AT Resource Guide

Accessible Educational Materials

Activities and learning experiences are accessible to students if they can “...acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions and enjoy the same services in an equally effective, equally integrated manner with substantially equivalent ease of use…” (Joint Letter US Department of Justice and US Department of Education, June 29, 2010).

Students who struggle with reading may encounter barriers with print-based materials that are part of their academic and curricular content. What is accessible for one student with a disability is not necessarily accessible for another student with a different disability. Referenced in IDEA as Accessible Educational Materials (AEM), these formats include braille, large print, and digital text. The expanded definition of AIM, referred to as AEM includes print and technology-based materials conforming with accessibility standards. AEM are materials designed or converted in a way that makes them usable across the widest range of student variability regardless of format. Accessible formats can include audio, braille, large print, tactile graphics, and digital text conforming with accessibility standards.

Depending on the demands of the classroom tasks and activities, students may use a combination of accessible formats to engage with learning materials. Most often, various features of AT will be needed to support the student’s access to AEM. These types of supports are often needed for students who have print disabilities including, but not limited to, students with:

  • Blindness
  • a visual impairment, or perceptual or reading disability that cannot be improved to the same degree as a student without an impairment or disability.
  • a physical disability such that is otherwise unable to hold or manipulate a book or to focus or move the eyes to the extent acceptable for reading.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) includes language to “...ensure that children with disabilities who need instructional materials in accessible formats are provided those materials in a timely manner” (IDEA 2004 Section 300.172). Timely manner is commonly interpreted to mean that students needing accessible formats receive materials at the same time that peers receive their materials. The CAST AEM Center further suggests that "accessibility is shaped by what we need to do, our interactions with the environment and our personal preferences."

The ATIM module Navigating Accessible Instructional Materials can help families and educators learn more about accessible educational materials.