Article
SoftSchools: Free online games, worksheets and quizzes
Here are FREE digital educational materials!
SoftSchools.com provides free online games, worksheets and quizzes on a variety of topics, all organized by grade level.
SoftSchools Topics
- Math
- Math Games
- Math Worksheets
- Algebra
- Language Arts
- Science
- Social Studies
- Literature (including quizzes for popular books)
- Language
- Themes Quizzes
- Timeline
Teacher Resources and Tools
Log in and create your own materials using these generators!
- Make handwriting practice sheets
- Word shapes
- Word search maker
- Word scramble worksheets generator
- Word scramble worksheets
- Word search worksheets
- Make a math puzzle with words or sentences
- Timeline maker
- Concept map maker
- Venn diagram maker
- Flow chart maker
- Graphic organizers
- Cause and effect graphic organizer
- monthly calendar printable 2018
Go directly to Teacher Resources here.
This website has an incredible amount of educational materials available. To give you an idea, let’s peak at one random science topic: Biomes. On SoftSchools’ home page, select the Science tab to open the Science page. The screenshot below is the Science Page. The headings on this page are: Free Science Games, Rocks, Fossil Fuels, Science Facts, Earth, Simple Machines, Human Body, Free Science Worksheets, Science Flashcards, Science Matching Games, and Science Scatter Matching Games. Under each topic are numerous options.
From the Science page, select the Biomes option under Free Science Games. The Biomes page has these headings: Biomes (Facts and Reading Comprehension), Biomes Quizzes, and Biomes Worksheets. There are 17 items under Biomes and 9 options under Biomes Quizzes.
After reading the Biome facts and/or comprehension (available under the Biome heading above), you are ready to take one or more of the Biome Quizzes. The iPad screenshot below displays the first multiple choice question of the Biomes Quiz. The website heading, an advertisement, first row of tabs for grade levels, second row of tabs for subject topics, and then information about the quiz itself is displayed on the page above the actual quiz question and answer choices. The Reader feature is not available.
Accessibility
Screen Reader Accessibility
The website and quiz is fully accessible with a screen reader, such as VoiceOver. Since the website headers are available above every question, navigating to the actual question every time is time consuming. Ideally, the screen reader focus should automatically start on the question. Currently, the screen reader focus is on the Back button at the top left corner of the screen. With a touch screen, the easiest way to move the screen reader focus is to touch the question box (in the middle of the screen). Navigating by Headings will move to the name of the quiz (skipping all of the tabs at the top of the page) but still requires 3 tabs (right arrows) to move to the actual question. In these quizzes, the screen reader reads each piece of the radio button separately; it takes 3 tabs (right arrows) to move through each answer choice. Example: “radio button unchecked”, “A”, and “North” are three separate pieces.
Note: Not all of the math sections are fully accessible with a screen reader. Please note that due to the large quantity of materials, only random resources from this website were selected and tested for accessibility.
Low Vision Accessibility
The website is designed to be used with a computer. When viewing the website on an iPad, the pages are visually cluttered and the print is smaller than standard. It is challenging to tap on the desired link (such as the Biomes link on the Science page) as the link is very small. The best option when using an iPad is to navigate and select using a Bluetooth keyboard. The website has good color contrast throughout and the question block stands out with its green background. The website is compatible with the Zoom feature. Students with low vision may want to Zoom in on the question box, which eliminates the visual clutter on the page and makes the question box easier to see.
The website does have ads and the Reader feature is not available.
Games
SoftSchools has numerous game apps available. Many of these apps are free with in-app purchases for more levels of games. Several games, such as the Fishing Addition iOS app, were reviewed. These games are not accessible with VoiceOver on the iPad. The games are motivating and depending on the game, may be beneficial for students with low vision.
Conclusion
This website is an amazing resource for teachers! There are seemingly unlimited free materials already created which are accessible. For students with visual impairments, the quizzes are not as accessible as quizzes created in Google Forms; however, with a little practice and initial patience, students can access and complete these quizzes. The facts and comprehension documents are well written and easy to access. The game apps are typically not accessible with a screen reader. With just a little design improvement for screen reader navigation, the app would be easier to navigate when using a screen reader.
By Diane Brauner
