What AI Accessibility in Higher Education Looks Like in Practice, According to Students

As AI becomes more visible across higher ed, conversations around the technology are often centered on the risks, including plagiarism, misuse, and institutional implementation. Less attention is given to the students who are already using AI thoughtfully and creatively to overcome learning barriers. For many students, including those with a disability, AI isn’t a shortcut; it’s a vital tool that enables accessibility and learning.

A recent webinar from Every Learner Everywhere, presented in partnership with the Northwest Higher Education Accessible Technology group (NWHEAT), centered on how students are using AI tools to address accessibility challenges in their coursework. Titled In Their Own Words: How Students Use AI to Make Learning More Accessible the session featured a moderated student panel that explored how students first learned about AI tools, which tools they rely on most, how they verify AI-generated information, where institutional policies remain unclear, and what concerns students themselves have about AI’s limitations, environmental impact, and potential misuse. Panelists also discussed the role of faculty, student accessibility services, and peer networks in shaping how AI is used responsibly in academic settings.

Across the conversation, students emphasized that AI use for accessibility is rarely about automation or replacing academic work. Instead, their examples focused on adapting course materials, managing cognitive load, and translating information into formats that better align with how they learn. While the webinar addressed many facets of AI and accessibility, this article focuses on one theme that surfaced repeatedly: how students described using AI as an adaptive support that helps bridge gaps between standardized course design and diverse learning needs, offering faculty a clearer view of how these tools are already functioning in practice.

The moderator, Zachery Grant, a Reference and Instruction Librarian at Clark College, began by asking each of the students about an accessibility challenge that AI has transformed for them.

The intersection of AI and accessibility in college courses

For Meghan Lanzi, a first-year student at UNC Chapel Hill studying data science and psychology, teaching blind and visually impaired middle and high school students how to code opened her eyes to the learning possibilities of AI. “It gave me the confidence and capacity to learn things I never thought I could before, to teach things I never thought I could teach before,” she said.

Brynn Patterson, a junior majoring in history and English at Fisk University, shared a similar experience. By using AI to generate captions and create visual and audio descriptions, she was able to make course materials more accessible for herself and others.

Conversely, Fairooz Abida, a student at Brandeis University, came to AI with hesitation. She initially viewed the technology as an unfair advantage, but her perspective shifted after an instructor encouraged her to try it firsthand. As a student with ADHD, Abida discovered that AI helps her process and engage with information in ways that better match how she learns.

For Lanzi, the impact of AI on accessibility isn’t just about accessibility; it’s about equity. Her sister has an auditory learning disability, but AI has fundamentally transformed how she engages with learning by allowing course materials to be reshaped into formats that work for her. One example includes using AI to transform written content into podcasts and other audio sources.

Lanzi said many faculty are focused on “every student gets the same resources, but in reality we know that’s not very conducive to everyone’s success.” Some learners need different or additional tools to reach the same academic outcomes, a gap that AI is helping to fill. This shift expands access and makes learning more equitable for students.

What students wish educators knew about AI and accessibility

“I wish instructors knew AI isn’t just a way for students to have things [made] easier for them,” said Abida. Instead, she said, it can be a valuable tool for brainstorming, reorganizing information, or helping students process content more effectively. “Instructors don’t understand that students, especially students with ADHD or any neurodivergence, struggle [with] understanding concepts. And AI isn’t just used to make things easier, but it’s used to actually learn things.”

Patterson echoed this sentiment saying that AI can democratize information that is complex or inaccessible to the average person. She used the example of using AI to better understand medical information an individual gets from their doctor. That same experience can apply to students who are trying to break into fields where academia sometimes acts like a gatekeeper. “A lot of times certain groups or people who are marginalized have inequitable access to education or resources or just simply don’t have access to that information,” she said.

“Artificial intelligence is a chance for us to be able to make information more equitable, and I’m very, very excited about that . . . . Within my own field of study, data science, right now I’m transitioning into electronics programming, which is something I never thought I would be able to do . . . . I’m teaching myself with AI how to build circuit boards and how to 3D print and build cool projects. So, yeah, I totally believe that, with the expansion of artificial intelligence, comes the expansion of general intelligence for everybody.”

Learning on their own terms

When it comes to practical AI tools, the students on the panel emphasized that usefulness depends on both context and awareness of limitations. Lanzi began experimenting early with ChatGPT, stating that while it can be helpful, large language models can hallucinate and pull biased or inaccurate information from across the internet. For research-heavy tasks, she relies on an AI to analyze academic papers, speeding up the literature review process and allowing her to surface highly specific information from a large pool of content.

Patterson highlighted tools, including grammar checkers for essay writing, note-taking companions, and AI tools that record and transcribe lectures, all contribute to a more efficient workflow. Abida similarly uses a grammar checker to catch small errors that can be challenging when managing ADHD, and uses another AI tool to create flashcards and break down complex material, helping her understand information more quickly and efficiently.

While AI can be overwhelming, all three students encouraged their peers and faculty alike to explore different tools available. Patterson pointed out many classes are unclear about where the line is for permissible AI use. Lanzi adds that while not all professors include an AI policy in their syllabus, having one in place is especially helpful for students trying to navigate how they can use these tools responsibly.