Planning improvements for disabled pupils' access to education: guidance for education authorities, independent and grant-aided schools

Access to ICT and Assistive Technology ( AT)

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The school or local authority's stock of shared netbooks, laptops or tablets can be booked out by pupils with disabilities for specific learning tasks. Some or all of the stock includes the requisite accessibility improvements described in Appendix E.

The school or local authority has a pathway or procedure and staff with expertise to:

Identify pupils who require ICT and/or AT to access the curriculum.

Assess and provide appropriate ICT and/or AT.

Accessibility of school computers and ICT

All school computers have text-to-speech ( TTS) software installed for reading documents and web pages [1].

All school computers accessed by pupils have the free Heather and Stuart voices installed [2].

Headphones are available for use with TTS where required.

Control Panel settings can be easily and quickly changed to enable access for each disabled pupil, including where needed facility for Right click functionality. Such adjustments can be saved with the user's profile. [3]

Specialist software required by learners with disabilities can be easily and quickly installed and used on school computers. [4]

Specialist hardware required by learners with disabilities can be easily and quickly installed and used on school computers. [5]

Computer refreshes or re-imaging are planned to accommodate existing assistive software and hardware used by disabled pupils.

Where computer refresh or re-imaging will result in current assistive technology not being usable, replacement or upgrade takes place so that the disabled pupil is not disadvantaged.

Access to Learning Resources

Learning resources ( e.g. textbooks, reading books, teacher-generated materials, assessments, homework) can be provided in a format that learners can access, such as Digital, Audio, Large Print, on Coloured paper, Braille, etc. [6]

Online learning resources and online assessments used can be adapted so that they do not disadvantage disabled pupils.

Learners can transfer work to and from school and home using e.g. file sharing on the intranet or Internet, or on a memory stick.

Learners who use ICT for writing and recording can print their work.

Staff and pupil awareness and expertise

Staff (teaching, support, librarian and technical) are made aware of legal obligations to provide access to the curriculum and to curriculum resources under Equality Duties, with particular reference to Guidance on Auxiliary Aids and Services

Procurement decisions for hardware and software have due regard to accessibility and reasonable adjustment duties under the Equality Act. In particular, no extra cost should be charged for changes made to systems as part of reasonable adjustments made.

Staff and pupils are aware of specialist hardware and software installed and Control Panel options on schools computer, to enable access.