Accessibility is about progress, not perfection.Inspired by Meryl K. Evans: Progress Over Perfection

The Aiming for ALL Collection

Accessibility for all members of schools and learning communities.

By Beth Stark, M.S.Ed., CPACCEducator and ConsultantInclusive Learning SystemsUDLAccessibility

Six Pathways to Begin Learning

The Goal

The goal of Aiming for ALL is to support educators, learners, learning leaders, and every member of a learning community to connect with perspectives and resources to centre accessibility in how we teach, learn, lead, and design.

  1. What About Curb Cuts?Learn why accessibility matters for everyone.
  2. FoundationsLearn how accessibility honours our human rights.
  3. Accessibility for Learning CommunitiesDiscover ways to make school and school life accessible.
  4. Critical Frameworks and Curriculum ResourcesLearn about putting access for everyone at the centre of learning.
  5. No-Cost CoursesChoose an online accessibility course that is right for you.
  6. No-Cost Digital ResourcesTry no-cost tools that support accessibility.

Professional Learning About the Collection

Ready-made activities for learning about the collection. Use them on your own, with a class, or with your team.

  • On your own, 30 to 45 minutesAiming for ALL: A Guided TourA no-cost, self-paced guide to this accessibility collection, with Beth as your guide. No sign-in, no tests, no scores.
  • For a workshop or staff meetingJigsaw Professional Learning Choice BoardA five-piece jigsaw. Everyone starts with the centre piece, then picks one more and shares it with the group.
  • Goes with pathway 6, No-Cost Digital ResourcesNo-Cost Digital Resource Riddle HuntSolve rhyming riddles to find the tools in pathway 6. Each hunt hides a secret word.
  • Goes with pathway 2, FoundationsPOUR Barrier SortRead 12 everyday barriers. Sort each one by the four POUR principles, then see a way to reduce it.

Ways to Explore

Welcome to Aiming for ALL

Aiming for ALL is a no-cost collection of resources for educators, learners, learning leaders, and every member of a learning community. The goal is to support everyone who is working to centre accessibility in how we teach, learn, lead, and design. Accessibility is a human right. Accessibility and belonging go together. The collection centres the voices and expertise of people with disabilities. The people with the most direct experience of barriers know the most about what real access looks and feels like.

Every resource here is no-cost. Not every tool or site shared here currently complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Building a learning culture around accessibility takes time and ongoing learning. Accessibility is about progress, not perfection.

How to Use This Page

  • Start at any of the six pathways. Each one is a different way into accessibility.
  • New to the collection? Take Aiming for ALL: A Guided Tour. It takes 30 to 45 minutes, with no cost and no sign-in.
  • Prefer short sentences with pictures? Read the Easy Read guide.
  • Use the numbered bar at the top to move between pathways. It shows where you are.
  • Select the magnifying glass at the top to search for a resource, tool, or glossary term by word.
  • Links to resources open in a new tab. Each one also has a short link you can share.
  • Select Accessibility and Settings to change the font, text size, spacing, and colours, or to listen to the page.

Who Is This Collection Designed For?

Aiming for ALL is designed for all members of any learning community. It brings together resources on accessibility, usability, and human-centred design.

For Educators

Aiming for ALL is designed by an educator, for all educators. Use what is useful and come back when your questions about accessibility change.

For Learners

Curious about accessibility? Are you ready to co-design a service project or explore how accessibility connects to global citizenship? Welcome.

For Learning Leaders

Accessibility is an important commitment for any learning community. You will find resources and perspectives here that can help you move that work forward.

For Human Resources and Community Life Professionals

The way an organisation hires, communicates, and gathers shows what it values and how it defines belonging. There are tools and frameworks here to help you explore what accessibility looks like at every stage of that work.

For Tech Specialists

The decisions you make shape who gets to participate and have a direct impact on information architecture. The resources here are designed to help you build systems and make decisions that work for everyone.

For Families, Caregivers, and Advocates

You know the learners in your life best. You will find resources here to help you understand accessibility, name the barriers you see, and work with schools as partners so every learner can take part.

What About Curb Cuts?

Learn why accessibility matters for everyone.

Also available as: PDF (4 pages, 148 KB) Google Doc

These resources share the voices of people with disabilities. They describe why accessibility matters and what is lost when we do not treat it as a human right. The principle at the centre of all of them is:

The goal of curb cuts is not to benefit everyone. The goal is equity and inclusion for the people being denied access. The wider benefits are a consequence of working towards that goal. Let's continue this work together.

A note on geography: many of the resources here come from the United States, and others come from Australia, Canada, Europe and international organisations. Each one has been checked. Laws, school systems and everyday terms differ from place to place, so adapt the ideas to your own culture, community and context. Where a resource depends on one country's laws or school system, its description says so.

A. What Accessibility Really Means

Before any practical tool, educators need to understand accessibility from the inside. Each of these three resources asks what authentic accessibility feels like.

The Curb-Cut Effect and Championing Equity

Learning for Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center

This article is written specifically for educators about the history of curb cuts and what they teach us about equity. It tells the story of Ed Roberts and the Rolling Quads, who fought for the first curb cuts in Berkeley, California, and explains why designing for those being denied access always produces wider benefits. It argues for building accessible learning environments from the start instead of retrofitting them. A note on authorship: this article is not written by a disabled person. It centres disability-led activism.

Access Is Love

Mia Mingus, Sandy Ho, and Alice Wong

Three disabled Asian-American women created this framework and resource hub. It argues that accessibility is an act of love and a shared community responsibility. It includes ten concrete ways to start creating access and a reading list on disability justice. It is a good starting point for educators who want to change how their school or team thinks and talks about accessibility.

B. Disability Voices for Learning Communities

Disability is rarely present in curriculum through the words of disabled people themselves. These three ongoing, disability-led projects, and the perspectives and stories in them, can help bring about change.

Disability Visibility Project: DVP Interviews

A no-cost, growing archive of oral history interviews with disabled people across the United States, recorded in partnership with StoryCorps, covering disability arts, identity, community, activism, parenting, journalism, and everyday life. Founded in 2014 by Alice Wong (1974-2025), a Chinese-American disability activist, writer, and 2024 MacArthur Fellow. Alice died on November 14, 2025. The project continues in her memory and all content remains available at no cost. For educators, this archive is one of the most direct ways to bring authentic disabled voices into a classroom or community.

Disability Debrief

A no-cost weekly newsletter covering disability news, policy, culture, and activism from over 170 countries, edited by disabled journalist Peter Torres Fremlin and written by disabled and non-disabled contributors. It helps educators keep up with how disability is understood around the world. It is also an example of what disability-led media looks and sounds like.

