This study explored the effects of visual status and braille reading patterns on the reading accuracy of students with visual impairments in China. The sample consisted of 121 students aged 10-19 years: 48 were students with congenital visual impairments, 25 were students with adventitious visual impairments, and 48 were sighted students. Students…

Assistive technology (AT) is a critical in providing students with visual impairments (VI) access to classroom information. However, little is known about how the fluid and diverse experiences across core-content classrooms that impact the nature of AT use among students with VI. We conducted three classroom observations of 10 secondary-age (i.e.,…

Rapid advances in technology are facilitating the electronic distribution of information, especially via auditory formats. These methods of acquiring information are prevalent in educational settings, such as the use of audiobooks. While auditory formats may be more convenient and economical, they may not be the most beneficial for comprehension…

Introduction: Braille literacy for students who are visually impaired (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) can be a critical component for school and postsecondary transition success. This survey study was a modified replication of previous studies that examined the instruction of literary braille in university preparation programs for…

Smarter Balanced is committed to providing accessibility resources and supporting formative assessment processes that help educators better serve the needs of diverse students, including students who are deaf or hard of hearing and/or blind or visually impaired. This document describes how Smarter Balanced designs accessible tests and supports…

This is a case-study of a blind college student, Sonia, at the College of Languages and Translation (COLT). She has an iPhone, iPad and laptop as well as a Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype accounts. She uses MS Office and the university's Academic Portal. The iPhone VoiceOver App and the Braille Sense Notetaker enable her to surf the…

This study is about music teaching strategies for students with low vision, including blindness. Based on a two-case ethnographic design, this study focuses on understanding what decisions in terms of activities, lesson plans, and curricula, six participants from two different schools adopted for their students, as well as how these decisions…

Telephone interviews were conducted with 18 blind academic library users around the United States about their experiences using their library and its website. The study uses the perspective that blind users' insights are fundamental. A common theme was that navigating a webpage is time consuming on the first visit. Issues identified include the…

This work showcases specific adaptations used to make cybersecurity accessible to high school students with visual impairments and blindness (VIB). The rapidly growing field of cybersecurity demands a diverse workforce; however, barriers exist which can deter students with disabilities from studying cybersecurity, let alone pursuing a career in…

Specialized assessments, including the learning media assessment (LMA), are essential in appropriately planning and implementing instruction for students with visual impairments (Holbrook et al., 2017; Lusk et al., 2013). The LMA, first introduced by Koenig and Holbrook in the early 1990s, was designed to be an "objective process of…

Methods commonly used to enhance the language-learning experiences of students who are visually impaired (that is, those who are blind or have low vision), are not sufficient for foreign language learning. There are several challenges involved in the study of foreign languages by students who are visually impaired. One of the most pressing of…

Introduction: The current work probes the effectiveness of multimodal touch screen tablet electronic devices in conveying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graphics via vibrations and sounds to individuals who are visually impaired (i.e., blind or low vision) and compares it with similar graphics presented in an embossed format.…

Late-blind people, who adventitiously became blind in their adulthood, are a special group of the blind. Each of them has his/her own characteristics when returning to work. In this paper, methods on how late-blind teachers can effectively lecture sighted students are presented based on experience of authors with blindness. For late-blind…

This study investigated the cognitive factors that impact the completion of mathematics problems, specifically algebraic-reasoning, by individuals who use tactile materials (i.e., braille) compared to those who use print materials. The inquiry investigated working memory, task time, cognitive load, efficiency, and the predictive quality of…

Diagrams appear in many school subjects but more prominent in science and mathematics taught in schools. Accessing these diagrams in an inclusive classroom has been identified to be problematic for blind students partly due to the teaching resources available and personnel type, support and sufficiency. Diagrams are mostly omitted by teachers…