When developing and delivering accessible and inclusive eLearning content to a diverse group of people, there are many considerations that need to be made to ensure that your learners are actually able to learn from the materials you’re providing them. This goes much further than simply making sure that your online learning courses have closed captioning or are offered in multiple languages (although these are both important practices!).

In fact, the process of prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in a successful online learning program should be implemented into the content creation phase from the very beginning.

At Vector Solutions, our senior director of learning experience, Laureen Ranz, explains the risks associated with a lack of focus on DEI in your course authoring, “You can’t get the full picture without considering and incorporating different perspectives and insights. That’s what diversity is.”

The Best Ways to Implement Inclusive eLearning Best Practices

Savvy learning (and business) leaders make it their business to understand best practices — particularly when it comes to creating an eLearning program. Here are some important things to take into consideration as you develop (or select) and deliver an inclusive eLearning program for your company.

1. Improve DEI Practices When Designing eLearning

When you are developing an inclusive training program, you must start by creating courses with a multitude of diverse voices — and that means including writers, instructional designers, graphic and motion designers, and AV crew in initial brainstorming sessions. According to Ranz, “Accepting and encouraging all of those perspectives is, in itself — in a conceptual way — diversity in motion.” This need for diversity carries over into understanding who your audience is and how they are being represented within the courses themselves. Casting for this is pivotal so that you feature many different types of people (and places!) that reflect the diversity of your audience.

Throughout the process, prioritize capturing real stories from real people and creating narration with a multitude of voices. When you finish the creation process, make certain to ask for (and listen to) critical feedback from learners and focus groups. This will help you know when you are effectively designing with DEI in mind.

2. Design and Develop for Accessibility

Another critical facet of delivering inclusive eLearning content requires you to take into account accessibility for those with disabilities. You will need to design online courses with 508 compliance (a federal law that requires electronic and information technology to be accessible to people with disabilities) in mind so that anyone and everyone, regardless of their needs, will be able to access and get the most out of your training.

Some of these requirements include taking time to create online courses that are compatible with a variety of screen readers; that contain accessibility features like text prompts, image descriptions, sub text and closed captioning on videos; that contain detailed alt tags so that screen-reading tools can describe images to visually impaired readers; and that adhere to appropriate color contrast standards between background and foreground colors for learners with low vision.

3. Ensure Technical Access

If your learners have any trouble accessing your eLearning program or eLearning materials, they won’t be able to gain anything from it. That’s why ensuring technical access is near the top of the list for delivering inclusive eLearning programs. As discussed above, this means making sure that those in leadership positions understand the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which will allow people who are hard of hearing, who have low vision, who may be dyslexic, or who have any other disabilities, to be able to access the materials. Your leadership must also be aware of other legal requirements, such as those mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), like one that states you must offer training in the language that your learners best understand.

Additionally, technical access means providing your learners with the actual physical tools they need to be able to take advantage of your online learning program, like stable Wi-Fi access, necessary mobile apps, laptops and tablets, and more. By taking time to understand and eliminate potential access disruptions, you will go a long way to eliminating some of the biggest barriers for online learners.

4. Educate Your Educators About Possible Biases

Keeping clear lines of communication open with your educators and providing them with sufficient training is very important — especially when it comes to teaching online for a diverse group of people. Despite a greater level of perceived anonymity in online learning environments, a Stanford research study demonstrates that people who are part of an identified minority or who are a member of other marginalized groups still fall prey to instructor biases when it comes to online education and discussions.

In fact, according to the Stanford study, instructors were 94% more likely to respond to forum posts by white male students. This means that, without proper preparation and understanding of these potential pitfalls for online instructors, some learners participating in your training program may receive less effective training than those who are not part of a marginalized group.

5. Provide Learners With Support and Accommodations

Ensuring that your learners have support and reasonable accommodations can help ensure that they get the most out of your online learning program. Such requests should not be viewed as making something more complicated or creating extra hassle. In fact, a small amount of investment can usually make a huge difference for learners (and may even be a legal requirement).

For example, someone may need more time to complete an online module than most of your other learners. Providing them with that extra support to complete the course will allow them to engage more effectively with the material and get more out of the online training.

Inclusive eLearning Includes Everyone

One of the best things about prioritizing the creation and delivery of inclusive eLearning content is that it benefits everyone. Your learners get the tools and support they need to absorb the information so they can perform better at their jobs. By leaning into how you deliver inclusive eLearning programs, your organization will help to empower employees to learn and grow more effectively. And, as a bonus, they will know they are being supported.

Consider implementing these best practices to get the most out of your learners and the training materials you provide them with.