Accessibility

At QuaverEd, Inc., we recognize and value the diverse needs of every student. Our mission is to meet all users where they are, regardless of their learning style or access needs. We believe in providing multiple methods of interacting with content across our curricula for both students and teachers.

We’re committed to making our content accessible and aligned with all applicable state and federal accessibility laws. If a school district notifies us that certain content does not fully meet these standards, we may turn off or remove that content to support compliance. This helps ensure all students have equitable access to learning. See Terms and Conditions for more information.

Ongoing Efforts to Ensure Accessible Content

QuaverEd™ is dedicated to achieving Level AA compliance with the World Wide Web Consortium’s [W3C] Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [WCAG 2.2]. We are also committed to meeting the federal government standards and requirements of Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act. We aim to complete remediation efforts before the ADA-defined April 24, 2026, timeline.

Features and Enhancements that Support Accessibility

Although Quaver resources are generally created to be presented by teachers to their students, WCAG guidelines help provide an accessible learning environment for users. Our content already contains many features that support accessibility. These include:

Screen Controls

  • Brightness/contrast controls are available from the system settings and will not be overridden by the program
  • Start/Pause/Stop buttons are available for time-sensitive content
  • Volume controls are provided to increase the audio amplitude of different tracks
  • Functionality controls are consistently named and located in the same place on every screen
  • When a control is activated, there are visual and audio indications the action is being taken

Screen Layouts

  • Plain language is used throughout the program
  • Layouts are logically and consistently arranged
  • Context and orientation language for the curriculum is provided in the Teacher Notes
  • Icons and actionable buttons are large and accompanied by text, unless the control is a commonly-used standard, such as a triangle for a play button
  • Color is not the sole determinant of required information

Video/Animations

  • Videos with speaking audio have closed captioning
  • Keywords are also highlighted in text in video episodes
  • Animations that need explaining are also described in text
  • Audio Descriptions or Time-Based Media Alternatives are available for videos
  • Sing-a-long Lyrics videos are compliant with contrast requirements for on-screen lyrics and highlighting

Audio/Music Tracks

  • Lyrics are highlighted and synchronized in songs
  • Visual Animations are provided
  • Transcripts of audio instruction or other information are provided

Notifications

  • Notifications of correct or incorrect answers are provided both aurally and textually
  • Our design minimizes unintentional actions by the user

Flashing Objects

  • No objects or animations will flash at a rate between 2Hz and 55Hz

Custom Content Created by Users

We cannot be held accountable for educators creating custom content. For content created by users using QuaverEd’s tools, we recommend that educators ensure the content is accessible. QuaverEd can remove custom content upon the district’s request.

Let’s Talk Accessibility

We encourage and welcome feedback from our customers. Let us know if you’ve encountered accessibility barriers or have suggestions or ideas on how we can improve. Contact our Customer Service Department at (866) 917-3633, Monday through Friday between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Central, or by filling out a form here.

For more information, please see our accessibility FAQ’s below:

Accessibility FAQ

Overview

Being accessible means removing barriers for people with disabilities. Making a web page or digital content accessible means making sure that the content is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Accessible content is as consistent and equally available as non-accessible content. Users of QuaverEd curricula can identify content using their senses, access controls, buttons, navigation, and other interactive elements; comprehend our content; and use our content on many different devices (PC, Mac, Chromebook, mobile device, and more).

The term a11y stands for “accessibility.” It is a numeronym, with “11” representing the number of letters between the letter “a” and the letter “y” in the word “accessibility.” When read aloud, “a11y” is usually pronounced as “accessibility,” “A-one-one-Y,” or “A-eleven-Y.”

The majority of content has been remediated for accessibility. Most lessons have accessible alternatives activated by toggling the accessibility control in the upper left-hand corner. These accessible alternatives ensure that users can utilize our lessons while ensuring teachers who have used QuaverEd products for years still have access to the lessons they know and love. Lesson screens were rebuilt with features including transcripts, captioning, audio descriptions, and keyboard navigation. 

Within a lesson, select the Accessibility Toggle at the top left of the lesson screen. This will trigger a pop-up with details on how to navigate the accessible lessons. Select OK, and it will load the accessible alternative screen. After entering Accessibility Mode, all lessons will load the accessible alternative until the toggle is switched off.

  1. Select the Accessibility Toggle when viewing a screen.
  1. Select OK and the alternative accesbile screen will load.
Screenshot of QuaverEd's Accessibility mode popup with keyboard navigation and screen reader instructions, plus Cancel and OK buttons.

