ACCESSIBLE eLEARNING
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A Pathway to Inclusivity
What is Accessible eLearning?
Accessible eLearning means building a course and learning experience that can be accessed by all learners. This applies to the full experience of taking the course, from registration and navigation to course content and assessments to course completion.
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As stated by the Office of Civil Rights, a "person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally and independently as a person without a disability."
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Creating an accessible learning experience includes:
Thinking about how the course and its content will be navigated and understood by learners of different abilities
Designing a course that is flexible and offers choices where possible
Providing more than one method of presenting the material
Following best practices for each content delivery format, including videos, images, audio, text, and handouts
Following the most current laws and guidelines regarding accessibility
Myths about Accessibility in eLearning
It’s common for course creators to steer away from accessible design, often because of misunderstandings rooted in the many myths about accessibility. Here are 4 of the most prevalent myths about accessibility in eLearning.
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Myth: Accessibility only benefits a few people.
An accessible learning experience is critical for those with disabilities, but beneficial for everyone. By some estimates, as many as 1 billion people in the world have some form of disability.
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Myth: Accessibility hinders product development and quality.
Course development time lessens with experience and integration and enhances the learning experience for all learners.
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Myth: Accessibility is optional unless requested.
Accessibility is both a legal requirement and a commitment to offering a full and independent learning experience to your students.
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Myth: Accessibility features can easily be added to your course after the course is developed.
While adding accessibility features after a course launches is better than never, ideally accessibility should be integrated into the course development process to prevent rework and maximize inclusivity.
Regardless of where you are in the process, Chalk & Tablet can help!
Let us help you build an Accessible eLearning Experience!
Chalk & Tablet can improve the accessibility of your existing course or help you build an accessible course from the ground up. We'll design an effective, interactive online course that meets or exceeds WCAG standards so you can:
Meet the online learning needs for disabled learners.
Enhance the eLearning experience for all learners.
Protect your organization from legal ramifications.
Accessible eLearning Examples
Want to learn more about accessibility requirements and how our team can help you meet or exceed your accessibility goals? Check out the resources below.
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The following buttons are examples from two recent conference presentations that we built in the format of an accessible online course. The first is from the 2022 Learning Ideas Conference and the second is from the HighEdWeb 2022 Accessibility Summit. Each offers guidance and tips for accessibility in eLearning.