Chromebook Accessibility Tools with the Innovation Squadcast

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest on the "BCSD Innovation Squadcast Podcast" hosted by Pam Hubler and the team at Berkeley County School District.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love podcasts and am always mentioning something new I learned from one of them, so I was super excited to get to join an episode of this podcast.

The podcast is described as follows:

In this podcast, the district’s Innovative Learning Coordinators delve into the newest technology and innovations to equip our schools, teachers, and students with advanced resources and support. Produced by the Berkeley County School District’s Office of Technology in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

I had a wonderful time chatting about Chromebook accessibility topics including:

• Built-in accessibility tools such as select to speak, dictation, docked magnifier, face control, quick answers, reading mode, and more.
• Recording tools for students including the Chromebook Screencast tool
• Helpful extensions to support learners such as Read&Write, Helperbird, Google Translate, Beep, Mote, and more.

Take a look below to listen to the episode, access the resources that I shared in the episode, and explore more about the podcast.

My 2025 CFISD Digital Learning Conference Sessions

I am excited and honored to once again present at the 2025 CFISD Digital Learning Conference this year.

This year is the 15th annual CFISD Digital Learning Conference and is:

• Entirely virtual with over 100 EdTech sessions
• Held on July 22nd and 23rd
• Open to all educators
• FREE!

You can get all the details on the conference website at: www.cfisd.net/DLC

• All sessions for 7/22 - https://cfisd-dlc-2025.glide.page/dl/d0a5f4
• All sessions for 7/23 - https://cfisd-dlc-2025.glide.page/dl/da19fa

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting for the 2025 CFISD Digital Learning Conference, along with any associated resources and the live stream links for each session.  I look forward to sharing and learning with you!

AI for Alt Text: Boost Accessibility with this Prompt

Did you know that 285 million people worldwide have vision impairments? 

Anytime I share content online, I want to make sure it reaches as many people as possible. If that content includes images, that can be a challenge for readers who have difficulty with the pictures.

One way to help with this is by using "alt text".

Alt text is a short description of an image that helps people who can't see it understand its meaning. When someone uses assistive technology, such as a screen reader, it will read the alt text aloud.

This is so helpful, but it can be a challenge to write good alt text that aligns to guidelines and best practices, especially if you share a lot of content online.

To help with this I have created a prompt you can use with your favorite AI chatbot to generate alt text for images in your social media posts. See below for directions, examples, and a copy of the prompt to use however you need. As always please share your suggestions for improvement.

Super Tutor: AI to Support all Learners

Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for teaching and learning. One of the most beneficial uses is for supporting students. 

It has been said that with AI it is like every learner can now have their own 24-hour personal tutor.

I recently recorded a 47-minute training video for an updated version of my session "Super Tutor: AI to Support all Learners".

In this session we explore ways AI can assist educators as they are helping students, as well as ways for students to use AI directly to get individualized support. Tools explored include MagicSchool AI, Khanmigo, Brisk Teaching, Diffit, SchoolAI, AI chatbots, and many more.

See below for the recorded video and session resources. And be sure to share your suggestions for AI tools and uses. I am excited to learn with you!

Recorded Webinar - Accessibility Tools to Support All Learners

I recently had the pleasure to present sessions at the High Impact Conference for Educators, which is an event we put on through the Educational Service Center where I work. All of my sessions were recorded, and over time I hope to share several of the videos.

Please note that the recordings are a lot more casual than some of my other videos, as this is from an in-person conference with a room full of attendees, so there is some chatting and questions and such. Hopefully though you will still find the content helpful.

For this recording, this is the session:

Accessibility Tools to Support all Learners

There are many tools, apps, extensions, and features available to assist all learners. In this session we take an in-depth hands-on look at a wide range of technology tools to assist any and all learners. These can include text-to-speech, speech-to-text, readability, reading comprehension, artificial intelligence tools, audio support, organization, focus, and more. Learn what tools are available and how to access and use these free tools with your students.

See below for the full recording, as well as the resources from the session. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, feedback, or suggestions you have on this topic.

Recorded Webinar - Chromebook Accessibility Tools

Over the years I have had the opportunity many times to present sessions on accessibility tools, accommodation options, and resources to help support all learners.

These have always been some of my most popular sessions as everyone can benefit from these tools.

Over time these resources have also continued to develop with new tools, features, and options. With all of these continual updates, I was excited to have the opportunity to present a webinar for Trafera on "Chromebook Accessibility Tools".

In this 1-hour training we did a deep dive into all the ways Chromebooks can support all learners through built-in accessibility tools and features. See below for the recording, as well as all the resources for the session.

Chromebook Accessibility Tools Webinar

Over the years I have had the opportunity many times to present sessions on accessibility tools, accommodation options, and resources to help support all learners. 

These have always been some of my most popular sessions as everyone can benefit from these tools.

Over time these resources have also continued to develop with new tools, features, and options. With all of these continual updates, I am excited to once again have the opportunity to present on this topic.

I am thrilled to be presenting a free webinar in conjunction with Trafera on May 8th at Noon ET (11am CT / 10am MT / 9am PT) on "Chromebook Accessibility Tools".

