The mass migration to online learning is leaving disabled students behind

Mythili Sampathkumar, Digital Trends, March 27, 2020
As universities and schools try to quickly transition learning from physical classrooms to online ones, disabled students have been (and will continue to be) disproportionately affected. The rapid migration to virtual classes has forced disabled students into using websites and apps that were never designed to accommodate them. Mark Shapiro, president of the Bureau of Internet Accessibility, tells Digital Trends that the federal American Disabilities Act considers websites, even those of private organizations, to be public places, and organizations that are requiring people to work and/or study remotely are creating a new place requiring public accommodations. Now that online education is the new normal, university courses need to be accessible for a wider swath of people. According to a 2019 analysis of 10,000,000 websites, at least 98% were found to fall short of the website compliance guidelines laid out by the ADA and WCAG 2.1 A good place to start for ed tech companies is to make sure all their accessibility features are actually requirements and do not cost academic institutions any extra to require. The next step would be for companies like Apple, Google, and others to provide free laptops and tablets compatible with accessible accessories to disabled students so they are not held further back from other students during the pandemic.