Preschool sight words: what they are and how to teach them

Last updated 2026-07-09

What is a sight word, exactly?

A sight word is any word a reader recognizes instantly, without sounding it out letter by letter. The name comes from reading it "on sight." That sounds simple. But the definition actually covers two overlapping groups of words, and mixing them up causes real confusion for parents.

The first group is high-frequency words. These show up so often in printed English that fluent reading is nearly impossible without fast, automatic recognition of them. The word "the" alone accounts for roughly 7% of all words in printed English, according to corpus analyses used in reading instruction research ^[1]. The words "a," "and," "of," "to," and "in" together push that number past 20%. If a child stumbles over those words every time, everything else grinds to a halt.

The second group is irregular words. These are words whose spelling doesn't follow the phonics patterns a child is currently learning. "Said" is a classic example: the letters a-i-d make a sound that phonics rules don't predict for that position. "Was," "have," "come," and "one" fall here too. Skilled teachers don't treat these as undecodable magic words. They point out the parts that do follow rules and flag the one tricky part. At the preschool level, though, most programs simply ask children to memorize the whole word.

Here's what many programs blur: not all high-frequency words are irregular. "And," "in," "it," "can," and "on" are both common and fully decodable by basic phonics. Teaching a preschooler the sight word and makes sense because it's so common, not because it's tricky to decode. The sight word or is similar: phonetically regular once a child knows the "or" vowel team, but worth learning fast because it appears everywhere.

For preschoolers specifically, the practical working definition is this. A sight word is any word we want the child to recognize immediately without effort, before formal phonics instruction covers that word's pattern.

What are the main sight word lists and which one matters for preschool?

Two lists dominate early literacy programs in the United States.

The Dolch list, developed by Edward William Dolch in 1948, contains 220 service words (no nouns) plus 95 common nouns, organized by grade bands from pre-primer through third grade ^[2]. The pre-primer Dolch list has 40 words. These are the words Dolch judged most essential for beginning readers, and they include both irregular words like "said" and decodable words like "and," "big," and "can."

The Fry list, developed by Edward Fry in the 1950s and updated through the 1990s, contains 1,000 words ranked by frequency in actual text ^[3]. The first 100 Fry words cover about 50% of all words in typical written material. Fry's list skews toward frequency rather than decodability, so it leans more toward what children will actually meet in books.

For preschool, almost every credible program draws from Dolch's pre-primer list or Fry's first 25-50 words. The two lists overlap heavily at that level. Here's the practical takeaway: if your child's preschool or kindergarten program uses one list, you don't need to buy materials for the other.

The pre-primer Dolch 40 words are the standard benchmark for pre-kindergarten programs. Kindergarten typically adds the next 52 Dolch words. Expecting a four-year-old to master all 40 before fall of kindergarten is reasonable for many children. Expecting it of a child who just turned three is not. Developmental range matters here. See the comparison table below for a quick look at what each list covers at the preschool level.

List	Level	Word Count	Examples
Dolch Pre-Primer	Pre-K / early K	40 words	a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you
Dolch Primer	Kindergarten	52 words	all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes
Fry First 25	Pre-K / K	25 words	the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it, he, was, for, on, are, as, with, his, they, I, at, be, this, have, from

You'll notice the Dolch pre-primer list and the Fry first 25 share most of their highest-frequency words. The differences are minor at this stage.

How many sight words should a preschooler know?

Expectations vary by age and program. Here's a reasonable, evidence-grounded picture.

By the end of preschool (age 4-5, before kindergarten entry), many literacy readiness frameworks expect children to recognize 15-40 words from the Dolch pre-primer list or an equivalent high-frequency word list ^[4]. Some children will exceed that. Some will enter kindergarten knowing five words, learn fast once formal reading begins, and hit grade-level benchmarks by spring. Neither scenario is a crisis.

Kindergarten is typically where systematic sight word instruction ramps up. Most state standards expect children to read all 40 Dolch pre-primer words by the end of kindergarten, and many expect the first 100 Fry words by end of first grade ^[4].

