{"id":8460,"date":"2025-01-27T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T14:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.everylearnereverywhere.org\/?p=8460"},"modified":"2025-12-08T07:58:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T13:58:04","slug":"teach-access-every-learner-everywhere-join-forces-to-explore-ai-and-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everylearnereverywhere.org\/es\/blog\/teach-access-every-learner-everywhere-join-forces-to-explore-ai-and-accessibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Teach Access, Every Learner Everywhere\u00ae Join Forces to Explore AI and Accessibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artificial intelligence can be a powerful resource for overcoming accessibility barriers in the classroom, but it also can create or exacerbate those same accessibility issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see it both ways,\u201d says Kate Sonka, Executive Director of Teach Access<\/a>, an advocacy and professional development organization that promotes digital accessibility skills for the workplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are legitimate concerns about what sorts of ways AI is being used and how it might increase inequity, but we also have been hearing and seeing that AI could be used as an assistive technology. It\u2019s an interesting thing to watch unfold, trying to parse through when and where we want to use it and how we want to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teach Access supports instructors in educating their students about digital accessibility and in addressing the accessibility skills gap in the workforce. It was a relatively new organization \u2014 seven years into its work \u2014 when AI emerged in 2023 as a significant factor in technology accessibility.<\/p>\n

When they began to focus on AI\u2019s impact on accessibility in instruction, Sonka says, it discovered Every Learner Everywhere\u00ae and its emphasis on equity in digital learning<\/a>, and a new partnership was born.<\/p>\n

\"Infographic<\/a>The first shared project between the two organizations is a forthcoming report that aims to uncover the benefits and concerns of AI in accessibility instruction for educators and for the students they\u2019re preparing for the workplace. Teach Access is developing the report as a toolkit for using artificial intelligence to enhance learning and overcome inequities in accessibility. Planned for early 2025, the document will explore AI\u2019s impact on accessibility in a variety of ways from pedagogy to how it can be used as assistive technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we consider the various ways our students arrive and exist in our classrooms, as well as the instructors, and just what it means to have today\u2019s learners in the classroom, it felt like a great space to collaborate,\u201d Sonka says.<\/p>\n

Enhancing employability<\/h2>\n

Working with educators, technology industry partners, disability advocacy organizations, and the public sector, Teach Access helps to foster learners\u2019 interest in accessibility. The organization also encourages educators to teach the skills required to facilitate accessibility in the workplace.<\/p>\n

That emphasis on workforce preparation is important. More than 86 percent of Teach Access\u2019s members surveyed in fall 2022 anticipated an increase in the demand for accessibility skills<\/a>. Only 2 percent reported that their organization can easily find job candidates with those skills.<\/p>\n

A recognition of the need for accessibility and the skills to help provide it can help job seekers qualify for roles in any sector. A software developer, for example, should be adept at creating tools to help those who cannot use a computer mouse to navigate an application. A marketing professional should understand how to create alt text that clearly identifies the contents of an online image for those with visual impairments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re thinking about institutions wanting to create pathways, experiences, and opportunities for students to be successful once they graduate and leave our institutions,\u201d says Sonka, \u201cthis is one of those pathways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incorporating accessibility<\/h2>\n

The toolkit that Teach Access is partnering with Every Learner to develop will examine how AI is influencing the ways that instructors address the topic of accessibility. For some, that discussion might require 15 minutes of class time each week. For others, it might be a full module of lessons on the role of accessibility in a particular academic discipline.<\/p>\n