities. You can find extensive resources at AccessDL, The Center on Accessible Distance Learning.