Compliance

QuaverEd™ is dedicated to achieving Level AA compliance with the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2). We are also committed to meeting the federal government standards and requirements of Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act. We aim to complete remediation efforts before the ADA-defined April 24, 2026 timeline. 

A VPAT is a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, and a filled-out VPAT is called an ACR, or Accessibility Conformance Report. It describes how well a product conforms to accessibility standards. This document allows QuaverEd to comprehensively analyze our curricula’s conformance to WCAG and Section 508 standards.

For more information about QuaverEd’s accessible content, including the VPATs for our curricula, contact our Customer Service Department at (866) 917-3633, Monday through Friday between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (Central Time), or fill out a contact form.

Curricula

QuaverEd’s Accessibility Team is composed of full-time staff and contractors who bring diverse expertise in education, accessibility, and lived experiences with disabilities. This diversity helps us design and review screens with empathy and a strong understanding of user needs.

Many of our team members have backgrounds in teaching students with disabilities and special education, giving them insight into the challenges learners may face and the accommodations that support success. Some team members also have personal experience living with disabilities, providing valuable perspective on accessibility needs.

In addition to experience, our team holds multiple industry-recognized credentials, including certifications from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). These include Certified Professionals in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) and a Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA). We also have Certified Trusted Testers trained to evaluate digital accessibility using federal Section 508 standards, along with specialized certifications for assistive technology testing with screen readers such as JAWS and NVDA.

This combination of professional experience, industry certification, and personal insight reflects QuaverEd’s commitment to building accessible digital content that supports all users.

QuaverEd is committed to providing an accessible user experience. Our accessibility team works to ensure QuaverEd’s curricula meet recognized accessibility standards and are continually improved to support all users.

QuaverEd is committed to a fully accessible user experience. As one of the largest teams in QuaverEd’s Content Department, our accessibility professionals are solely dedicated to making all of QuaverEd’s curricula fully accessible.

Functionality

  • Computers:
    • Windows: Use JAWS for best experience
    • Mac: Use VoiceOver for best experience
    • Chomebooks: Use ChromeVox for best experience
  • Mobile devices:
    • Apple: Use VoiceOver for best experience
    • Android: Use TalkBack or Voice Assistant for best experience

Due to some of the technologies used to create QuaverEd’s interface and to get the best experience while using screen readers, there are some differences in how you will need to navigate the site. Modern assistive technologies are very advanced and will activate certain features when some elements pop up on the page or when a new window is opened. See the questions below to learn more about individual screen reader requirements.

QuaverEd’s accessible lesson framework simplifies lesson navigation using the Tab key. JAWS users must turn off the PC Virtual Cursor while navigating the accessible lessons. To do this use the command Insert + Z. JAWS will turn the Virtual Cursor back on by default when the page is refreshed or a new tab or window is opened. If you’re having difficulty navigating, try using the command to turn it off again.

Accessible lessons are navigated using the TAB or SHIFT + TAB commands and interactive elements are activated using SPACE or ENTER.

This information is also displayed in the Accessibility Mode popup that is displayed when accessing an accessible lesson.

QuaverEd’s accessible lesson framework simplifies lesson navigation using the Tab key. NVDA users will need to turn off Browse Mode while navigating the accessible lessons. To do this use the command Insert + SPACE. NVDA will turn Browse Mode back on by default when the page is refreshed or a new tab or window is opened. If you’re having difficulty navigating, try using the command to turn it off again.

Accessible lessons are navigated using the TAB or SHIFT + TAB commands and interactive elements are activated using SPACE or ENTER.

This information is also displayed in the Accessibility Mode popup that is displayed when accessing an accessible lesson.

VoiceOver users must ensure QuickNav is off while navigating the accessible lessons. To do this use the command LEFT ARROW + RIGHT ARROW. If you’re having difficulty navigating, try using the command to turn it off again.

Accessible lessons are navigated using the TAB or SHIFT + TAB commands, and interactive elements are activated using SPACE or ENTER.

This information is also displayed in the Accessibility Mode popup that is displayed when accessing an accessible lesson.

ChromeVox users must ensure Sticky Mode is off while navigating the accessible lessons. To do this use the command LAUNCHER or SEARCH twice quickly. If you’re having difficulty navigating, try using the command to turn it off again.

Accessible lessons are navigated using the TAB or SHIFT + TAB commands and interactive elements are activated using SPACE or ENTER.

This information is also displayed in the Accessibility Mode popup that is displayed when accessing an accessible lesson.

