Overcoming Accessibility Challenges: An Introduction

Foreword

When developing courses, certain regulations may require you to comply with the Web-Accessibility standards. The scope of this post is not to outline these standards, but to sensitize you to the significance of ensuring that your courses (Web-based and Instructor-led) are accessible by most learners.

Introduction

Try to recall your previous visit to a mall. Can you recall a ramp adjacent to normal stairs at the entrance?  Its purpose is to enable wheelchairs to easily move into the mall. It is a government regulation to ensure that all offices and major buildings are accessible to everyone. In addition, buildings have stripes on glass walls to help individuals with limited visibility stay off the walls and getting hurt. So, such modifications in the building architecture help in making it physically accessible to the entire population and ensuring fair treatment.

Now, why am I referring such information on an Instructional Design blog? Well, the relation is pretty simple. You visit a mall to buy something, which every individual is entitled to do. It is responsibility of the mall owners to ensure:

• Fair treatment for the entire population by providing proper physical access
• Increase the number of people who can access their facility
• Compliance with government regulations

Similarly, if a user buys your course for learning, it is necessary to ensure that they can easily view and understand your course. In case you are wondering why would an individual with an impaired visibility or hearing disability take my course, then think again. In today’s day and age, almost all multinational organizations claim to be equal-opportunity employers. Hence, as a part of their social responsibility, they hire individuals from all backgrounds. So, if you design a course for your organization or your client, you must check whether the customer wants you to ensure web-accessibility in your WBT or other training material.

If my guess is right, then you are thinking about extreme cases of accessibility; that is, blindness or deafness. However, some common disabilities, such as Color Blindness, may impact the learning of your courses more gravely and frequently. For example, it is reported that around 1 in 20 men and 1 in 200 women could be affected with color blindness.

Different types of disabilities exist. Various sources refer to the disabilities differently. However, they all can be classified into three main categories:

1. Physical or functional: These are disabilities caused due to zero or limited functionality of certain human organs. For example, blindness, dyslexia, deafness, dumbness, or learning disability. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has laid out certain guidelines that help you to overcome some of the challenges posed by these disabilities. I cannot guarantee that following those guidelines will ensure 100% accessible course, but it is recommended that you follow the guidelines to minimize issues and save your backside from your client’s flak.  
2. Conditional or technical: These disabilities include blockages arising in learning due to temporary events. For example, disturbance due to noise from a loudspeaker in the learning premises, your learners have worked 60 hours in the week of training, or there is no Internet connectivity when the learner wants to take a WBT. You may not be able to control most of these disabilities during a Web-based training. However, you might be able to exert some control during an Instructor-led training. For example, in case the learners are tired, you may have some fun-games to pep-up their mood, and give more frequent coffee breaks. In addition, you can cancel the disability arising due to external noise with proper classroom design.
3. Cognitive: This disability indicates below-average intellectual functioning of learners. This condition is also categorized as a learning disability. In addition, it indicates below-average ability to process information. Hence, if your target audience includes many learners with such disabilities, ensure that your training is slow-paced. In addition, I will not recommend web-based training modality for such target audience. Instructor-led training seem best for such audiences.

 

 

How to Overcome Disabilities?

Overcoming all disabilities might be out-of-scope for all organizations as they function under stringent budgets. However, here are some tips that can help you ensure basic accessibility compliance:

• Provide textual description for non-text elements: Screen-reading software cannot read content of images. Hence, to ensure that visually-impaired learners have access to your content, include text describing non-text elements like flash or images.  
• Color may not be differentiating: As outlined above on this page, color blindness is one of the most common visual impairments. Hence, avoid using colors to distinguish between various terms. This doesn’t mean that you should develop everything in grayscale, but I recommend you to design elements such that they convey accurate information even when viewed in grayscale.
• Identify language changes: There can be two major consequences of not identifying language changes:
  1. Screen-reading software output may confuse learners
  2. Learners with limited cognitive abilities may be confused
• Avoid screen flickering for effects or highlight: A flickering screen may deviate learners’ attention. In addition, flashing or flickering screen effects can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy.
• Use simple English: During the medieval age, Latin was considered to be a language of high-society in Italy. However, Galileo, the Italian physicist, did not write his first book in Latin. He wrote his first book in Italian to maximize his reach to the population. So, if Galileo can do it, why can’t you? You language competence will not be doubted if you write a course in an easy-to-understand and simple English. However, its only side effect could mean better understanding by target audience and hence there will be more people with your level of knowledge .
• Run manual and automated accessibility test: There are various tools available in the market that run automated accessibility tests. However, you cannot entirely rely on their results. The best way to test the accessibility is to have a pilot test of the courses with physically challenged and normal learners.

