An accessibility checklist for school apps

When a school adopts an app, it adopts it for every student, including those who use a screen reader, need captions, can’t use a mouse or find dense screens hard to process. An app that doesn’t work for them leaves those students out of the lesson, and in many countries it can put the school in breach of disability law.

You don’t need to be an expert to catch most problems. This guide covers the standard to ask for, what to ask vendors and a quick test any teacher can run.

The standard to ask for

The reference standard is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the W3C. Most laws and procurement policies refer to WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 at level AA. Ask vendors which version and level they meet.

Some legal context:

• United States. In 2024 the Department of Justice published a rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act that sets WCAG 2.1 AA as the standard for the web content and mobile apps of state and local governments, which includes public school districts. Compliance dates depend on the size of the entity, so check the current dates with your district.
• United Kingdom. The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 set accessibility requirements for public sector websites and apps, with some exemptions for schools. The Equality Act 2010 also requires reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils.
• European Union. The Web Accessibility Directive covers public sector websites and apps, and the standard EN 301 549 is commonly used in procurement.

Laws aside, the practical point is simple: if a student can’t use the app, they can’t do the work.

What to ask vendors

1. Do you have an accessibility conformance report? Many vendors publish one, often based on the VPAT template. It lists each WCAG criterion and whether the product supports it. Read the “partially supports” and “does not support” rows.
2. When was it last updated? A report from several versions ago may not reflect the current product.
3. Which assistive technologies do you test with? Look for named screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver and TalkBack.
4. What’s your process for fixing accessibility bugs, and how long does it take?
5. Is the student experience accessible, or only the teacher’s? Some products put more work into one side than the other.

Be cautious of answers like “we’re fully accessible” without a report to back them up.

A ten-minute test any teacher can run

You can catch the most common problems without special software.

Keyboard only (3 minutes). Put the mouse aside. Use Tab to move forward, Shift+Tab to go back, Enter and Space to press buttons. Can you log in, open an activity, answer a question and submit? Can you always see where you are on the screen?

Zoom (2 minutes). Zoom the browser to 200%. Does the content still fit, or does text get cut off and buttons disappear?

Screen reader (3 minutes). Turn on VoiceOver on a Mac or iPad, TalkBack on Android, or Narrator on Windows. Move through one activity. Are buttons announced with useful names, such as “Submit answer”, or just “button”? Are images described?

Video and audio (1 minute). Does video have captions? Is there a transcript for audio?

Colour and timing (1 minute). Is any information shown only by colour, such as “the correct answers are in green”? Do activities have time limits, and can they be turned off or extended?

Write down what you found. If the app fails the keyboard test, students who can’t use a mouse or touchscreen won’t be able to use it either.

Timed games and quiz apps

Speed-based quiz games are popular, but timers can exclude students who process information more slowly, use assistive technology or have motor difficulties. Before you choose a quiz app, check whether you can:

• Turn off timers or set longer time limits.
• Turn off points for speed.
• Assign the same quiz as self-paced homework.

Make it part of your approval process

Add three accessibility questions to your app approval form: is there a current conformance report, does it pass the keyboard test, and can timers be turned off? It takes a few minutes per app and saves students from being left out after the app is already in use.