Digital accessibility means making digital content and services understandable and usable by people with disabilities.
Building training that everyone can use is a prerequisite. But what does “building an accessible elearning course” actually mean, and how do you go about it?
This article gives you the keys to start an accessible digital learning project.
Digital accessibility means making a digital course usable by every learner, including those with hearing, visual, motor or cognitive impairments. When disability comes up, the image that springs to mind is often someone in a wheelchair — but did you know that 80% of disabilities are invisible? Every day you almost certainly meet and work with colleagues who have a disability without realising it. So let’s make learning something new easier for them.
Disabilities are so many and so varied that it can be hard to know where to begin. Here are 6 good practices to help you launch an accessible training project:
Start by analysing your audience to identify their needs and build personas (typical learner profiles) that set the level of accessibility your course requires. You can draw up a checklist that will serve you during both design and testing:
1. Learner characteristics
2. “Must have” in the module
3. “Nice to have” in the module
4. “Not necessary” in the module
Making an elearning module 100% accessible to every kind of disability while keeping the usability and the learner experience enjoyable is close to impossible. The analysis stage is therefore essential. It tells you the level of accessibility you actually need, and so which formats and types of learning activity to design.
Before you start designing, take the time to understand — in broad terms — the assistive technologies that exist and that your learners will use to navigate. Will your learners be using a screen reader, a braille display, screen magnification software and/or adapted keyboards?
There are so many different disabilities that you probably do not know what difficulties your learners face.Putting yourself in your learners’ shoesis essential to building an accessible module. But how do you do that when you have no such disability yourself and know no one who does? A number of sites let yousimulate the difficulties your learners may encounter. Use them as much as you like.
Testing contrast:Coblis , Color contrast checker , WebAIM contrast checker
Simulating colours:Adobe Color
Testing navigation with screen readers:NVDA, Jaws, VoiceOver, TalkBack
Guidelines), which sets out the accessibility rules for web content along:
3 levels: A – AA – AAA
4 broad principles:
Perceivable:learners must be able to reach the information presented;
Operable:learners must be able to carry out every action the module requires;
Understandable:learners must be able to understand the content and how to navigate the module;
Robust:the content must be intelligible to assistive technologies.
The French equivalent is the Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité (RGAA).
For the criteria in detail, visit theWCAG siteand theRGAA site(t
Designing accessible digital training has a positive impact on all your learners, and on your brand too, since your courses meet an international standard.
Digital accessibilityis governed by an international standard, WCAG (Web Content Accessibility
Developing a digital course means using authoring tools to build and/or implement your content. Some tools include features that make accessible content easier to produce — the world leader, Articulate Storyline 360, for instance, has developed a more accessible modern player. So take the time to work out what your tools let you do. You will save time later, during design and production.
There you are: your prototype is built, or your course is finished.Time to test!This step matters just as much in guaranteeing that your module is accessible:
Have your module tested by people representing each persona identified during the analysis stage;
If you have no access to end users, put yourself in the place of learners with and without impairments and test your module in each persona’s configuration (for example: read your text aloud to check that it is easy to follow)
Go back to your persona table and check that your module really does meet the characteristics identified during the analysis stage.
If you want to take digital accessibility further in your organisation, don’t go it alone. Build an accessibility policy with your colleagues that involves every stakeholder and sets out the objectives, the budgets and an action plan.
If you need help with any of this, do get intouch. Our team supports you in setting up and building accessible digital training.
Aptilink is a member and supporter of theAssociation pour la Prise en compte du Handicap dans les Politiques Publiques et Privées (APHPP), which has worked since 2021 to put disability at the heart of political and economic debate.
Aptilink works with AGEFIPH and helps create digital training content available on the online professional-development service run by Agefiph and its partners. The service is open to every professional working to advance the employment inclusion of people with disabilities: businesses and economic actors, the public employment service, integration and training providers, occupational health, social dialogue and more. It is entirely free.