This presentation explores how User Interface (UI) design directly influences the accessibility, engagement, and overall learning experience of students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). It highlights the crucial intersection between inclusive design and effective teaching materials, emphasizing how thoughtful UI decisions can remove barriers and empower a diverse range of learners. The talk begins by defining core UI principles—such as visual hierarchy, readability, layout structure, interactivity, and consistency and explains how these design features affect cognitive load, attention, and comprehension. With SEND students often facing challenges such as visual impairments, dyslexia, ADHD, autism spectrum conditions, or physical/processing difficulties, the presentation demonstrates how traditional or poorly designed materials can unintentionally disadvantage these learners. Using real examples of both accessible and inaccessible interfaces, the session illustrates how factors like font choice, color contrast, iconography, navigation patterns, and multimedia integration impact usability. Attendees will gain insights into how adapting UI components such as simplifying navigation, providing multimodal content, integrating assistive technologies, or enabling personalization can promote independence and deepen understanding. The presentation also covers practical strategies for educators and designers, including designing for varying literacy levels, leveraging predictable layouts, supporting screen readers, and applying the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). It concludes with best-practice guidelines and actionable recommendations for creating digital and printed teaching materials that are not only visually effective but also genuinely inclusive. Educators, instructional designers, and developers will leave with a clear understanding of how UI choices shape learning experiences and with practical tools to ensure their materials support SEND students in meaningful, equitable, and empowering ways.

Introduction to and overview of Skills Area 1 – Using devices and handling information Devices Applications System settings Internet – navigation and searches Storing, organizing and retrieving information Device and software problems Applying solutions to technical problems or correcting system/user errors Outcome: This resource is aimed at helping student pass their Entry Level 3 Digital Fuctional Skills qualification. Learners will be able to use some keywords in the correct context and identify some interconnectedness of the type of device with its connectivity and uses, either in their daily life or in a work context Device types - desktop, laptop, mobile, smart Features - input (keyboard, touchscreen, mouse, mousepad, scanner, microphone, camera) Features - output (monitor/screen, speaker, printer, camera) Uses - • Communication (phone/video call, email, social media) • Creating/editing documents • Media (images, text, video, audio, stream, livestream) • Lifestyle (entertainment, games, health and fitness, social media) • Online transactions (services, financial)

Introduce the purpose and structure of Digital Functional Skills Entry Level 3 By the end of this session, learners will be able to: Use keywords in the correct context Perform common system settings Identify each Icon, navigation, and function on a browser

Cookies and Consequences: What Your Browser and Your Classroom Have in Common explores the striking parallels between digital surveillance and classroom management. Drawing connections between browser cookies and educational monitoring practices, the article highlights how both environments shape behavior through subtle tracking systems. It invites educators, technologists, anyone interested in the intersection of technology, education, and digital responsibility, and readers to reflect on data ethics, power dynamics, and the importance of transparency in both digital and educational spaces.