Online learning has become increasingly popular in recent years. So it’s more important than ever to make sure it’s accessible to all students, including those with disabilities.
But what exactly does it mean to make an online learning program accessible?
When talking about making online learning accessible or making a program, website, or app accessible, it means making it possible for anyone to benefit from them.
Accessibility for online learning means designing the curriculum from the inside out for everyone, regardless of their abilities or challenges. If you’re totally new to elearning, check out this beginner’s guide for a comprehensive list of terms to be aware of.
What Does Accessibility Mean for Online Learning?
When it comes to making online training accessible, everything including design elements like the size of the text and colors. It also involves important practices like adding alt text and captions to images and videos.
Alt text is a description that appears when an image can’t be seen. It helps people who rely on technology that reads out text understand what the image is about. Captions are short lines of text shown below an image, which are especially useful for people with vision problems or those who use technology that reads text aloud.
Another important consideration for online learning to be accessible is to make sure it works well on different devices. This means that the course should adjust to fit screens of different sizes, like on laptops or phones, unless you provide specific computers or laptops to your staff.
Online accessibility has become so important that even Google considers it when deciding which websites to show first in search results.
In addition to these things, making online education accessible means designing programs that allow users to access the content in different ways. For example, they might use speech recognition software or navigate the learning system without using a mouse.
Here are five ways to improve online learning accessibility and make sure that everyone has equal access to education.
How to make your online training accessible to all learners
1. Design for easy readability
To enhance the accessibility of your online learning program, collaborate with an instructional designer to create accessible materials. Work together to develop content with simple backgrounds, light colors, and dark, sans serif fonts, which improve readability for all learners.
Utilize tools like ColorA11y to discover optimal color combinations that ensure both humans and recognition software can effortlessly navigate your program presentations and documents.
When incorporating videos or presentations, opt for plain backgrounds and include captions whenever there is audio. This practice benefits not only individuals with hearing impairments but also acknowledges the growing trend of muted video consumption. By using captions, you make the content more accessible to a wider range of learners.
Additionally, to further improve online learning accessibility for students with disabilities, actively employ alt text for images and graphics.
Alt text serves as a brief description that screen readers read aloud to visually impaired students, enabling them to comprehend the image’s content and relevance to the lesson.
Remember to keep the alt text concise, descriptive, and accurately convey the information within the image. It is crucial to format and include the alt text appropriately in the HTML code of the webpage to ensure its effectiveness.
2. Offer flexible learning options
By relying on a single format (video, audio, reading materials, etc.), you not only limit access to your course but also exclude students with disabilities.
Instead, present your course in multiple formats to ensure inclusivity and accommodate diverse learning needs.
For instance, offering audio presentations can benefit students with visual impairments, while providing transcripts can assist those studying in noisy environments. By giving students the freedom to choose the format that suits them best, you ensure that everyone receives the same information and an equal learning experience.
Moreover, offering flexible learning options is another vital aspect of improving online learning accessibility, particularly for students with disabilities. This includes providing alternative formats for course materials, such as audio or braille versions, to cater to different accessibility needs.
Additionally, allowing students to complete assignments and exams in various ways is essential. For instance, a student with a physical disability may require an oral examination instead of a written one. By offering these options, you create an environment where all students can equally participate and benefit from the learning experience.
3. Provide captioning and transcripts for videos
Enhancing video accessibility through closed captioning and transcripts is vital for students with hearing impairments or those who prefer reading alongside the visual content. This practice also benefits individuals who may struggle to comprehend accents or are non-native speakers of the video’s language.
Incorporating closed captioning and transcripts into videos is a seamless process facilitated by tools such as YouTube’s automatic captioning or third-party captioning services.
Making sure that the captions are accurate and perfectly match the video content is extremely important.
Here’s an example from Talance’s courses:
You can use several ways to add captions to your videos, and many of them are easy. Here are some tips for success:
- Use YouTube’s automatic captioning feature to generate captions for your videos
- If your budget allows, use a third-party captioning service to ensure accurate and high-quality captions
- Regularly review and edit the autogenerated captions to correct any errors or inaccuracies
4. Provide assistive technology and support
One of the most effective ways to improve online learning accessibility for students with disabilities is to provide assistive technology and support.
This can include screen readers, speech recognition software, and other tools that help students with visual, auditory, or physical impairments access course materials and participate in online discussions.
Similarly, it’s important to have trained staff available to provide technical support and assistance with using these tools. By investing in assistive technology and support, you can ensure students have the tools they need to succeed online.
There’s no right answer for everyone. We compiled this Guide To Online Learning Delivery to help you make an informed decision.
5. Translate your online learning to different languages
Online learning accessibility extends beyond physical disabilities and mobility constraints. It is important to consider the cultural diversity of your staff, as English may not be the native language for everyone.
In such cases, individuals might encounter difficulties navigating online learning materials, leading to a negative impact on the effectiveness of the program. Additionally, learners may experience a decrease in morale as they face increasingly challenging training.
With Talance, you can offer online training in Spanish and other languages. This is thanks to the LMS’s interface, which is easy to adjust to your staff’s unique needs. However, you should also work with your curriculum developer to translate the content to your desired languages.
7 resources to improve accessibility for online learning
Resources for Making Distant Learning Accessible
This Washington University list includes resources for universal design, course design, and online learning for individuals with physical as well as learning disabilities.
Accessibility of eLearning
OpenLearn from Britain’s inimitable Open University presents a free 15-hour course for professional educators about how disabled students learn online. It covers technology and techniques used by disabled students, adjustments to teaching methods that might be reasonable, design decisions that affect the accessibility of elearning tools, and strategies for evaluation.
Accessibility and Online Learning Resources
Xavier University compiled this list of resources covering everything from best practices to accessibility training and handy checklists.
Section508.gov
The official government website that covers laws, regulations, resources, and best practices for accessibility compliance.
Accessibility Resources – CIRCL
The Center for Innovative Research In Cyberlearning (CIRCL) compiled a series of publications, video training, and a helpful Q&A about learners with disabilities.
Designing an Accessible Online Course
University of Arkansas’ Explore Access created a self-paced online course to help instructors develop accessible online training.
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