The Importance of Accessibility in E-Learning

What do curb cuts have to do with online accessibility guidelines?

As you take a stroll or cross the street in your neighborhood, you might pass over a curb cut without giving it a second thought. These sidewalk mini-ramps were designed to make it easier and safer for everyone to traverse city streets. 

Whether you’re using a mobility device, pushing a stroller, riding a bicycle, or walking through heavy snow, curb cuts make streets safer for everyone. The “curb cut effect” is a phenomenon where efforts and policies designed to increase equity benefit entire societies—not just the people who require those accommodations.

In the digital world, and e-learning in particular, the curb cut effect is just as powerful. For example, hearing and sighted people use elements like closed captioning, and text-to-speech applications are widely used by both visually impaired people and those with sensory impairments. These tools can make it easier and more convenient for all people to consume and digest information while increasing equity for a significant portion of the population. 

In this piece, we’ll explore the importance of accessibility in e-learning and the key features to focus on. For more tactics and insights, get our Accessible E-Learning Checklist

What is accessible e-learning?

Accessible e-learning is the practice of designing digital learning experiences that everyone can use, regardless of ability. That means learners can navigate, interact with, and benefit from your learning content, whether they experience visual, auditory, motor, cognitive, or other disabilities. 

For true accessibility, you have to go beyond basic compliance and create inclusive learning experiences that respect and reflect a wide range of needs. For example, say you have a learning module that includes a video component. To be accessible, it needs to be useful for individuals who can’t hear or see the content. That might include closed captions or providing descriptive audio or transcripts. It also means designing interfaces that work for keyboard-only users or those using screen readers. 

Accessible e-learning cannot be an afterthought. When it’s fundamental to your design, you’ll make learning better for everyone.  

Online learning accessibility laws

In the United States, there are two major federal laws that influence how accessible your online learning content must be: the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act. While both came well before the digital age, they now play a key role in how technology—including e-learning—is developed and delivered today.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Passed in 1990, the ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by public and private entities. While originally focused on physical spaces, its protections now extend to digital environments, including workplace training and online learning platforms. If your e-learning isn’t accessible, you are not only potentially excluding members of your audience, but you may also be violating ADA laws. 

The Rehabilitation Act

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first U.S. law to establish civil rights protections for individuals with disabilities. The following two sections are particularly relevant to e-learning: 

• Section 504 prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in programs or activities that receive federal funding. 
• Section 508 requires that all electronic and information technology used by federal agencies, as well as the organizations working with them, be accessible. 

Together, these sections ensure that digital learning materials are usable by everyone, regardless of ability.

Understanding accessibility requirements and accessible e-learning

Accessibility means designing a learning experience for everyone—not just a single group. This includes people with auditory, visual, mobility, learning, or other disabilities.

These individuals may require additional tools or accommodations to ensure they can access and interact with the e-learning content. Common elements of accessible e-learning include closed captioning, audio narration, screen reading navigation, and alt text for images and videos.

If people with disabilities can’t complete your online learning content—for example, if there’s no way for them to take a final assessment without seeing the text on the screen—your e-learning is not accessible. By making adjustments that consider all learners and their unique needs, you can create effective e-learning content for all your learners, not just a select few.

The benefits of accessibility in e-learning 

The WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and 508 Compliance rules standardize digital accessibility standards. However, meeting a legal requirement for web accessibility is just the tip of the iceberg of accessible e-learning benefits for your business and learners. 

Accessible e-learning means all learners have a greater opportunity to succeed. This includes not only your learners with disabilities but all your learners. For example, adding closed captions or audio descriptions to your courses benefits not only learners with hearing or vision loss but also those who may be taking the course in a loud environment or those who process language visually or auditorily. 

In other words, your efforts toward accessibility amplify the organization’s learning goals by making it easier and more convenient for all learners to participate.

4 ways to design accessible e-learning

Before designing a fully accessible course, familiarize yourself with compliance standards and accessibility requirements, which vary by country, to ensure your content is accessible. Visit our Accessibility Hub for more information.

Because every learner has different needs and accommodation requirements, it’s also crucial to think from various perspectives, center your audience’s needs, and continually adjust as necessary. Next, focus on incorporating the accessibility areas below into your e-learning.

1. Accessible media

Incorporating multimedia content into your e-learning can increase engagement and excitement for learners—but those who can’t access the media lose those benefits. Elements like alt text, closed captions, text narration, and accessible contrast ratio are all crucial for learners who use assistive technologies and add enormous convenience and flexibility for other users.

2. Assistive technologies

Many learners use screen readers to consume and interact with content. Keep the screen reader experience top-of-mind when building e-learning to ensure they can fully participate in courses. 

For example, use text styles to identify headings that break up a course. This can help screen reader users correctly interpret content organized by links, lists, or headings.

3. Keyboard navigation

Keyboard shortcuts and commands are crucial for many learners to navigate content on their devices. Set up your courses so that your learners can perform core functions via keyboard shortcuts, such as turning closed captions on and off, replaying a slide, muting and unmuting audio, and more.

4. Text readability

Course participants may need the ability to change the color, size, font, or line spacing within the course to make it easier to read. Check that they can do so with your e-learning to get the most value out of your material.

Moving beyond web content accessibility guidelines—a rising tide lifts all boats

Few initiatives are more important to your e-learning than those that make your courses accessible for all. By considering the different ways that learners process and interact with digital learning and incorporating those elements into your courses, you can make e-learning more equitable, accessible, and engaging for everyone.

To learn more about accessible e-learning and how to accomplish it with Articulate 360, get our Accessible E-Learning Checklist.