The best thing about the online classes and the e-Learning platforms is that these can be accessed from anywhere and a person can independently use them. The study material, as well as the teachers, are online available and accessible. The accessibility of a platform means the ease of use it provides to its users independent of their physical ability. But if the learners find it difficult to access the online course or the e-Learning platform, that is specially created for them, it would be the biggest turn off for them as well as for you too.

The user is behind the computer screen, and you are never aware of their physical abilities. On an average, one out five learners have some sort of disability that can be related to their sight, hearing or some other type. So while designing an e-Learning platform or an online course, you need to consider all the necessary factors that will make your e-Learning platform accessible for every type of users. Your main motive has to be to provide the best user-experience to your end-user, and a wrongly designed platform can be an obstacle between you and your goal.

There are various online tools that are helpful in determining the accessibility level of your platform. But first, you must analyse whether you need to make your e-Learning platform accessible for the industry-standard or under the law. When you are creating a content that is going to be accessed by hundreds of people online, it has to be following the guidelines made by your country’s government. Like in Canada, you need to follow the Accessibility of Ontarians with Disabilities Law (ADA), and in Europe, you must meet the standards of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

The elements that contribute to a good accessible e-Learning content:

Great Visuals: A good design includes great visuals that are informative, easy to understand and engages the end user well.

Well Structured Information: The data has to be organised in a manner that the user need not to struggle to find a specific piece of information on the screen. Try not to overload a page and clutter the content.

Good Colour Contrast: Instead of using flashy and bold colours try to set a contrast between dark and light shades such that the user does not feel the strain on their eyes and can engage with the content well.

Following are the major designing tips that can help you create an accessible e-Learning platform and offer your audience the best possible user experience:

Imagine Yourself as the Learner: This is the best way to get the best output from your work. If you consider yourself as the learner, you will be able to conclude all the requirements that a real learner may have. Though you need to research for the needs of a learner, taking the place of a learner will also help you to a greater extent.

Organised the Content Well: To organise the content well, you need to code the platform well using the right HTML tags. Like, instead of formatting and highlighting a simple text into a heading, simply go for the heading tags (H1-H6) to write the heading and separate two sections. Likewise, use the button tags for creating next and back buttons, make use of bullet tag (UL) to represent the list, table tag for creating a data table, etc. If you use those HTML tags in the right way, the content is organised automatically and is even more accessible for people. Also, always use the fonts that are more readable.

Present Content In Multiple Ways: So there are multiple reasons for a learner to go for a single type of information. Like some of the learners would want to watch a video whereas others may want to read it. So whenever you put a video course, try to put subtitles along with the video. Also, if the content is in the audio format, don’t forget to include the transcript for the same. For the images, you can add a related description for the image in its alt tag and give it a caption. You should also include a small description with the other visual elements like the infographics, GIFs, and animations, etc. This description can be both in audio and writing format.

Take Care of the Means of Interaction: There are chances that not all the users that are using your e-Learning platform are able to use the mouse properly, so the keyboard has to be always there for them, with all the shortcut keys for navigation and other operations. The video and the audio players that you are using on the platform should also be accessible through the keyboard. It is always better to allow the user to access the course content through a keyboard rather than making them do the complex drag and drop functions with the mouse.

Provide Access to Assistance: Most importantly, you need to add assistance to every e-Learning content on your LMS, such that with every difficulty, the user can get instant help. The help can be through adding audio with the text, that can read the text word to word for the learner, or a help desk, which the user can contact through live chat, email or even through a phone call.

Along with all these factors, consider the words you are using for labelling various elements on your course. For example, the navigation buttons, write next and previous on the buttons instead of using arrows on them. Also, use a descriptive name for the links, like ‘Select this link to find out more’ instead of writing ‘Click Here’ on a link.

So these were the major tips and tricks that can help you make your LMS accessible for every type of learners.

Xornor Technologies is one of the top e-Learning web development companies in India that possess vast experience and extensive skills for building accessible e-Learning platforms. So if you are also planning to build an LMS for your organisation, get in touch with us to get a free consultation.