How to ensure accessibility and inclusive learning styles
Although learners should be at the heart of an e-learning experience, they are often overlooked.
The resources provided by online learning tools like video, helps providers adapt processes to ensure inclusion for every type of learner — especially those with learning disabilities.
Improving accessibility means content will reach and find engagement with a larger number of learners. Communication technologies such as closed captions within videos or voice recordings of text-based resources allow learners with additional needs, such as dyslexic learners or those in the Deaf community, to engage, but may also be a valuable tool for those who need to access mobile content ‘on the go’.
Providers can find guidance on how to adapt processes for inclusion by communicating with learners about their cultural and personal needs before presenting learning solutions. Putting the learner’s experience first is a crucial part of e-learning, providing the means to future-proof products as we move into an environment where inclusiveness and accessibility are at the heart of education. Here are four questions to ask yourself:
- Do you understand your target audience?
Consider the learners you are targeting and their different abilities, disabilities, and learning styles
- How are you applying physical interactivity?
The course should be easily accessible through multiple device types or learner needs such as touch screen, keyboard, or mouse.
- Is your visual/aural content accessible?
Consider colour blindness and contrast readability and test your colour schemes and graphics against visual design standards. Alternative text for images and audio recordings of written content can cater for visual impairments.
- Have you offered variety and choice?
Even if you’re not anticipating blind, deaf, or other disabled learners accessing your course, you should still include variety and choice of content delivery to increase inclusivity for all types of potential learners.
Discover more about adapting your learning delivery for online through our online report