Accessible Instructional Materials: An Annotated List of Research Articles

Prepared by Nicole Strangman, Ph.D.

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Accessible Instructional Materials

Digital Textbooks

Pisha, B., & Coyne, P. (2001). Smart from the start: The promise of Universal Design for Learning. Remedial and Special Education, 22(4), 197-203.
Opens new windowhttp://www.readingonline.org/articles/pisha/

These researchers examined the response of high school students (including students with special needs) to an online history textbook chapter offering multiple representations of content and strategic supports such as an online dictionary and links to Internet resources. Qualitative findings indicated that students appreciated the flexible presentation of content, ease of locating information, and portability.

MacArthur, C. A., & Haynes, J. B. (1995). Student assistant for learning from text (SALT): A hypermedia reading aid. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 28(3), 50-59.

This study compared high school students with learning disabilities' reading comprehension of two versions of a hypermedia 10th-grade biology chapter. The basic version presented the equivalent of the printed textbook, with an online notebook. The enhanced version added text-to-speech, an online-glossary, a question window, links between questions and text, a copy function, and teacher-generated main idea highlighting and explanations of key ideas. Students demonstrated significantly greater comprehension with the enhanced version.

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Audio Books on CD or Tape

Boyle, E. A., Rosenberg, M. S., Connelly, V. J., Washburn, S. G., Brinckerhoff, L. C., & Banerjee, M. (2003). Effects of audio texts on the acquisition of secondary-level content by students with mild disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 26(3), 203-214.

This quantitative research study investigated the impact of CD-ROM Daisy audio textbooks with advanced navigational capabilities on the learning of students with mild disabilities in grades 9-12. Students who used the audiobooks outperformed peers reading traditional textbooks on a posttest of content learning.

Torgesen, J. K., Dahlem, W. E., & Greenstein, J. (1987). Using verbatim text recordings to enhance reading comprehension in learning disabled adolescents. Learning Disabilities Focus, 3(1), 30-38.

This research study compared the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities reading printed texts with or without verbatim audio recordings. Reading comprehension was greater for students using the audio recordings.

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CD-ROM Storybooks

Trushell, J., & Maitland, A. (2005). Primary pupils' recall of interactive storybooks on CD-ROM: Inconsiderate interactive features and forgetting. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(1), 57-66.

This article reports results of investigations of grade 4 and 5 students' comprehension and recall of digital storybooks. Students were of mixed ability. One group read the storybooks with a choice of paths through the text and access to cued animations and sound effects. A second group read without access to cued animations and sound effects as the computer narrated the story. Pilot results suggest that students had better memory for interactive graphics than other features of the text and that overuse of these graphics compromised their ability to make inferences based on the story. In the main study students with access to cued animations and sound effects demonstrated poorer story grammar recall and inferential comprehension.

Doty, D. E., Popplewell, S. R., & Byers, G. O. (2001). Interactive CD-ROM storybooks and young readers' reading comprehension. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33(4), 374.

Grade 1 Title I students read a conventional print storybook or an interactive CD-ROM version offering word pronunciations, definitions, and labels for illustrations; narration was turned off. Students reading the CD-ROM version significantly outperformed their peers on comprehension questions but oral retelling scores were statistically equivalent.

Matthew, K. (1997). A comparison of the influence of interactive CD-ROM storybooks and traditional print storybooks on reading comprehension. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 29(3), 263-275.

Third grade students read and discussed a traditional print or CD-ROM storybook, the latter offering narration, animation, online definitions, and sound effects. Subsequent comprehension question scores were statistically equivalent between the two groups. Students in the two groups scored equally well on comprehension questions, but the CD-ROM group scored significantly higher on written retellings.

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Large Print Books

Hughes, L. E., & Wilkins, A. J. (2000). Typography in children's reading schemes may be suboptimal: Evidence from measures of reading rate. Journal of Research in Reading, 23(3), 314.

This study investigated the effect of text size and spacing on the reading speed and accuracy of children age five to eleven. Reading accuracy was significantly higher with large versus small text size. There was a similar direct relationship between reading speed and text size for children five to seven years old.

Sloan, L. L., & Habel, A. (1973). Reading speeds with textbooks in large and in standard print. Sight-Saving Review, 43(2), 107-111.

