Accessible Educational Apps: What Really Works for Students with Special Educational Needs

Introduction

Tablets, smartphones, and accessible educational apps are now part of many students' daily lives. But how many of these solutions are truly accessible to those with special educational needs?

In this article, I also explore, through my personal experience, I have a diagnosis of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) how technology can become a concrete ally for inclusive learning, and which tools work best in practice.

Accessible educational apps, a digital but human support

As a college student, I often use digital tools to organize my studies and overcome small barriers to time or concentration. ChatGPT, for example, has become a fundamental assistant: I use it to summarize texts, rework complex concepts, or create concept maps (I discussed this in another article, if it can be of any practical use).

This form of personalized cognitive assistance demonstrates how artificial intelligence can enhance learning for everyone—especially students with specific language or attention difficulties.

The apps that really make a difference

In the sea of educational applications, few truly meet the criteria of usability and accessibility.

Here are a few that stand out:

- Khan Academy Kids – Free and intuitive app, designed for inclusion. Offers interactive lessons with audio, animations, and simplified controls, accessible via screen reader.

Designed for children aged 2 to 7, it combines educational games, animated readings, and activities led by cute animal characters.

The app is free and designed with accessibility in mind: it offers spoken text, simple and visual controls, and clean graphics that are useful for those with attention deficit or mild visual impairments.

- Microsoft Immersive Reader – Integrates predictive reading tools, machine translation, and voice dictation. Ideal for students with dyslexia or text comprehension difficulties.

It allows you to upload texts, books, and documents in various formats and listen to them using a natural, customizable synthetic voice (you can choose the speed, pitch, and color of the voice). It's compatible with PDF, ePub, and Word files, and also integrates with cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox.

- Avaz AAC – One of the best augmentative and alternative communication apps, with a visual interface and symbols that facilitate communication for non-verbal students or those with autism.

It allows you to communicate through images, text, or both, and offers advanced customization features (GIFs, video, audio, grid sizes) to make communication more authentic, expressive, and efficient.

- BeMyEyes - blind and visually impaired users can receive real-time visual support: a volunteer or AI describes what appears on the screen and this also helps with schoolwork (I talked about it in another article).

Duolingo - Anyone who has tried it knows how fun and motivating learning a language can be through play.

But in recent years the app has also made great strides in accessibility. I myself have used it to improve my Spanish.

Today it integrates features that make the learning experience more suitable for students with specific learning disabilities or sensory disabilities.

For example, it introduced text descriptions for images, reduction of complex sounds, and an interface with adjustable contrast, useful for those with visual impairments.

Technology and community: the role of associations

No app, by itself, is enough to create “inclusion”.

Networking between schools, families, and associations is essential.

In my case, the experience with “ Chi si ferma è perduto ODV ETS ” showed me how technology can also be used outside the classroom: to communicate, organize inclusive activities and create shared educational paths.

Our association, for example, uses digital tools to facilitate the participation of people with various disabilities, promoting autonomy, creativity, and active learning.

The importance of teacher training

Many teachers would like to use apps, but don't know where to start.

This is where training comes in: knowing about accessibility settings, speech readers, reader extensions, or text-to-speech software can make all the difference.

CONCLUSION

Educational apps can be an extraordinary bridge between technology and learning, but only if they're designed for everyone. Adding a voice function or color contrast isn't enough: it requires empathy, listening, and collaboration with those who live with disabilities every day.

Useful links and recommended resources

Below is a selection of useful tools, platforms, and insights for students, teachers, and families interested in inclusive learning and the informed use of accessible educational technologies.

Accessible educational apps and tools

• Khan Academy Kids https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids A free learning platform for young children, designed with a focus on accessibility, usability, and inclusive learning.

• Microsoft Immersive Reader https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/features/immersive-reader An assisted reading tool integrated into Microsoft products, ideal for students with dyslexia, specific learning disorders (SLD), or reading comprehension difficulties.

• Avaz AAC https://www.avazapp.com Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app designed for non-verbal people or those with autism spectrum disorders.

• Be My Eyes https://www.bemyeyes.com An application that connects blind or visually impaired people with volunteers and artificial intelligence solutions for real-time visual support.

• Duolingo – Accessibility https://www.duolingo.com Official page that explains the accessibility features introduced in the language learning app.