The following table highlights some tips to help you to overcome some basic accessibility challenges.

Challenge	Tip
Blind learners	Run a test with disabled learners and screen-reading software. You may close your eyes and try to learn with the audio. In addition, ensure that your course can be navigated using keyboard controls and do have an audio piece explaining the controls.
Deaf learners	Ensure that you have all the necessary content on screen for the learners to read.
Mute learners	Involve them in activities that require writing against discussion during classroom training. Provide them with time to write and share their points when they are in a group of normal individuals.
Cognitively challenged learners	Design slow-paced course and try to give personal attention to as many learners as you can. In addition, try to have more visual components as they may help you gain their attention and help learners retain information.
Color blind learners	Avoid using colors to distinguish between various terms. This doesn’t mean that you should develop everything in grayscale, but I recommend you to design elements such that they convey accurate information even when viewed in grayscale.
Tired learners	Have classroom games and activities to ensure a relaxed learning environment. Best strategy would be to change the training schedule. However, businesses may not allow any changes to the schedule. Hence, encourage discussion, activities, and give more coffee breaks. In addition, if you are conducting a training spread across several days, reduce the coverage on the first day and cover major topics when learners return (relaxed) for the remaining training.
Know-it-all learners	Provide them with opportunities to present their knowledge.

Articulate Screenr Review

Articulate has just launched Screenr, a free screencasting (video capturing) tool. Screenr allows you to create simulations and screen-capture videos, which are somewhat similar to Adobe Captivate. Here are some pros and cons of the tool.

Pros

• It’s free
• Allows you to record movies (videos in MP4 format) that can be published and viewed on: Your blog, Iphone, MP4 video players, facebook, tweeter, and Articulate Studio 09 published courses
• Allows recording on Mac or Windows PC
• Plays recorded videos on Youtube or any other site on Web
• Does not require any application install (can be launched from the web)
• Allows you to include a live commentary/narration
• Provides four pre-set capture sizes: 720×540, 854×480, 980×560, and Full Screen; you may drag and resize the recording frame based on your requirements to any screen size
• Allows you to specify the source of audio
• Allows you to download the recorded MP4 files (without branding)

Cons

• Has a recording duration limit set to 5 minutes
• Does not allow you to add captions to movies
• Does not allow you to edit videos after recording

Considering a long list of pros, the cons may be sidelined. However, the tool may not be suitable for developing application simulations similar to Adobe Captivate as Screenr does not allow you to add captions. So, Screenr may be used for small recordings for courses, blogs, or tweets, but it is certainly not a replacement for Adobe Captivate.

Here are some Screenr videos for you.

• How to insert Screenr MP4 files into an elearning course
• Screenr video embedded in a slide using the web object feature
• Insert video in your blogs

Source of videos: Rapid Elearning Blog and Screenr.com

Seeing is Learning: Some Visualization Tips

ThE rEaSoN I aM sTaRtInG tHiS bLoG iN sUcH a MaNnEr Is To InDiCaTe ThE sIgNiFiCaNcE oF vIsUaLiZaTiOn.

My apologies if reading the above line has irritated you and thanks for continuing to read this blog.

Significance of Proper Presentation

If you were irritated while reading the above line, then just imagine how learners or readers might feel if they see an unorganizaed presentation or a course. Of course, you will not write any course, article, or a presentation with such alternating capitalization, but the point I am driving to is: “It is not only the content of your course that matters in learning, but the way it is presented also matters”.

