|
Adjustment |
Barrier it addresses |
What the teacher does |
What to avoid |
|
Extra time in assessment |
Processing speed differences penalise timed tasks regardless of actual knowledge |
Apply agreed extra time consistently across all timed assessment |
Apply it inconsistently depending on which staff member is invigilating |
|
Assistive software access (e.g. text-to-speech, Read&Write) |
Reading dense text and producing extended writing both carry high cognitive load |
Ensure software is available and the student is shown how to use it confidently |
Issue software without checking the student is trained and comfortable with it |
|
Alternative to reading aloud |
Unexpected read-aloud tasks cause acute stress unrelated to comprehension of the material |
Offer reading aloud as an opt-in choice, decided in advance |
Call on a student to read aloud without warning |
|
Marking that separates content from spelling/grammar |
Written-expression demands can obscure a student's actual subject knowledge |
Mark ideas and spelling/grammar separately unless grammar is itself the learning outcome |
Penalise spelling errors as if they reflect a lack of understanding |
|
Accessible document formats by default |
Scanned or image-only PDFs block text-to-speech and screen readers entirely |
Produce all materials as structured, tagged text documents |
Distribute scanned image-only PDFs as standard practice |
|
Note-taking support |
Real-time note-taking competes directly with following spoken content |
Provide slides/notes in advance, or permit recording, so live note-taking is not the only route to the content |
Rely on the student's live notes as their only record of a session |
|
Coloured overlays / alternative formats |
Some students find high-contrast black-on-white text genuinely harder to track |
Offer alternative background/text colour combinations on request, where feasible |
Assume one standard format suits every student |
Two students with dyslexia may need very different combinations of the adjustments above — match support to what the individual student says helps, rather than applying a fixed package.