Data and learning analytics are critical when creating educational content because it helps improve the student’s overall learning experience. Crunching data points to develop a custom-made curriculum certainly provides an edge over those built with a "one size fits all" mentality. But, what about a student’s accessibility to these courses? Having a quality curriculum does not necessarily mean that the student is able to access it in a way to efficiently learn the content.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in the industry of developing online education courses for years or you’re relatively new to the game, understanding accessibility is a huge part of the eLearning environment.
While you might be thinking that putting your materials on the internet makes them accessible enough, you are mistaken. In this article, we’ll discuss exactly what the term accessible means to online education and ensure that all learners are included on platforms as content development continues.
What Does Accessibility Mean in eLearning?
When it comes to online learning, accessibility refers to content created for all different types of learners. Remember that students with learning, mobility, visual, and/or auditory disabilities should be included and accommodated when creating your educational content.
The eLearning Experience
In a typical eLearning experience, students will sit down in front of their computer to begin their course. They will use their mouse to navigate the screen, adjust the sound levels as needed, and move through the course.
At the end of the course, students will be prompted to answer a series of questions evaluating their understanding of the course. Students will continue to use their mouse and listen to the sounds or read the prompts on the screen to complete this portion of the course.
The eLearning Experience Through a Different Lens
Imagine, though, if a student was, in fact, visually impaired. Reconsider this learning experience through their perspective. Will the images on the screen throughout the course be seen and comprehended at a level that will ensure the student’s success on the comprehensive portion at the end?
Or, instead of being visually impaired, imagine that a student suffers from hearing loss. Is the course entirely reliant on the sounds, or are there script panels or closed captions as an option? If there are no other options, will the student just be staring blankly at a screen, watching shapes and objects go by without any understanding of the meaning behind them?
As you can imagine, there are several different factors to consider when ensuring your e-learning courses are fully accessible to all learners. These two examples are just two of the many other circumstances students face. It’s up to you, as the content provider, to accommodate to ensure that everyone can learn the materials thoroughly.
Considering Different Types of Learning Impairments
When you are creating content that is fully accessible, you need to consider the different types of disabilities. Here are just a few disabilities you might want to learn more about to ensure you create e-learning courses that can accommodate them all.
Hearing
Hearing impairment is either fluctuating or permanent and directly impacts a student’s ability to learn and include:
Hearing loss
Hard of hearing
Deafness
Visual
Any type of visual impairment refers to a limited ability to see that causes problems that cannot be fixed with something like glasses. Some of the visual impairments to consider include:
Glaucoma
Color blindness
Low vision
Blindness
Cognitive
Cognitive impairments are sometimes referred to as intellectual disabilities. These limitations are found in mental functions and skills, including social skills, self-help, and communication.
Mental health problems (anxiety)
Neurodiverse conditions (dyslexia, ADHD)
Learning difficulties (down’s syndrome)
Motor
The partial or total loss of function in a particular body part is known as motor impairment. Motor impairment directly impacts e-learning students and their ability to navigate through courses through a computer screen, touchpad, keyboard, or mouse.
Cerebral Palsy
Parkinson’s
Multiple Sclerosis
Paralysis
Arthritis
Loss or damage of limbs
Accessibility Standards
Not surprisingly, accessibility standards have been created to ensure that all e-learners can access online learning materials equally as needed. In the United States, one of the most commonly used standards is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
WCAG was created to set the standard for making web content more accessible to all learners, especially e-learning courses. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which focuses on developing open web standards, maintains the WCAG. The WCAG standards are optional best practices and vital for e-learning developers who want to build accessible courses.
According to WCAG standards, eLearning content must be:
Perceivable
Operable
Understandable
Robust
Blockchain and Accessibility
Blockchain and crypto are entering education, and there is no denying the incredible benefits they will bring. One thing to look forward to with this new technology in online education is accessibility.
Lessons and Courses
One of the many benefits of blockchain technology in the education sector is smart-contract capability. That means that lessons and courses can be programmed into the blockchain that is executed only once a student has met the necessary conditions, allowing learners at all levels to advance at their own pace.
Storing Files
It’s worth mentioning that having different accessibility options for particular courses can take up a significant amount of file storage space, which is already a constant struggle with educators and institutions.
Rather than purchasing expensive and access-limiting cloud storage, institutions can move towards blockchain-based cloud storage services to allow their accessibility courses to be accessed much easier by educators and learners across the globe.
ryco.io and Accessibility
At ryco.io, we focus on developing eLearning courses and applications for businesses and schools worldwide that are accessible to all learners, following WCAG. We seamlessly integrate data and learning analytics to focus on social and emotional development among students of all learning needs.
Articulate 360
To build some of the interactives within the ryco.io courses, we use an authoring tool called Articulate 360. While you may not be familiar with the company name, Articulate is responsible for building online training apps for all 100 Fortune 100 companies.
Rather than using traditional programs, like PowerPoint and Word Documents, Articulate is completely transforming how the world learns. Their award-winning authoring apps develop custom and interactive courses formatted for any learning device and learner.
Articulate 360 has the following programs that create courses that all support WCAG:
Final Thoughts
Creating eLearning content is one thing, but ensuring that all learners can genuinely comprehend that material is another. ryco.io takes careful consideration when drawing inspiration from the origins of basic human drives that blend seamlessly with technology applications to create online content that is both applicable and fun for everyday life.