Inclusion and diversity are imperatives in today’s workplace. For those who create training or administer training programs, that means considering and meeting the needs of learners with disabilities. This “Training Manager’s Guide to Accessible Elearning” provides practical steps for ensuring your online training fosters a welcoming experience for all of your learners, whether they are team members, clients, or the public. A Guide for Creating and Buying Accessible Online Training
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Elearning & Online Accessibility Tools for Training & HR Leaders
How to engage all your learners when faced with moving training online? Training Managers have a lot to do – especially as you have team members moving to working remote, that were in-office last week. How do you continue to address accessibility for your organization’s training program as you move more elements online? There are things that you’ll be able to do that are not difficult. Ensuring that designers check
READ MORE about Elearning & Online Accessibility Tools for Training & HR LeadersStill Making Knowledge Accessible
2020 has already been a year of surprises. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting us all: our employees and their families, our neighbors, our colleges and universities, business communities, public servants, and our daily way of life. As we all strive to keep our homes safe and sustain our businesses, we are deeply grateful and inspired by all the selfless individuals in the front lines to care for those who are
READ MORE about Still Making Knowledge AccessibleTakeaways from the 2020 CSUN Assistive Technology Conference
Last week I was at the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, presenting a workshop (with Jennifer Chadwick of SiteImprove) on accessible elearning (the resources are available on Microassist’s website.) This year’s CSUN was somewhat lightly attended, due to cautions regarding COVID-19 (and I found I needed to leave earlier than expected). Still, even with the reduced number of sessions and the lighter attendance, the dedication that people have for ensuring that all experiences
READ MORE about Takeaways from the 2020 CSUN Assistive Technology ConferenceMoving Elearning Beyond Interactive to Accessible
I recently talked with a colleague about a recent workshop on accessible elearning that a few colleagues and I held at the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference. He said that it was rare that people think about accessibility (that is, ensuring that content is usable by those with disabilities) when creating online training. Sadly, he’s right, and that’s just wrong. Instructional designers are often focused on things other than accessibility when creating
READ MORE about Moving Elearning Beyond Interactive to AccessibleProject Spotlight: Verbal De-escalation Training for the National Center for Campus Public Safety
The following summarizes Microassist’s work developing a Verbal De-escalation training program for the National Center for Campus Public Safety. The project was recognized with the 2019 Leaders in Learning award from the Austin Chapter of the Association of Talent Development. Issue Today’s institutions of higher education present both new and continuing demands of professionals responsible for maintaining safety and security on campuses. The National Center for Campus Public Safety’s Verbal
READ MORE about Project Spotlight: Verbal De-escalation Training for the National Center for Campus Public SafetyA Look Back (and Forward) at Ed-Tech Trends in L&D
This year starts a new decade (or ends one, but let’s not restart that argument). It is a great time to look ahead and see where learning and development might take us (or where we might take learning and development). Before looking forward, looking back offers some caution. Audrey Watters has an article on the 100 Worst Ed-Tech Debacles of the Decade. It is an encompassing list. You may remember
READ MORE about A Look Back (and Forward) at Ed-Tech Trends in L&DThe Year in Learning: 2019 Edition
“What’s past is prologue.” -William Shakespeare, The Tempest Learning and development is a constantly evolving field, and every month Microassist’s Senior Learning Architect, Kevin Gumienny, highlights a few articles that provide insight into the field. If you missed (or would like to revisit) stories from his Learning Dispatch newsletters in 2019, here’s a chance to review. The stories are grouped in several categories: Accessibility Instructional Design Learning Experience Evaluation Inspiration
READ MORE about The Year in Learning: 2019 EditionTechnology Drivers & Elearning|Takeaways from DevLearn 2019
Last month I was at DevLearn in Las Vegas. As usual for a really good conference, I left with a stretched mind and new perspectives (and, as is regrettably common in a conference, there was little about documentation, or templates, or any of the other themes that I’ve recently been discussing). One thing that caught my eye was what seemed to be a recurring theme of technological determinism. That is,
READ MORE about Technology Drivers & Elearning|Takeaways from DevLearn 2019The Positives of a ‘Foolish Consistency’
“A foolish consistency,” Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” I have, it seems, a very little mind. I adore consistency. And documentation, especially documentation surrounding expectations, enables a consistent approach, not only in training design, but also in working with training teams. If team members know the expectations, they also know what they need to achieve. We use
READ MORE about The Positives of a ‘Foolish Consistency’Effective Elearning and the Template Dilemma
Do you use templates when building elearning? I’m a big fan of templates (as I am of other methods of standardization). I love the idea of having a set of optimized formats for content. Plug and play, everything works with a minimum of fuss and bother. But templates can be problematic. Designers and developers want to develop new and more interesting ways to present information. They want to explore better
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