One number worth knowing: the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) defines "basic" reading at the end of fourth grade as recognizing words and understanding simple sentences. Getting to that level requires automatic recognition of the most common 300-400 words in English ^[5]. That's the long game. Preschool is the first small slice of it.

Don't chase a number at the expense of joy. A three-year-old who loves books and asks questions about print is building a foundation that matters as much as word count. A four-year-old who can write her name and point to "the" every time she sees it is right on track. If a child at age five cannot recognize any high-frequency words after months of exposure and practice, that's worth mentioning to a pediatrician or requesting an evaluation from the school.

How do children actually learn sight words? What does the science say?

The science of reading has changed the conversation around sight words over the past two decades, and it's worth understanding why.

For a long time, the dominant model was "whole language," which treated sight word learning as visual memorization: children looked at the shape of a word enough times that it got stored as a visual logo. Cognitive science research has largely discredited that model. The brain doesn't store words as pictures ^[6].

What actually happens, according to orthographic mapping theory developed by researcher Linnea Ehri, is that children link the letters and letter patterns in a word to the sounds they already know in spoken language. The word gets stored in long-term memory through connections between print and phonology, not through visual shape alone ^[6]. Ehri's 2014 paper puts it plainly: sight words are read "by accessing their spellings, pronunciations, and meanings that have become bonded in memory." Even irregular words are partly decoded before they become automatic. The child notices that "said" has an s sound and a d sound at the end, and stores the tricky middle as an exception to flag.

For preschoolers, this has practical weight. Orthographic mapping barely works in a child who doesn't yet have phonological awareness, the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds inside words. So the most effective preschool approach combines:

1. Phonological awareness activities (rhyming, clapping syllables, playing with beginning sounds) to build the sound-mapping foundation. 2. Print awareness, pointing to words in books so the child understands that printed marks carry meaning. 3. Repeated, spaced exposure to high-frequency words in real reading contexts, more than isolated flashcard drilling. 4. Multisensory practice: saying the word while tracing it, building it with letter tiles, finding it in a book.

Research on spaced retrieval practice, the technique of reviewing information at growing intervals rather than massed repetition, consistently shows better retention for word learning than blocking all practice into one session ^[7]. In practical terms: five minutes of sight word practice four days a week beats twenty minutes on one day.

If you want structured materials, sight word flashcards can work well when used with the spaced practice principle rather than as rote drills. Sight words worksheets that ask children to write the word, circle it in a sentence, and draw a picture for context hit multiple pathways at once.

What are the best ways to teach sight words to preschoolers at home?

You don't need a curriculum. You need consistency and variety. Here are approaches with real support in reading research.

Read together every day. This is the single most productive activity for preschool literacy across every domain, more than sight words. When you point to words as you read aloud, your child builds print awareness and incidental sight word exposure at the same time. For a child who's ready, saying "here's the word 'the', we see it a lot" takes two seconds and compounds over hundreds of reading sessions.

Use environmental print. The stop sign, the cereal box, the name of her favorite show: children often recognize these first because context helps. Those are sight word wins worth celebrating, even if the context is making it easier than a blank flashcard would.

Play "I Spy" with words in books. Open to any page and ask your child to point every time they spot "the" or "and." Young children find this genuinely fun, and it builds the habit of scanning text.

Write it, trace it, build it. Write a target word on an index card. Ask your child to trace it with a finger while saying each letter. Build it with foam letters or letter tiles. This is the multisensory approach, and it connects visual, tactile, and auditory pathways at once.

Sing it. Plenty of preschool sight word songs are free on YouTube. Songs work because the melody gives a retrieval cue that isolated drilling doesn't offer. "A-N-D spells and" set to a simple tune gets stored differently in memory than a flashcard.

Keep sessions short. Five to ten minutes is the right target for most preschoolers. End before the child is frustrated, not after. You want the association with sight word practice to be positive.

The ReadFlare free reading tools include printable word cards and a practice log you can use to track which words are sticking, which makes it easier to focus on the ones that need more work rather than cycling through the full list every session.

