Taking a sustainable approach to improving accessibility usually requires an effort to increase awareness of the importance of accessibility and the kind of measures that are needed to tackle it. This awareness not only applies to your digital team, but also other support roles in your organisation, the senior management who set your corporate agenda, and arguably all staff. When more people have even just a slightly better awareness of the importance of accessibility then it is likely to lead to action.

One approach to increasing awareness is to provide learning opportunities. This can range from the very formal to the very informal and different approaches will suit different needs. The learning certainly does not necessarily need to be hugely comprehensive to have a positive impact, and a lighter touch approach can be more effective for general awareness.

Here are six thoughts on how to get accessibility onto your organization’s Learning & Development curriculum.

1. Consider the learning options in your organisation

   In any organisation there will be a variety of formal and less formal channels and initiatives that deliver learning. There will also be several different groups and roles who are behind these opportunities.  Across these channels and teams, there are likely to be good options to deliver accessibility training and awareness. For example, the following may be operating:

   • Your organisation’s L&D function or key initiative
   • IT training team, who are often separate from the L&D team
   • The employee onboarding or induction programme
   • A digital literacy or digital transformation change programme
   • Diversity & inclusion training
   • Informal ‘lunch and learn’ sessions

   Consider speaking to people within these functions or behind these initiatives to discuss how to get accessibility onto the learning agenda.

2. Look at the different needs for different roles and target accordingly

   A key approach to making training effective is to target efforts to different groups and roles so the content and message are more relevant to their perspective and needs. The accessibility training you would provide to your organisation’s senior management and your immediate digital team or content providers would obviously be very different.

   Typically, the following groups and roles might benefit from having targeted training:

   • Immediate digital team
   • Wider digital roles
   • Senior management
   • HR
   • Specialist functions eg. Procurement
   • IT
   • All employees

   In the above group, we’ve listed “all employees”.  While this training might appeal to individuals who are specifically interested in the topic and want to explore it more deeply, it might also focus more on general awareness.

3. Make learning bite-sized

   One of the ways to deliver effective learning is to ensure this it is small and in digestible chunks. This more “snackable” content is easier to fit into the busy working day and it also tends to work better on mobile devices. Research has also suggested that taking a bite-sized approach is more effective. For example, the learning videos that accompany the Sitemorse platform are short and to the point.

   Realistically, a bite-sized approach may be a good starting tactic for increasing general awareness about digital accessibility across the organisation.  For example, a two-minute video that everybody receives as part of their Diversity and Inclusion training or that new starters see in their onboarding programme will have value. 

4. Providing on-the-job experience at the point of need

   Most organisations try to provide blended learning opportunities for employees that mix formal training, online resources and even on-the-job experience. With digital accessibility, providing on-the-job experience at the point of need is an excellent way to embed and reinforce learning.

   For example, with the Sitemorse platform your developers and content team are presented with issues they need to fix, they can see a short learning video there and then, and immediately put their new knowledge into action by carrying out the fix. Working with the Sitemorse platform on an ongoing basis is arguably a more effective than a formal day of training which is then not acted upon for months and sometimes forgotten.

5. Create a network of digital accessibility champions

   A great way to spread learning about digital accessibility is to support peer-to-peer learning through a network of digital accessibility champions; it’s possible that these could be Diversity & Inclusion champions too. One of the best things about using champions is that small central teams can leverage their enthusiasm and energy of employees to spread the word and deliver accessibility learning to their peers, usually in ways that are more relatable and resonate more strongly.  An online community where people can ask questions about accessibility to experts can also play a part.

6. Create a resource portal

   Another way to drive awareness is to create a portal on your company intranet with online learning resources about accessibility such as instructional videos, links to different articles and high-level overviews. This can create a place to point people towards so they can learn about accessibility at their own leisure.

Providing learning has real value

Providing learning on digital accessibility is important. The more everyday knowledge and awareness about accessibility there is, and the better developed the specialist knowledge you have to drive improvement and move towards compliance, the more accessible your digital channels are likely to be. That is good news for everybody.