Tuesday, October 20, 2026
8:00 am - 3:30 pm
Workshop Summary:
Assistive technology (AT) teams and educators working with blind or low vision students need to marry existing assessment frameworks with rapidly changing AI tools and complex digital learning environments. This full-day workshop will provide a practical crash course in blindness-related AT assessment using the SETT and HAAT frameworks, grounded in current national data and research from the American Foundation for the Blind. Participants will map data to student and task needs, experience hands-on screen reader activities, and practice nonvisual access using their own devices. The workshop also covers classroom accommodations, defensible data collection for IEPs, and AI privacy and accessibility considerations. Attendees will leave with techniques to strengthen evidence-based AT decision-making for students who are blind or have low vision.
Professional Development Credits:
IACET CEUs: 0.65
ACVREP CEs: 6.5
Learning Outcomes:
As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to employ a systematic approach to assistive technology assessment for students who are blind or have low vision.
Attendees will be able to list at least 3 accessibility barriers commonly encountered by blind adults, and identify compensatory techniques to teach students to prepare them to navigate the imperfect accessibility landscape.
Attendees will compare trade-offs between increased independence and loss of data privacy that are inherent in modern AI based AT tools.
Presenter(s)
Registration Options:
| Description | Workshop Fee | Register |
|---|---|---|
| 3-Day Conference Registration: (Workshop included at no additional cost with 3-day conference registration) | $0 | |
| Tuesday-Only Workshop Registration | $375 | Workshop Only Registration |
Learn more About this Workshop
Presenter-provided Abstract:
Assistive technology (AT) teams, IEP teams, and general educators are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape where traditional decision-making frameworks must be applied alongside emerging tools such as AI and increasingly complex digital learning environments. This full-day workshop gives a crash course in blindness-related assistive technology assessment to educators and vision professionals with a structured, data-informed approach to AT consideration for students who are blind or have low vision by operationalizing the SETT and HAAT frameworks using current national statistics and findings from the American Foundation for the Blind’s most recent and ongoing research.
Participants will walk through how national access trends map onto the Student/Human components of SETT and HAAT and how national study findings illuminate common task-level barriers in classrooms and the real world. Demonstrations of NVDA and VoiceOver will illustrate how blind users access technology, giving sighted professionals a glimpse into access methods that can seem impossible until you've had the chance to try them. Attendees will pair up and try both supporting and using screen readers - using their own device (BYOT, any platform) to complete small digital scavenger hunt nonvisually.
Professionals will learn to gather and interpret assessment data, translate it into practical technology selection, followed by applied discussion of classroom accommodations informed by AFB Flatten Inaccessibility and Access & Engagement (A&E) patterns. The session will also address defensible data collection practices for IEP development and revision, and conclude with critical guidance on evaluating AI tools for classroom use with attention to privacy, accessibility, and reliability.
Attendees will leave with strategies, demonstration-informed decision rules, and implementation tools to strengthen AT consideration processes and support more consistent, evidence-aligned access for students who are blind or have low vision. This session will be approachable to teachers with no experience teaching blind children, and have up to date information to enhance the practice of vision professionals.