The Accessible Stall

A long-running podcast in which two disabled friends, Kyle Khachadurian and Emily Ladau, talk candidly about disability, from identity and access to representation and everyday life. The hosts do not always agree, a useful reminder for educators that disabled people are not a single voice. Episodes are conversational and many are transcribed. They work well as discussion starters with staff or older students.

C. Representation, Framing, and How We Talk About Disability

How disability is portrayed shapes what students come to believe about disabled people and about themselves. This applies to film and television. It also applies to classrooms, curriculum materials, and the language we use every day as educators.

I'm Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much

Stella Young, TEDxSydney

A nine-minute talk by disabled Australian comedian and journalist Stella Young that names and dismantles inspiration porn: the way disabled people are turned into motivational objects for non-disabled people, praised simply for doing ordinary things. Sadly, Young died shortly after filming at age 32. Her talk has been viewed over four million times. It is a direct way to open a classroom or staff conversation about how framing shapes our beliefs and values.

Rooted in Rights

Disability Rights Washington

A no-cost, fully accessible media platform created by a team of disabled media makers, producing video, documentary, and written content by and for the disability community. Every video includes captions, audio description, image descriptions, and transcripts. It offers classroom content. It also shows disabled people telling their own stories instead of having stories told about them.

Disability Representation in the Media

Purple Goat Agency (UK)

A no-cost guide from Purple Goat, a UK-based disability-led agency, on what authentic disability representation looks like in media and why it matters. It shares how disabled people are too often reduced to their disability, portrayed as objects of pity or inspirational exceptions, and what good representation looks like instead. Educators can use it to ask whether disabled students in their own classrooms are seen and valued as whole people.

Foundations

Learn how accessibility honours our human rights.

Also available as: PDF (3 pages, 131 KB) Google Doc

Ready-to-use activityActivity: POUR Barrier SortAn activity to identify barriers, sort them by the four POUR principles, and find ways to reduce them.

Accessibility is a big topic and there is a lot more to explore beyond what is here. Technical checklists can help with fixes. Treating accessibility as a human right gives the learning purpose and (hopefully) keeps it going.

Foundations Resources

A. Redefining Accessibility Advocacy: Progress Over Perfection

A blog post by Meryl K. Evans, a CPACC-certified accessibility consultant and TEDx speaker who was born profoundly deaf. Meryl explains that accessibility does not have to be all or nothing. The progress over perfection approach encourages people to take small, consistent steps towards inclusion rather than waiting until everything is perfect. A practical and encouraging read for anyone just getting started or feeling overwhelmed.

B. Article 9 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The full text of Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which sets out the legal right to accessibility for people with disabilities worldwide. It covers access to the physical environment, transport, information, communications technology, and public services. This document is a starting point for understanding accessibility as a human right.

What about UDL? Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities establishes the right of all people with disabilities to inclusive education at every level. The Committee's General Comment on Article 24 identifies Universal Design for Learning as a core approach to making education accessible and adaptable for all students.

C. Web Accessibility Perspectives Videos (W3C WAI)

A series of short videos from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative showing real people using the web with different access needs. Each video focuses on one accessibility feature, such as captions, keyboard navigation, or colour contrast, and shows both why it matters and who it helps. Use it to build empathy and understanding before you get into technical detail. All videos include captions and audio descriptions.

D. WeCo Accessibility Resources: Free and Low Cost

A library of no-cost and low-cost accessibility resources from WeCo, a disability-owned digital accessibility company based in Minnesota. The library brings together third-party resources, articles, and guides on web accessibility, document accessibility, mobile accessibility, and assistive technology. Written and maintained by accessibility specialists who live with disabilities themselves.

E. Accessibility Basics (NCADEMI)

This resource covers nine core skills for creating accessible digital content. Each skill has its own dedicated page with clear, plain-language guidance. The nine areas covered are alt text for images, captions, clear writing, colour use, headings, links, lists, tables, and text contrast. It is a hands-on starting point for educators and content creators who want to know what to do and why.

G. Glossary of Terms

This plain-language glossary from Make Things Accessible covers the most common terms, acronyms, and abbreviations used in digital accessibility. It is useful for anyone who wants to understand the language before diving into more technical resources.

Accessibility for Learning Communities

Discover ways to make school and school life accessible.

Also available as: PDF (10 pages, 333 KB) Google Doc

Learning communities can design for accessibility in events, spaces, materials, staff hiring, and learning experiences. When they do, they design for belonging.

The resources here cover ten different contexts: accessible physical spaces and activity, physical and health education, arts education, family partnership and advocacy, hiring and interviewing, communication and language, running events, creating learning materials and digital experiences, accessible libraries, and teaching games and interactive media.

A. Accessible Physical Spaces and Activity

The Physical Classroom Environment: Creating Universal Learning Spaces (PDF)

National Council for Special Education (Ireland). Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. NCSE's own download link no longer works, so a copy is shared here under that licence.

A practical guide to classroom design that considers the needs of all learners, including neurodivergent students. Covers visual stimuli, acoustics, lighting, furniture layout, and transitions between activities. It notes that environmental changes designed for students with identified access needs tend to benefit everyone.

Short link bit.ly/4sHb3yk

Classroom Sensory Screening Tool (PDF)

National Council for Special Education (Ireland). Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. NCSE's own download link no longer works, so a copy is shared here under that licence.

A checklist teachers can use independently to evaluate their classroom and identify improvements. It gives specific guidance, including a recommendation that between 20 and 50 percent of wall space be kept clear, and addresses lighting, acoustics, temperature, wheelchair access, and furniture arrangement. Designed for primary, post-primary, and special school settings.

Short link bit.ly/4mAFLI2

Sensory Spaces in Schools (PDF)

National Council for Special Education (Ireland). Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. NCSE's own download link no longer works, so a copy is shared here under that licence.

For school leaders thinking beyond the individual classroom, this guide addresses why dedicated sensory spaces matter for students with sensory processing differences, how to design them, and how they fit into a whole-school approach to accessibility.

Short link bit.ly/3OfUbkm

Discover Inclusive Playgrounds

National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability

A practical guide to designing and choosing playgrounds where every child can play alongside their peers. It argues for inclusive design that goes beyond minimum accessibility standards. It covers physical access, the play experiences a space offers, the cost of inclusive equipment and how to fund it, and directories for locating inclusive playgrounds. Useful for school leaders and community partners planning or renovating a shared play space.

Short link bit.ly/4tDgPSu

B. Physical and Health Education

A Guide to School Physical Activity Programs

National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability

A US guide to physical education and activity programmes that include students with disabilities. Covers PE classes, break times (called recess in the US), before- and after-school programmes, and peer-to-peer inclusion models. Includes tools for assessing how accessible an existing programme is.

Short link bit.ly/4tEgmzI

Move United

A US network of community-based adaptive sports organisations, with a library of resources on inclusive physical education and adaptive sport. Includes instructional guides, lesson plans, and a programme locator for finding adaptive sport opportunities. Relevant for PE teachers, school leaders, and families looking to move beyond "modified" PE and towards programmes where disabled students are full members of the team.

Short link bit.ly/3QMCmde

C. Arts Education

Leadership Network for Accessible Arts Education (LNAAE)

Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education

A global network for educators, artists, and administrators working on accessibility in arts education. Regular online sessions cover music, dance, theatre, and visual arts, and recordings are available on the website. A good entry point for arts teachers and school leaders who want to connect with a wider professional community on this work.

Short link bit.ly/4vl6igD

D. Family Partnership and Advocacy

Stimpunks Foundation

Stimpunks looks at design, access, and accessibility together. It treats them as things schools and workplaces shape through their environment. They are not problems for individual people to solve. It is led by neurodivergent and disabled people and has published more than 1,400 web pages of plain-language guides and practical tools. The site speaks to two audiences about access in one place.

For teachers and school leaders: The Neurodivergent Design Field Guide, Pattern Library, and Design Recipes offer concrete steps to make classrooms, schools, and workplaces more accessible. Topics include monotropism, burnout caused by demanding environments, co-regulation, and sensory access.

For learners, parents, and caregivers: Why Sheets are downloadable, openly licensed letters that learners, parents, and caregivers can adapt to advocate for accessibility at school. Older learners can use them to speak up for themselves, and adults can use them together with a learner to make the case for a change. Topics include alternatives to ABA, Positive Greetings at the Door, uniform adaptations, and behaviourism. Each sheet gives the words to name a barrier and ask for the change that removes it, and explains the why clearly, one idea per line.

Stimpunks treats learners, families, and educators as partners in the work of accessibility.

Short link bit.ly/3OwAhRZ

E. Accessible Hiring and Interviews

Attracting and Recruiting People with Disability to Your Organisation (2024)

Australian Human Rights Commission

This guide is for organisations that want to go beyond compliance and show that disabled people are welcome to apply and will be supported. It covers accessible job descriptions, how to reach candidates with disability, and what reasonable adjustments look like at each stage of recruitment. It was developed with people with disabilities and includes real workplace examples.

Short link bit.ly/3OtJ6fu

Accessible Recruitment

Make Things Accessible

This guide covers the full hiring process from an accessibility perspective: writing job adverts, shortlisting candidates, running interviews, and onboarding new staff. It addresses both sides of the process, removing barriers for candidates with disabilities and ensuring disabled people can also serve as interviewers and panel members. A five-minute summary at the top is useful if time is short.

Short link bit.ly/3QgiFdH

F. Communication and Language

Disability-Inclusive Communications Guidelines (PDF)

United Nations

This guide covers language and format. It shows how to refer to and represent disabled people accurately and respectfully, and how to use language that centres the person rather than the condition. It also shows how to make documents, emails, social media posts, and multimedia content accessible. It includes checklists and an Easy Read version of the guidelines themselves.

Short link bit.ly/48niUd8

Accessible Social Media

A reference guide to making social media content accessible, covering image descriptions, video captions, accessible use of hashtags and emojis, and colour contrast. It addresses the specific accessibility features of major platforms, making it practical for whoever manages a school's social media presence.

Short link bit.ly/4vn4DqC

Plain Language and Easy Read

Center on Disability

Clear writing is an accessibility issue. This resource hub covers plain language (clear, direct writing at a sixth to eighth grade reading level) and Easy Read (one idea per line, simple words, supporting images). Includes a self-paced online course and tools applicable to letters to families, policy documents, newsletters, and websites.

Short link bit.ly/4t6vrtU

G. Events and Gatherings

Making Events Accessible

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative

A detailed checklist for planning accessible meetings, training sessions, conferences, and presentations, whether in person, online, or hybrid. It covers venue selection, technology, captioning, sign language interpretation, accessible materials, and gathering information about participants' access needs in advance. Useful for professional development days, parent evenings, and community events.

Short link bit.ly/4sYcdGF

Conference Accessibility: Zero Project Guide and Glossary

Zero Project

A set of practical planning tools from an international disability inclusion initiative. It helps organisers think through accessibility across physical, digital, and communication dimensions. A useful companion to the W3C checklist above, particularly for events spanning multiple sessions or venues.

Short link bit.ly/41peOxs

H. Learning Materials and Digital Experiences

Making Audio and Video Media Accessible

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative

This guide helps teachers who create video content. It covers captions, audio descriptions, transcripts, and sign language interpretation: what each one is, when it's needed, and how to create or commission it. It focuses on building accessibility in from the start rather than retrofitting existing content.

Short link bit.ly/4c2BZDL

WCAG: What Educators Need to Know

Montgomery County Intermediate Unit

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the international standards that school websites, learning management systems, and ed tech platforms are expected to meet. This series of articles explains what those standards mean in practice, written for teachers and school leaders rather than web developers.

Short link bit.ly/4sv5mUj

Best Practices for Creating Accessible Maps

Perkins School for the Blind

Maps are a common learning tool that can exclude students who are blind or have low vision. This guide shows how to build digital maps that students can explore independently, using Google My Maps and a browser tool called SAS Graphics Accelerator. Relevant for any subject that uses spatial information.

Short link bit.ly/4t2Tr17

Equal Access: Universal Design of Instruction

DO-IT, University of Washington

A detailed, field-tested checklist for applying Universal Design of Instruction (UDI) across every aspect of teaching: class climate, physical environments, delivery methods, information resources and technology, feedback, and assessment. It draws together UD, UDL, and WCAG principles in one place and is practical enough to use directly when planning a course or reviewing existing practice. Developed and tested across more than twenty postsecondary institutions.

Short link bit.ly/4cel14a

I. Accessible Libraries

IFLA Guidelines for Making Libraries Accessible for People with Disabilities

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

An internationally focused guide covering physical access, online accessibility, collections, assistive technology, programming, and services for specific groups including children, people with dyslexia, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and people with cognitive disabilities. A useful framework for school leaders overseeing library development.

Short link bit.ly/48BhcF2

Children and Teens with Disabilities

American Library Association

A toolkit for library professionals creating accessible environments for young people with disabilities. Covers US legal rights, educational accommodations, and the many ways children and teens with disabilities engage with library services. Useful for showing why the school library should be an inclusive space.

Short link bit.ly/4cAcNEP

J. Gaming and Interactive Media

Accessibility Reference Guides

Can I Play That?

A library of guides covering game accessibility across specific disability areas: blind and low vision, deaf and hard of hearing, motor, and cognitive accessibility. Written by disabled players and reviewers. Useful for educators teaching game design and for teachers who want to evaluate whether a game is accessible to all students before using it in the classroom.

