Designing Accessible Learning Content: A Practical Guide to Applying best-practice Accessibility Standards to L&D Resources

Making learning and development (L&D) content inclusive and accessible for everyone is not only a good thing to do, it's the right thing to do. Designing Accessible Learning Content provides evidence-based advice on designing digital learning content that ensures all learners are included and are therefore able to perform to their full potential. This is a practical guide on accessibility for anyone involved in the design, creation, development or testing of online learning content. It provides detailed guidance on how to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines making it essential reading for L&D professionals, instructional designers and course developers who need to comply with legal accessibility requirements. Using the author's 'eLearning Accessibility Framework', Designing Accessible Learning Content demystifies sometimes complex technical accessibility standards and provides an easy to follow contextual framework uniquely designed for learning content created using any authoring tool. This book also demonstrates how creating accessible learning content can improve usability and provide the best possible learning experience for everyone. In addition, it offers essential background information such as a focus on disability, an overview of assistive technology and an exploration of the case for digital accessibility. This guarantees that L&D professionals have the vital background knowledge they need to make sense of accessibility before they begin practically applying the principles. With online checklists, learner case studies, and industry perspectives, Designing Accessible Learning Content is an essential handbook for all L&D professionals seeking to harness the benefits of accessibility in order to improve their learning content for everyone.

Table of Contents:
Chapter - 00: Introduction; Section - Part One: Accessibility fundamentals; Chapter - 01: How to use this book; Chapter - 02: Getting started; Chapter - 03: Exploring disability; Chapter - 04: Designing for assistive technology and impairments; Chapter - 05: The case for digital accessibility; Section - Part Two: Accessibility frameworks; Chapter - 06: The WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) framework; Chapter - 07: The eLa (eLearning accessibility) framework; Section - Part Three: WCAG 2.1 level A and AA accessibility standards; Chapter - 08: Perceivable; Chapter - 09: Operabl; Chapter - 10: Understandable; Chapter - 11: Robust; Section - Part Four: WCAG 2.1 level AAA and WCAG 2.2 draft accessibility standards; Chapter - 12: WCAG 2.1 level AAA accessibility standards; Chapter - 13: WCAG 2.2 draft accessibility standards; Chapter - 14: Conclusion;

About the Author :
Susi Miller is an industry leading expert on accessible learning design and the founder and director of eLaHub (www.elahub.net). She has more than 30 years L&D experience in the public, private and not-for profit sector. She is a skilled instructional designer and online course developer and a passionate advocate for digital accessibility. Her accessible learning content has been shortlisted for the Learning Technologies Awards.

Review :
"Every eLearning designer needs this book on their desk! So much of the accessibility guidance out there is written for programmers and assumes you are creating websites. Finally, we have a resource just for us. This book will save you countless hours of frustratingly confusing research. Susi Miller's masterful reference guide on eLearning accessibility demystifies everything from why accessibility matters all the way down to complying with each individual WCAG standard. Complete with clear language explanations and helpful screen captures, you'll finally have the answers you've been searching for." "This is an invaluable guide for L&D practitioners giving the how and why of making learning content accessible. It brings together an extensive range of resources and practical advice in one place and will likely become a standard work in our field." "Susi Miller combines her own and others' lived experience into an empathy-fueled work that creates clarity and removes barriers for anyone seeking to understand how to produce accessible learning content and why. Her book has a compelling and comprehensive approach to digital accessibility and disability inclusion, which really brings the subject to life. This is recommended reading for any professional producing digital content." "I know from working with Susi Miller through the eLearning Network that she is not only passionate about accessibility in eLearning design but also extremely knowledgeable about what is required by those of us creating eLearning. It comes as no surprise that she's made this book accessible in the way she's structured it and the language she uses! This will surely become a must-read for all eLearning professionals; after all, making better learning experiences for all learners is what we are (or should be) all about!" "I wish I had this book when I started working with accessible eLearning. Susi Miller does a fantastic job of showing why eLearning professionals need to ensure that their training needs to be accessible, while also providing, through the eLearning accessible framework that she proposes, a practical way of making it happen. I'm looking forward to putting what I learned here into practice and recommending the book whenever I'm discussing eLearning and accessibility." "Digital accessibility can be a tough and technical subject to tackle, but Susi has broken down complex guidelines and carefully brought them to life through using her personal learning journey, practical examples and how-to illustrations. It is an essential read for any eLearning practitioner." "Designing Accessible Learning Content is a unique and much-needed resource for L&D practitioners struggling with the complexities of eLearning accessibility. The wealth of background knowledge it provides, combined with practical frameworks, clear explanations and examples make this a vital handbook for anyone who believes that designing inclusive learning content is the right thing to do." "Before instructional designers understand how to develop accessible eLearning, they often fall back on providing a written course transcript. However, armed with modern eLearning authoring tools and the information found in this book, author Susi Miller suggests that 'as eLearning professionals become more familiar with designing accessible content, they find ways of making all learning content inclusive without needing to provide accessible alternatives' (emphasis mine). If you aspire to develop universally accessible eLearning, look no further than this comprehensive, plain-language guide." "At a time where everything is changing, acquiring new skills is of paramount importance. Now more than ever learning is being delivered online and remotely. If we want everyone to have an equal chance of acquiring new skills, learning content needs to be accessible. In this book, Susi Miller demystifies and explains what learning and development professionals need to know in order to make their content work for the widest possible learner base. The work recognizes the difference between standard web content and learning materials and offers practical and pragmatic advice on accessible content creation."