According to the United Nations, one in seven people—over a billion individuals—lives with a disability. Yet we know that many still face social and physical barriers that limit their full participation in their communities.
For the BCB team, this reality serves as an important reminder to prioritize accessibility and inclusion in our work. This focus is especially significant in the context of the Accessible British Columbia Act – new legislation passed in our province in 2021 that aims to identify, remove, and prevent barriers to accessibility for all.
As part of the Act, a provincial accessibility committee was created to develop accessibility standards. These standards outline the rules that government and organizations must follow to address barriers in areas like employment, education, and transportation. So far, two draft standards—the employment and service delivery standards—have been developed and released for public feedback.
So, what does this have to do with learning design and facilitation?
The first two standards cover a lot of ground. In simple terms, we could say that the employment standard aims to improve accessibility for our team, while the service delivery standard focuses on improving accessibility for those we serve. In other words, accessibility considerations impact every aspect of our organization and work.
With this perspective in mind, our team is constantly striving to learn about and implement accessibility guidelines and inclusive practices in our facilitation and learning design work. This is because we want every learner to be able to engage in the learning experiences we create.
Here are some ways we achieve this in our e-learning courses:
- Providing ALT text for images, and transcripts or closed captions for videos and audio files, to make all media accessible
- Using high colour contrast to benefit users with low vision or colour blindness, and to improve readability for everyone
- Using plain, inclusive language, and ensuring font styles and sizes are accessible for all learners
- Replacing or refining some types of interactive activities, like hover states and drag-and-drop tasks, with keyboard-accessible alternatives so all learners can engage with them
- Guiding the development of accessibility statements, when needed, to indicate organizational commitment, feedback mechanisms, and the accessibility features of the course
As a team, we’ve also recently added a feedback mechanism on our website so users can report accessibility issues or suggest improvements. And we’ve established an accessibility committee to help us remain focused on our commitment to accessibility and emerging standards.
Now, tell us…
Do you feel ready to make accessibility improvements to a past course or need help creating a new, inclusive one that meets emerging standards? If so, reach out to us and let’s work together to make it happen.
