Custom eLearning Development

Custom eLearning development is the design and production of training built specifically for one organization’s workforce, processes, and systems. It is the alternative to off-the-shelf courseware when the subject matter is proprietary, the audience is specialized, or the required learning outcomes are too specific for a library course to deliver. A custom eLearning project produces working courses, deployed to a learning management system, ready for measurement.

Microassist has been building custom eLearning for enterprise, government, and higher-education clients since 1988. The development team works in Storyline, Captivate, Rise, and Lectora, packages courses to SCORM, xAPI, or AICC standards, and deploys to whichever LMS the client operates. Most of Microassist’s work is for organizations whose subject matter does not fit a generic template: regulated industries, technical workforces, public-sector compliance programs, and software rollouts where the training has to match the system being deployed.

What Microassist’s custom eLearning development includes

A custom eLearning engagement covers the full path from initial analysis to a deployed, maintainable course. The capabilities below describe the work that goes into a typical project.

Instructional design and learning architecture. Each project starts with a learning analysis: who the audience is, what they need to do differently after the training, what they already know, and where the existing knowledge gaps are. From there the team defines learning objectives, course structure, and the assessment approach. Microassist’s instructional designers have backgrounds in adult learning theory and applied work in regulated industries.

Storyboarding, scripting, and review. Before development begins, every screen is scripted and storyboarded. Clients review and approve at the storyboard stage rather than after the course is built, which catches problems while they are cheap to fix. Most projects run one to two review cycles depending on subject matter complexity.

Authoring tool development. Developers build in various technologies, including Articulate Storyline, Articulate Rise, Adobe Captivate, and Lectora. The choice of tool depends on what the course needs to do, what the client already owns, and what their authoring team can maintain. Microassist is not committed to a single platform.

Custom interactions, scenarios, and simulations. Branching scenarios with real consequences, software simulations of the systems learners will actually use, gamified assessments, and interactions designed for the specific job the learner is being trained to do. The interactions reflect what the learner needs to do rather than what filler can be assembled from a template.

Microlearning modules. Short, focused modules built for just-in-time reference or distributed reinforcement. Microassist has built microlearning libraries for public health, financial services, and food safety workforces.

Voiceover and audio production. Professional voiceover for course narration, including audio that meets clear-narration standards. AI-generated voiceover is also available for projects where cost and long-term maintainability matter more than studio voice talent. AI audio lets clients update narration when a script changes without re-engaging a voice artist, which keeps a course usable over years rather than months.

SCORM, xAPI, and AICC packaging. Courses are packaged to whichever standard the client’s LMS accepts. Packaged courses are tested in the destination LMS before handover so launch is not the first time the course gets installed.

LMS deployment and integration support. Microassist deploys courses to the client’s LMS, troubleshoots the deployment, and supports administrators through the launch. For clients who do not yet have an LMS, the LMS practice consults on selection and implementation.

Quality assurance and accessibility-ready development. Functional QA across browsers and devices. For clients with a Section 508, WCAG, or ADA requirement, accessibility specialists work alongside the development team from the storyboard stage. Source files transfer at project close so clients own the editable course files.

How a Microassist custom eLearning project works

Engagements move through discovery, design, development, quality assurance, and deployment. Timelines vary widely. A short single module can move quickly. A multi-course curriculum with extensive subject-matter review can take much longer. Microassist scopes each project against the client’s deadlines and the realistic time required for SME review.

Creating meaningful learning experiences is challenging, especially when facing limited time, tight budgets, or growing accessibility requirements. These are the challenges we help our clients overcome every day:

Discovery is working sessions with the client’s subject matter experts to define objectives, audience, scope, and constraints. The output is a documented learning architecture the client signs off on before design begins.

Design produces storyboards, scripts, visual direction, and an interaction approach. Clients see and approve every screen at this stage.

Development is the authoring tool build, custom interactions, voiceover, and integration work.

Quality assurance includes functional testing, LMS integration testing, and client review. For projects with an accessibility requirement, accessibility testing is part of this phase.

Deployment and handover covers course load to the production LMS, launch support, and transfer of editable source files.

Microassist assigns a dedicated project manager and a single point of accountability for every engagement. Clients work with the same team from discovery through handover.

How Microassist approaches custom eLearning

Three things shape how the work gets built and they show up in the courses the team produces.

Subject-matter complexity is the norm rather than the exception. Most of Microassist’s eLearning portfolio is in domains where the content is hard to get right: biosafety protocols, HIV prevention, food regulatory compliance, financial operations, government software rollouts, technical sales for enterprise infrastructure. Microassist works with the client’s subject matter experts to translate complex content into training that holds up. The instructional design team’s job is to make the SME’s expertise teachable, not to be the SME. Generic onboarding and harassment training are not Microassist’s specialty.

Accessibility expertise is available when a project needs it. Microassist’s accessibility practice includes auditors and remediation specialists who work daily on Section 508, WCAG, and ADA compliance. When a custom eLearning project has an accessibility requirement, those specialists work on the eLearning team from the start, which means accessibility is built into the storyboard rather than bolted on at the end.

Clients own what they buy. At the end of every project, clients receive the editable authoring tool source files, the storyboards, the scripts, and the deployed course. There is no platform the client has to keep paying for in order to access training they paid to have built. Internal teams can update, extend, or maintain the courses without coming back to Microassist for routine changes.

Microassist also holds Texas Department of Information Resources cooperative contracts, which allow government and higher-education buyers in Texas to procure training development services without running a new RFP. The DIR contract numbers are listed on the government solutions page.

Industries and clients

Microassist’s custom eLearning work spans corporate, government, and higher-education sectors. Recent and ongoing client work includes:

• Public health agencies
• Financial services operations groups
• Food regulatory associations
• Federal and state government training programs
• Enterprise technology companies
• Energy Companies
• School systems with workforce training requirements

Related Microassist eLearning capabilities

The custom eLearning development team also supports more focused engagements for clients with specific needs:

• Accessible eLearning development for clients with a Section 508, WCAG, or ADA Title II requirement.
• Managed learning services for clients who need a partner to run the operations of an ongoing training program.
• LMS consulting for clients selecting or migrating a learning management system.
• Instructional design as a standalone engagement for clients with internal development capability.
• eLearning staff augmentation for clients who need contracted developers, designers, or media producers to work alongside an existing internal team.

Talk to us about a custom eLearning project

Most projects start with a working session to define the audience, the learning outcomes, and the constraints. There is no obligation to proceed past discovery, and the conversation gives both sides a clear view of whether the engagement is a fit.