Based on internal audits, EdReady is WCAG 2.0 AA compliant. You can see additional details in our latest Accessibility Statement and VPAT.
Many options exist for students who need learning support technology. Our focus is on the EdReady platform itself. We would not be able to maintain and improve the code at the same pace as the companies who focus solely on those ever-growing technologies. Additionally, there is a lot of personal choice and preference involved in selecting a screen reader or other assistive technologies, depending on each student's particular needs.
So although EdReady does not have a built-in capability for reading everything aloud, it is designed with accessibility supports and should work well with common screen readers, such as ChromeVox on Chrome OS, VoiceOver on Mac, JAWS, NVDA or Narrator on Windows, etc. Those are the "big names" but there are other screen reader options, such as apps and browser extensions (including ChromeVox for Chrome, although it is in maintenance mode with no future updates planned).
With all screen readers, there is a certain learning curve to get comfortable with it: e.g., finding the correct settings to read at a pace and voice that you like and getting used to the keyboard commands.
The exception within EdReady is the Active Reader in the English study materials, shown here:
The Active Reader has an audio "lens" along with several other lenses to help the student's comprehension of the passage.
When it comes to reading math equations, screen readers are notoriously buggy. The available technology and industry support is constantly evolving to keep up with demand (although not fast enough for most people's liking). We undertook major efforts in 2019 to ensure that all our systems work well with screen readers, and we are always interested in getting feedback and bug reports so we can further improve.
For sighted students, this does not pose a huge problem. If the screen reader skips or wrongly reads a math equation, the student can still see the equation on-screen and compensate for the screen reader glitch. Sighted students can also easily overcome any navigational issues thanks to visual cues on the screen, and the ability to choose mouse control over keyboard control. But of course, it's more challenging for students with visual impairments. On the plus side, those students are often already well-versed in screen reader usage and may even have tips and tricks that we can learn from. They also typically have a preferred screen reader already installed on their own device.
To access the Active Reader in EdReady English, click on "Learn" for any topic:
And then select the Active Reader option from top of the screen:
Accessibility work is never really complete, and we expect that additional modifications and improvements will be necessary. Furthermore, our ultimate goal is to go well beyond compliance standards where we can offer and support much more nuanced approaches to students exercising their right to learn using whatever formats are best suited to their needs. If you are interested in learning more, please contact us.
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