Providing Accessible Learning in L&D

Ensuring that all learners, regardless of their abilities, can effectively engage with your training material by providing accessible learning resources.

Here are some key things to do to help achieve accessibility:

Use Accessible Formats

Provide content in multiple formats such as text, audio, and video to accommodate different learning preferences and needs. Providing content in various formats enhances accessibility, caters to diverse learning preferences, increases engagement, offers flexibility, and promotes inclusivity in the learning experience.

Provide Alt Text and Transcriptions

Include descriptive alt text for images and provide audio and video content transcriptions to make them accessible to learners with visual or hearing impairments. It’s important to promote accessibility to ensure equal access to your educational materials. It also means that you are complying with requirements for accessible communication formats.

Implement Closed Captioning and Subtitles

Include closed captions or subtitles for videos and audio to make them accessible to learners for all your learners. It’s essential for promoting accessibility and ensuring equal access to your educational materials. By providing closed captions or subtitles, you’re ensuring that your educational content is inclusive and reaches a wider audience, including individuals who speak different languages or those who prefer to read along while watching or listening.

Create Clear Navigation

Organise your content with clear headings, labels, and navigation menus to help your users find and access information easily. When your content has this it helps provide users with a positive and efficient experience.

Use Plain Language

Use clear and concise language, avoid jargon, and provide explanations for complex terms to improve understanding for all your learners. Jargon and complex language can lead to misinterpretation, confusion, and frustration among some learners. By providing clear explanations you can help prevent misunderstandings and ensure that your learners grasp the intended meaning.

Ensure Colour Contrast

Using high colour contrast between text and background is essential for improving the readability of your content and helps accommodate learners who may have visual impairments. It also supports older adults. Good colour contrast ensures readability across various devices and screen sizes, maintaining consistency in the user experience regardless of the device being used.

Offer Keyboard Accessibility

Ensure that all interactive elements can be accessed and operated using a keyboard alone, as some learners may have difficulty using a mouse to comply with accessibility standards, accommodating diverse user preferences, ensuring compatibility with assistive technologies, providing a consistent user experience, improving efficiency, and reducing technical issues.

Ensure Compatibility

Ensure that all your learning materials are compatible with assistive technologies such as screen readers, magnifiers, and alternative input devices. It promotes accessibility and inclusivity and promotes equal opportunities for all learners.

Regularly Seek Feedback

Encourage your learners to provide feedback on the accessibility of your learning materials and make the necessary improvements based on what they’ve said. It can help you to create a more user-centred, accessible, and inclusive learning environment. By involving learners in the process, your company can ensure that your educational materials meet the diverse needs of all learners.

Closing Thoughts

By implementing these strategies, you can create an inclusive learning environment that caters to the diverse needs of all learners in your company.

If you’re implementing a new eLearning strategy, or looking to improve your existing eLearning, click here to schedule a meeting.