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Ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on Thursday, May 21, FCPS educational specialist Mollie Kropp is working to ensure that students, employees, and families can use learning materials and communications without unnecessary barriers.
Kropp’s commitment to teaching began early. She recently found the word “TEACHER” written in her childhood handwriting inside an old “My About Me” book.
She fulfilled that ambition in 1998, becoming a teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Woodson High School. She advocated for students to participate fully in school life, including by finding ways to caption videos and announcements when doing so was far more difficult in the early 2000s.
“My entire career has been about accessibility,” Kropp said, crediting the Deaf community with helping shape her work as an ally and advocate.
After about a decade at Woodson, Kropp became an assistive technology coach. The position allowed her to help students with disabilities across grade levels while working with educators and families at multiple schools. That experience also revealed a broader need for accessibility awareness.
Kropp came to view digital accessibility as a fundamental part of inclusive education and Universal Design for Learning, an approach intended to remove barriers and give students different ways to engage with schoolwork.
A student with dyslexia, for example, may need accessible digital text that works with text-to-speech software. Another student may find typing easier than writing by hand. Providing a digital version of material alongside a worksheet or textbook can help students use the format that works best for them.
In 2022, Kropp moved into her current position, where she helps employees across FCPS create and select accessible resources.
She compares early accessibility planning to adding blueberries before muffins go into the oven. Building accessibility into a resource from the beginning is easier and requires less time and effort than trying to retrofit it later.
Kropp also encourages students to become accessibility ambassadors. Many have told her they wish more people would learn how to make materials usable for everyone.
Jeff Sisk, senior manager for assistive technology, said Kropp’s work remains centered on students. The most rewarding moments, he said, come when she hears that students have achieved something they might not have accomplished before.
Zak, who served as an assistive technology ambassador in 2022, described the frustration caused by inaccessible material. His text-to-speech tools could not capture words presented as pictures, sometimes leading him to give up. Accessible text, he said, would make using the technology easier.
Students who rely on assistive technology want the same opportunity to succeed and feel included as their peers, Kropp said. Accessibility goes beyond meeting legal requirements; it helps every member of the community know that they belong.
Although the subject can initially feel overwhelming, Kropp recommends developing one accessible habit at a time. Her suggested starting point is simple: communicate with live text instead of images containing text.
Live text can be enlarged, translated, read aloud by assistive technology, and otherwise adjusted to meet a person’s needs. Kropp said that principle should guide everything from instructional resources and school-event flyers to newsletters sent to families.
“It takes all of us to make sure that every student, staff member, and family member can access information seamlessly and without barriers,” she said.