Words are the foundation of literacy. Words can express, in part, the joys, loves, triumphs, and sorrows of life. One person's thoughts, expressed through words, can powerfully influence and inspire audiences or readers and long outlive their author. But not everyone is enamored of words. For some students, words are a kind of torture. For them language, and therefore school, presents a constant, insurmountable obstacle from the time they step into their first classroom, its walls festooned with letters, words, and numbers. If putting characters together to make words mystifies some young children, reading and writing with competence intensifies the tedious battle for these students in the middle school and high school years. In this article, the author discusses how technology can stretch the boundaries of normal access to include people living with disabilities. Each year new technology offers teachers more opportunities to put literacy within reach for more students with disabilities, and for typical students who may simply be more interested and learn better when the studied content is available in multiple formats. When used appropriately, this common feature is a welcome labor-saving addition for everyone. Like those wider doors that make it easier for more people to enter buildings unassisted, advances in learning methods and the concept of universal design can lead more students to literacy. It's encouraging to think that by acknowledging and investigating the mysterious phenomenon that is language learning and taking advantage of science and technology, people can help students succeed in achieving the education they need in the modern world, ever-changing and awash in words. (Contains 1 note.)