If your child resists all of this or shows signs of struggle that feel beyond typical, signs of dyslexia worth watching for include difficulty rhyming, trouble learning letter names, and confusion about the sounds in short words, even after lots of exposure.

What sight words should preschoolers learn first?

Start with the words that show up most often in the books your child actually reads, and with the words that are easiest to connect to meaning.

The Dolch pre-primer list orders words partly by frequency and partly by how early they appear in leveled texts. The first ten words most programs introduce are typically: the, a, I, and, it, is, in, we, to, and you. Those ten alone cover an enormous portion of early reader text.

From there, teachers generally move to action words a child can demonstrate: go, run, jump, look, come, up, down. These stick faster because the child can physically act them out, adding a motor memory component.

The word "and" (the sight word and) is almost always among the first five taught because children use it to connect things they talk about constantly: "me and Mom," "dogs and cats." The abstract connector words like "of," "for," and "with" are harder to hook to meaning and usually come later.

A reasonable preschool introduction sequence, working over a full school year:

• First quarter: the, a, I, and, it, is, in, to, you, we (10 words)
• Second quarter: go, see, look, come, up, here, my, me, big, little (10 words)
• Third quarter: can, run, jump, play, not, one, two, said, like, do (10 words)
• Fourth quarter: for, are, he, she, they, was, his, her, have, on (10 words)

That gives you 40 words total, matching the Dolch pre-primer list, spread over a year at roughly 10 words per quarter. Adjust the pace to your child.

When should you worry? What does sight word struggle look like vs. a real reading problem?

Most preschoolers learn sight words unevenly. They'll nail "the" in January, forget it in February, nail it again in March. That's normal. Memory consolidation isn't linear.

But some patterns are worth paying attention to, especially as children move toward kindergarten age (5-6 years old).

Red flags include: inability to remember any words after months of consistent, daily practice; difficulty hearing rhymes in familiar songs; confusion about whether words start with the same sound; no interest in or awareness of print at all; and trouble learning the names of letters even after repeated exposure.

These patterns, especially in combination, can signal phonological processing difficulties that are associated with dyslexia. The International Dyslexia Association estimates that 15-20% of the population has some degree of dyslexia, making it the most common learning disability ^[8]. Dyslexia doesn't mean low intelligence. It means the brain processes the sound structure of language differently, which makes both phonological awareness and the phonological part of orthographic mapping harder.

If you see a cluster of those red flags, you don't need to wait for a diagnosis to act. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), public schools are required to identify and evaluate children with suspected disabilities, including children ages 3-21 ^[9]. "Child find" is the IDEA provision that requires schools to actively seek out children who may need special education services, including those who haven't started kindergarten yet. A parent can request an evaluation in writing. The school has 60 days (under federal law; states may set shorter timelines) to complete it ^[9].

A dyslexia test at this age typically includes phonological awareness tasks, rapid naming tests, and letter knowledge assessments, not a reading test per se, since the child may not be reading yet. Early identification matters because intervention before formal reading instruction begins works better than remediation after reading failure is established, according to the National Reading Panel's foundational work ^[10].

For a broader look at early learning disabilities screening and what to expect from a learning disability test, both are worth reading before you request a school evaluation.

How are sight words different from phonics, and do you need both?

Yes, you need both. They're not competing approaches. They work together.

Phonics teaches the systematic relationships between letters and sounds so a child can decode unfamiliar words by sounding them out. Sight word instruction teaches specific high-frequency words to automaticity so the child doesn't have to decode them slowly every single time.

The tension in reading education traces to the period in the 1990s and early 2000s when whole-language programs downplayed phonics in favor of meaning-based strategies and sight word memorization. That approach produced measurably worse reading outcomes, and the 2000 National Reading Panel report ^[10] identified phonemic awareness and phonics as two of the five essential components of reading instruction (along with fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).

The current consensus, reflected in what's broadly called the Science of Reading movement, is that systematic phonics instruction is the backbone of early reading, and sight word learning sits on top of that foundation. A child who learns phonics well will eventually decode most words automatically anyway. What sight word instruction does is speed up automaticity for the highest-frequency words so fluency builds faster.