A heap of marble and gem stones lying on the bed of Yamuna river cannot be compared to Taj Mahal. Similarly, you cannot put all the content together in a PowerPoint and term it as a course. Random heaps of information are easily available on the Internet. So, if some customer is paying to take a course, then they would want to see something with structure, logic, and clear and relevant presentation. Just as you won’t pay to see a heap of marble and gems, customers would not want to pay for random information heaps. However, as you will not mind paying to see the Taj Mahal, which is made from marble and gems, your customers would also not mind paying for a course that meets its objectives.

Hence, ensure that your course look great, contains relevant content, and is enabling for the learners. So, in this blog, let’s discover some key aspects about visualization and why is it important, as an ID, to focus on enhancing the visual appeal of your courses.

Gagne Events and Visualization

Gagne’s first Event recommends us to gain learners’ attention. The most important points that may help you achieve this are:

• Inform learners about what’s in the course for them. If you read a book, watch a movie, or play a game, then these activities must interest you or you expect to gain from these activities. Similarly, when your learners take your course, they’d expect to gain some knowledge or be able to perform new tasks. So, you need to design your restraunt’s (course’s) menu such that your target customers (learners) see what they want to eat (learn).
• Include real-life scenarios. This idea is now overkilled in the industry, so I am not detailing much about it. However, when including a scenario, ensure that the scenario is relevant and syncs with the real-life problems that your target audience face. Audience analysis is the key to designing relevant and useful scenarios. Design scenarios around problems that your audience has, which you are trying to address with your course. Just don’t have scenarios for the sake of having them.
• Use graphics, visuals, animations, and screen layouts that are relevant and appealing to your target audience group. If you are designing a course for an adult and corporate audience, have a clutter-free layout. Don’t include disney-like graphics, images, and scenario characters. Whereas, if your target audience includes school kids, disney-like characters and learning games would be “in.”

 

From the three attention-gaining tips mentioned above, most of us generally focus on getting the first two aspects of a course. However, if you are honest with yourself, you will realize that you don’t achieve 100% excellence in either scenario creation or what’s in a course for the learners (the first two points). The consequences of such course design are: a frustrated lead reviewer and may be a frustrated client. So, if this is the state of the aspects that we focus on the most, just imagine the level of improvement required in visualization and courses’ aesthetic design. That is, we need to focus much more on the visualization aspect of our courses.

So, where to look for information on visualization? How could you avoid your learner getting irate as you did while reading the first line of this blog? Well, as far as basic tips are concerned, don’t go anywhere except for continue reading. Here are some tips to aid your design and layout enhancements.

Long Live Microsoft Office

SmartArt Dialogue Box

Microsoft Office 2007 offers excellent presentation capabilities. For example, the new Smart Art feature provides you with several ways to present content and information visually. You can access SmartArt through the Insert tab on Microsoft Office 2007 Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. The SmartArt feature offers ready-to-use visual diagrams for lists, processes, cycle, hierarchy, relationship, matrix, and pyramid. In addition, if you want to visually represent data, Microsoft Office offers easy-to-insert graphs.

Use Comics

You might have a scenario in most of your courses, but just to break the pattern of having monotonous text and graphic screens, use comic strips to convey the required information or highlight a particular tip. You don’t need to read a thesis to accept that we (human) enjoy reading comic strips. Since ages, news papers have always had sections on comic strips, which are loved by readers. So, why can’t we leverage the human affinity towards comics to aid learning?

Leverage Comparative Nature of Human Brain

Use Comparative Diagrams

Human brain classifies and processes feelings and information based on its past experience. So, just to add an experential touch to learning, display comparative data. For example, you can use bar charts to display comparision of product sales across years. In addition, you may help learners realize their level of learning by displaying their pre-test and post-test scores.

While using such comparative diagrams, ensure that you:

• Have comparative graphical instances next to each other
• Avoid referring to graphics and examples that are included on some other screens and have been referred to in a topic that does not align with the flow of present topic

Use Graphic to Display Cause and Effect

Use charts, block diagrams, or any other visualization items to display cause and effect as it aids visual recall of the cause and effect relationship.

Use Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is an excellent tool to design and create graphics and interactions based on your requirements. However, you must have thorough knowledge of Adobe Flash as it is a fairly complex tool. Most organizations have flash experts who excel in flash interaction development.

Closing Notes

Visualization is a vast topic that can’t be summarized in one blog. I will continue to add to this post or create a new post when I learn more about visualization. However, for the present moment, when visualizing information, ensure that your graphics and layouts are:

• Not cluttered
• Not redundant
• Add value to learning
• Aid retention and recall
• Not too demanding to create
• Possible to create within the scope and budget of your project
• Functionally approved by you client (for flash objects)

Please comment if you like/dislike this post and also if you have some more tips to share.

Being Consistently Inconsistent

Recall the time when you had started your career as an Instructional Designer or when you were inducting and leading a fresh graduate into your Instructional Design team. In the first case, you might have been drilled by your lead (reviewer) to demonstrate a consistent writing style. In the second case, you might’ve drilled your resource to be consistent with their writing. Traditionally consistency and Instructional Design in the corporate sector have been the great buddies. It is norm that a course, which is consistent, is a good course. However, the belief that being consistent leads to a good course is a myth.

“What? How the hell can a course be effective if it is inconsistent? You’ve lost it!”

Calm down my friend. I didn’t mean inconsistent in a literal sense. I accept and understand consistency for certain aspects of writing. For example, you just can’t deviate from the standards that define the way you should write abbreviations at their first occurence or whether to follow American or U.K. english. However, you should never stop yourself from being inconsistent in cases that will help the course:

• Gain and retain learners’ attention
• Enhance content retention
• Meet learning and business objectives of the course
• Enhance the course’s appearance
• Facilitate knowledge transfer
• Reduce the thickness of the Student Guide or pages in a Web-based Training

  

Exploring Inconsistency in Detail

Considering the present economic turmoil, organizations and individuals are cutting down their learning expenses. So, when they make an investment with your organization to develop or provide learning, you must ensure that the training meets the learning and business needs of the client. In addition, the client would want each of their participant to gain maximum knowledge from your training and result in better on-job performance. A client would not appreciate if they don’t realize a measurable Return On Training Investment (ROTI). Hence, to retain existing customers and win new ones, you must continuously innovate and break the realms of limitations (consistency) caused by:

• Restricting innovation by mandatory templatization
• Referring to the same pool of ideas
• Reusing strategies successful in previous courses
• Discouraging new suggestions

 

In the adjacent comic strip, two instructional designers, with different perspectives, are discussiing the way in which courses need to be developed. One instructional designer has developed a course that is significantly different from the previous courses on the organization.

Learner Types and Being Inconsistent

Types of learners can be classified into the following three categories:

1. Visual learners
2. Audatory learner
3. Kinaesthetic learners

When you design and develop a course, could you be sure the type of learners who will take the training? Or, will you design a course for a particular learner type? The answer to both the questions is a big NO. You can never limit your design to meet the needs of a particular learner type. Hence, you, either conciously or unconciously, must design a course that is neutral to learner types. To achieve this, you have to be inconsistent in your approaches. For example, during an Instructor-led training, if the trainer presentation includes nice visuals, but no demonstrations or practice sessions, you miss out on teaching kinastheitic learners.

So, you just cannot limit the scope of your courses by saying, “It is our standard to have a maximum of one demonstration during the training. The client won’t pay for the extra effort that we will put in to include three additional demonstrations.”

In such situations, you must help the client realize that additional demonstrations might increase the development cost by (say) 20%, but if we don’t include additional demonstrations, then we are most likely to waste the remaining 80% of the investment and effort.

Moral of the Story

So, moral of the story is:

• Encourage innovation in your organization. You may wish to
• Do what is best to meet the training needs. Clients pay a significant amount of money for a training. They will not mind shelling out some additional bucks if it helps in adding significant value to the training.
• Organize knowledge sharing sessions in which employees share the innovative strategies that they have used in a course.
• Run competitions where employees are free to develop courses on topics of their liking. Such competitions could be the best form of bringing out innovative ideas from employees as they would be free to apply their innovation.