Accessibility Philosophy
We are passionate about the fact that Seesaw gives all learners ways to demonstrate and share their learning. We design intuitive tools that allow students to show their learning in the way that works best for them—photo, video, voice, text, and more. For example, students can take a photo of written work, record a video of themselves reading out loud, type or draw a response, or record their train of thought as they work through a math problem using our Draw+Record tool.
Additionally, teachers can offer multiple modes of instruction for any lesson or communication. For example, teachers can add voice or video instructions to any lesson or announcement to support pre-readers and visually impaired students. Text labels, text captions, or video closed captions can be provided to reach hearing impaired students and families. Teachers can also differentiate instruction by assigning different versions of a lesson or activity to different students. Watch this training to learn more!
If you have a student or family member who uses assistive technologies in your class, please be sure to add captions or voice captions to all multimedia posts.
To support building a strong community around learning, teachers, students, and family members can leave both voice and text comments on student work. Seesaw also offers translation features that expand access for teachers and families who speak different languages.
Combined, these features help students better understand lessons, share their learning in the ways that work best for them, and build a supportive learning loop between students, teachers, and families.
We are committed to continuously improving the accessibility of Seesaw to serve a diversity of learners and families. From a technical perspective, Seesaw is compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA. For limitations and alternatives, please see further details in our Accessibility Statement.
Seesaw's Accessibility Statement is available in our Help Center. If you have questions or concerns regarding Seesaw’s accessibility, please contact accessibility@seesaw.me.
Technical Accessibility Details
- From a technical perspective, Seesaw is compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA. For limitations and alternatives, please see further details in our Accessibility Statement.
- Keyboard Navigation: Navigating the web version of Seesaw without a mouse is supported. Learn how to set up your computer to support keyboard navigation on Mac to use macOS keyboard shortcuts, on Chromebook, on PC. Note: Drawing in the creative canvas requires the use of a mouse, stylus, or finger, but students have many other ways to respond to lessons. Learn more.
- Screen Readers: Screen Readers are supported on the web version of Seesaw. VoiceOver is supported on iOS and TalkBack is supported on Android.
- Speech to Text or Dictation: Speech to text or dictation features are supported. Learn how to use speech to text on iOS, Android, Chrome, and Edge. For more information about speech to text, tap here.
- Alt Text: Seesaw provides basic alt text for user-generated content (ex: “Javier’s post, in response to Writers Workshop, 2 pages”), but custom alt text can be provided in several ways. Learn more.
- Closed Captions: Closed captions can be uploaded to videos in multiple languages. Learn more.
- Voice Annotations and Instructions: Custom voice instructions and voice labels can be added to all user-generated content. Learn more.
- Color Contrast, Inverting Colors, and Font Size: Basic accessibility features built into the operating system or browser for adjusting color contrast, inverting colors, zoom, increasing font size are supported on the web. On iOS, text is sized for WCAG 2.1 compliance, but modifying the text size of the app user interface is not yet supported.
- Printing: Teachers, students, and families can print any post or assignment by tapping the [...] more options menu and selecting Print.
For a more detailed report on the accessibility of Seesaw, you can also review our Government Product Accessibility Template (GPAT) and our Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT).
These documents explain how information and communication technology products such as software, hardware, electronic content, and support documentation meet the Revised 508 Standards for IT accessibility. Learn more.
Supplemental Accessibility Tools
- Chrome Browser and Chrome OS: Turn on Live Caption to get captions for any videos or voice recordings that were recorded in English. Follow these steps.
- Chrome Browser: To increase color contrast, install this Color Contrast Plugin.
- Chrome Browser: Translation for students can be enabled with this Translation Plugin.
- Edge Browser: Seesaw supports the Read Aloud tool that is available in Edge. Install the latest version of Edge, then right-click on the screen, and choose "Read Aloud" to enable this functionality to read text in posts or assignments aloud. More details.
Watch this training to learn how you can support diverse learners using Seesaw.