Three questions. Every lesson. Every brain.
Before I show you the resources, here is the idea behind all of them. UDL is about designing learning so more students can access it, engage with it, and show what they know without unnecessary barriers. CAST, the Center for Applied Special Technology, groups thinking around engagement, representation, and action and expression, which is a helpful way to plan with flexibility in mind.
Your lesson design either works with those networks or creates friction against them. Apple’s accessibility features are built into its devices to help people create, connect, and do what they love in ways that suit them, which makes them powerful tools for learning design.
The question is not which students need these features. The question is whether your lesson was designed so the features can work.
The three features I explored with educators at the Apple Educator Summit on the Gold Coast, Live Captions, Personal Voice and Live Speech, and Writing Tools, were chosen because they each answer one of the three network questions directly. The resources below are everything from the session and more.
If you’re discovering this post cold, welcome. Everything below is self-contained. You don’t need to have attended the session to use any of it.
Three questions that change how you plan a lesson
Recognition : The what of learning.
Can every student perceive and understand this content in the form I delivered it?
Live Captions help students access spoken content in real time, whether that is a conversation, a video, or audio in an app. Used well, captions can support Deaf and hard-of-hearing students, students in noisy rooms, and students who benefit from reading and listening at the same time.
When you turn on Live Captions before a video plays, you are not accommodating a student. You are removing a perception barrier from the lesson design itself.
Strategic : The how of learning.
Can every student express what they know in a way that works for them?
Personal Voice and Live Speech give students other ways to join in. Apple describes Live Speech as a way to type what you want to say and have the device speak it aloud, while Personal Voice lets you create a voice that sounds like you.
That matters for students who stutter, are selectively mute, use AAC, or need a supported way to contribute to discussion. Dictation also helps by giving students another pathway from thought to text.
When you offer Dictation alongside typing, you are not lowering the bar. You are asking what the task is actually measuring.
Affective : The why of learning.
Does every student have a reason to persist when the task gets hard?
Writing Tools help reduce the gap between ideas and expression, which is often where students lose momentum. For students with dysgraphia, dyslexia, or English as an additional language, that kind of support can make the difference between giving up and keeping going.
If the assessment is measuring understanding, then support may be appropriate. If it is measuring unaided written performance, that needs to be stated clearly in the task design.
Let's change our Vocabulary
Start saying: “These features remove barriers to learning, participation, and success for every student”.
Start saying: “I’ve designed the lesson so the device can do its job”.
Start saying: “Is my lesson designed so this feature can work for any student who needs it?”
Resources from this session : Four downloads
Each document works independently. You do not need to read them all. Pick up the one that fits where you are.
Download 1: Feature Reference, Three Networks
A complete feature reference organised by network, with what each feature removes, a classroom example, availability indicator, and settings path. Includes the Apple creative tools table for multiple expression pathways.
Download 2: Lesson Audit, Three Questions Before You Teach
A planning tool with 15 audit questions across three networks, a 0–3 scoring rubric, and space to note one design change per network.
Download 3: Teachers Ask, Common Questions About Accessibility and AI
A practical resource for coaches, staff teams, or one-to-one conversations about accessibility, AI, and lesson design.
Download 4: Quick Setup Paths, Share with Students in Week 1
A classroom-ready reference card with exact settings paths, availability indicators, and the best shortcut for each feature.
One last thing
Apple’s accessibility features are not a support service. They are a design quality indicator. If you designed the lesson, you designed the accessibility.
The device already has everything it needs. The question is whether your lesson was designed to let it work.
1. https://udlguidelines.cast.org
2. https://www.cast.org/what-we-do/universal-design-for-learning/
3. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/more/research-evidence/
4. https://www.apple.com/accessibility/
5. https://support.apple.com/en-us/121825
6. https://education.apple.com/get-help
Attach up to 5 files which will be available for other members to download.