Four Steps on the Path to Achieving Section 508 Compliant eLearning

Is your eLearning Section 508 compliant?    Unfortunately, many eLearning authoring tools support some accessibility standards, but they do so largely by relying on individual developers to interpret and apply the complexities of compliance requirements.  From what we’ve seen the likelihood and cost of producing non-compliant eLearning is very high when inexperienced developers make their first attempts at accessibility.  Attempting to meld instructional design, accessibility standards, and screen reader functionality with a wide array of content and assessment elements has resulted in a number of costly mistakes. 

We have discussed Why Technology Makes 508 eLearning so Challenging and some Tips for Organizations Starting eLearning Development.  Today we discuss four steps that’ll help get you on the path to Section 508 compliant eLearning for your organization.

1. Scope– identify and define which eLearning courses should be made accessible.  Really, shouldn’t this be all your eLearning courses?  Well, those that are discontinued or no longer in use certainly won’t be on the list.  And some eLearning courses may already be accessible.  Again, focus on the ones that need to be accessible.
2. Assess– determine where the eLearning courses are not meeting the requirements of the code.  
3. Remediate– fix the eLearning courses not meeting Section 508 requirements.
4. Maintain– now that you’ve come this far, keep the eLearning courses current both in terms of content and for accessibility.

Starting from scratch, ensuring Section 508 compliance for a typical Flash-based eLearning course can add over $25,000 to the development costs and extend the development cycle at least 6 months.  Our clients can expect to cut this additional time and costs between 70%-80% by using the CourseAvenue platform. 

 Utilizing CourseAvenue Studio, our collaborative web-based and team-based authoring environment, and the Accessibility Player, the technology that “plays” the course in a Section 508 compliant manner, course developers can rapidly create accessible eLearning.  Moreover, using the CourseAvenue platform allows you to cost effectively maintain your eLearning program.  CourseAvenue will take care of incorporating the latest changes in adaptive technologies as they evolve, and ensures that even when changes are made to your eLearning courses, they will continue to be Section 508 compliant.

- Mike