Short link bit.ly/4vhAZDv

Video Game Accessibility YouTube Playlist

Game Maker's Toolkit

A YouTube series from Game Maker's Toolkit on designing games for disabled players. Four videos focus on players who are Deaf or hard of hearing, players with motor disabilities, players with cognitive disabilities, and players who are colourblind or have low vision. Others look at how accessible each year's biggest games were and what makes the Assist Mode in Celeste special. Useful for teachers new to the topic and for learners interested in game design.

Short link bit.ly/3Q4iUsg

Critical Frameworks and Curriculum Resources

Learn about putting access for everyone at the centre of learning.

Also available as: PDF (2 pages, 122 KB) Google Doc

These frameworks and curriculum resources are for educators focused on going beyond compliance. The resources here are built around the idea of doing with, not doing for. They ask how we include all learners as co-constructors and honour the lived experiences of disabled people in our curriculum and instruction.

One resource here addresses AI in education directly. It asks who AI serves and who it may not serve.

Frameworks and Curriculum Resources

A. CITES Framework: Inclusive Technology & Education Systems (CAST)

A no-cost framework from CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) that helps districts identify and remove systemic barriers to inclusive technology implementation. Aligned to the 2024 National EdTech Plan and the UNESCO 2023 GEM Report on Technology, it covers five interconnected areas: Leadership, Infrastructure, Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, with family engagement woven throughout. Role-specific entry points for educators, administrators, AT professionals, ed tech professionals, IT professionals, and families make it practical for whole-school implementation.

Short link bit.ly/4cGav7c

B. Co-designing with Children with Disabilities (Weavly)

A no-cost, practical guide to involving children with disabilities as co-creators in the design process, beyond the roles of participant or tester. Covers how to plan sessions, make the process itself accessible, and learn from what comes out of it. It shows what becomes possible when children with disabilities are recognised as capable, creative contributors who shape the design.

Short link bit.ly/4dFRsLi

C. Framework for Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education (IDRC)

AI tools are already in classrooms. This no-cost framework helps educators ask the right questions before adopting them: who benefits, who is harmed, and whose needs were built in from the start versus added as an afterthought? It notes that AI can lower barriers for some learners and create new ones for others. This resource is available in English and French, and relevant to educators in any country.

Short link bit.ly/47P65s2

D. Disability Equality Education: Lesson Prep Resources by Grade Level (DEE)

A no-cost, growing library of disability-inclusive lesson prep resources from a cross-disability organisation led by disabled people. Every resource has been created or approved by disabled people. Lessons are organised by US grade level, from kindergarten through college, and by subject area. They treat disability as part of human experience, not as a problem to be fixed. One example from the library: a 9th and 10th grade (ages 14 to 16) geometry lesson where students redesign real public spaces for accessibility and share their work in a gallery walk.

Short link bit.ly/4vtQCYz

No-Cost Courses

Choose an online accessibility course that is right for you.

Also available as: PDF (4 pages, 171 KB) Google Doc

Accessibility is bigger than most people realise when they first encounter it. It touches buildings, transport, technology, communication, employment, and just about every part of our lives. These course hubs do not cover every part of accessibility. Each one is a good place to start.

Course Hubs

A. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Courses

Digital Accessibility Foundations is a self-paced course for both technical and non-technical learners, including developers, designers, writers, managers, and advocates. An optional paid certificate is available. The hub also brings together courses from providers worldwide. It is a broad and practical first stop for almost anyone.

Short link bit.ly/4mj5KUi

B. Teach Access Courses

Teach Access offers self-paced courses on disability and accessible design for educators across all disciplines. It is one of the few hubs here that also offers courses designed specifically for students, making it a strong choice for bringing accessibility directly into the classroom at any level.

Teach Access also invites young people and lifelong learners of any age to take part in the Teach Access Student Academy, a no-cost learning series for students typically held each February. Register and access the 2026 Student Academy recordings on the Teach Access Student Programs page.

Short link bit.ly/4mw6ndh

C. AHEAD Accessibility Resource Kit (ARK)

The Accessibility Resource Kit offers short, role-based courses on topics including an introduction to digital accessibility for educators, a whole institution approach, developing web accessibility statements, designing accessible course layouts, and disability awareness and inclusion. It is particularly well suited to further and higher education institutions, especially those in Ireland and Europe.

Short link bit.ly/4sugvVo

D. NCADEMI Courses

NCADEMI (pronounced “n-cademy”) offers self-paced courses on creating accessible digital course materials for instructors and course designers in post-secondary education. Topics include document accessibility, multimedia, and learning management systems. If you are based outside the US, the enrolment form asks for a state. Just pick any one. I chose Wyoming because it was the first state to grant women the right to vote.

Short link bit.ly/4mhmfA8

E. Open Visualization Academy: Accessibility in Data Visualization

A self-paced 3.5-hour course by Frank Elavsky on the Open Visualization Academy, with content updated in September 2025. The course opens with frameworks, concepts, and ethics around disability and accessibility in visualisation, then moves into practical methods for making charts, graphs, and data experiences accessible. Topics include the Chartability standard, the four categories of barriers (perceivable, operable, understandable, robust), and a closing chapter on hardware, physicalisation, and embodied data. A useful next step for anyone whose work touches data visualisation in instruction, research, journalism, or design. No cost; an optional certificate is available with sign-in. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Short link bit.ly/4dtfK9n

F. GATE Learning on TAP: Assistive Technology

A 22-module course from the World Health Organization's Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE), built around a Select, Fit, Use, Follow-up framework. Modules span cognition, communication, vision, hearing, self care, mobility, and emergencies, with an introduction module for each area and product-specific modules underneath. It gives a wide introduction to assistive products across many settings. Useful for AT specialists broadening their picture, for disability services and allied health colleagues wanting a shared frame, and for educators who collaborate across roles. No cost; available in 18+ languages; registration required.

Short link bit.ly/3RhLx5Q

Adjacent Resource: Inclusive Research

This entry is a guide to inclusive research. It sits with the courses for any learning community where research is happening.

G. Inclusive Research Video Guidance, Global Disability Innovation Hub

A 20-video series from UCL's Global Disability Innovation Hub offering practical guidance to early-career researchers and innovators on conducting inclusive research, with insights from disabled lived-experience experts and fellow researchers. It is framed for emerging researchers. The principles also apply in any learning community where research happens: graduate programmes, doctoral cohorts, capstone projects, design studios, action research in schools and universities, and undergraduate research experiences. The series shows how to centre lived experience and build trust before asking people to take part. It treats disabled contributors as co-authors of the work. A written companion document is also available on the project page.

Short link bit.ly/4nHtXEE

Which Course Is Right for You?

Use this quick guide to find the best starting point for your context and goals.