See below for all the details on this great learning event…

Accessibility Tools for All Learners - Recorded Webinar

Recently I had the privilege to offer a free online session for the Teacher Innovation Network "EdTech Playground" series where the theme was accessibility tools and resources for all learners.

For my portion of the session I presented on a wide range of assistive technology tools and resources. Here is a description of my session:

Google Tools to Support all Learners

There are many Google tools, apps, extensions, and features available to assist all learners. In this session we take an in-depth hands-on look at a wide range of technology tools to assist any and all learners. These can include text-to-speech, speech-to-text, readability, reading comprehension, artificial intelligence tools, audio support, organization, focus, and more. Learn what tools are available and how to access and use these free tools with your students.

The other presenter was Kat Goyette who also addressed accessibility resources and support ideas.

The Teacher Innovation Network was kind enough to make the recorded video available for people to view if they were not able to attend the live session. See below to watch the recording, as well as access the resources I shared in the session.

Super Tutor: AI to Support all Learners

Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for teaching and learning. One of the most beneficial uses is for supporting students. It has been said that with AI it is like every learner can now have their own 24-hour personal tutor.

I recently recorded a 1-hour training video for my session "Super Tutor: AI to Support all Learners".

In this session we explore both AI tools and practical uses to help support learners.

• The tools include ChatGPT, Google Bard, Diffit, Eduaide, MagicSchoolAI, Brisk, Goblin Tools, and more.
• The uses cover a wide range of examples in reading, writing, tutoring, and more.

See below for the recorded video and session resources. And be sure to share your suggestions for AI tools and uses. I am excited to learn with you!

EdTech Playground Sessions for 2023-2024

I am excited to once again be presenting an "EdTech Playground" for the Teacher Innovation Network this year! Last year my session was about "Mote for Multilingual Learners". This year I will be doing a session about accessibility.

The great things about the EdTech Playgrounds are:

• They are FREE!
• They are streamed live
• The recordings can be viewed later
• They are open to anyone

See below for the full list of EdTech Playground sessions for this year, as well as details on how to register. I look forward to learning with you!

Free Webinar: Read and Write Can Do That?!

Read&Write for Google Chrome is an awesome extension that provides assistive technology tools and support for all users. Anyone who follows my blog or has attended my training sessions has heard me mention this tool many times, as it is one of my all time favorites.

However, most of the time when we talk about Read&Write, we just think about its text-to-speech feature. Certainly this is a powerful tool that will read text aloud from any webpage or Google file, in a voice and at a speed of your choosing, highlighting the words as it goes.

But there is so much more to Read&Write! 

I am excited to be offering a free live webinar where we will explore "the rest of the toolbar" and see so many other useful features and tools that can help every student succeed.

See below for details on this free upcoming live-streamed training session...

Chromebook Accessibility Tools - Teach with Chrome Webinar

I recently had the privilege to present some of Google's "Teach with Chrome" webinars. These were a series of 30-minute sessions diving deep into how Chrome devices and ChromeOS can be used by teachers and students to improve teaching and learning.

One of the sessions I did was "Teach, Learn, and Collaborate Equally" and was all about using the built-in accessibility tools in ChromeOS, including Select-to-Speak, Dictation, High-contrast mode, Docked magnifier, Automatic clicks, On-screen keyboard, Large mouse cursor, Sticky keys, and more.

Teach, Learn, and Collaborate Equally - Chromebooks include accessibility right out of the box, unlocking learning experiences for students with diverse needs, abilities and learning styles. For teachers on Chrome OS - hear tips and tricks about how using the same OS as your students can create meaningful learning experiences!

See below for the recorded webinar video and session resources.

Google Tools for Speech to Text

Our students have so many amazing ideas in their minds, and we want to make sure they are able to get those words from their heads into writing.

However if a student struggles with typing or spelling they may take those big awesome ideas and shrink them down to smaller words and shorter sentences.

Thankfully there are technology tools to help with this. Speech to text tools allow anyone to simply speak their words and have them typed up automatically.

Three of my favorite tools for this are Docs Voice Typing, Voice In Voice Typing, and the Dictation Tool in ChromeOS See below for a short 5-minute video demonstrating these tools, as well as written directions for using them.

Tools to Support Learners: Texthelp and Don Johnston Join Forces

Out of all the trainings, videos, and posts I share, one of the most popular topics is how to use technology tools to support learners. Everyone learns differently, and we all struggle in our learning in one way or another at one time or another. Thankfully there are so many helpful tools for accommodations, accessibility, and other support.

A while back I recorded a 1-hour webinar on "Google Tools for Struggling Students" which you can view here: YouTube video link

And I have a 10-page Google Doc packed with technology tools for text to speech, speech to text, readability, reading comprehension, audio support, behavior, focus, organization, and much more, which can be access here: https://bit.ly/curts-support

In these resources you will find many references to the tools created by one of my favorite edtech companies, Texthelp, including Read&Write, Equatio, and more. Just recently Texthelp announced that they are joining forces with Don Johnston to further expand the tools they can offer. Although I had heard of Don Johnston before, I wasn't very familiar with their tools, so I took some time to explore this new partnership. See below for more details on all the tools that Texthelp will be providing now.