At this point we’ve covered more than a few learning apps, but the truth is, not all of these apps are truly accessible from the box. Today we are going to look at a learning app that takes accessibility seriously, so regardless of what platform you are accessing the app from, you’ll have more than a few options when it comes to tweaking the accessibility of your learning environment.
Starfall is learning/education app that covers pre-K to grade 3 and offers lessons and activities related to math, reading, music, English, and more. It offers a variety of reading activities including phonics, talking library, and other activities designed to teach the fundamentals of reading. The app also offers a variety of seasonal activities like Halloween fractions, valentines day card maker, songs about individuality, and more.
The parent-teacher section of the website is especially impressive. The resources tab offers a ton of content including printouts, practice sheets, projectable books and posters, educational mp3s, and more. The next section offers a variety of tutorials focused around using Starfall.com, so users won’t get lost in all the features and resources that the app has to offer. Finally, this section of the website offers even more information, including glossaries, FAQs, research, and more. Regardless of what the app itself has to offer, if you have a child from pre-school to grade 3, this section of the website deserves a bookmark on your web browser.
As we mentioned in the first paragraph, Starfall offers a wide variety of helpful accessibility tools and features, including:
Closed Captioning – Can be turned on or off for songs and nursery rhymes. Caption size is also adjustable
Video Playback Speed – Can be adjusted manually
Keyboard and Dual-Switch Support – Allows users with mobility challenges to use switches or specialized keyboards
Screen Reader Support – The app is designed to support third party screen readers such as NVDA, JAWS, Microsoft Narrator, ChromeVox, VoiceOver, and Talkback
Transcripts and Visual Descriptions – Transcripts with visual descriptions are located in a separate section in order to minimize links. Those transcriptions can be accessed via the accessibility section of the website
Starfall Education is available as a free trial with limited functionality, or the full version can be purchased starting at $35 USD per year. Click here (new window) to learn more.