QuestionAnswer
New to accessibility?Start with W3C WAI to learn the basics of web accessibility standards.
Working in higher education?AHEAD ARK is designed for further and higher education. It is practical and especially useful for institutions in Ireland and Europe.
Teaching students about accessibility?Teach Access is the only hub here that offers courses designed specifically for students as well as educators, so you can use it in classrooms at any level.
Looking for a no-cost student academy open to all ages?The Teach Access Student Academy welcomes young people and lifelong learners of any age. It is a no-cost learning series for students typically held each February. Recordings from the 2026 Student Academy are available on the Teach Access Student Programs page.
Building accessible digital content?W3C WAI and Teach Access offer courses on accessible design and development. NCADEMI is ideal for building accessible digital course materials.
Working with data, charts, or visualisation?Open Visualization Academy is the strongest option, especially for instructors, researchers, journalists, and designers who use visualisation regularly.
Want a wider introduction to assistive products?GATE Learning on TAP offers a wide picture across cognition, communication, vision, hearing, self care, mobility, and emergencies.
Holding or supporting research in a learning community?Inclusive Research Video Guidance (adjacent resource, not a course) offers practical guidance on doing research with disabled lived-experience contributors.

All course hubs can be accessed at no cost. Some may require account registration.

No-Cost Digital Resources

Try no-cost tools that support accessibility.

Also available as: PDF (11 pages, 448 KB) Google Doc

Ready-to-use activityActivity: Riddle HuntSolve rhyming riddles to find the tools in this pathway, alone or with a group.
Review and Approval SheetA Google Sheet of all 26 tools, with links, short descriptions, and a column to mark each tool as approved for teacher use. Many schools ask their technology and data privacy specialists to check a tool before teachers use it. Make a copy, share it with your specialists, and keep track of their decisions in one place. You can view it without signing in.
Make your own copy (needs a Google account)Download as Excel (.xlsx, 102 KB)

Every resource here can be accessed at no cost and supports accessible learning experiences and environments. Not every tool or site is designed with accessibility in mind. This is a living list. My goal is to keep adding no-cost digital resources that live on accessible sites and comply with WCAG guidelines.

Accessibility involves people as well as digital tools. As you explore these resources, seek out the perspectives of people who live with disabilities every day, and look for resources that disabled people have created.

1. Access to Visual Information

Tools that reduce the barrier of visual-only content by making visual information available in more than one way.

Image Accessibility Creator

An AI tool from ASU EdPlus at Arizona State University that generates draft alt text and longer image descriptions. These descriptions reduce the barrier of image-only content, opening visual information to people using screen readers and to those taking in content through sound rather than sight. Use it for drafts only. A person should always check and refine each description before sharing it, and avoid uploading images that identify learners. To decide whether an image needs alt text, and what kind, use the W3C alt decision tree.

Short link bit.ly/4uiXRS4

Colour Contrast Analyser (CCA)

A no-cost download for Windows and Mac from Vispero that checks whether text and background colour combinations are easy to see together. Strong contrast reduces the barrier of low-contrast text, supporting readers using small screens, reading in bright light, or seeing colour differently. Meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Short link bit.ly/3Qwt5pB

NVDA Screen Reader

An open-source screen reader for Windows, built by NV Access, a non-profit founded by two blind Australians. NVDA reduces the barrier of screen-only content by speaking the contents of the screen out loud, or by sending the text to a braille display.

Short link bit.ly/4dF8kSq

2. Access to Sound, Speech, and Captions

Tools that reduce the barrier of audio-only content by making sound and speech available in more than one way, through captions, transcripts, recorded audio, and translation.

Subtitle Edit

An open-source subtitle editor that can create captions with speech recognition (Whisper), then lets you adjust timing, fix wording, and translate into other languages. Reduces the barrier of audio-only video by giving educators a no-cost way to add accurate, edited captions to instructional videos they create or share.

Short link bit.ly/4dOreWs

Vocaroo: Online Voice Recorder

Record audio right in a web browser. No app or software to install. Recordings do not stay online forever, so check Vocaroo's note on expiry times and keep a copy. Reduces the barrier of text-only expression by letting learners share spoken feedback, respond by voice, or add audio versions of written materials.

Short link bit.ly/4tCDGOb

ZipCaptions: Live Captions

Creates live captions in real time for meetings, presentations, and conversations. Reduces the barrier of spoken-only communication in live settings, and offers a backup when a professional captioner is not available. Live captions are also built into many devices at no cost: Live Captions in Windows 11, on Mac, and on iPhone, Live Caption in the Chrome browser, and Live Transcribe on Android. Look for them in your device's accessibility settings.

Short link bit.ly/41qn1RT

3. Reading, Writing, and Communicating

Tools that support many ways of reading, writing, and communicating. They reflect the understanding that there is no single right way to take in or express language.

Global Symbols Board Builder

A web tool for building symbol-supported pages. Pull from open symbol libraries (ARASAAC, Mulberry, Tawasol, Sclera) or upload your own images, then download the result as a PDF. Useful for creating a symbol companion that sits alongside an original text or a spoken conversation, supporting picture-based communication without replacing what is already there.

Short link bit.ly/4tE7klA

Helperbird: Immersive Reader for Any Browser

A browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari that adds reading and writing supports to most web pages. Read text aloud, highlight words as they are read, and adjust line spacing, font, and background colour. A no-cost demo is available. Microsoft's Immersive Reader itself is also available at no cost, built into Microsoft Edge (no account required) and the no-cost Microsoft 365 web apps. Helperbird brings the same kind of supports to browsers other than Edge.

Short link bit.ly/4ufUETb

Accessible Fonts: Atkinson Hyperlegible and Lexend

Two fonts designed to reduce visual stress and support readers with low vision or anyone reading in small sizes or poor lighting. Atkinson Hyperlegible from the Braille Institute shapes every letter to be easy to tell apart; the new Atkinson Hyperlegible Next (2025) supports 150+ languages. Lexend is a variable font with adjustable letter spacing readers can tune to find what works best. The Aiming for ALL collection uses both fonts.

Short link bit.ly/3PXRPag

ReadAloudText

A web tool that reads written text aloud. Paste text or upload PDF, DOCX, or TXT files, and choose a voice. You can save the spoken version as an MP3 audio file, with no account needed, so learners can listen offline, on a phone, or while travelling. It is one of the few no-cost tools we found that saves audio files. Guests can convert up to 10,000 characters at a time, and a no-cost account raises that to 20,000. To listen without saving a file, use the read-aloud feature built into most browsers and devices. Reduces the barrier of print-only content by giving readers a spoken version they can listen to alongside the original text.