For preschoolers who aren't yet in formal phonics instruction, two goals run in parallel: build phonological awareness (the pre-phonics skill), and begin introducing the most common words through exposure and multisensory practice. Neither one waits for the other.

For more on how the phonics side of this works, phonological dyslexia covers what happens when phonological processing specifically breaks down, which is useful background for any parent whose child is struggling with both phonics and sight words at the same time.

What tools and materials actually work for preschool sight word practice?

The research here is clear enough to have some opinions.

Flashcards work, but only with spaced retrieval. A stack of 40 cards shown in order every single day produces worse retention than a smaller rotating set where you cycle out mastered words and cycle in new ones ^[7]. If you use sight words flash cards, keep the active deck to 8-12 words at a time.

Digital apps can supplement but shouldn't replace hands-on practice. Tapping a screen engages far fewer sensory pathways than tracing a word in sand, building it with letter tiles, or writing it on a whiteboard. That said, some children will practice longer on a tablet than on paper, and practice time matters. Use what your child will actually do.

Leveled readers with controlled vocabulary are genuinely useful. Books written specifically to repeat the Dolch pre-primer or Fry first-100 words give children authentic reading practice rather than isolated word drilling. The Bob Books series and similar titles are built around this principle.

Word walls at home, a poster or section of wall where you add new words as they're introduced, work well for some children because the words stay visible in the environment. Other children ignore them. Try it and see.

Free printable resources are everywhere, and quality varies. Look for materials that show the word in a sentence, include a picture, and ask the child to write or trace the word. Materials that just ask kids to stare at a word in isolation are the least effective format.

The ReadFlare parent kit includes a printable preschool sight word tracker and word card set organized by the Dolch pre-primer sequence, which you can use alongside whatever reading program your child's school uses.

What do kindergarten teachers expect from children who already know some sight words?

Kindergarten teachers are realistic. They know children arrive with very different amounts of exposure. Here's what most kindergarten teachers actually find useful when a child comes in with some sight word knowledge.

Automatic recognition matters more than vague familiarity. A child who "kind of knows" the word "the" but still pauses for a second every time doesn't benefit much from that partial knowledge in a reading flow. The goal of preschool sight word work is genuine automaticity on a small set, not shaky familiarity with a large one.

Letter name knowledge predicts first-grade reading outcomes as well as or better than sight word count does, according to multiple early literacy studies ^[4]. If your time is limited and you have to choose, letter names and phonological awareness (rhyming, syllables, beginning sounds) are more productive than grinding through sight word lists.

Children who arrive knowing the 40 Dolch pre-primer words with automaticity have a measurable head start in kindergarten reading, particularly in the first half of the year when the class is still introducing those words. By spring of kindergarten, the gap from that early exposure tends to shrink as all children receive systematic instruction.

For a full picture of what the next year looks like, first grade sight words covers the Dolch primer and grade-one lists and how expectations ramp up after kindergarten.

Are there IEP or 504 protections that apply to a preschool child struggling with sight words?

Yes, and parents often don't know this reaches children as young as three.

IDEA Part B covers children ages 3 through 21 for special education and related services ^[9]. IDEA Part C covers birth through age 2 under Early Intervention. Once a child turns three, the public school system (not early intervention) becomes responsible for evaluation and services if a disability is suspected.

The "child find" obligation under IDEA Section 300.111 requires every public school district to actively identify, locate, and evaluate all children with suspected disabilities, including preschoolers ^[9]. A parent doesn't need a referral from a doctor or preschool teacher. You can write a letter to your school district requesting a free evaluation. The district must respond in writing and, if they agree an evaluation is warranted, complete it within 60 days of receiving parental consent (some states set shorter deadlines).

If evaluation results show a child qualifies for special education, the school develops an Individualized Education Program (IEP). For a preschooler, this might include speech-language services (often relevant when phonological processing is weak), specialized instruction in early literacy skills, or both.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 covers a broader set of disabilities and doesn't require the same level of educational impact as IDEA, but it does require that the child be enrolled in a school receiving federal funds ^[11]. Many preschools are private and don't receive federal funding, so 504 coverage in private preschool settings is limited. Public school preschool programs are covered.

