Learning and development has evolved with the growth of the internet. It’s allowed us to create and deliver educational content in a way that has never been done before—including the way we design our content.
But design goes beyond aesthetics: it should have a clear purpose that resonates with an intended audience. It should also be accessible to the majority of people.
Online materials are no different. They should clearly convey a message in a way that most people can easily understand. And with 1 in 5 people in Australia with a disability, it’s more important than ever to create courses, training, social media posts, and other online materials that are accessible to all.
Accessibility is a legal requirement, too. Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA), any individual or organisation developing a website or web resource should aim to reasonably provide equal access for people with disability.
Equal access is also a human right. Articles 4 and 21 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) state that people with disability should have access to the internet and new information and communication technologies and exercise their right to do so freely.
However, despite training raising awareness about people with disability, there is still a lack of clarity around accessibility requirements.
Generally, most organisations follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, an internationally-recognised standard to make web content more accessible to people with disability.
Under these guidelines, online materials must be:
etrainu adheres to these standards in our own work, and in this article, we’ll delve into the five essential rules we use for designing accessible content and training materials.
Colour plays a significant role in design. It grabs your audience’s attention and makes your content look aesthetically pleasing.
But, it can also pose challenges for those with vision impairments.
To ensure accessibility, it's crucial to maintain a sufficient contrast between text and background colours, e.g. dark backgrounds with light text/logos or vice versa.
Imagine you're designing a webpage with light grey text on a white background. This low contrast would make reading difficult for people with visual impairments. Instead, opt for a darker text colour on a lighter background to meet accessibility standards.
Colour can sometimes be limiting when it comes to conveying information. That’s why it’s essential to have a good font size to ensure readability and comprehension.
Use a standard font size of around 16pt or larger in your designs. Larger text is not only easier for individuals with vision impairments but also benefits everyone by making content more readable.
It's important to remember that what might seem like a small font to you could be a barrier for others.
Alt text, short for alternative text, is essential for making images and graphics accessible.
When an image cannot be seen, alt text provides a text description of that image, making it accessible to screen readers and ensuring that everyone can understand its content.
You do not necessarily need to describe the image itself; you can also describe its purpose, e.g. a diagram of the respiratory system.
In the digital age, video is a heavily consumed content medium. To make videos accessible, use closed captions or open captions (captions that are always visible) and ensure they are included in the video. Automatic captions are a start, but they can be inaccurate.
In addition to captions, consider providing transcripts if possible, especially for longer videos. Transcripts help those who prefer reading or may have difficulty following audio content. Also, indicating who is speaking can be beneficial when multiple speakers are involved.
Accessibility isn't just about the individual design bits and pieces. It's also about how the whole process flows and whether it makes sense to your audience.
So, when you're putting your content together:
Learning and development and other online resources should always be designed to be as accessible as possible.
By following these five standard rules—colour contrast, font size and readability, alt text, captions, and logical flow—you can create content that resonates with your audience and ensures everyone can access and benefit from your training materials.
To help you follow these guidelines, download our Accessibility Checklist.
Remember, accessibility benefits everyone.
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