When we talk about e-learning, we often mention usability. This refers to each user's individual experience of the training material. Can the learner accomplish what they set out to do in your course without any barriers? Is it accessible?
To put it simply, accessibility in e-learning involves using technology and standards to create training content that can be used by all learners, regardless of their ability. Disability is not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person's body and those of the society in which they live.
Making your e-training accessible is a requirement in the UK under the Equality Act 2010, but until recently, it was not a high priority for corporate e-learning buyers. For years, the solution involved providing a Word or PDF version of the content as the 'accessible' alternative.
Although this meets the bare minimum of compliance with the law, it offers an extremely poor learning experience for those who need to use it. It also lays bare a common misconception about accessibility.
There are an estimated 5.5 million people with a disability in the UK workforce today. However, in reality, that number is probably higher because many people with disabilities such as colour blindness or dyslexia do not always declare them out of fear of discrimination.
Companies that demonstrate inclusivity in their learning are likely to outperform in every aspect of their business, from reputation and employee wellbeing to sales and bottom line.
Disabilities are diverse, which sounds obvious but is often forgotten. Accessibility is commonly stereotyped and oversimplified. With online content, it evokes an image of a user requiring a screen reader.
This is wholly incorrect. As the World Health Organisation says:
"Disability is not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person's body and features of the society in which he or she lives."
In the real world, there are a whole host of accessibility personas. For example:
Understanding that there are many diverse disabilities leads us to consider how we can cater for all these learners.
As a business, your people are your biggest compliance risk. You need to ensure all your employees can understand and apply the information in your e-learning courses effectively, as this will impact the way they act and carry out their work.
Getting started on making digital content accessible can be a daunting task.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where member organisations, full-time staff and the public collaborate to develop Web standards.
It has created a set of easy accessibility checks for your content.
Current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) recommend that e-learning content should be:
So how can you put these into practice when designing e-learning courses?
Follow our accessibility guidelines to make e-learning accessible for all learners.
As technology enables us to create more interactive and engaging e-learning courses, we risk widening the gap between the training experience of those with and without disabilities even further.
Accessibility in e-learning doesn't mean just providing a Word or PDF version of a course. We can do so much more to cr,eate innovative e-learning material with accessibility at the heart and one content format that caters to all requirements.
Innovation and accessibility are not mutually exclusive. We can make e-learning more enjoyable for everyone, regardless of disability.
Creating accessible e-learning content relies on three key things: universal design and access and management buy-in.
Let's go back to our accessibility personas. By focusing on them, we can design a learning experience that works. This doesn't mean we want to develop a different version for Harry, Seema, Jo, David and Shafiq. That would be impractical and detrimental for users, who'd have to wade through a complicated selection.
Instead, we need to focus on universal design.
Universal design means one course for all - a single version that fits people's different abilities, albeit some may use assistive technologies.
Universal design is becoming the new standard for accessibility in e-learning. We have moved away from offering separate accessible versions to creating content that is fully accessible, still rich with interactivity and enjoyable for all learners, regardless of their abilities or reliance on assistive software.
Getting this right is not easy. It requires learning developers and subject matter experts (SMEs) to think outside the box, as there are many challenges to overcome. For example, there are various types of screen-reading software and apps, which work in slightly different ways. Content needs to be designed to meet all their needs. This requires a great deal of research, testing and cooperation, but the result is gratifying.
Universal access means creating content that is responsive to the learner's device. This includes built-in HTML with no requirements for add-ins so that e-learning courses are responsive.
Universal acceptable e-learning content requires an investment in building templates and upskilling the development team. Organisations also need to set expectations and raise awareness. For this, you need senior management buy-in from the outset.
A common risk with the universal design approach is that developers give up on interactivity to cater for all personas. There is a tendency to go for the lowest common denominator and remove all the 'bells and whistles' that engage the learner. That's wrong and unnecessary.
By prioritising accessibility and interactivity from the outset, it's possible to create storyboards and design exercises and scenarios relevant to your audience that provide great learning engagement while being fully accessible.
Many learning developers struggle with accessibility because commercially available applications are deficient. This leads to a poor learner experience, imperfect accessibility, browser incompatibility and huge cost overruns.
To overcome this issue, Skillcast has built interactive templates that conform to accessibility standards.
They are flexible and constantly evolve as new ideas emerge with each project. Feedback from reviewers, especially those with disabilities, plays a key role in this process.
Feedback from learners on what works well is invaluable too, as are their thoughts and ideas on how to present the learning.
Barclays is proud of its mission to become the most inclusive FTSE company for all clients, customers and colleagues. Accessibility is at the heart of it's operations.
Being a bank, Barclays takes compliance training very seriously, with mandatory training courses rolled out every quarter. It is important that all staff can fully understand and process the information in these modules, because they impact how they carry out their work.
For several years, Barclays has been working hard to make compliance training accessible for everyone within the company. This has involved educating internal teams and suppliers on requirements and making e-learning engaging and interactive for all, regardless of whether they have a disability.
They have since achieved some significant changes to their compliance courses. For example:
The feedback Barclays has received from employees with a disability has been very positive, especially colleagues who were used to just being sent a PDF.
If you'd like to stay up to date with accessibility best practices, industry insights, and key trends across regulatory compliance, digital learning, EdTech and RegTech news, subscribe to the Skillcast Compliance Bulletin.
Inclusive design principles are about putting people first, and creating products and services for the widest possible audience, including individuals with permanent, temporary, situational or changing disabilities.
They offer designers, user experience professionals, developers, product owners, idea makers, innovators, artists and thinkers a broad approach to inclusive design.
In the EU, there’s EN 301 549, and in the US, Section 508 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Sufficient contrast (minimum 4.5:1 for normal text), and don’t rely on colour alone to convey meaning – for example, also use labels, textures or icons.
Using automated tools such as WAVE, axe and Siteimprove, plus manual and user testing.
WebAIM collaborates with organisations seeking to foster an internal culture of accessible design and development at all levels.
Their web accessibility questions archive may help with queries you have... a
We also have additional free resources such as e-learning modules, microlearning modules, and more.
Our Essentials Library contains e-learning content designed to help organisations meet fundamental compliance requirements. If you are looking for focused training, our DEI training package - Diversity & Equality Training Package offers a complete solution for your compliance programme. Courses in the libraries include: