How to make e-learning accessible - the learner's experience

In the final part of our three-part series on how to make e-learning accessible, we explore what it’s really like to learn with a disability.

Brightwave’s Marketing Administrator Samantha Brackley, explains how her visual impairment has shaped the way she learns.

You may be wondering why this post starts with an image of an aeroplane? Well, it's nothing to do with the volcanic ash clouds and it’s not because I’m dreaming of jetting off to exotic lands. It represents one of the first indications that led to my diagnosis.

I’ve always struggled to see long distances. However, it wasn’t until recently that alarm bells started ringing. I was on my way to the airport, when a plane flew directly above the car. I couldn’t see it. Everyone else could.

In 2007 I was diagnosed with having a cone-rod dystrophy, a progressive retinal condition which ultimately results in poor vision in bright light and a difficulty to focus on moving objects. This diagnosis has helped me realise that not only have I had to adapt my lifestyle over the years, but I have also adapted my learning style.

Bring back the blackboard

I suffered from the same condition when I was studying for my GSCEs. Suddenly, blackboards started to vanish from classrooms, replaced with shiny new whiteboards. This is when I saw my learning style change dramatically.

For me the low contrast of faint marker pen on the reflective whiteboard was like picking a needle out of a haystack. And, to avoid bringing unwanted attention to myself I decided to work out different ways to learn.

So I started to learn by listening.

Whilst my classmates were simply copying down what the teacher wrote on the board, I would be memorising everything the teacher said, and processing it straight away.

Fortunately for me this system worked pretty well, and it's inspiring to see others adapting and changing around their disability. Check out the inspirational story of Charlie Wilkes, who though completely blind plays football with fully abled kids:

He does say he couldn't have done so without the support of his team.

Of course, Charlie's experience is different to that of his team mates, and it's not without difficulties. Wouldn't it be great to see this level of support offered in the workplace, to ensure that learners with disabilities have a similar experience to their colleagues?

Think outside the tick-box

A report published in 2006 by Vision 2020 UK showed that approximately 30% of visually impaired people, who were no longer working,believed they could have been able to continue in their job, if they had been given more support.
Of course nowadays employers have to be inclusive, which is a great step in the right direction. However, it’s this same ‘tick-box’ system, that can go against all good training practices and, often by-passes the learners needs entirely.

We all learn in different ways.Isn't learning with a disability not just another way in which some of us learn?
The only exception is that the latter is not a choice but often a necessity, which requires some compassionate thought, not a tick-box system. This is why I like the term ‘inclusiveness’. More often than not people with disabilities do just want to feel included, and sometimes even find it hard to come to terms with the fact they have a disability themselves.

So how can we make it easier?

Well, my golden rule for anyone about to embark on a new e-learning project is to think of what the learner really needs, before they need it. For example:

1. Video is a great way to aid any learning experience, and can be especially helpful if you are learning with a visual impairment or a hearing problem. Video clips that use descriptive imagery can be much more helpful to a learner with hearing difficulties if combined with a well written transcript than page after page of text, and vice versa, someone with a sight problem would benefit far greater from the same video if the audio is clear and to the point.
2. Visualisation – If it is not possible to include video in your e-learning, then make sure you break up large volumes of text into bite-sized chunks and use evocative images and different fontsizes to make it engaging and easy to remember.
3. Variety – It won’t always be possible to cater to everyone’s needs, but offering a choice makes it a lot easier in the first place.

A lot of these tips benefit all learners not just those with disabilities. If you are finding it hard to visualise what a diverse audience needs, then put yourself in their shoes and try asking yourself what it would be like if certain accessible features weren’t in place.

Ask yourself:

Would you feel comfortable asking a colleague to read questions out loud to you because the text was too small for you to read?

Would you feel embarrassed explaining to your manager why you couldn’t complete a course, because you couldn’t hear the audio in the video clips and there was no accompanying transcript?

You don’t need to be suffering from a disability yourself in order to answer either of these questions. All it takes is a little compassion and common sense.

So let’s not just ‘consider’ accessibility, but instead let’s try to ‘understand’ it.

Also see:
Part 1: How to make e-learning accessible - design tips and tricks
Part 2: How to make e-learning accessible - thinking inclusively

Links

Network 1000 - Network 1000 is a large scale survey of the needs, circumstances and opinions of over 1,000 blind and partially sighted people. Managed by Vision 2020 UK, the project is the first of its kind to be conducted with major sector-wide involvement. http://www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/Research/statistics/Pages/statistics.aspx