National Center on Accessible Educational Materials

Colleagues,

What is your awareness of print and electronic resources for working with learners with disabilities?  Below are information and resources that you may find useful in considering how accessible educational materials and assistive technologies can help you and your learners, both in the classroom and on the job.

The Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) Center promotes the use of accessible technologies and materials in order to advance and expand opportunities for individuals with disabilities.  AEM are described as "print- and technology-based educational materials, including printed and electronic textbooks and related core materials that are designed or converted in a way that makes them usable across the widest range of student variability regardless of format (print, digital, graphic, audio, video)". 

The video stories of AEM in Action are useful in building awareness of issues around accessible educational materials. These stories cover a variety of perspectives, which may be useful for staff development workshops. AEM' s webpage on Assistive Technology (AT) defines AT as, "...devices that are used by people with disabilities to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible for them to do", and offers state and national resources for accessing AT with learners, including information about conferences and online learning. 

Questions: What is your knowledge of AT and AEM?  Are these topics that you're interested in exploring more as part of our community of practice?

Best,

Mike Cruse

Disabilities in Adult Education Moderator

michaelcruse74@gmail.com