Screenshot of Counting Animals Pages worksheet; text & with row of four duck stickers; text & owl
Story

iOS Shapes and Stickers: Counting Activity

Create customized digital counting activities in the Pages app!

Preschool and kindergarten students have many opportunities to count items. Counting activities start with manipulatives and move to counting worksheets. In the 21st Century classroom, young students are also learning to count by playing math games on devices and by completing digital worksheets. While there are seemingly unlimited iOS math games available for sighted students, these games and resources are typically not accessible for students who rely on VoiceOver. However, there is a way to create customized accessible counting worksheets on iOS devices!

In iOS 11, the Pages app came out with a new feature that enables users to add accessible ‘Shapes’ to a Pages document. These Shapes are basically stickers – simple, solid color images in the shape of assorted items. VoiceOver will announce the name of each sticker! These stickers are divided into categories:

The number of stickers in each category varies; there are currently 77 animal shapes. Once a sticker is added, it can be sized and moved around the document. You can also choose to change the color of the sticker; however, VoiceOver does not announce the colors, only the name of the sticker.

Steps for Adding Stickers

Screenshot of Pages with the Add/Insert button and drop down menu with Shape buttons are annotated.

Variations:

Note: Currently, it is best to close the document after creating it. Have the student open the document. If VoiceOver does not react in the anticipated way, close the document again or reboot the iPad. 

Accessibility for Adults

VoiceOver works well with selecting the desired shape, adding a sticker, changing the size of the sticker, moving a sticker to the desired location in the document and announcing the sticker. However, currently VoiceOver users cannot copy and paste a sticker. Individual stickers will need to be added manually.

Student Counting Activity

With VoiceOver running, the student should locate and open the Pages app. Then locate and open the desired document (Counting Animals). With the file system in iOS 11, the document should appear under the Recent tab. When the document is initially opened, the VoiceOver focus is on the Documents (Back button) in the top left corner of the screen. 

By Diane Brauner

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