A four-year, $7.2 million initiative, the National Center on Accessible Digital Education Materials & Instruction (NCADEMI, pronounced n-CAD-emy), officially launched at Utah State University in October 2024. This national center, which is a part of USU’s Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice (IDRPP), is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) within the U.S. Department of Education. The mission of NCADEMI is to ensure that students with disabilities across the nation can access and engage with technology with the same ease and independence as students without disabilities.
In late October 2024, members of NCADEMI’s team gathered in Washington, D.C., to meet with leadership and staff from OSEP to formally kick off the project. The team’s first task will be to engage with stakeholders, gathering insights and feedback to determine the most pressing accessibility needs in education. The center’s ultimate goal is to enhance the accessibility of digital learning experiences for children and youth with disabilities, spanning from early childhood education through high school graduation.
“While significant gains have been made, learners with disabilities remain at a disadvantage, both in education and finding jobs, due to the lack of accessibility of materials and technologies commonly provided in schools,” said NCADEMI Director Cynthia Curry. This statement underscores the challenges that many students with disabilities continue to face in educational environments. Despite advancements in technology, digital materials often remain inaccessible to these learners, making it difficult for them to participate fully in their education.
NCADEMI aims to eliminate these barriers by providing training, resources, and support to educational leaders, teachers, and other key stakeholders. The center will enable students with disabilities to learn alongside their peers using materials that work for them, rather than having to wait for materials to be converted into accessible formats. This will help to ensure that students with disabilities are not left behind, fostering an inclusive educational environment where they can thrive.
The center will rely on the expertise of two programs within the IDRPP: Technical Assistance for Excellence in Special Education (TAESE) and WebAIM, both of which have built strong national reputations for delivering technical assistance and resources related to accessibility. Through NCADEMI, these programs will collaborate to improve the accessibility of educational materials for students with disabilities, providing invaluable support to educators, families, and policymakers.
“TAESE and WebAIM have each carved out impressive national reputations over the past 20-30 years,” said IDRPP Executive Director Matthew Wappett. “And NCADEMI provides an opportunity to leverage their respective areas of expertise and networks. We are excited for the opportunity that this provides the IDRPP with to work more directly with OSEP to improve the accessibility of education from pre-K through post-high school settings.” This collaboration is expected to result in significant improvements in the quality and availability of accessible materials for students with disabilities.
“The center does not produce or provide educational materials for student use,” Curry emphasized. “We offer training, coaching, and resources to improve the practices and decision-making of those who do provide them.” This approach ensures that NCADEMI will have a lasting impact by empowering those who are responsible for creating and distributing educational materials to make them more accessible.
NCADEMI will support a variety of stakeholders, including state and local education agencies, early intervention agencies, OSEP-funded parent information centers, technical assistance centers, and teacher and administrator training programs. These organizations will benefit from the center’s guidance on how to make digital learning materials more inclusive for all students, including students with disabilities.
The issue of digital inaccessibility is a significant barrier to the learning of students with disabilities and goes against the intent of U.S. law, which mandates a free appropriate public education for students with disabilities. Recent legal developments, including a new Justice Department rule, highlight the urgency of this issue. The rule requires that state and local governments, along with the agencies they operate, ensure their websites and mobile apps meet accessibility standards by 2026 or 2027, depending on the size of the entity. NCADEMI will play a crucial role in helping schools and other organizations comply with this rule and other legal requirements surrounding digital accessibility.
A roadmap to assist state and local educational agencies in complying with the Justice Department’s new accessibility standards is already available on the center’s website. This free resource is just one example of the many tools and materials NCADEMI will provide to support its stakeholders.
In the coming months, NCADEMI will host a variety of events and share numerous resources aimed at enhancing digital accessibility in education. These will include listening sessions, webinars, guides, tools, and learning modules. NCADEMI staff will also offer in-person training at national conferences, including the Assistive Technology Industry Association Conference in Orlando, Florida, in January 2025. Additionally, all NCADEMI resources will be open-sourced, making them freely available to anyone seeking to procure, create, or use accessible learning materials.
“Digital accessibility and accessible materials are critical in ensuring that all infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities are included and have equitable opportunities to achieve their dreams in their homes, schools, and communities as they grow and learn,” said Rebecca Sheffield, an education program specialist with OSEP. “The Office of Special Education Programs looks forward to the resources that NCADEMI will develop and share with key state and local partners and with other OSEP-funded centers, and ultimately with educators, providers, families, and children with disabilities. We appreciate the knowledge and experience the team at USU’s Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice brings to this work.”
As NCADEMI moves forward, it will continue to focus on the needs of students with disabilities, ensuring that these learners can access the technology and materials they need to succeed in their education. The center’s resources and training will be invaluable tools for educators, parents, and policymakers who are working to create inclusive and accessible educational environments for all students.
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