Once a school is persuaded that assistive technology helps, and the evidence is strong that it does, the next questions are practical. What do we actually buy? Is it affordable? Where do we start? This guide is my attempt to answer those honestly, without the sales gloss.
The single most important principle is this: choose the tool for the need, not the need for the tool. Impressive kit that nobody uses helps no one. So start with what a young person is finding hard, and work towards the simplest thing that removes that barrier.
Start with what you already own
Before spending a penny, look at the tools already sitting on your devices. The accessibility features built into Office 365 and Google Workspace are genuinely good and cost nothing extra: immersive readers, text-to-speech, dictation, and options to change font size and spacing. There are free screen-filter apps for young people who experience visual stress, too.
For a great many dyslexic learners, switching these on and teaching pupils to use them is the highest-value, lowest-cost move a school can make. It’s also the least conspicuous, because it’s the same software everyone else is using.
The cost question, honestly
The assumption is usually that technology is more expensive than having a person support a child. When I looked at the numbers, in my Dyslexia and Tech in Your Class piece for AT Superstore (Ross, 2026), that assumption didn’t hold up.
Take a cycle of GCSE examinations as an example. A teaching assistant acting as a reader might support up to four students, across an average of around 31.5 hours of exams. Costed out, that comes to roughly £141.75 per child. A basic Windows laptop, at the time of writing, cost around £149.99. So the difference is slight, and the laptop wins on almost every other count: it can be reused elsewhere, it offers text-to-speech, speech-to-text and flexible formatting, and it gives the young person independence rather than tying up an adult. This isn’t an argument against teaching assistants, whose skilled human support is irreplaceable for many things. It’s an argument for spending on the right thing for the right job.
A rough order to work through
When schools ask me where to start, I tend to suggest a progression rather than a shopping list.
First, the free built-in tools: text-to-speech and dictation for reading and writing, and formatting options for visual comfort. Second, low-cost specialist add-ons where a specific need remains, such as reading rulers, coloured overlays or screen filters for visual stress. Third, dedicated devices or software where the need justifies it and the evidence supports it, like the reading-support device I studied in my OrCam research.
A note on visual stress specifically, since it comes up a lot and is often confused with dyslexia itself. Some young people benefit from tools designed for it. I evaluated one, the Lili Lamp, in a small case-study project, exploring how its particular lighting affected children’s reading experience and attainment. Tools like this can genuinely help the right child, which is exactly why matching the tool to the individual matters so much.
Involve the young person
The people most often left out of technology decisions are the ones using the tools. That’s a mistake. In all my research, young people have clear views about what helps them and what makes them feel exposed, and they’re usually right. Let them try things. Ask what feels comfortable. A tool a child chooses and likes gets used; a tool imposed on them often ends up in a drawer.
Don’t forget the training
The most common reason good technology fails isn’t the technology. It’s that nobody was shown how to weave it into everyday teaching, so it never becomes routine. Build in a little time for staff and pupils to get comfortable, and it will pay off many times over. I’ve written more about embedding this in integrating dyslexia support into mainstream teaching.
If you’d like a fuller, practical walkthrough for your setting, my Schools Guide to Dyslexia covers technology alongside everything else, and I deliver training and consultancy directly to schools.
Questions people often ask
What’s the cheapest way to start supporting dyslexia with technology? Switch on and teach the accessibility tools already built into Office 365 and Google Workspace, and use free screen-filter apps for visual stress. It costs nothing and helps the whole class.
Is technology really cheaper than a teaching assistant? For some tasks, the costs are surprisingly comparable, and a device has the advantage of being reusable and supporting independence. This isn’t about replacing skilled human support, but about matching the right resource to the right need.
How do I choose between all the available tools? Start from the specific difficulty a young person has, then pick the simplest tool that removes it. Involve the young person in trying options, and don’t buy specialist kit until free and low-cost tools have been exhausted.
What about visual stress tools like coloured overlays or special lamps? They can help the right child. Visual stress is not the same as dyslexia, though the two can co-occur, so it’s worth identifying the actual need and trialling tools with the individual rather than assuming.
References and further reading
- Ross, H. (2026) Dyslexia and Tech in Your Class, Assistive Technology Superstore Blog. Read the article
- Ross, H. (2024) Impact of OrCam Learn on reading comprehension, Support for Learning, 39(3), 95-103. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9604.12474
- Ross, H. (2020) Review 3: Technology-led interventions for SpLDs, Council for Science and Technology. Read the review
See the full list of publications.