Accessible digital learning: practical checks for slides, documents and videos

What is accessible digital learning?

Accessible digital learning means designing materials and activities so that disabled people can perceive, understand, navigate and use them, including with assistive technology.

For trainers, the practical starting point is to check headings, reading order, contrast, image descriptions, captions and keyboard access. Then test the actual learner experience, not just the original file.

A polished slide deck is not necessarily accessible. Neither is a document that passes an automated checker. Accessibility depends on the content, its technical structure, the platform delivering it and the task learners must complete.

The aim is not simply to make information available. It is to enable learners to participate, practise and demonstrate their knowledge without avoidable barriers.

Why it matters in FE, skills and workplaces

A learner using a screen reader needs meaningful headings to navigate a workbook. An apprentice with hearing loss needs accurate captions for a demonstration. An employee who cannot use a mouse needs to operate the learning platform with a keyboard.

Some accessibility features benefit other people too. Captions can help someone studying in a noisy environment; clear structure can make revision easier. These wider benefits are useful, but disabled people’s access is the central purpose.

Accessibility also affects assessment validity. If a learner cannot operate a quiz or interpret an unlabelled diagram, the result may measure the accessibility barrier rather than their knowledge.

Requirements and helpful design choices are different

There are several overlapping responsibilities:

• Equality law: in Great Britain, the Equality Act 2010 places duties on education providers and employers, including reasonable adjustments for disabled people. Northern Ireland has separate disability discrimination legislation.
• Public sector digital accessibility: where the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations apply, government guidance specifies WCAG 2.2 level AA as the technical standard for covered websites and apps, alongside an accessibility statement. Scope and exemptions need checking, particularly for older documents, intranets and third-party content.
• Individual adjustments: technically accessible materials may still need adapting for a particular learner’s needs.

Do not assume that content is exempt because it sits behind a login. Equally, do not assume every training file is subject to exactly the same statutory technical requirements.

Using a particular font, limiting slides to a fixed number of bullet points or choosing pastel backgrounds is usually a design choice, not a universal accessibility requirement. Such choices may help some learners, but they cannot replace captions, usable structure or keyboard access.

Where the standards come from

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, are developed by the World Wide Web Consortium through its Web Accessibility Initiative. They are technical standards, not a commercial learning model.

WCAG organises accessibility around four principles. Content should be:

• Perceivable: people can obtain the information through an available sense.
• Operable: people can use the interface and controls.
• Understandable: content and operation are understandable.
• Robust: content works with different technologies, including assistive technology.

WCAG success criteria primarily address web content. Their principles also inform accessible documents, presentations and media, although authoring and testing methods differ.

The checks below translate those principles into everyday training practice. They are a useful first pass, not a complete compliance audit.

Six practical accessibility checks

1. Use real headings and meaningful structure

Large, bold text may look like a heading without being recognised as one by software.

In documents, apply built-in heading styles in a logical hierarchy. Use actual list formatting rather than typed dashes or numbers. Give slides meaningful titles using the title placeholder.

Check that:

• Headings describe the section that follows.
• Heading levels reflect the structure rather than a preferred appearance.
• Links explain their destination, rather than saying only “click here”.
• Tables present data, not page layouts.
• Data tables have identifiable header cells and avoid unnecessary merging.

Set the document’s language and give it a meaningful title.

Quick test: open the navigation pane in a word processor. Can you understand the document’s structure from its headings alone?

2. Check reading order, not just visual order

A screen reader may encounter slide objects or PDF content in a different order from the one you see.

A slide might visually show a process from left to right while its underlying order presents the conclusion first, then the image, then the instructions.

Use standard layouts where possible, then inspect the reading order using the application’s accessibility tools. Floating text boxes, overlapping objects and complex columns deserve particular attention.

For PDFs:

• Export using settings that preserve accessibility tags and structure.
• Avoid assuming that “print to PDF” preserves accessibility.
• Check the exported file, not just the source.
• Confirm that text is selectable and that headings, lists and tables remain meaningful.

Optical character recognition can make scanned text searchable, but it does not automatically create correct structure or reading order.

Where practical, an accessible web page or structured document may be easier to use than a fixed-layout PDF.

3. Check contrast and avoid colour-only meaning

WCAG level AA requires a contrast ratio of at least:

• 4.5:1 for most text.
• 3:1 for large text, defined as at least 18 point, or 14 point bold.

Relevant interface components and graphical objects needed to understand content also have non-text contrast requirements, generally 3:1 against adjacent colours, subject to exceptions.

Use a contrast checker rather than judging by eye. Pay particular attention to pale text, coloured backgrounds and text over photographs.

Do not rely on colour alone. Instead of “complete the tasks marked in red”, use a label such as “required”, alongside any colour coding.

Contrast compliance does not guarantee legibility in a training room. Projection, glare, viewing distance and screen quality also matter. There is no single WCAG minimum font size that makes every slide accessible.

Practical prompt: can learners distinguish instructions, feedback and chart categories without identifying their colours?

4. Give images an appropriate text alternative

Alternative text, or alt text, communicates an image’s purpose to someone who cannot see it.

The right wording depends on context:

• A decorative image should normally be marked as decorative.
• An informative image needs a concise description of its relevant meaning.
• A functional image, such as an image-only button, needs its action or destination described.
• A complex chart or diagram may need brief alt text plus a fuller explanation or accessible data nearby.

For a workplace incident chart, “bar chart” tells the learner very little. A useful description might explain that incidents increased in the warehouse while remaining stable elsewhere, with the figures provided in an accompanying table.

Avoid placing essential instructions only inside an image. Automatically generated descriptions need human checking.

