Making eLearning Truly Accessible: 5 Key Questions Answered
Accessibility is an important consideration both when creating course materials and when shaping the learning platform itself. Without taking into account the varying needs of all potential Learners, you essentially set up a roadblock which prevents people from using the course if they e.g. have some degree of vision impairment or hearing loss.
Thanks to the flexible nature of e-Learning as a whole, as well as its accessibility from any desktop or mobile device, it can be adapted to the needs of all Learners even more easily than classroom-based education. Here at TheLearning LAB in Geneva / Genève, Switzerland, we are dedicated to meeting the needs of all of our Learners. Our clients come to us for our expertise in e-learning, and we stay on top of the latest innovation and technologies which support our ability to provide them with the very best learning platforms and course materials, which includes ensuring everyone can benefit equally from it.
TheLearning LAB Geneva, Paris, Palo Alto and London.
1. Why focus on accessibility?
The answer to this question is simple; making your platform accessible is about respecting the needs of all Learners. Keep in mind that some Learners may also simply have a preference for one format over another, meaning that in addition to supporting those Learners who have a disability, making your eLearning accessible actually benefits everyone. You may find yourself wondering: what if we go through all this effort and there are no people in our Learner group who actually need the adaptations?Considering the facts, such as that Dyslexia occurs in approximately 1 in 10 people* and that globally, it is estimated that approximately 300 million people have some degree of colour-blindness**, there is a good chance that at least one of your Learners will significantly benefit from your organisation making your Learning Platform accessible.
Visit us at our TheLearning LAB offices in Geneva, Switzerland for a consultation or informal chat if you’re interested in knowing more about how your organisation can benefit from accessible eLearning. Or, if you are not based locally, you can contact our agency for a virtual meeting!
2. What is accessibility, really?
The correct way to view accessibility is not to designate the needs of Learners as a problem to solve. It is to designate the platform and its content as the problem, and to view ensuring everyone has the opportunity to access it as the solution. Remember, when a light switch is too high up on a wall for a person in a wheelchair to reach, it is the light switch placement which is flawed, not the person using the mobility device! Here at TheLearning LAB, we understand the need for an accessible and inclusive society as a whole, and ensuring access to education is one of the core elements of achieving this.
3. In a nutshell, what does accessibility mean in terms of eLearning?
It means designing, developing and implementing tools and technologies that allow people with disabilities to access, perceive, navigate and interact with your eLearning content. Long story short, all Learners should be able to easily access your eLearning content regardless of any disabilities they may have. Guidelines have been produced and published by organisations such as the Worldwide Web Consortium, providing information on making content and authoring tools accessible and what standards need to be met. The ways in which eLearning accessibility can be achieved are surprisingly simple:
i) When designing course materials, you need to ensure learning materials are available in multiple formats to allow users to optimise their access to the content.
ii) When designing the LMS and course platform, you need to ensure users can navigate the platform, search for and access content regardless of ability.
iii) When designing course materials, you need to ensure they are compatible with assistive technology.
iv) When designing the LMS and course platform, you need to ensure it is compatible with assistive technology.
Achieving these goals is no problem at all if you engage an agency such as ourselves. At TheLearning LAB we’ll do the hard work for you, so you can sit back and reap the benefits, watching your workforce engage with an authentic learning experience!
TheLearning LAB Geneva, Paris, Palo Alto and London.
“When speaking of disabilities, the blind and their needs are most often used as an example. It is deceivingly simplistic since accessibility is something most of the population can benefit from.”
4. What is assistive technology?
Assistive technology (AT) is anything used to improve the capabilities of persons with disabilities. This can include any items, equipment, software programs or systems and can be low-tech or high-tech, and depending on the needs of an individual it can be used to increase, maintain or improve their functionality.
In terms of eLearning, this can include e.g. text-to-speech software, symbol-to-speech software, options for enlarging fonts or zoom in on graphics, audiobook versions of resources, etc.
5. How do you ensure your content is accessible as well as inclusive?
Once you incorporate the assistive technology functionalities and ensure your course is accessible, you need to consider how you word your course instructions. Being inclusive means noticing when you e.g. refer only to one source of the information (such as a text) but fail to mention the alternative sources (such as an audio recording of the text being read), and changing how you address the course materials that are available.
Being inclusive goes beyond the concept of accessibility. It means having the tools available, easily identifiable, and continually referred to alongside other resources as to avoid making Learners feel ‘other’ when they use AT. The needs of those Learners with disabilities should not be met only in a select corner of your Learning Platform, putting them through additional effort to overcome the challenges their disability poses. It should be as easy for a person with e.g. a visual impairment to access your course as it is for a person with no disabilities.
Our team is ready for you to challenge them!
Here at TheLearning LAB, we are prepared for what 2020, and beyond, will bring, and being a proactive and innovative agency we never want our clients to be, or fall, behind the curve. In terms of accessibility, unfortunately, there are far too many agencies and organisations who have not (yet) considered the needs of people with disabilities, and our aim is to help organisations meet the highest standards of accessibility in eLearning so all Learners have the same access to education.
If you are interested in using an eLearning platform to support the development of your organisation, contact us at TheLearning LAB in Geneva for a meeting, a Skype call or just some bits of information to help you make your decision! We do workshops, brainstorming sessions and more, so there’s something for everyone!