Students with visual impairments used optical devices to read standard or large print. Reading speed and comprehension were comparable in the two conditions.

Fuchs, L. S., & Fuchs, D. (2000). Using objective data sources to enhance teacher judgments about test accommodations. Exceptional Children, 67(1), 67.

This quantitative research study compared the overall test performance of students with and without learning disabilities under standard conditions and with each of three accommodations: extended time, large print, and read aloud. Large print test accommodations significantly improved the overall test performance for students with and without learning disabilities.

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Braille

McCall, S., & McLinden, M. (2001). Literacy and children who are blind and who have additional disabilities – the challenges for teachers and researchers. International Journal of Disability, Development & Education, 48(4), 355-375.

McCall and McLinden address the challenges to learning Braille for students with physical and intellectual disabilities and note that such children have often been excluded from research into Braille instruction.

Wetzel, R., & Knowlton, M. (2000). A comparison of print and Braille reading rates on three reading tasks. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 94(3), 146.

This quantitative research study compared the reading rates of adult print and Braille readers during oral reading, silent reading, and studying. Braille reading rates were significantly slower than print reading rates for all three tasks, but the range of reading rates for the two groups were relatively close.

Wittenstein, S. H., & Pardee, M. L. (1996). Teachers' voices: Comments on Braille and literacy from the field. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 90(3), 201.

This article presents results from a survey about Braille literacy sent to a nationwide sample of teachers of students who are blind or visually impaired. Responses indicate that the majority of sampled teachers view Braille as an important learning medium and strongly support Braille instruction. At the same time, these teachers believe that technology has an important role and that the decision between print and Braille instruction should be made on an individual student basis.

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Assistive Technology

Edyburn, D. L. (2003). Assistive technology and evidence-based practice. Retrieved June 17, 2005, from
Opens new windowhttp://www.connsensebulletin.com/edyatevidence.html

In this essay Edyburn argues that there is inadequate research into the outcomes of assistive technology, noting that "Research on students with disabilities and how they use word processing tools is much more advanced than what we know about assistive technology in inclusive classrooms."

Lewis, R. B. (1998). Assistive technology and learning disabilities: Today's realities and tomorrow's promises. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 31(1), 16.

Lewis presents findings and commentary based on a survey of the status of assistive technology for students with learning disabilities. Lewis concludes that while not systematic, there is research support for the benefits of technologies such as word processing, videodisc-based anchored instruction, hypermedia supported text, and text-to-speech for students with learning disabilities.

Raskind, M. H., & Higgins, E. L. (1998). Assistive technology for postsecondary students with learning disabilities: An overview. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 31(1), 27-40.

This article reviews research on the effectiveness of assistive technology for postsecondary students with learning disabilities. The conclusion is made that assistive technologies (for example, optical character recognition and speech synthesis, speech recognition, and word processing) can be beneficial to postsecondary students with learning disabilities but that there are complex relationships between specific technologies and the students and target tasks/skills for which they are effective.

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Multimedia Instructional Support

Video-Based Anchored Instruction

Papalewis, R. (2004). Struggling middle school readers: Successful, accelerating intervention: Read 180 program. Reading Improvement, 41(1), 24-37.

This study investigated the effectiveness of READ 180, a reading intervention program that uses a motivating video to anchor instruction in reading comprehension, decoding, word recognition, spelling and fluency. Low performing middle school students participating in READ 180 for one school year improved Reading and Language Arts Normal Curve Equivalent Scores, while nonparticipating peers declined in performance, scoring significantly lower than READ180 students.

Xin, J. F., & Rieth, H. (2001). Video-assisted vocabulary instruction for elementary school students with learning disabilities. Information Technology in Childhood Education Annual, 87-103.

Students with learning disabilities in grades 4-6 were taught vocabulary through a traditional anchored instruction approach (using printed materials and the teacher) or a videodisc-based anchored instruction approach. Both groups improved vocabulary and passage comprehension, but students in the videodisc group made significantly greater performance gains on a word definition test.

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Electronic Mentors

Atkinson, R. K. (2002). Optimizing learning from examples using animated pedagogical agents. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(2), 416-427.