Assessment images require particular care. If interpreting a diagram is the assessed skill, an alternative must preserve the assessment’s purpose without creating an unnecessary barrier or revealing the answer.

5. Make videos understandable without relying on one channel

For prerecorded video with audio, provide accurate, synchronised captions. Include meaningful sounds and speaker identification where needed.

Automatic captions are a starting point, not a finished product. Check:

• Technical vocabulary and names.
• Numbers, units and safety instructions.
• Negatives such as “do not”.
• Timing, punctuation and speaker changes.
• Whether captions obscure important visuals.

A transcript is useful for searching, revision and alternative access, but it does not replace synchronised captions.

Also ask what learners would miss if they could hear the video but not see it. A silent cursor movement or equipment adjustment may carry essential information.

Explain important visual actions in the main narration where possible. If that information is absent from the soundtrack, additional audio description may be needed. For prerecorded synchronised media, WCAG AA includes an audio description requirement where relevant visual information needs describing.

Check the video player too. Learners must be able to operate playback and caption controls accessibly.

6. Test keyboard access from entry to completion

Keyboard access is not simply the ability to open a file.

Test the full learning route without a mouse:

1. Open the learning platform and locate the activity.
2. Move through links and controls using Tab and Shift+Tab.
3. Activate controls using the appropriate keys.
4. Play, pause and caption a video.
5. Complete and submit any activity.
6. Read feedback and leave the activity.

Focus should be visible, move in a sensible order and never become trapped. Different controls may use arrow keys, Enter, Space or Escape.

Drag-and-drop activities need an accessible alternative where dragging is not essential. Image hotspots, embedded quizzes and interactive documents also need checking.

If a third-party tool fails, raise the issue with the supplier and provide an equivalent accessible route. “Someone can click it for you” is not a satisfactory default.

Two examples in practice

These illustrative examples show how several checks work together.

An FE construction demonstration

A tutor uploads a video showing how to adjust equipment. The narration says “move this here”, while the captions misrecognise a technical term.

The revised version names the component, explains the action and states the relevant safety instruction aloud. The tutor corrects the captions and provides an accessible step-by-step document with labelled images.

Learners then test the video player and the instructions.

The improvement is not simply adding a transcript. It is ensuring that the essential learning is available without depending on sight or hearing alone. Practical competence still needs appropriate supervised assessment.

A workplace induction module

An induction module uses green and red buttons for decisions, an image-only policy document and a drag-and-drop knowledge check.

The trainer labels each decision in words, replaces the scanned policy with structured content and introduces a keyboard-operable question format. They test the published module rather than relying on the authoring tool’s preview.

A learner using keyboard navigation finds that submission feedback is difficult to locate. The trainer reports this to the platform owner and arranges an equivalent accessible assessment route while it is resolved.

Responsibility therefore extends beyond the trainer’s slides to the system delivering them.

How to test materials with learners

Automated checkers can identify missing alt text or some structural problems. They cannot reliably judge whether a description explains the right thing or whether an activity is understandable.

Use three layers of testing:

1. Automated checks: run the application’s accessibility checker and investigate its findings.
2. Manual checks: inspect structure, contrast, captions, reading order and keyboard operation.
3. Learner testing: observe whether representative users can complete realistic tasks.

Invite participation voluntarily and offer a private way to report barriers. Do not require learners to disclose diagnoses publicly or make one person responsible for approving accessibility.

Ask task-based questions:

• “Can you find the assessment instructions?”
• “Can you complete this without using a mouse?”
• “What information is missing from the narration?”
• “Can you return to the section you need for revision?”

Include different access needs, devices and assistive technologies where feasible. A staff member briefly trying a screen reader is not equivalent to testing with an experienced user.

Record the barrier, its effect on participation, the action owner and the retest date. Prioritise problems that block access, safety, participation or assessment.

Limitations and common misunderstandings

Passing a checker is not proof of accessibility. Missing captions may be detectable; inaccurate captions require human review.

Offering several formats is not automatically inclusive. Three inaccessible versions do not provide a meaningful choice. Identify which barrier each alternative removes.

Accessibility is not the same as learning effectiveness. Technically accessible materials can still be confusing or poorly sequenced. Clear explanations, manageable sections and opportunities to practise remain important.

Universal design does not remove individual needs. Universal Design for Learning is a related planning approach that encourages options for engagement, representation and expression. It can complement accessibility standards, but it is not a technical compliance test or a replacement for reasonable adjustments.

Accessibility is an ongoing process. New content, software updates and platform changes can introduce barriers. Build checks into templates, procurement, authoring and routine review.

Summary and your next step

Accessible digital learning combines usable content, sound technical structure and testing with people. Headings, reading order, contrast, alt text, captions and keyboard access provide a practical foundation, but no single check proves that learning is accessible.

Your next step: choose one frequently used resource and test the complete learner journey. Fix the most participation-limiting barrier, then retest the published version.

Sources and further reading

• W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 - the primary technical standard, including contrast, captions and keyboard requirements.
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: accessibility tutorials - practical guidance on structure, images, tables and other common elements.
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: making audio and video media accessible - guidance on captions, transcripts, audio description and media players.
• GOV.UK: accessibility requirements for public sector websites and apps - current government guidance on scope, standards, exemptions and accessibility statements.
• GOV.UK: publishing accessible documents - practical guidance on document formats and publishing.
• Equality Act 2010 - the primary legislation for equality duties in Great Britain.
• Microsoft: accessibility support - product-specific instructions for creating and checking accessible files.
• CAST: Universal Design for Learning Guidelines - the originating organisation’s guidance on this complementary learning design approach.