technology and engineering

School screen bans risk isolating millions of students with disabilities

• Ninth grader Soraya Martin, who has dyslexia, uses speech-to-text and audiobooks to excel academically, but a new school-wide phone-ban policy at her California high school has disrupted her accommodations.
• More than 8 million U.S. students with disabilities rely on assistive technology, including screen readers, speech-to-text, and audiobooks, according to education advocates.
• At least three states — Alabama, Tennessee, and Utah — have laws limiting screens that take effect as early as July 2026, with some making exceptions for assistive technology.
• Lindsay Jones, CEO of CAST, an education research nonprofit, said the speed of state-level screen restrictions has left educators and disabled communities unprepared.
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in late May issued a surgeon general's advisory warning of "harms of screen use" for children's health and education.
• Disability advocates also point to a shrunken U.S. Department of Education under the Trump administration as less equipped to enforce civil rights related to assistive technology access.