E-learning ideas

Digital accessibility is a large need in society to address, but it’s not just web, app or software developers who can do this, we can all contribute towards make the digital world a more inclusive place.

There are many simple digital accessibility principles we can all easily apply that can help to prevent barriers to those who have disabilities. More importantly these principles make life easier for everyone using digital content.

Nowadays the digital environment holds as much relevance to everyone’s daily life as the physical environment.

Let’s look at what we understand about accessibility in the physical environment. There are many examples where accessibility principles have been applied that benefit everyone, not just those with disabilities.

We’ve all seen curb drops, or most well known as kerb cuts. That bit of pavement that slopes gradually down to the road, often nowadays with a tactile surface.

This of course benefits those in wheelchairs, the tactile bumps help the blind and for those not steady on their feet they avoid a step change.

But it also benefits those with prams, pushchairs, wheeled suitcases, bicycles and skateboards.

This is known as universal design because it thinks about designing for the needs of everyone in society.

In the digital world there are similar examples.

Accessibility features can also be put in place in digital content, these too can benefit everyone and meet a wide range of needs. Take for example video captions.

#Use text on handout#

This is just one example of many simple things we can do to make digital content more inclusive.

Universal design comes from the social model of disability.

Let’s look at what that means:

The medical model of disability sees the barriers of a person’s disability as the cause that prevents them being able to participate, do or access something.

The social model sees the barriers in society that prevent someone being able to participate, do or access something.

Take for example the kerb cut.

Without the kerb cut someone in a wheelchair may not be able to get off and on a pavement to cross the road safely. Therefor under the medical model it’s the person’s disability and the fact they are in a wheelchair that is the problem.

The social model sees the situation differently.

In the social model, society designs and creates an environment where everyone can equally cross the road. Therefore it’s the curb cut that prevents the barrier, because without it some people are excluded.

This is also true of things like ramped entrances on building, automatic doors and ????.

Just like the curb cut, in our digital world there are many examples of small things we can all do that can make content more equal for a range of people. This could be because someone has a hearing impairment, low vision, blindness or even cognitive impairments.

Let’s look at these one by one. Some are simple tips that could be used straight away and others might take a few minutes to practice and learn, but all of them can start to make a difference to a whole range of people across our society.

When you consider around 1 in 5 people have some form of disability or impairment, and the fact we have a growing aging population that may see these numbers rise, learning these small changes could have a very big impact.

Let’s start with some very simple tips:

Colour contrast 

Hashtags 

Emojis

Links

Captions

Transcripts

Use of images

Clear language and fonts

Headings

Reading order

Tables

Accessibility checkers

After this e-learning there will likely be many examples of digital or information accessibility you will notice. 

People make digital and online content, posters, signage and packaging all the time.

Hopefully as more and more people become aware of the impact and barriers these might cause, we should see a more inclusive approach to the world of digital we now live in.