The Digital Accessibility Curriculum: A Guide to Creating Accessible Online Learning Environments
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Online learning has become increasingly popular in the last few years. Because of the increasing digitalization, educational institutions have a responsibility to provide accessible online learning resources. Below, we’ll delve into how to enhance accessibility to online learning environments and which features are a necessity for learners with disabilities.
Education has changed in the last few years. Traditional methods of teaching — ones that rely heavily on printed materials and in-class instruction — have been supplemented with online learning. The tech-driven revolution has transferred learning into a dynamic, virtual experience, giving learners the ability to learn anytime, anywhere, and from any device.
Yet, many online learning platforms and resources are not accessible to students, faculty, or family members with disabilities. This leaves many learners cut off from valuable educational opportunities — something educational institutions have the responsibility to remediate.
From eliminating accessibility barriers to creating inclusive content, the goal is to make education available to everyone, no matter where they are or what devices they use. After all, in this digital classroom, no learner should be left behind; everyone deserves a seat at the virtual desk.
Below, we’ll dive into what digital accessibility in education is, why it matters, the legal requirements for digital accessibility, and how you can enhance accessibility around your online learning resources.
Digital Accessibility 101
Digital accessibility is the design and development of digital experiences, including websites, mobile apps, and electronic documents, in a way that’s usable by everyone, specifically those with disabilities.
The process centers on creating digital environments that accommodate various disabilities, including visual, auditory, motor, cognitive, and neurological. The main goal of digital accessibility is to remove online barriers to digital content and ensure everyone can access and engage with it effectively.
Examples of Digital Accessibility in Education
To help you understand what digital accessibility is, let’s look at an example.
Individuals with auditory disabilities, such as deafness or hard of hearing, may be unable to listen to online lectures, explanatory videos, or other multimedia content without using captions or transcripts. Using these features turns a valuable learning resource from being inaccessible to accessible. Captions aren’t just beneficial for those with auditory impairments — learners with situational disabilities, like being in a noisy environment, also benefit from the feature.
Another example is ensuring your digital learning platforms are compatible with assistive technologies like screen readers. Individuals with visual impairments — like blindness or low vision — may not be able to see educational material without the use of these devices. Ensuring your digital content is compatible with these devices creates a more seamless experience for screen reader users and allows them to continue their learning journey.
For more examples of website accessibility, check out our post, ‘10 Web Principles to Increase Accessibility.
Why Digital Accessibility Matters in Educational Settings: A Lesson in Inclusivity
As educators continue to use online learning resources, they must ensure these resources are accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities. Doing so empowers students, staff, and family members to enjoy a seamless learning experience.
Providing equal access to online learning is just one of the reasons why digital accessibility matters. Some additional reasons include:
Ace Legal Requirements
Making online learning resources more accessible enriches learners' educational experience and protects your educational institution from legal accessibility requirements. Legal accessibility requirements include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the European Accessibility Act (EAA), and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
Recent updates to Title II of the ADA, in particular, affect public educational institutions. The new Title II guidelines require state and local government programs and services—including public schools—to comply with ADA accessibility guidelines. These efforts involve adhering to accessibility standards included in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Failure to do so may result in legal action, such as lawsuits or demand letters, against your educational institution.
Keeps the Classroom Doors Open
Accessible digital content ensures all students, as well as faculty, staff, and family members, have equal access to digital resources and learning opportunities. Because online platforms and digital tools play such a critical role in education, these resources must be designed to be accessible, inclusive, and usable by everyone, including those with disabilities. Additionally, by committing to accessibility, you ensure every student, regardless of their abilities or needs, can engage fully with online courses or digital content, participate in the digital classroom, and achieve their academic goals.
Unlocks Learners’ Full Academic Potential
Creating accessible online learning environments plays a key role in helping learners with disabilities reach their full potential. For example, digital tools like Microsoft’s Immersive Reader allow students to customize their reading formats. This allows learners to improve their reading skills and comprehension and meet their unique learning goals.
Additional tools from Microsoft, including Math Assistant, Closed Captioning, and Translator, also allow learners to customize their online learning experience, enabling both learners and instructors to create a more accessible, supportive classroom environment. Ultimately, this helps learners to meet their unique learning goals and continue on their learning journey.
Your Lesson Plan for Digital Accessibility
With the benefits of digital accessibility in mind, let’s look at how to bring accessibility into your online learning spaces.
Ensure Assistive Technology Compatibility
As mentioned above, many learners with disabilities rely on the use of assistive technologies, like screen readers or text-to-speech software, to navigate and interact with online course content. Ensuring your online learning resources are compatible with these devices provides a more seamless experience for these users. To test compatibility, consider using screen readers such as NVDA or JAWS.
Test for Keyboard Navigation
To conform with WCAG standards, your educational content must be navigable only by keyboard. Learners with physical disabilities may rely only on keyboard commands or shortcuts to use digital content. Adding focus indicators and shortcuts helps to enhance usability for these learners and create a better experience.