If a child is evaluated and found to have a disability but the school argues the disability doesn't affect educational performance enough to warrant an IEP, parents can challenge that determination. The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights handles 504 complaints; IDEA disputes go through your state's special education administrative process ^[11].

Knowing these rights before you walk into a meeting changes the dynamic. Schools aren't adversaries, but they also work under resource constraints, and parents who know the law get better outcomes.

Frequently asked questions

What is a sight word in simple terms?

A sight word is any word a reader recognizes instantly without sounding it out. In practice, the term covers two groups: words that appear so often in text that slow decoding would kill reading flow (like 'the' and 'and'), and words that don't follow standard phonics rules yet (like 'said' and 'was'). For preschoolers, the working definition is simply: a word we want the child to recognize on sight.

How many sight words should a 4-year-old know?

Most pre-kindergarten literacy frameworks expect a 4-year-old to recognize somewhere between 10 and 40 words from the Dolch pre-primer list by the end of the preschool year. But developmental range is wide. A child who knows 10 words at age 4 can still reach grade-level reading by end of first grade with good instruction. Focus on automatic recognition of a smaller set rather than shaky familiarity with a long one.

What are the Dolch pre-primer words?

The Dolch pre-primer list contains 40 words: a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you. These are considered the most essential words for beginning readers and are the standard target for pre-kindergarten and early kindergarten programs.

Should I use flashcards to teach preschool sight words?

Flashcards can work, but only with spaced retrieval: keep the active deck to 8-12 words, cycle out mastered words, and practice in short daily sessions rather than one long one. Flashcards alone, shown in the same order every day, produce weaker retention than mixing formats. Pair them with tracing, building words with letter tiles, and finding words in real books for better results.

Is it bad if my preschooler doesn't know any sight words yet?

Not necessarily. Many children enter kindergarten with few or no sight words and catch up quickly once systematic instruction begins. The more important preschool skills are phonological awareness (rhyming, hearing syllables, identifying beginning sounds) and letter name knowledge. If a child at age 5 still can't retain any words after months of regular practice, and also struggles with rhyming and letter names, that combination is worth discussing with a teacher or pediatrician.

What is the difference between Dolch words and Fry words?

Dolch words (220 service words plus 95 nouns, organized by grade level) were compiled in 1948 based on what Dolch judged essential for early readers. Fry words (1,000 words ranked by frequency in actual text) were developed in the 1950s-1990s. At the preschool level, the two lists overlap heavily. Both are widely used; your child only needs to work from one. Most US preschool and kindergarten programs use Dolch as their primary framework.

Can a preschooler have dyslexia, and how would I know?

Dyslexia can be identified in preschool-age children through early markers, though a formal diagnosis typically waits until the child has had some formal reading instruction. Preschool red flags include difficulty rhyming after lots of exposure, trouble hearing beginning sounds in words, slow learning of letter names, and very limited sight word retention after consistent practice. The International Dyslexia Association estimates dyslexia affects 15-20% of people. Early screening and intervention make a significant difference.

Does my 3-year-old preschooler have the right to a free school evaluation for reading difficulties?

Yes, if you suspect a disability. Under IDEA Part B and the 'child find' obligation, public school districts must evaluate any child ages 3-21 with a suspected disability, at no cost to parents. Write a letter to your district requesting an evaluation. The school must respond in writing and, if they agree, complete the evaluation within 60 days of parental consent (federal minimum; states may be shorter). This applies even before kindergarten.

What is the sight word 'and' and why is it taught first?

The sight word 'and' is one of the five most common words in written English, appearing in roughly 2-3% of all printed words in English-language text. It's taught early because children use it constantly in speech ('Mom and Dad,' 'dogs and cats'), so they can attach print to a word they already own in spoken language. It's also fully phonetically regular, making it a good bridge between phonics concepts and sight word practice.

What games or activities make sight word practice fun for preschoolers?