In addition to building our site for WCAG and Section 508 compliance, QuaverEd.com also provides a plugin to offer a more accessible experience by providing features that would otherwise not be available. Using the accessiBe plugin you can take your QuaverEd.com experience and customize it to make sure you get the most out of our content. By keyboard navigation or mouse clicking the Accessibility Icon floating in the bottom left corner of the window, you’ll open a variety of options to take control of your experience. There are preset profiles for users who would like to use accessibility profiles such as Seizure Safe, Vision Impairment, Keyboard Navigation profiles, and more. You can also adjust individual items such as sizing, scaling, magnification, color adjustments, and orientation within the plugin. We aim to make our site not only accessible but easy to use as well. If you wish to browse our site without the plugin enabled, open the popup and press the Hide Interface button.

By default, Safari’s Tab key only jumps to links and form elements on a webpage. Option-Tab is Safari’s default method for keyboard navigation to take you to each item. The default can be switched by going to Safari’s Preferences > Advanced and selecting “Press Tab to highlight each item on a webpage.” Changing this preference will reverse the default settings and you can Tab through each item.

Check to make sure you don’t have a pop-up blocker turned on. If you do, whitelist QuaverEd.com and refresh the site.

Each and every accessible lesson’s screen is quality tested using screen readers and other assistive technologies on multiple platforms. QuaverEd’s products are tested to conform to WCAG 2.2 AA guidelines, this ensures that lessons are perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

Transcripts are available for screens that include audio. For videos, the time-based media alternatives are included in Teacher Notes. For other screens, accessible PDF printable transcripts are linked in the Lesson Plan Presenter in Worksheets and also available by searching for the song title in Resource Manager.

As of 7/28/25 our Spanish resources are not accessible. We are actively working toward improving accessibility for all our resources, including Spanish content, as part of our ongoing accessibility efforts.

QBackBeat, QComposer, QGrooves, QSoundFX, QStrum, and QSynth have been rebuilt and are now accessible! They also now offer keyboard shortcuts that can be enabled in the Menu. 

Closeup of keyboard shortcuts for QuaverMusic Creatives accessibility.

Converted playlist screens now have character key shortcuts available while tabbing through the screen. The “p” key will move focus to the player, the “i” key will move focus to the image related to the song, and the “s” key will move focus back to the currently selected track.

Content

Accessible videos are a major part of making content accessible by offering alternative features to ensure that it is perceivable by all users. Videos are being updated with a combination of English or Spanish closed-captioning, audio descriptions, dubbing, and/or transcripts, depending on the needs of the specific video and its language. All available options can be accessed by clicking the gear icon on the video player. Closed captions can also be enabled by selecting CC in the bottom right of the video player.

Audio descriptions for videos can be found by clicking the gear icon at the bottom right of the player, selecting Track, and then clicking either English AD or Spanish AD. Please note that due to the fast pace of some videos, adding sufficient audio descriptions becomes essentially impossible. To ensure that these videos are still perceivable to users, we have created time-based media alternatives to meet the AAA level WCAG Success Criterion 1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded) and provide a text alternative for these videos.

Audio descriptions provide narration of key information only visible in media. They enhance accessibility for individuals with visual impairments by providing context about actions, settings, and important visual cues, ensuring a richer and more inclusive viewing experience.

QuaverEd utilizes AD to help students participate in the fun. For example, in one of our newest Interactive Videos, Castle Quest, our AD includes tones that signal when you should jump as items move toward the screen. These tones are carefully placed with the 3, 2, 1 countdown to ensure they don’t interrupt the spoken audio, allowing you to enjoy the narrative while staying in sync with the actions in the video. Just listen for the tones, and jump when you hear the high-pitched tone!

Time-based media (TBM) alternatives are available for lyric screens. Time-based media alternatives are similar to audio descriptions, but they are text-based, more detailed, and include timestamps. All TBM alternatives can be found in the Teacher Notes of each lesson screen.

Phonetic spelling of certain words is used in HTML screens where music terms with different pronunciations are used. This allows screen reader users to hear the words the way they are supposed to sound.

In music, certain terms have very specific pronunciations that are not always typical. For example, in English, the word ‘do’ is pronounced “doo,” so that is how a screen reader is programmed to pronounce that word. However, in the Music Solfège scale, ‘do’ is pronounced “dough.” To ensure accuracy and consistency in what a student hears their teacher say and their screen reader technology says, we have to use the spelling that will force the technology to read correctly. These phonetic spellings should only appear in the HTML, and not on the actual Music screen.

We encourage and welcome feedback from our customers. Let us know if you’ve encountered accessibility barriers or have suggestions or ideas on how we can improve. Contact our Customer Service Department at (866) 917-3633, Monday through Friday between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (Central Time), or fill out a contact form.