Screen readers help people who are blind or low vision access the content of a website. If you use a screen reader, please use the web version of Seesaw.  If you have questions or concerns about how to use a screen reader with Seesaw, please let us know.

Screen readers are not able to read items created by the drawing tool, so we encourage all users to consider using a different tool when appropriate, or adding a caption or voice caption to drawings to make it accessible.

Screen Reader Support on the Web

Using Seesaw with a screen reader, you can expect:   

• Titles on pages 
• Descriptions for app buttons, graphics, form fields   
• Support for reading back text content, like messages, activity instructions, post captions  
• Support for keyboard navigation
• Overview of the page contents that link to key areas of the site in the rotor or landmarks/headings menus 
• Skip navigation link to jump directly into the main feed contents 
• Generic descriptions for user generated content, for example “Adam’s post, in response to Letter A, 2 pages, contains video.” Users can also add more specific descriptions of content using the Caption tool. Learn more. Or add closed captions to videos. Learn more. 
• In the Creative Canvas, screen readers will also read any custom alt text that has been added to images, shapes, videos, etc. It will also read back a label’s text. Learn more.

Different devices provide different built-in screen readers. Here are some helpful resources for using screen readers: 

• VoiceOver on MacOS: Tips and Keyboard Shortcuts. 
• We recommend adding a longer delay to “hints” or disabling hints for easier use of the creative tools and creative canvas.  
• ChromeVox on Chromebooks: Tips and Keyboard Shortcuts

VoiceOver Support on iOS

On iOS devices, VoiceOver will read back the app user interface and basic descriptions for user generated content. It is also possible to playback videos with closed captions if those captions have been provided by the teacher or school. VoiceOver gestures, like tap, double tap and swiping are generally supported.  

However, VoiceOver does not work in the Creative Canvas on iOS with touch gestures. If you want to use a screen reader and the creative canvas, we recommend using Seesaw on the web. 

If you have questions or concerns about how to use a screen reader with Seesaw, please let us know.