Q: What do the following activities have in common?
- Managing personal medications
- Scanning QR codes
- Finding the best driving routes
- Reporting illegal parking
- Keeping up with the news
- Enjoying good stories
- Putting puzzles together
A: You can find recommended tools for doing all the above in the BridgingApps database, aka the “App Search Tool!”
And those are just a few examples. Everyone’s heard “there’s an app for that,” but not everyone knows how to find that app or other tech tool. Even when it may already be on their phone!
Where to Start?
Digital literacy is vital to full participation in today’s world. Yet many people know little about what their devices can do. Even disability-service providers may not have time to keep up with the accessibility options on their clients’ smartphones and tablets—let alone with apps to recommend.
It’s hardly surprising: today’s consumer technology is impossible to keep up with, and that may be an understatement. App stores offer 1,500 new options a day. Operating systems seem to update every week. How can the layperson, job coach, speech therapist, or early-intervention specialist stay informed?
The only practical way is to start by simplifying—and the first “simple question” may not be what you think.
What? Whom? Where?
Wrong question: “What are the best apps in this category?”
Better question: “What apps are best for this person/client/family?”
Best question: “Where can I look to find well-designed apps that could help in this case?”
In app stores, “high ratings” usually means “highest number of downloads,” or “most popular.” However, that doesn’t necessarily mean “high-quality”—or helpful to a specific person, especially when it comes to disability.
BridgingApps has a better approach: from the beginning, we’ve prioritized helping persons with disabilities (and their caregivers and service providers) find ways to fill individual needs, reach personal goals, and make everyday life easier. BridgingApps team members and other reviewers personally try out as many apps as possible, so we can share the best information for matching apps to user needs.
Sharing with Our Easterseals Peers
As part of Easter Seals Greater Houston—and backed by generous support from Comcast NBCUniversal—we’re strengthening our connections with other Easterseals affiliates. Through 2025 and 2026, we’re working with staff at ten affiliates (five each year) to share all things BridgingApps—and new ideas for using technology in Easterseals work. In return, these partners share their own ideas and questions.
Participants learn to:
- Integrate apps into programs such as recreation activities, mental health, early childhood environments, transition, and employment.
- Find and use standard accessibility settings on smartphones, tablets, and computers.
- Use the BridgingApps Search Tool.
- Contribute app reviews.
- Customize technology to clients’ home activities, work, learning, and recreation.
- Introduce clients to other resources, including digital-literacy training and individualized support.
- Be discerning consumers when choosing which apps to use or recommend.
So Far
Participating affiliates for 2025 are:
- Easterseals Crossroads (Indianapolis)
- Easterseals Massachusetts
- Easterseals PORT Health (North Carolina and Virginia)
- Easterseals Rio Grande Valley (Texas)
- Easterseals Southeastern Pennsylvania
In February and March 2025, the program began with classes on App Search Tool basics, plus a deep look at early-childhood and caregiving apps. Says Easterseals Rio Grande Valley, “The apps shared for early academic concepts—phonemic awareness, writing, and letter/number recognition—were helpful for our visitors from the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program. We also greatly appreciated the apps on supporting functional communication with our clients.”
And a team member from Easterseals Crossroads noted, “While our affiliate mostly serves working-age adults, I plan to share this information about early-childhood and caregiving apps with my colleagues in the Autism program.”
The ultimate aim: empower the Easterseals network to help all clients reach for the highest levels of physical, social, and cognitive development. Watch for more posts about this program!