This resource highlights disability statistics in North American education and offers guidance for creating content that supports students with visual, physical, hearing, and cognitive disabilities.
💡Quick answers
- What percentage of North American students have a disability? About 12.9%.
- What types of disabilities are most common among students? Cognitive disabilities affect 9% of North American students, followed by physical (4%), with visual and hearing each affecting less than 1%.
- How should content be formatted for students with physical disabilities? Use assistive technology-friendly formatting and keyboard-navigable layouts to help students with limited motor control.
- What can educators do for students with visual disabilities? Provide text-based alternatives to images and visual content so it can be consumed using screen readers or other assistive tools.
What does this mean for education?
North American high school graduation rates for disabled students have risen 0.5% since 2011. 64% now earn a high school diploma in 4 years. Unfortunately, North American high school dropout rates have also risen 0.5% in as many years. 19.7% of students with a disability will drop out before completing high school.
Most students choose not to disclose their disability when they enter higher education. That's 60 to 80% of North American undergrads and 9% of graduate students. Even so, there is a lot that we as Educators can do to help disabled students be successful.
3% of the global population, less than 1% of students in North America, has a visual disability. This means that they have challenges perceiving visual content. Provide those students with text-based alternatives that they can consume.
4% of the global population, 4% of students in North America, has a physical disability. These students have challenges with muscle and motor control, which makes using technology difficult. Format your content for assistive technology and keyboard navigation for simpler web content navigation.
5% of the global population, less than 1% of students in North America, has a hearing disability. This means that they have challenges perceiving auditory content and need alternatives. Provide captions, transcripts, and other alternatives that they can consume.
An overwhelming 25% of the global population, 9% of students in North America, has a cognitive disability. That is 1 in every 25 North American freshmen who have a learning disability. These students have neurological challenges processing information. It's important to build in flexibility. Use many modes of information and create a clutter-free experience.
Sources
"Disabled World - Disability News & Information." Disabled World. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2015.
"WHO | World Health Organization." WHO | World Health Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2015.
"Statistics." DO-IT. University of Washington (UW), n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2015.
"Special Education Compendium Statistics." Disabilitycompendium.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2015.