Small changes for a big impact on digital accessibility

The start of a new academic year is the perfect time to ensure our Learning Central content is accessible to every student in our diverse community. The Equalities Act (2010) requires us not only to implement reasonable adjustments but also to proactively consider accessibility in our learning design, including our digital learning environment. By implementing a few small changes when setting up our Learning Central modules, we can break down barriers and create a more inclusive learning experience for all students. These small steps can make a big difference!

Use headings and styles to format documents

Use styling tools in Learning Central to provide a clear structure which will support students with visual impairments or motor difficulties using assistive technology. When creating Learning Central or Microsoft documents be sure to use a clear structure with the title, header, subheaders and paragraph styles.

Make hyperlinks concise and meaningful

When adding hyperlinks to your Learning Central documents, help learners using keyboard and/or assistive technology to navigate and make decisions about following links by making them descriptive and meaningful. Avoid generic phrases such as ‘click here’ and ‘read more’ as these are ambiguous, or writing the full web address as this can be especially cumbersome for someone listening to the information.

Add ‘alt text’ to images, graphs and diagrams

Support students with visual impairments who use screen readers by adding alt text to images, graphs and diagrams. When adding images to Learning Central, Ally will prompt you to add alt text with some useful guidance to help you or mark the image as decorative.

Check content for accessibility

Learning Central’s accessibility checker, Ally, can be used to check accessibility as you’re building content in Learning Central. Ally shows you how content created in Learning Central, or uploaded, scores in terms of accessibility with a step-by-step guide on how to fix any issues.

An Ally Course Report is a quick and easy way to check the accessibility of Learning Central modules. ​Ally can identify accessibility issues in content created in Learning Central or uploaded.​ The Ally Course Report is found in the ‘Books & Tools’ section on Learning Central.

Improving digital accessibility helps to create a more inclusive learning environment for all students and can be achieved by implementing some of the tips in the article to remove potential barriers to learning.

For further guidance on improving the accessibility of your Learning Central modules try the Learning Central Good Practice Guide and the Learning Central Essentials resource. You can find more information on digital accessibility and inclusive education in the EDS Toolkit with a wide range of information on this and all aspects of teaching and learning. You can also develop your understanding of Inclusive Education and Digital Accessibility by coming along to a Learning and Teaching CPD workshop. You can find out more information on workshops, and the link to book here.