Short link bit.ly/4tACLNL

Hemingway Editor: Readability Checker

Paste in your writing to see its reading grade. Hemingway Editor marks sentences that are hard or very hard to read, words with simpler alternatives, and passive voice. The sidebar also gives these as counts, so the feedback does not rely on colour alone. The web editor is no cost with no sign-in; the AI features are paid. Because it checks your writing rather than rewriting it, the words stay yours. For guidance on what to change, pair it with the Plain Language Guide Series from Digital.gov, and for Easy Read, the Inclusion Europe standards (tool E). Reduces the barrier of complex text, supporting readers who need clear, direct language. Everyone deserves access to original complex texts, so offer a plain version alongside the original, not in place of it.

Short link bit.ly/4cNFgqS

Read & Write Literacy Tools

A toolbar of reading and writing supports from Texthelp (now Everway). Text-to-speech, picture dictionaries, word prediction, and study tools. Reduces the barrier of independent reading and writing and works across browsers, Word, and Google Docs. No cost for educators.

Short link bit.ly/4924TSK

4. Physical and Motor Access

Tools that support different ways of using a computer and moving through a learning space, including with the eyes, voice, or other assistive devices. Physical and motor access is central to digital participation, and often missing from accessibility conversations.

DO-IT: Universal Design of Physical Spaces Checklist

A no-cost checklist from DO-IT at the University of Washington for finding and reducing barriers in physical spaces. It covers planning and policies, appearance, entrances and routes of travel, fixtures and furniture, information resources and technology, safety, and accommodation. It is a plain web page, with no downloads or sign-in. A companion checklist, Equal Access: Universal Design of Instruction, is in pathway 3. Some items refer to US disability law, so adapt them to the laws and context where you are. Reduces the barrier of inaccessible spaces, supporting everyone who learns, works, or visits there.

Short link bit.ly/3ON178C

Optikey

An on-screen keyboard that learners can control with their eyes, a low-cost eye tracker, a touch screen, a switch, a mouse, or head movement. Learners can type, or select symbols to speak out loud. Reduces the barrier of hands-required computer interaction.

Short link bit.ly/4cQaHkg

5. Managing Time, Energy, Focus, and Personal Environment

Tools that support extra structure and control over a digital environment, energy, and time. They recognise that attention and energy take different shapes for different people.

Goblin Tools

A collection of small, simple tools that break tasks into steps, estimate how long things will take, turn a brain dump into actions, and rewrite text to match a clearer tone. Reduces the barrier of decision overload and planning tasks independently.

Short link bit.ly/4wzTDqA

Morphic: Making Computers Easier to Use

A small no-cost app with a toolbar that makes the accessibility features built into a computer easy to find and use. It also lets assistive technology users use their tools on any computer that has Morphic installed. Reduces the barrier of hidden or hard-to-reach settings on shared devices in a learning space.

Short link bit.ly/41pOeUW

Tic Tac Teach: Classroom Timer

A no-cost visual timer that runs in a web browser, with no sign-in. A large dial empties as time runs out, and a full-screen button makes it easy to see on a projector or whiteboard. At the end, a voice counts down the last 10 seconds, or in silent mode the timer flashes, so the end of the time does not depend on sound alone. The dial does not announce the time left to screen readers, so the timer built into most phones, tablets, and computers makes a good companion. Reduces the barrier of abstract time perception, supporting learners who work best with a visual representation of time. The page includes some shopping links.

Short link bit.ly/3Q4VEdG

#MEAction: Pacing and Management Guides

No-cost guides to pacing, a way of planning activity and rest for people living with energy-limiting conditions such as ME/CFS and Long COVID. There are three guides: one for adults, one for families of children and teens (developed with Long COVID Families, with ideas for school accommodations), and one for clinicians (developed with the Patient-Led Research Collaborative). The adult guide is also available in Swedish, Italian, and Dutch, translated by volunteers. The guides share self-management ideas, not medical advice. Reduces the barrier of invisible energy limits, supporting learners and staff who pace themselves through the day. For an app, MindfulPacer from the University of Zurich is no cost and keeps data on your own device. It works on iPhone and Apple Watch only.

Short link bit.ly/3OLqyHG

6. Creating Content That Works for Everyone

Tools for educators, designers, content creators, and communicators who want to reduce barriers in the materials they make.

Cap: Screen Recorder

An open-source screen recorder for Mac, Windows, and Linux that captures screen, voice, and webcam, then offers an instant shareable link. Reduces the barrier of synchronous-only instruction by letting teachers send quick video feedback, walkthroughs, or asynchronous mini-lessons learners can replay at their own pace.

Short link bit.ly/4wzdZAd

Silktide: Accessibility Checker

A Chrome and Edge browser extension that scans any web page against 200+ WCAG checks and explains each issue in plain language with step-by-step fixes. Reduces the barrier of inaccessible course websites by helping educators spot and repair problems without needing developer skills.

Short link bit.ly/4u9NgZw

Information for All: Easy-to-Read Standards (Inclusion Europe)

European standards for making information easy to read and understand, published by Inclusion Europe. The standards can be downloaded at no cost as PDFs in multiple languages. Easy-to-read information reduces the barrier of complex text by pairing short sentences with clear pictures. Easy Read works as a companion to the original text, not a replacement.

Short link bit.ly/4tGSDyj

A to Z Index

Every tool listed above is organised here in A to Z order. Use it to browse across all categories.

Ready-to-use activityActivity: Riddle HuntSolve rhyming riddles to find the tools in this pathway, alone or with a group.

Companion Resources

Tools to help you put the collection to work.

The UDL Access & Aiming for ALL Crosswalk

Barriers to access show up in playgrounds, documents, maps, events, theatres, libraries, and games, and every member of a learning community can help reduce them. This crosswalk places each no-cost resource under the UDL principle it supports. Each resource is tagged with its topic in pathway 3 and its Access consideration. The Access considerations are Welcoming Interests and Identities, Perception, and Interaction, from the CAST UDL Guidelines version 3.0. Use it to see what your learning community already has in place, and to name the access work that matters most next.

Open the crosswalk Download the PDF

Short link bit.ly/UDLAccessCrosswalk

How to Use the Crosswalk

  1. Open or download the UDL Access & Aiming for ALL Crosswalk.
  2. Open the collection on this page or in the Wiki.
  3. Go to pathway 3, Accessibility for Learning Communities. The contents there run A to J, from accessible physical spaces and activity through to gaming and interactive media.
  4. Keep the crosswalk open alongside it. Every resource is listed under the UDL principle it supports, with its part letter and its Access consideration.
  5. Use it when you spot a barrier to access. The resources show practical ways to reduce that barrier. Many cover barriers outside the classroom.

No-Cost Digital Resource Riddle Hunt

Rhyming riddles that lead to the tools in pathway 6. Each answer can be revealed on the page, and the printable version has a classic answer key.

Play the Riddle Hunt Download the printable version

Download the Collection

Every pathway as a tagged PDF to print or share, or as a Google Doc to copy and adapt. Each card has a button for each format.

The Six Pathways

Each pathway on its own.

