Diverse learners need diverse AI tools. Whether it’s a keyboard shortcut or a color combination, every detail contributes to a thoughtful learning experience that supports every student.
Take it from MagicSchool Staff Engineer Ian Smith: “The core tenet of accessibility in education is designing and delivering for everyone.”
That belief shows up in how we build.
Over the past year, we made an intentional, company-wide investment in accessibility across our AI tools, ensuring it’s embedded in every component of our educational platform.
If you use MagicSchool, you may notice these updates when using a screen reader or chatting with Raina. We also refreshed our VPAT®/ACR. (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template / Accessibility Conformance Report) and published the results to show our progress and support inclusive, safe instruction.
Here, we explore the role accessibility plays in designing an AI educational platform and how accessibility aligns with MagicSchool’s mission.
Our commitment to accessibility and transparency
Building accessible technology is an ongoing process, and transparency is a key part of that work. Our VPAT®/ACR offers a clear snapshot of where we are today and how we continue to move forward.
What is a VPAT®/ACR, and why is it important?
A VPAT®/ACR outlines how a specific product meets common accessibility standards so students, teachers, and families with unique needs can use the platform safely and independently.
From day one, we set out to build for everyone, and we consider accessibility from every angle. We recognize it as an ongoing process that’s never finished, rather than a short-term initiative. Our goal is a world where students can own their accessibility experience and teachers can activate the features they need to support better learning environments.
Our latest VPAT® conformance update shows how our entire product ecosystem meets WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) AA, and that’s something we’re incredibly proud of.
“Accessibility can be a shared responsibility across an organization,” explains Senior Product Designer Sarah Bonville. That shared work shows up in VPAT® refreshes, a public accessibility statement, and ongoing improvements to code and design.
While it’s not a universal requirement to share VPAT®/ACR results for AI education technology tools, we believe that accessibility in education is crucial to learners of all kinds. We’ll publish our VPAT® remediations on a recurring basis.
Why accessible design in educational tools must come from within
Sarah and Ian are among many teammates who worked on our latest accessibility updates. Sarah also leads our internal sessions, Accessibility and Ally Bites, to help us better understand how we can strengthen our accessibility skills across MagicSchool.
For more insight, we asked Sarah and Ian how they approach accessibility in educational tools and how it shapes the way they build.
Why is an accessibility-first approach important when designing AI products?
Ian: Platforms and products don't always consider smaller groups of users. It's much easier to design something that works for 90 percent of people, but then you're really leaving out important groups. If a product isn’t available in Spanish, and you’re a primary Spanish speaker, what good is the platform for you?
Sarah: Building accessible products is the right thing to do, and we design for everyone. People experience our product in a multi-faceted way. No one person or group experiences it just in one way. We want to accommodate everyone.
How does a VPAT®/ACR inform design or web development at an AI education technology company?
Ian: A VPAT®/ACR helps us think more creatively by surfacing specific feedback and opportunities to improve core functionality. We use those insights to make sure our chat tools are equitable and accessible for all students. For example, recent updates to our instructional chatbot Raina now clearly read out chat statuses and interactions, giving people who use screen readers the same high-quality experience as sighted users.
What shifts are happening in accessibility-first product design?
Sarah: I’ve seen a change where more people think about accessibility in education as a whole, and coming together to collaborate on it. I can remember situations where the solution wasn’t one easy fix. We thought about the challenge deeply, stepping through the experience to imagine a thoughtful update. Those team experiences become moments of joy. You start feeling like the whole group is leveling up, baking accessibility into the product together.
Accessibility considerations for AI education technology platforms
When it comes to selecting an AI education technology platform, accessibility and safety go hand in hand. Accessible design across all educational AI tools should be paired with strong security practices for responsible and effective use. Classrooms benefit from using a single, approved platform to reduce safety risks.
Thinking about adopting an AI platform in your school or district? Here are a few accessibility-related considerations:
- Ask for a VPAT®/WCAG conformance report
- Request demos and user testing with teachers and/or students with disabilities
- Confirm the platform has accessibility acceptance criteria in its contracts
- Ensure the platform has a publicly-documented accessibility statement
Accessibility in education technology for the long-term
We’re committed to adopting an accessibility-first approach to support the unique needs of learners and educators. That means our entire team, not just engineers and designers, considers accessibility part of the work we do every day. “Accessibility is always a work in progress for us,” Sarah explains. “We'll never be done or ‘perfect’, but we don't let perfection be the enemy of good or block progress on learning and improving every day.”
“Education needs to be tailored to all different types of learners,” Ian adds. “I’m really excited about the groundbreaking, interactive products we’ll roll out in the future.”
Want to learn more? See our VPAT®/ACR and read our A11Y (accessibility) statement.
