Learners think and learn in different ways. More than 1 in 7 public school students in the United States are supported under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and millions more around the world have diagnosed or undiagnosed disabilities, learning, or attention issues like dyslexia or ADHD. These learners often face challenges because the ways they learn best differ from traditional classroom instruction.
Technological advancement is creating new opportunities to expand accessibility for those with learning differences, train models to equitably and reliably serve diverse learner populations, and develop tools specifically for different learner needs. Without intentional design for accessibility, however, technology can inadvertently create barriers and further marginalize those from vulnerable communities.
The Tools Competition requires competitors to detail their tools’ potential to close opportunity gaps in service of educational equity. The 2025 competition’s Accelerating K-12 Learning track hosts a competitive priority for tools designed specifically to serve students with learning differences.
This post provides resources and strategies that competitors and other edtech developers can reference to better understand accessibility needs, and ensure their tools are set up to empower all learners to reach their full potential.
Designing for accessibility
Thinking about and planning for accessibility at the start is far easier than trying to “retrofit” a platform or product. Follow these good practices in your development plan to ensure that all users can meaningfully benefit from your tools.
#1: Build diverse teams. One easy way to do this is to ensure that your product development teams are composed of people from a variety of backgrounds that are representative of the target users of your tools. A well-rounded and diverse team is better able to anticipate the needs of different student demographics, including those from underrepresented or marginalized communities. This will help reduce the risk of unintentional biases and help ensure teams are mindful of the unique challenges facing some student populations.
#2: Follow universal design frameworks when developing curricula and learning content. Diverse teams are important, but not sufficient in and of themselves. On top of putting together diverse development teams, Tools Competition competitors should also strive to adhere to the principles of Universal Design for Learning – a framework for creating flexible learning environments that accommodate the variable and diverse needs of all students.
There are several components of UDL – and a lot of free resources available to help teams implement them – so we won’t dive into the details here. It is worth noting, however, that UDL strives to create learning environments that are inclusive and effective for a wide range of students, enabling everyone to reach their full potential, and so the Tools Competition strongly encourages competitors to incorporate as many UDL principles as possible into their designs.
#3: Engage diverse stakeholders in co-design of your tools. An ongoing process for user engagement in the design and development of your tool ensures that it is relevant, responsive, and effective – and helps to build buy-in and trust from users. More than simply seeking user feedback, user engagement embeds participation of key stakeholders (developers, educators, parents, students) as collaborators and co-designers. Digital Promise recently wrote about the importance of co-design for the development of equitable AI tools, touching on issues of accessibility, inclusion, mitigating bias, and other elements of educational equity and including insights from across 28 pilot projects.
#4: Ensure web content is compliant with accessibility standards. Finally, it’s worth calling attention to the accessibility standards from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These standards aim to make digital content more accessible to individuals with disabilities. WCAG 2.0 is organized into three levels: A, AA, and AAA, each with progressively stricter criteria.
Level AA is the middle level of accessibility, and it’s the recommended standard for most organizations, especially those in education, government, and businesses. Meeting Level AA means that the content is accessible to a wide range of users with varying abilities, including those with visual, auditory, physical, and cognitive disabilities. The Tools Competition strongly recommends teams familiarize themselves with these standards and develop a plan to incorporate them into their designs.
Resources for Edtech Accessibility
- Advance your understanding of accessibility: Teams should look to numerous resources to better understand the unique needs of diverse learner population. You may advance your understanding by studying the research, pursuing training, talking to users, and embedding relevant expertise on your team. This free course on accessibility basics is designed to help edtech developers gain a foundational understanding of the importance of digital accessibility, provide insight into accessibility laws and practices, and share practical strategies for implementation.
- Follow developmental frameworks: Frameworks such as this one on Universal Design for Learning by CAST highlight important principles to consider when building for accessibility. Consider this and other relevant frameworks as you develop and refine your tool.
- Consider credentials and product certifications: Certain credentials and product certifications, like these from Digital Promise, or these from CAST focused on Universal Design for Learning guidelines, underscore a commitment to ensuring accessibility for all learners.
Competition Expectations
Equity has always been a central focus of the Tools Competition. This year, with an emphasis in the Accelerating K-12 Learning track on tools designed to serve students with learning differences, it is important for Phase II proposals to clearly articulate how tools or platforms are (or will be) designed to ensure accessibility for all learners. Please note that while accessibility is a key element of equity, proposals should also thoughtfully address broader equity considerations to meet the needs of underserved populations.
While aspects of accessibility may naturally emerge in your tool description, all competitors will be asked to explicitly detail their approach to equity and supporting the needs of underserved populations in the Solution and Theory of Change section of the proposal.
Refer to the Equity section of your track rubric, as well as other rubric criteria emphasizing attention to equity, for more specifics on how competitors will be evaluated.