Across the Collection

Pages that connect all six pathways.

Activities and Companion Resources

Ready-to-use activities and tools that go with a section.

Nothing About Us Without Us

The following resources inform the design process of the Aiming for ALL collection.

Also available as: PDF (2 pages, 117 KB) Google Doc

Nothing About Us Without Us: How Disability Advocacy Can Reinforce Negative Perceptions

This article warns that even well-intentioned disability advocates can inadvertently reinforce the charity and medical models of disability, and calls for language and practice that centres human rights and agency.

Reference Hang'andu, P. (2023, October 20). Nothing about us without us: How disability advocacy can reinforce negative perceptions and discrimination. Includovate. https://www.includovate.com/nothing-about-us-without-us-how-disability-advocacy-can-reinforce-negative-perceptions-and-discrimination/

Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability, the SDGs and the UNCRPD

This resource explains how the phrase shaped the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, marking a shift from viewing disabled people as objects of charity to recognising them as rights-bearing subjects.

Reference London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. (n.d.). “Nothing about us without us”: Disability, the SDGs and the UNCRPD. FutureLearn. https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/global-disability/0/steps/37575

Nothing About Us Without Us: Promoting Disability History and Awareness in Classrooms

This educator-focused resource connects the phrase to classroom practice, offering tools for teaching disability history and building inclusive, empathetic learning environments.

Reference Facing History and Ourselves. (2024). Nothing about us without us: Promoting disability history and awareness in classrooms. https://www.facinghistory.org/ideas-week/nothing-about-us-without-us-promoting-disability-history-awareness-classrooms

The Social and Human Rights Models of Disability: Towards a Complementarity Thesis

This peer-reviewed article argues that the social and human rights models of disability are complementary, each playing a distinct and necessary role in advancing the rights of disabled people.

Reference Lawson, A., & Beckett, A. E. (2021). The social and human rights models of disability: Towards a complementarity thesis. The International Journal of Human Rights, 25(2), 348–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2020.1783533

Disability Rights: Nothing About Us, Without Us Examined

This overview traces the phrase from its Latin and Polish constitutional origins through to its central role in global disability rights policy, examining how it challenges the medical and charity models of disability.

Reference Langtree, I. C. (2025, December 13). Disability rights: Nothing about us, without us examined. Disabled World. https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/publications/journals/nauwu.php

Glossary by Pathway

This glossary brings together the acronyms, organisations, and key terms used across the Aiming for ALL collection. Each term is grouped under the section of the collection where it fits best, and terms are listed A to Z within each section.

Also available as: PDF (7 pages, 161 KB) Google Doc

Nothing About Us Without Us

Human rights model of disability
Seeing accessibility, inclusion, and participation as rights that every disabled person holds, not as favours.
Lived experience
The direct, first-hand knowledge a person gains from living something themselves. The collection centres the lived experience of disabled people.
Medical model of disability
An older way of seeing disability as a problem inside the person that needs to be fixed. The collection moves away from this view.
Nothing About Us Without Us
The principle that the people most affected by a decision should lead it. In this collection, disabled people lead the work.
SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)
A set of global goals from the United Nations for a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable world.
Social model of disability
The idea that people are disabled mainly by barriers in society, such as steps, attitudes, and inaccessible design, rather than by their bodies or minds alone.

Pathway 1: What About Curb Cuts?

Access Intimacy
A term from disabled writer Mia Mingus. It is the feeling when someone understands your access needs without you having to explain or justify them.
Access Is Love
A no-cost framework and resource hub created by disabled activists Mia Mingus, Sandy Ho, and Alice Wong. It describes accessibility as an act of love and a shared community responsibility.
Accessibility
Designing places, products, and information so everyone can use them, including disabled people. The collection treats accessibility as a human right.
Alice Wong
A disability activist and writer who lived from 1974 to 2025. She founded the Disability Visibility Project.
Barrier
Anything that stops a person from taking part. Examples are steps with no ramp, a video with no captions, or writing that is hard to understand.
Curb cut
A small ramp where a footpath meets the road. Curb cuts were won by disabled activists. They help wheelchair users, and also people with prams, suitcases, and trolleys.
Curb-cut effect
The idea that when you design for the people who are shut out, the change often helps many more people too. The collection opens with this idea.
Disability Debrief
A no-cost newsletter about disability news, policy, and culture from more than 170 countries, written by disabled contributors.
Disability justice
A way of understanding disability that centres the people most affected, including disabled people of colour and LGBTQ disabled people, and links disability to other justice issues.
Disability Visibility Project (DVP)
A growing archive of recorded interviews in which disabled people tell their own stories. It was founded by Alice Wong, with StoryCorps.
Ed Roberts
A disability rights leader who, with other disabled students, won the first curb cuts in Berkeley, California in the early 1970s.
Inspiration porn
A term from disabled activist Stella Young. It describes the way disabled people are turned into feel-good stories for non-disabled people, just for doing ordinary things.
Mia Mingus
A disabled writer and disability justice educator. Her work on access intimacy and Access Is Love appears in the collection.
Rooted in Rights
A disability-led media platform. All of its content is made by and for the disability community.
Stella Young
A disabled Australian comedian, journalist, and activist. She named and challenged the idea of inspiration porn.
StoryCorps
A non-profit that records people telling their life stories. It partners with the Disability Visibility Project.

Pathway 2: Foundations

AEM (Accessible Educational Materials)
Learning materials, such as documents and books, made so that every student can use them.
CAST
A non-profit education organisation that created Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
CC BY-NC 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial)
A licence that lets people share and use a work at no cost, as long as they credit the creator and do not use it to make money. The collection uses this licence.
CPACC (Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies)
A professional certification in accessibility, offered by the IAAP.
Human right
Something that every person should have, simply because they are a person. The collection treats accessibility as a human right.
Human-centred design
Designing things around the real needs of the people who will use them.
Keyboard navigation
Using a computer with the keyboard instead of a mouse. Many people, including some screen reader users, rely on it.
POUR
The four ideas behind the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. Content should be possible to perceive, to use, to understand, and to work with many tools.
Progress over perfection
The idea that accessibility is built through small, steady steps, and that making progress matters more than waiting for everything to be perfect.
UN (United Nations)
An international organisation where countries work together. It created the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
UNCRPD (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)
An international human rights agreement that sets out the rights of disabled people, including the right to accessibility and to inclusive education. It is also written CRPD.
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
The main international group that sets shared standards for the web.
WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative)
The part of the W3C that works on making the web accessible. It produces the WCAG guidelines and no-cost courses.
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
The main international guidelines for making websites and digital content accessible. They are built on the four POUR ideas.
WeCo
A disability-owned accessibility company in the United States. It runs a no-cost accessibility library written by disabled specialists.