This study compared the effectiveness of an animated pedagogical agent delivering instructional explanations in different media. College students solved word problems with the assistance of an animated agent providing instructional explanations as onscreen text or speech. Student performance was significantly better with oral explanations.

Moreno, R., Mayer, R. E., Spires, H. A., & Lester, J. C. (2001). The case for social agency in computer-based teaching: Do students learn more deeply when they interact with animated pedagogical agents? Cognition and Instruction, 19(2), 177.

In two sets of experiments, college students and grade 7 students engaged in a computer-based multimedia lesson in plant biology with or without the assistance of an animated pedagogical agent who provided verbal advice and encouraging comments. Students working with an agent significantly outperformed peers working without one on problem-solving, and rated the program as significantly more interesting.

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Supported Reading

Text-to-Speech

Strangman, N., & Dalton, B. (2005). Using technology to support struggling readers: A review of the research. In D. Edyburn, K. Higgins & R. Boone (Eds.), The handbook of special education technology research and practice (pp. 545-569). Whitefish Bay, WI: Knowledge by Design.

Strangman, N., & Hall, T. E. (2002). Text Transformations. Wakefield, MA: NCAC.
Opens new windowhttp://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_textrans.html

These two critical analyses of the research literature reveal that bimodal reading with text-to-speech can promote significant improvements in reading fluency and comprehension. Variability was found in the reported impact of text-to-speech on struggling readers' comprehension, possibly relating to differences in reading ability and type of reading difficulty. Whole word, syllable, subsyllable, onset-rime, and single-grapheme-phoneme feedback have all been found to be effective.

Montali, J., & Lewandowski, L. (1996). Bimodal reading: Benefits of a talking computer for average and less skilled readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(3), 271-279.

Reading comprehension of average and below average readers in grades 8 and 9 was compared under three conditions: reading with text-to-speech, reading onscreen without text-to-speech, and listening to the passage read by digitized voice. Below average readers in the bimodal condition outperformed peers reading onscreen without text-to-speech or just listening to the passage, while above average readers in the bimodal condition outperformed peers in the auditory condition.

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Text-to-Speech with Synchronized Highlighting

Hecker, L., Burns, L., & Elkind, J. (2002). Benefits of assistive reading software for students with attention disorders. Annals of Dyslexia, 52, 243-272.

Post-secondary students with attention disorders took reading rate and comprehension tests with and without the use of Kurzweil 3000, a software product that offers reading supports, including text-to-speech with dual-highlighting (sentence-, paragraph-, line-, or phrase-level highlighting in one color and synchronized word highlighting in another color). Results suggest that some students, specifically those with poor baseline reading skills, may read faster and comprehend better when using the software.

Pisha, B., & Coyne, P. (2001). Jumping off the page: Content area curriculum for the Internet age. Reading Online, 5(4).
Opens new windowhttp://www.readingonline.org/articles/pisha/

This qualitative research study investigated students' use of a digitized, supported history text chapter with reading supports including optional synthetic text-to-speech with synchronous word, sentence-, or paragraph-level highlighting. Not all readers used the text-to-speech with highlighting, but weaker readers reported that they liked the feature. In addition, several other readers reported that they used the highlighting without the text-to-speech to self-pace or locate where they left off in the text.

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Decoding Support

Mostow, J., Aist, G., Burkhead, P., Corbett, A., Cuneo, A., Eitelman, S., Huang, S., Junker, B., Sklar, M. B., & Tobin, B. (2003). Evaluation of an automated reading tutor that listens: Comparison to human tutoring and classroom instruction. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 29(1), 61-117.

Poor readers in grades 2 and 3 used a computer program to read or write texts. The computer used speech recognition to monitor students' reading accuracy and offered instructional feedback such as recueing, reading aloud or decomposing a word, and comparing the word to another word with the same onset or rime. Students in the computer program group outperformed students receiving regular classroom instruction on word comprehension.