Use Headers Appropriately
The appropriate use of headers improves navigation for both assistive technology and keyboard users. Put simply, they act as landmarks that enable efficient navigation through online learning content, allowing learners to find relevant sections quickly. For example, headers that follow the H1, H2, H3, etc. order help learners with cognitive disabilities break down learning content into more manageable chunks, making it easier to understand and follow. It also helps screen reader users “see” how content is broken down.
Include Audio and Video Captions
Videos or audio-only content are commonly used in educational settings. For learners with disabilities, particularly auditory disabilities, they may be unable to interact with this content without closed captions or transcripts. Be sure the videos and audio content you provide include accurate captions or transcripts, as this ensures learners with disabilities can still get the information.
Keep Language Simple
The number of students with a cognitive disability or impairment — such as ADHD or autism — is growing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 7 million (11.4%) of U.S. children between 3-17 years have been diagnosed with ADHD. Using clear, simple language helps students with cognitive disabilities stay focused on the content and creates a more accessible user experience.
Make Online Documents or Forms Accessible
Many online documents or resources come in the form of a PDF or downloadable document. These documents, as well as forms, need to be accessible. Ensure these documents are designed with learners with disabilities in mind and include features like assistive technology compatibility and properly labeled form fields. Making these documents accessible gives learners easy access to critical information and ensures they can continue their learning journey.
Include Clear Error Messages
Learners are bound to make mistakes. However, for learners with disabilities, correcting errors and moving on to the next task can be difficult. When error messages are clear and understandable, they help learners with disabilities easily navigate and resolve issues. For example, visually impaired users who use screen readers can quickly benefit from error messages when they highlight where the error occurred, why, and how they can correct it. Similarly, those with cognitive disabilities need straightforward language to understand how to address errors effectively.
Add Alt Text
Non-text content — such as graphs, tables, charts, or images — is often used in educational settings. However, if these elements don’t include alt text (also known as alternative text), individuals with disabilities may be unable to interact with them, causing them to miss important contextual information. Alt text provides that missing information by giving screen readers a clear, descriptive sentence of what’s included in the image or chart. This ensures learners don’t miss out on important information.
Ensure Good Color Contrast
Sufficient color contrast improves the readability of online learning content. Following WCAG’s recommendation to provide a color contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 7:1 for larger text ensures learners have enough contrast to distinguish between various elements. Good color contrast is especially beneficial for users with low vision or color blindness. Consider using a color contrast checker to provide that balance.
Provide Adequate Text Size
Similar to providing good color contrast, be sure you provide learners with appropriate text sizes for educational content. At a minimum, ensure your text is adjustable and large enough to be read by learners with visual impairments. Giving learners the ability to increase or decrease text size can drastically improve their learning experience and ensure they don’t miss any educational content.
How Digital Accessibility Enriches Learners
Everyone — regardless of their abilities — has the right to access educational content and tools. Making digital content accessible to all learners ensures individuals can engage with materials effectively. Below, we’ll take a closer look at how an accessible online learning environment benefits learners with various disabilities.
Physical Disabilities
Learners who have physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or a spinal cord injury, may have limited dexterity or motor skills, making it difficult or impossible to navigate online content in the traditional way. Including accessibility features such as assistive technology compatibility or accessible forms ensures users can still access and use online learning materials.
Auditory Disabilities
As mentioned above, learners with auditory disabilities may be unable to fully engage with video or audio content without captions or transcripts. Providing deaf or hard-of-hearing learners with these features ensures they don’t miss out on important educational information and can continue learning.
Visual Disabilities
Enhancing digital accessibility for learners with visual disabilities or impairments (including blindness, low vision, or color blindness) helps them perceive and understand information. Increasing assistive technology compatibility, adding alt text, and providing good color contrast all make the learning experience more seamless for these learners.
Cognitive Disabilities
Learners with cognitive disabilities such as ADHD, autism, or executive function challenges can better understand, focus on, and engage with online content when it’s accessible. For example, the appropriate use of headers helps learners understand the main ideas and how subtopics are organized. Clear, simple language also helps students with dyslexia better read and understand text.
Ultimately, providing accessible content to learners with disabilities allows you to create a more equitable learning environment. This also helps students reach their full potential and achieve their unique academic goals.
Graduate to a More Accessible Online Experience with AudioEye
With online learning expected to continue in the future, educational institutions have a responsibility to create accessible, inclusive learning environments. Doing so not only helps you meet accessibility laws but also creates a more equitable learning environment for learners of all abilities.
With AudioEye, building this accessible learning environment is easier than ever. The process starts with a free accessibility scan, which highlights where common accessibility issues exist in your digital content. From here, we use our Automated Accessibility Platform to find and fix these common issues automatically. AudioEye then goes a step further — supplementing our automated testing with expert testing that dives deep into your digital content to identify more complex accessibility issues. They provide insightful recommendations on how to remediate these issues and create an accessible online learning experience.
Ready to get started on your accessibility journey? Use our accessibility scanner below to see how accessible your current content is. Or schedule a demo to see what more AudioEye can do.
To learn more about what accessibility features your online learning materials should have, check out our Back-to-School Digital Accessibility Checklist.
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