Pathway 3: Accessibility for Learning Communities

Audio description
Spoken narration added to a video that describes what is happening on screen, for people who cannot see it.
Belonging
The feeling of being a full and welcome part of a community. The collection treats accessibility and belonging as inseparable.
Easy Read
A way of writing and designing information so it is easier to understand. It uses short sentences, plain words, and a clear image next to each idea.
Plain language
Writing that is clear and easy to understand, using everyday words and short sentences.
Universal Design
Designing places, products, and information so that as many people as possible can use them, without needing a separate special version.

Pathway 4: Critical Frameworks and Curriculum Resources

Ableism
Treating disabled people as worth less, or treating a non-disabled way of doing things as the only normal one. The collection works against ableism.
AI (artificial intelligence)
Computer systems that can do tasks which usually need human thinking. The collection notes that AI can lower barriers for some learners and create new ones for others.
Co-design
Designing something together with the people who will use it, so they help shape it rather than only testing it at the end.
DEE (Disability Equality Education)
A disabled-led organisation that creates no-cost, disability-inclusive lesson plans for schools, organised by US grade level and subject.
IDRC (Inclusive Design Research Centre)
A research centre at OCAD University in Canada that studies inclusive design. It created collection resources on AI in education and on co-designing with children.
Neurodiversity
The idea that brains naturally work in many different ways, and that differences such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia are part of natural human variety.
OCAD University
A university for art and design in Toronto, Canada. It is home to the Inclusive Design Research Centre.
UDL (Universal Design for Learning)
A way of planning lessons so they work for the widest range of learners from the start. It offers more than one way to take in information, to take part, and to show what you know. Accessibility is the foundation UDL is built on.
Weavly
An organisation whose no-cost guide on co-designing with disabled children appears in the collection.

Pathway 5: No-Cost Courses

AHEAD
An Irish organisation focused on access to higher education for disabled students. It created the Accessibility Resource Kit (ARK).
ARK (Accessibility Resource Kit)
A set of no-cost, short, role-based courses on digital accessibility from AHEAD, especially useful for colleges and universities.
GATE Learning on TAP
A no-cost learning resource listed among the collection's no-cost courses, focused on assistive technology.
IAAP (International Association of Accessibility Professionals)
A worldwide professional body for people who work in accessibility. Beth Stark is a member.
ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education)
An organisation focused on technology in education. Beth Stark is a certified ISTE educator.
NCADEMI
A provider of no-cost, self-paced courses on creating accessible digital course materials, hosted at Utah State University. The name is said as n-cademy.
Teach Access
An organisation that offers no-cost courses on disability and accessible design, for educators and for students.

Pathway 6: No-Cost Digital Resources

Alt text (alternative text)
A short written description of an image. A person who cannot see the image can have the alt text read aloud to them.
ARASAAC
A no-cost library of picture symbols used to support communication. It is one of several symbol libraries the collection points to.
Assistive technology (AT)
Tools and software that help disabled people take part, such as a screen reader, captions, or an on-screen keyboard.
ASU EdPlus
A unit of Arizona State University in the United States. Its Instructional Design and New Media team built the Image Accessibility Creator, an AI tool that drafts alt text for images.
Braille Institute
A non-profit organisation. It created Atkinson Hyperlegible, a no-cost font designed to be easy to read.
Captions
Text shown on a video that gives the words being spoken and the important sounds. Captions help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and many others.
Colour contrast
The difference between the colour of text and the colour behind it. Strong contrast makes text easier to read.
DOCX
The file format used by Microsoft Word documents.
LMS (learning management system)
The online system a school or college uses to share courses and materials, such as lessons, assignments, and grades.
NV Access
The non-profit, founded by two blind Australians, that makes the no-cost NVDA screen reader.
NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access)
A no-cost screen reader for Windows. It reads what is on the screen out loud, or sends it to a braille display.
PDF (Portable Document Format)
A common type of document file. PDFs need care and checking to be made accessible.
QR code
A square pattern you can scan with a phone camera to open a web link.
Screen reader
Software that reads what is on a screen out loud, or sends it to a braille display, for people who cannot see the screen.
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool)
A no-cost tool from WebAIM that checks a web page for accessibility problems.
WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind)
A long-running non-profit that gives practical guidance on accessible web content and makes the WAVE testing tool.
Wiki
A website that is easy to read and to update. The Aiming for ALL collection is also available as a Wiki, which works without extra software and on many devices.

About This Collection

My Scope of Practice

I am a non-disabled educator and consultant for schools and learning organisations. My work is focused on inclusive learning systems and Universal Design for Learning, and accessibility is fundamental to this work. I design and facilitate professional learning across many aspects of inclusion, including accessibility. For technical accessibility audits and back end remediation of digital sites and platforms, I routinely refer clients to accessibility specialists with disabilities and to disability-led organisations.

Certifications and Memberships

  • Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC)
  • International Association of Accessibility Professionals Member (IAAP)
  • Licensed Teacher of Students who are Blind and Low Vision, Birth to Age 21 (actively maintained)
  • Certified Educator: International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
  • Principals' Training Center (PTC) International School Leadership Certificate

How This Collection Is Designed

This collection centres resources designed by disabled people and organisations led by people with disabilities. Every organisation and designer whose work is featured in this collection was contacted directly. Different people describe themselves in different ways, so both 'person with disability' and 'disabled person' appear throughout.

The Aiming for ALL collection has been shaped by input from people with disabilities, including assistive technology professionals, and from educators, school leaders, families, and learning leaders. I will keep seeking out many perspectives as the collection grows.

The resources that inform the design of this collection are listed in Nothing About Us Without Us.

Another Way to Access This Collection

Aiming for ALL is also available as a Wiki, with the same content.

Every section is also available as a PDF and as a Google Doc. Go to Download the Collection

A Living Collection

This is a living collection. It will grow and change. Your feedback about content and accessibility is welcome and helps remove barriers. Email beth@bethstarkconsulting.com.

Licence

© Beth Stark. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

The collection is an open educational resource. You may copy, share, adapt, and translate it for non-commercial purposes. Please credit Beth Stark, link to the licence, and say if you made changes.

Suggested credit: The Aiming for ALL Collection by Beth Stark, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

The resources linked in the collection belong to their own creators and keep their own licences.

Accessibility

This page aims to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Level AA.

Change the font, text size, spacing, and colours, reduce motion, or listen to the page. The page starts in Atkinson Hyperlegible, and you can switch to Lexend, OpenDyslexic, or your system font. Your choices are saved on this device.

Something not working? If you find a barrier or need the collection in another format, email beth@bethstarkconsulting.com. I aim to reply within one to two business days.

Known limits: Search, settings, and translation need JavaScript, but all content shows without it. Reading aloud uses your browser's voices. Translation opens Google Translate. Linked resources are on other websites, so their accessibility depends on their publishers.