McKenna, M. C. (1998). Electronic texts and the transformation of beginning reading. In D. Reinking, M. C. McKenna, L. D. Labbo & R. D. Kieffer (Eds.), Handbook of literacy and technology: Transformations in a post-typographic world (pp. 45-59). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Children in grades K-1 read talking books offering decoding support; students could click on unfamiliar words to hear a digitized pronunciation and phonics analogies feedback. Students tended to access words they already knew rather than words they did not know. The researchers concluded that students needed alphabetic knowledge and a minimal level of sight vocabulary to realize improvements in incidental word recognition.

Elbro, C., Rasmussen, I., & Spelling, B. (1996). Teaching reading to disabled readers with language disorders: A controlled evaluation of synthetic speech feedback. Scandivian Journal of Psychology, 37, 140-155.

Students in grades 2-6 with reading and language disabilities read with text-to-speech support daily for 40 days. Words were presented broken into visual and auditory segments (by syllable or letter names), and students had to attempt their own pronunciation before clicking on the word and hearing the word pronounced. The intervention had a significant remedial effect.

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Vocabulary Support

Chun, D. M. (2001). L2 reading on the Web: Strategies for accessing information in hypermedia. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 14(5), 367-403.

This study investigated foreign language learners' use of digital foreign language texts with multimedia support in the form of audio narration of the text, access to an online bilingual dictionary, and hyperlinks to glossary entries offering translations and brief definitions of words in the text. Students looked up significantly more words using the glossary than the dictionary and read and understood the text better when the dictionary was available.

Higgins, N. C., & Cocks, P. (1999). The effects of animation cues on vocabulary development. Journal of Reading Psychology, 20, 1-10.

Third grade students listened to a computer read aloud a poem and then viewed short animations providing cues to the meaning of target words in the text. Students made significant improvement in performance on a test of the target vocabulary.

Boone, R., & Higgins, K. (1993). Hypermedia basal readers: Three years of school-based research. Journal of Special Education Technology, 7(2), 86-106.

Low, medium, and high-achieving students read hypermedia texts with text-to-speech, structural analysis of words and vocabulary support in the form of animated graphics, computerized pictures, definitions, and synonyms. The results varied according to achievement group and grade. Low- and high-achieving students in kindergarten and second grade, high-achieving students in first grade, and medium-achieving students in the third grade outperformed peers in the control group on a standardized vocabulary test.

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Strategy Development Support

McNamara, D. S., Levinstein, I. B., & Boonthum, C. (2004). Istart: Interactive strategy training for active reading and thinking. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36(2), 222-233.

O'Reilly, T., Sinclair, G. P., & McNamara, D. S. (2004). Reading strategy training: Automated versus live. Paper presented at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.

O'Reilly and colleagues investigated the effectiveness of Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART), a user-adaptive web-based strategy trainer that uses animated agents and a simulated classroom environment to introduce reading strategies and provide guided practice with feedback. Students using the trainer showed improvement in their self-explanations and their comprehension of science texts.

Dalton, B., Pisha, B., Eagleton, M., Coyne, P., & Deysher, S. (2002). Engaging the text: Final report to the U.S. Department of Education. Peabody: CAST.
PDF documenthttp://www.cast.org/system/galleries/download/byCAST/EngagTextResearchRept1202.pdf

This research study compared the reading comprehension and on-off task behaviors of two groups of middle school struggling readers, one engaging in offline strategy instruction, and another engaging in offline strategy instruction supplemented with computer-supported strategy instruction using digital hypertexts with embedded, leveled strategy prompts and supports. The experimental group achieved significantly higher comprehension gain scores and spent significantly more time on-task and responding during strategy instruction.

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Navigation Support

Puntambekar, S., Stylianou, A., & Hubscher, R. (2003). Improving navigation and learning in hypertext environments with navigable concept maps. Human-Computer Interaction, 18(4), 395-428.

This research study investigated the impact of a navigable concept map on middle school students' hypertext navigation and learning outcomes. Students using navigable concepts maps to navigate a hypertext targeting physics concepts demonstrated more goal-relevant paths through the text than did peers navigating with an index and performed significantly better on an essay test requiring them to make connections between concepts in the text.

Bergman, O. (1999). Wait for me! Reader control of narration rate in talking books. Reading Online, October.
Opens new windowhttp://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=bergman/index.html

This quantitative research study of readers in grade 1 found that students reading while listening to an audio recording benefited significantly from the ability to adjust the narration rate. All readers in the sample significantly improved text reading accuracy, but poor readers improved the most.

