What is Kami Companion? A teacher guide to accessibility across the web | Kami

Teachers know the moment. A student is staring at a page full of text on a website, a Google Form, or a shared doc. The content matters, but it is not getting in. You might be circulating, pulling small groups, or supporting someone else. The student needs help now, in the moment, without having to stop learning.

That is the problem Kami Companion is built to solve.

In a recent Unstoppable Teacher webinar, former educator and Kami Teaching and Learning Consultant Melissa Summerford and digital learning specialist Shantel Lott shared how Kami Companion works in real classroom scenarios. They call it “the universal remote for learning” because it brings familiar Kami tools into a floating toolbar that can follow students across the web, not just inside a single file.

If you have been wondering, “What is Kami Companion?” here is a teacher-focused overview of what it does, what it looks like in action, and where it can make a real difference for students who need access supports.

What is Kami Companion?

Kami Companion is a floating accessibility toolbar that students can use across websites, Google Docs, and Google Forms. It is designed to bring supports like read aloud, translation, and comprehension help to the places students already learn online.

In the webinar, Melissa described it as taking the tools many teachers already recognize from Kami and placing them “on top of the internet” so students can access support wherever they are working.

For teachers, the takeaway is simple: instead of finding a separate tool for every platform, students can use one consistent set of supports in more places.

Getting started: open the toolbar and set student preferences

Once students have access, they can open Kami Companion from their browser extension and set a few preferences that matter for day-to-day use:

• Light mode or dark mode (helpful for comfort and visual preference)
• Toolbar position and size (students can move it so it does not block content)
• Other reading and writing settings depending on the tools they use most often

This matters because accessibility is not one-size-fits-all. Students often know what helps them focus, what helps them process language, and what feels manageable.

Read aloud support, built for real online reading

One of the first tools highlighted in the webinar was read aloud. If you have students who can decode text but struggle with stamina, attention, or comprehension, read aloud can change what is possible during independent work time.

Kami Companion read aloud includes a few options that teachers will recognize as classroom practical:

• Different selection modes so students can listen to a specific section, not a full page
• Voice options so students can pick what feels easiest to follow
• Speed controls so students can slow down for pronunciation or speed up for efficiency

Melissa and Shantel shared an important point: even strong readers often benefit from listening. Read aloud is not only for one group of students. It is a flexible support that helps students stay in the work and understand what they are reading.

Built-in dictionary with picture support

When students meet an unfamiliar word, they often do one of two things: guess and move on, or stop and disengage.

Kami Companion includes a dictionary tool that can help students keep moving by giving them:

• Pronunciation
• Definitions
• A picture dictionary style visual that supports word meaning

Shantel noted how recognizable, simple icons can be especially supportive for students who benefit from visual cues, including many students receiving special education services. It is a small design choice that can make the tools feel more approachable for students.

Translate words and passages (with multilingual learners in mind)

In many classrooms, students are navigating content in a language they are still learning. Translation can help students access meaning while they continue building English proficiency.

Kami Companion allows students to translate selected words or sections of text into other languages. In the webinar, Shantel shared a specific example of supporting a student who needed Urdu, and how meaningful it was to find that language available as an access option.

Translation works best when it is treated as a bridge, not a shortcut. The goal is not to replace learning. The goal is to reduce the barrier so students can participate in the same task as peers.

Explain and summarize: support without handing over the answer

When students hit a wall in a text or a problem, many need help understanding what to do next. Teachers want students to get support, but not in a way that removes the thinking.

Two tools discussed in the webinar address that tension:

• Explain: offers step-by-step support that helps students understand a concept or process
• Summarize: provides a simpler, shorter version of a passage for quick understanding

Melissa framed the explain tool as a “co-teacher” that can coach students through a problem. Shantel emphasized why that matters: background knowledge is not evenly distributed, and students sometimes need a clearer explanation of what they are reading before they can engage deeply.

These tools can be especially helpful when you are:

• pulling a small group and cannot respond immediately
• supporting independent practice at home
• helping students preview a text before close reading

Adjust reading level: keep the idea, change the complexity

Another feature highlighted was the ability to adjust the reading level of a text selection.

This can be powerful in inclusive classrooms because students can access the same topic and information, but at a level that matches what they can process right now. It also supports student privacy. A student can level up or level down without having to announce it.

If you are differentiating instruction, this kind of tool can help you keep students together in purpose, even when they need different entry points.

Writing supports: predict text and voice typing

Reading access is one part of the day. Writing is another.

Kami Companion includes writing supports that can help students express ideas with less friction:

• Predict text: suggests words as students type, which can support spelling, fluency, and sentence completion
• Voice typing: allows students to speak their response and then edit what appears on the page

In the webinar, Shantel connected predict text to the kind of support that helps students keep their momentum. Melissa pointed out an important classroom reality: some students can explain their thinking out loud long before they can type it.

Voice typing can be a difference-maker for students who:

• have a lot to say but struggle to get it onto the page
• benefit from verbal rehearsal
• need an access pathway for written expression

Google Forms and Google Docs: where this gets practical fast

Teachers live in Google Forms and Google Docs. Students do, too.

In the webinar demo, Melissa showed that students can use key tools, including read aloud and writing supports, inside forms and docs, not just on websites. That matters because many formative checks, exit tickets, and short responses happen there.

If you have ever recorded yourself reading a form question aloud to support a student, you already understand the time cost. Tools that reduce that extra step can give you time back while still supporting access.

What about Microsoft tools?

A question came up in the webinar about Microsoft 365.

The presenters noted that browser extensions often work across browsers that support extensions, including Edge. They also shared that compatibility across sites and tools is an ongoing focus, with continued updates based on teacher requests.

If your district is primarily Microsoft-based, the key question to test is not just the platform. It is also the browser and the specific tools your students use day to day.

From the web into Kami: “Open in Kami”

One of the most practical moments in the webinar was the “Open in Kami” workflow.

If students are on a website and want to interact more deeply, they can bring that content into Kami to annotate, add voice or video, and engage with the material in a more active way. For many classrooms, that is the bridge between passive reading and visible thinking.

A simple way to think about Kami Companion in your classroom

If you are deciding whether Kami Companion fits your students, start here:

• If students are reading online and getting stuck, read aloud and dictionary support help them keep going.
• If students are navigating language demands, translate can reduce barriers to participation.
• If students need help understanding, explain and summarize can provide scaffolds without stopping instruction.
• If students struggle to write what they know, predict text and voice typing can help them express ideas.
• If students need to make their thinking visible, Open in Kami supports annotation and deeper work.
• The goal is not more tools for the sake of tools. The goal is giving students support that stays with them across the places they learn.

Want to see the tools in action and hear classroom examples from Melissa and Shantel? Watch the webinar recording and follow along with the demos of read aloud, translate, explain, and writing supports.