Several activities work well: 'I Spy' for a target word on any book page; writing words in sand or shaving cream for tactile input; building words with magnetic letters; playing memory or bingo with word cards; and acting out action words (jump, run, go) while saying them. Songs that spell out words set to melody also stick well. Keep any session under 10 minutes and end before frustration sets in.

How is sight word instruction different from phonics instruction?

Phonics teaches the systematic letter-sound relationships so a child can decode any unfamiliar word by sounding it out. Sight word instruction targets specific high-frequency words for instant automatic recognition, bypassing decoding. The two work together: phonics is the backbone of reading development, and sight word automaticity builds reading fluency faster for the most common words. Children need both; neither approach alone produces strong readers.

What does research say about the best way to teach sight words?

Orthographic mapping theory (Linnea Ehri's work) shows that words are stored in long-term memory through connections between print and phonology, not visual shape alone. This means phonological awareness is a prerequisite for efficient sight word learning. Spaced retrieval practice consistently outperforms massed drilling for word retention. Multisensory methods (tracing, building, writing) engage more memory pathways than looking at cards alone.

My child knows a sight word one day and forgets it the next. Is that normal?

Very normal, especially before age 5 and during the first months of instruction. Memory consolidation for new words isn't linear. A word may appear 'mastered' and then drop out after a few days without review. Spaced practice, brief daily review rather than big weekly sessions, is the most effective counter. Most children need 20-40 exposures to a word across different contexts before it becomes genuinely automatic.

Are there sight word apps that actually work for preschoolers?

Some apps (Sight Words by Learning Tree, Bob Books, and similar) are reasonably aligned with research: they repeat words in context, include writing or tracing, and use spaced review. Apps that just flash a card and play a sound are the weakest format. No app has strong randomized controlled trial evidence behind it specifically for preschoolers. Use apps as one tool among several, not as the primary method. Hands-on practice still engages more learning pathways.

Sources

1. Edward William Dolch, 'A Basic Sight Vocabulary,' Elementary School Journal, 1948 — original publication of the 220-word Dolch list: The Dolch list contains 220 service words organized by grade bands from pre-primer through third grade, first published in 1948.
2. Edward Fry, 'The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists,' Jossey-Bass — Fry 1000 instant words list description: The Fry list contains 1,000 words ranked by frequency; the first 100 Fry words cover approximately 50% of all words in typical written material.
3. National Center on Response to Intervention / Early Literacy Research — kindergarten benchmark expectations for high-frequency word reading: Most state standards expect children to read all 40 Dolch pre-primer words by end of kindergarten; letter name knowledge predicts first-grade reading outcomes as well as or better than sight word count.
4. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), U.S. Department of Education — 4th grade reading achievement level descriptions: NAEP defines 'basic' reading at end of fourth grade as recognizing words and understanding simple sentences, requiring automatic recognition of the most common 300-400 words.
5. Ehri, L.C., 'Orthographic mapping in the acquisition of sight word reading,' Scientific Studies of Reading, 2014 — orthographic mapping theory: Orthographic mapping theory shows words are stored in long-term memory through connections between print and phonology, not through visual shape alone; even irregular words are partially decoded before becoming automatic.
6. Cepeda, N.J. et al., 'Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks,' Psychological Bulletin, 2006 — meta-analysis of spaced versus massed practice: Spaced retrieval practice consistently shows better retention for word learning than massed (blocked) repetition across multiple studies.
7. International Dyslexia Association, 'Dyslexia Basics' fact sheet — prevalence estimate: The International Dyslexia Association estimates that 15-20% of the population has some degree of dyslexia, making it the most common learning disability.
8. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.; 34 CFR § 300.111 Child Find — federal statute: IDEA Part B covers children ages 3-21; Section 300.111 requires every public school district to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with suspected disabilities; evaluation must be completed within 60 days of parental consent.
9. National Reading Panel, 'Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment,' NIH/NICHD, 2000 — five essential components of reading instruction: The 2000 National Reading Panel report identified phonemic awareness and phonics as two of the five essential components of reading instruction; early identification of reading difficulties is more effective than remediation after failure.
10. U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights — Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 overview: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires schools receiving federal funds to provide accommodations for students with disabilities; OCR handles 504 complaints.