Creating Accessible Courses: 5 Best Practices and Tools

Creating courses that everyone can easily access seems pretty tricky at first, right? You’re likely thinking about all the techy details or wondering if there’s a simpler way to get it all done.

Well, rest easy—I promise by the end of this guide, you’ll have simple tricks and helpful tools to craft courses that work comfortably for every learner. No complicated jargon, no headaches; just practical tips you’ll actually use.

Want a sneak peek? We’ll cover design basics, content tips, easy ways to check your work, continual improvements, and how to ensure your course feels welcoming for everyone.

1. Prioritize Design for Accessibility

If you’re thinking about amping up your online courses so they’re totally accessible, always start with design. Good, user-friendly design is like the foundation of a house—if it’s shaky, nothing built on it will last. For online learning, this foundation means creating layouts that are easy to navigate even for students using screen readers, voice controls, and other assistive technology. Stick with clean fonts (Arial or Verdana generally work well) and avoid those fancy decorative ones that look cool but make reading a real pain. High contrast between text and background colors (think dark text on a light background) helps students with visual impairments engage better with your content. Also, clearly structured headings and subheadings make it easier for students to skim and find what they need, especially those relying on voice-assisted tech.

Making sure your course videos have captions isn’t just helpful—it’s necessary. Tools like Teachable already use AI to automatically provide captions and subtitles in multiple languages, making life easier for both creators and learners. And since a huge 73% of students in the U.S. are keen on continuing their studies online after the pandemic, getting your accessibility game spot on isn’t just a convenience; it’s a necessity.

Avoid cluttered pages and super long paragraphs because they can overwhelm anyone, not just learners with disabilities. Breaking your text into bite-sized chunks or adding bullet points and numbered lists goes a long way toward making your content simple and engaging. Lastly, always keep clickable elements big enough to easily tap on a screen, since many learners use mobile devices to access courses. By doing all this, you’re laying down the groundwork for an online environment everyone can enjoy.

2. Make Course Content Accessible

Now, let’s talk about your actual course content—this is the stuff your students are signing up for! Accessible content means the materials, quizzes, videos, and everything in between can be reached and understood by every student, regardless of their abilities or learning needs. One cool fact to motivate you—according to recent stats, a massive 93% of learners report that using well-made online resources improves their overall learning experience. So, it’s pretty clear: making your content accessible enhances learning in general.

So, here’s what you can do in simple terms: when you put up videos or recordings, always remember captions and transcripts. Include captions automatically or, even better, edit them manually for accuracy. Do you know those complicated diagrams and images professors sometimes put up? Describe those clearly in alt-text or within the document itself, so that learners using screen readers will catch the context. Plus, making your lesson structure predictable by creating easily understandable course outlines is helpful. If crafting an outline seems a bit tricky, I’d recommend checking out this handy article on how to create a course outline step-by-step.

Also, be smart with your course documents; PDFs are usually accessible if done right, but make sure they’re not scanned images (those are a nightmare for screen readers). Stick to documents created directly in word processors or export documents from Google Docs or Word with accessibility checks activated. And lastly, before rolling out quizzes and assessments, double-check they’re accessible. If you’re not sure how, platforms like Blackboard and Moodle include built-in accessibility checkers to help you spot issues before your learners do.

3. Test Accessibility with the Right Tools

Now comes the part many people overlook—testing! Sure, you’ve tried to make your content accessible, but until you actually test it, you’re not completely certain, right? Thankfully, there are user-friendly tools that even non-tech-savvy folks can grasp quickly. Start by running your course website or content through a free online checker like WAVE from WebAIM. It helps catch basic issues like missing alt-text or improperly structured headings.

For a deeper level of testing, try using a screen reader yourself. JAWS is pretty popular among users on Windows, or NVDA is a good free option. This way, you’ll really get what it’s like for users navigating your courses with assistive technology. Test navigating around your site without using a mouse—can you access everything important using just a keyboard? If you can’t, chances are other students will run into the same walls.

You might also consider getting direct feedback by asking a few students with different accessibility needs to test your platform and lessons before launching. Sometimes real-world testing can pick up things the automated tools miss, like confusing instructions or small usability issues. Remember, creating accessibility is less about ticking off a box, and more about caring enough to provide a truly inclusive learning experience that everyone appreciates. After all, accessible eLearning can boost content retention by up to 80%—that’s definitely worth spending extra time testing and tweaking, don’t you think?

4. Plan for Continuous Accessibility Improvement

Wondering if accessibility is a one-time task you can wrap up neatly, tie with a bow, and forget about?

Nope—like any good website or online course, it needs regular tweaks and updates.

Think of your accessibility approach more like watering a plant than setting concrete; you’ve got to regularly check it and give it attention to ensure it thrives.

First, set yourself a regular schedule to revisit and update course materials (monthly or quarterly checks usually work best).

Platforms continuously change, and new accessibility issues can pop up unexpectedly, so regular check-ins save headaches later.

Pay particular attention whenever your platform updates its features or when you introduce fresh multimedia content—for instance, online quizzes or assessments.

Speaking of quizzes, if you’re having trouble figuring out how to set one up effectively, you might want to brush up on how to make a quiz for students.

Next, keep tabs on accessibility trends and emerging best practices so you’re not stuck in 2018 accessibility methods—it pays off to be in the loop!

Are AI tools your thing?

Great news, because by 2025, AI-driven course creation tools are set to become critical for accessibility improvements by automating many tasks and personalizing learning pathways.

Using platforms like Teachable that offer built-in AI tools for generating subtitles, translations, and transcripts can also significantly ease your continuous improvement process—these platforms keep you ahead of the curve!

Finally, always encourage feedback from your students regarding course accessibility, and actually act on the feedback you receive.

This not only helps you constantly improve but also shows students you genuinely care about making their learning experience inclusive and comfortable.

5. Create an Inclusive Learning Environment

You know what’s even better than good accessibility?

A welcoming, inclusive learning environment.

And it’s easier than you’d think to create one.

The idea here is about promoting comfort, belonging, and trust among students.

The first step is communication—let everyone in your class know early on that you’re serious about inclusivity and you’re open to discussions, suggestions, and constructive criticism.

For instance, consider a “getting to know you” activity or a safe space thread on your course page where everyone can introduce themselves and their unique needs or backgrounds.

Doing this normalizes differences right out of the gate, and honestly, who doesn’t appreciate feeling welcomed?

Also, share clear guidelines detailing policies against discrimination or exclusion clearly and upfront.

This helps ensure everyone understands the expectations and feels safe participating actively.

Remember—students who feel included tend to engage actively, boosting the overall learning experience.

If you need tips on encouraging active participation, here’s a useful article on student engagement techniques.

Finally, keep learning channels flexible—encourage discussion forums, email or personal messaging, video chats, and live sessions to accommodate differing communication styles and needs.

Not only do you create room for genuine interaction, but embracing different communication modes also helps ensure all students can comfortably engage within their preferred choice.

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