The importance of accessibility in eLearning: Insights from the Food Banks Canada eLearning project
“The disability community is the only minority that we will all join at some point in our life.”- Tina Friml, Comedian1
I’m often asked why I focus my professional practice around accessibility in general and accessible learning design specifically. The question is usually some polite or variation of “why”?
Some possible answers that come to mind are it benefits employers, it benefits folks with disabilities, for legislation compliance, or it’s the right thing to do. All of these things are true.
However, comedian Tina Friml’s above quote best captures the heart of the matter.
This quote is my “why” I do what I do. It’s a way of organizing our thinking to include us all in the disability/accessibility conversation. We are all folks who will experience disability at some point. By considering this possibility for our future selves, we can better anticipate and reduce barriers to full participation in society for everyone.
Creating accessible eLearning for Food Banks Canada
In 2023, Food Banks Canada (FBC) engaged Untapped Accessibility to create resources that support its members’ adoption of more accessible and equitable practices. The result was “Without barriers, stigma or fear: a practice guide to accessibility and equity for food banks”. Published in both French and English, the guide was made available to thousands of Food Banks Canada members across the country.
In 2024, FBC further invited Untapped to develop an online course based on the guide. I was the lead Instructional Designer, responsible for creating an accessible eLearning experience using the Guide as the source material. My team and I wrote, designed, and delivered 1.5 hours of accessible and engaging eLearning in French and English for a national audience.
To ensure the eLearning course reflected the “Nothing About Us Without Us” principle, we prioritized accessible learning design principles throughout the development process. I contributed my design skills to an area that I feel passionate about. I also gained new skills and insight that have further shaped my thinking and professional practice around accessible learning design.
During the early stages of the project, I learned that folks experiencing food insecurity may choose not to access food bank services, despite the potential benefits. Various barriers might prevent them from accessing the support they need. In the case of the FBC project, some of these barriers highlighted in the guide include:
- Language barriers
- Lack of culturally appropriate food options
- Inconvenient operating hours
- Transportation limitations
These examples highlight that accessibility is not only about physical access—it’s about creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and supported.
This course is designed with food bank administrators, employees and volunteers in mind. Learners are invited to work through seven modules. Throughout the course, they are encouraged to reflect on their thinking and what may be true or lacking at their home food bank.
Key learnings from the project
As in learning design, there are many aspects of accessibility to consider and opportunities to improve. I’ve been designing accessible learning projects for over five years. On this project, I improved my accessible learning skills in the following ways.
Refining usability for screen reader users
An aspect of accessibility that we consider in eLearning projects is how usable the course is for people who use screen readers. A screen reader, like JAWS or Voiceover, is an assistive technology that converts text to voiceover. They are most often used by people with low or no vision, but may also help people with low literacy or who have a learning disability.
We include an accessibility check to ensure that those folks who use a screen reader can experience the course as intended by the designers. The point of learning for me on this project was how we can improve accessibility by being specific about the screen reader and operating system combination used for the check. The English version was checked using Microsoft and JAWS. The French version was checked using VoiceOver and iOS.
By testing multiple configurations, we are considering the experience of more users than if we tested only one, or the same one all the time.
Testing with disabled users
The Accessibility Consultant for this project included in their final report that “In terms of the eLearning courses that I have done, and I have done many at this point in English and in French, this one is probably one of the strongest in terms of accessibility I have ever tested or personally done[…] This is a brilliant course. To whoever coded it—very, very well done.”
The other thing I learned applies more directly to my practice as an instructional designer. As a learning cue, we often bold words and phrases in paragraphs. The hope is that the added visual emphasis will “wake up” the learner’s brain and enhance mental retention.
During this project, I learned from folks using a screen reader that every time a bold word comes up, the screen reader says “bold <word> bold”. It adds extra auditory information. So, while it may enhance learning with a visual cue, too many bolded words or phrases may decrease learning for folks who hear the information rather than see it.
To maintain the integrity and purpose of using bold text, we reduced the number of bold words we included to strike a balance between important emphasis and information overload.
Small changes, big impact
If there’s one key message to take away, it’s the power we all have to reduce barriers and create a more equitable community. Simple actions can make a significant difference. Whether we’re considering eLearning or workshop style learning, we can make small adjustments including:
- choosing larger fonts
- ensuring adequate colour contrast
- using plain language
- sharing documents in advance
- enabling auto-captions on virtual sessions.
We often hear folks are afraid to get started out of fear of saying the wrong thing, being criticized or offending the people they are trying to help.
My advice to anyone who wants to improve accessibility is to simply get started. You may make mistakes along the way, and that’s okay. Accessibility is a practice, and folks will see that you’re trying.
The ongoing journey
The journey toward better accessibility is never finished. It’s a spectrum of what may be more or less accessible and every small step counts. Each project offers new lessons and opportunities for growth. I encourage you to keep learning, actively make small adjustments and share your experiences in your circles.
Sharon Roberts (she/her) is an instructional designer living and working from the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada, the traditional and unceded territories of the Sinixt, Sylix, Ktunaxa as well as Métis peoples. She is passionate about creating supported, accessible, and engaging learning solutions. She supports clients to reach their learning and development goals. She holds a Masters of Education, Instructional Design from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where she focused her time on researching inter-generational differences and how that shapes workplace dynamics.