District highlights iPad accessibility features, says technology supports communication and inclusion
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Summary
Digital learning staff demonstrated iPad accessibility tools used across Lewisville ISD — speech-to-text, text-to-speech, translation and guided access — and described classroom examples where tools aided nonverbal students and supported instruction.
Lewisville ISD digital learning and special education staff demonstrated how iPad accessibility features are being used to support students across classrooms, including nonverbal students, emergent bilinguals and students with learning differences.
Cathy Fields, administrator of digital learning, and Julia Solnick Frazier, instructional technology professional learning coordinator, joined speech-language therapist Janae Lysinger and special-education interventionist Lauren Abel to present examples of four commonly used features: speech-to-text (dictation), text-to-speech (read-aloud), translation (including live text and camera translation) and guided access (locking a device to a single app and disabling screen areas).
Presenters showed short classroom clips in which a student used dictation to record reflections and where text-to-speech read content discreetly through headphones inside Canvas. They described translation workflows (including Vietnamese and Korean examples) and demonstrated guided access use in special settings to reduce accidental navigation and keep learners on task.
Digital learning staff said the district's device refresh (funded by the 2023 bond) allowed upgrades to iPadOS 18 and newer accessibility features, and emphasized that built-in tools require no extra downloads. They argued the features support dual-coding instructional strategies by combining visual and verbal channels and described classroom benefits in self-contained settings — communication classrooms, behavioral intervention classrooms and life-skills classes — where the devices increase engagement, independence and expressive communication.
Trustees and staff gave classroom examples: one trustee described a geometry class where a student recorded and transcribed a lecture and used AI to summarize key points for study; another recounted a communications classroom where a substitute could support a nonverbal student using an iPad as an AAC device.
Staff said they offer teacher coaching, short videos and printable reference materials on the Teaching with Tech page in L Hub, and that digital learning co-teaches in classrooms when possible. Trustees asked about tracking tool use across classrooms and languages; staff said they would consult technology operations about reporting capabilities and reported that Apple does not natively support Burmese but Google had recently added Burmese translation.