Hofman, R., & van Oostendorp, H. (1999). Cognitive effects of a structural overview in a hypertext. British Journal of Educational Technology, 30(2), 129.

College students read a hypertext under two conditions, with topics presented as a list or as a structural overview (a schematic showing cause and effect relations between the sections, labeled by headings). Comprehension of the main points in the text was equivalent in the two cases. There was a small decrease in inferential comprehension for readers with low prior knowledge of the topic using the structural overview, suggesting that a structural overview may interfere with the inferential comprehension of low prior knowledge readers.

Shin, E. C., Schallert, D. L., & Savenye, W. C. (1994). Effects of learner control, advisement, and prior knowledge on young students' learning in a hypertext environment. Educational Technology Research & Development, 42(1), 33-46.

Shin and colleagues compared student performance when working with 4 versions of the same hypermedia text differing with respect to the navigation options and level of advisement on how to navigate. Results show that limiting the available paths through a hypertext environment may improve learning of the subject matter for students with low prior knowledge.

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Universal Design for Learning

Dolan, R. P., Hall, T. E., Banerjee, M., Chun, E., & Strangman, N. (2005). Applying principles of universal design to test delivery: The effect of computer-based read aloud on test performance of high school students with learning disabilities. The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, 3(7).
PDF documenthttp://www.bc.edu/research/intasc/jtla/journal/pdf/v3n7_jtla.pdf

This pilot study applied principles of Universal Design for Learning to the creation of a prototype computer-based test delivery tool that provides students with a flexible, customizable testing environment with the option for read-aloud of test content. Qualitative and quantitative findings based on a sample of high school students with learning disabilities provide preliminary support for the potential benefits and usability of digital technologies in creating universally designed assessments that more fairly and accurately test students with disabilities.

Strangman, N., & Dalton, B. (2005). Using technology to support struggling readers: A review of the research. In D. Edyburn, K. Higgins & R. Boone (Eds.), The handbook of special education technology research and practice (pp. 545-569). Whitefish Bay, WI: Knowledge by Design.

This chapter includes a section on Universal Design for Learning that highlights research incorporating elements of the Universal Design for Learning framework. Examples include technologies such as text-to-speech, multimedia instruction, scaffolded hypermedia texts, and cognitive rescaling, which support differences in recognition learning, strategic learning, and affective learning.

Dalton, B., Herbert, M., & Deysher, S. (2003). Scaffolding students' response to digital literature with embedded strategy supports: The role of audio-recording vs. writing student response options. Paper presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, Scottsdale, Arizona.

This paper reports the results of a descriptive study of sixth and seventh grade students' use of two different modes (writing vs. audio-recording) to respond to embedded strategy prompts in a hypertext version of a novel. Results reveal that students expressed clear preferences regarding audio recording versus writing, but preferences varied across students and students' preferred mode might not be their strength.

Dalton, B., Pisha, B., Eagleton, M., Coyne, P., & Deysher, S. (2002). Engaging the text: Final report to the U.S. Department of education. Peabody: CAST.
PDF documenthttp://www.cast.org/system/galleries/download/byCAST/EngagTextResearchRept1202.pdf

Middle school struggling readers engaged in traditional strategy instruction with or without the use of universally designed hypertexts with scaffolded strategic supports, representational supports, and embedded reflection and self-assessment. The experimental group achieved significantly higher comprehension gain scores and spent significantly more time on-task and responding during strategy instruction.

Pisha, B., & Coyne, P. (2001). Jumping off the page: Content area curriculum for the Internet age. Reading Online, 5(4).
Opens new windowhttp://www.readingonline.org/articles/pisha/

This formative evaluation research project developed a prototype, digital history textbook chapter designed according to Universal Design for Learning principles. Qualitative findings indicated that high school students, including students with learning disabilities, appreciated the flexible presentation of content, ease of locating information, and portability.

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Citation

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Strangman, N. (2005). Accessible Instructional Materials: An Annotated List of Research Articles. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved [insert date] from http://nimas.dev.cast.org/resources/papers/anno_research

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Last Updated: October 20, 2005
Last Updated: July 16, 2008