Achieving Section 508 Compliance in Elearning

1. Achieving Section 508 Compliance in ELearning

2. Introduction to 508 Compliance • “The power of the web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”  – Tim Berners-Lee. Before we introduce 508-Compliance, let’s first answer some basic questions. • What does “accessibility of an eLearning course” mean? • It means that a person taking the e-learning course should have full and complete ability to interact with the course, whether or not the person has a disability • Why is accessibility important for eLearning? • At least 10% of the population in most countries has disabilities of different types • Adults with disabilities spend twice as much time online as adults without disabilities • Adults with disabilities say the Internet has significantly helped them communicate and socialize • No organization can afford to deliberately ignore this audience sector

3. Accessibility Challenges: • Visual Disabilities • Images, photos, and graphics cannot be directly used by visually challenged users • Complex data tables and graphs that are usually interpreted visually, again cannot be directly used by visually challenged users • Users often listen to the web pages • Users often jump from link to link or navigate using the TAB key • Color Blindness • Colors alone cannot be used for imparting information • Colors of similar contrast are often indistinguishable • Low Vision • Users often use screen enlargers • Text in graphics does not enlarge without special software, and looks pixilated when enlarged • Hearing Disabilities • Audio is unusable • Motor Disabilities • Users may be using voice-activated software • Users may not be able to use the mouse • Cognitive Disabilities • Users may be confused with complex layouts or inconsistent navigational schemes • Users may have difficulty focusing on or comprehending lengthy sections of text • One method of input may not be sufficient

4. Compliance 508 is a government initiative designed to help disabled individuals operate and consume electronic and information technologies. The initiative contains a number of requirements that pertain to using technology applications and building pages within an online learning course. It encourages accessibility by disabled individuals both to using content management tools as well as consuming the business content information produced by those tools. In our next series, we will discuss about “Accessibility goals and how to achieve 508 Compliance in eLearning”. Keep watching this space for more.

5. About the author:Brenda Fernandes is a content quality analyst with InfoPro Learning, Inc. With over 15 years of experience, Brenda is an avid learning strategist with content development, instructional design and business analysis as her core areas of expertise. Brenda is a keen practitioner of harnessing the power of learning content to impact employee performance. • For More Details: http://www.infoprolearning.com/achieving-section-508-compliance-elearning/ About the company: InfoPro Learning is an award-winning eLearning company providing corporate training solutions globally to improve workforce performance & drive business growth. Address: InfoProLearning,Inc. 103 Morgan Lane Suite 102 Plainsboro, NJ 08536 Phone: (609) 606-9984 Email: info@infoprolearning.com Web: www.infoprolearning.com