How Mobile Learning Fits Into Your Accessibility Strategy

As a higher education institution, you need to consider the diverse experiences and capabilities of your learner population and what measures you must take to ensure your programs are accessible for everyone. No two learners have the same background or needs, but thoughtfully designed learning programs improve educational equity and benefit every student.

When it comes to accessibility, your goal should always be to reduce barriers wherever possible to improve students’ ease of access to their course materials. Implementing an accessibility strategy will help you design a plan to identify and remove academic barriers. This will help you create more equitable learning environments while fostering a culture of inclusivity at your institution.

READ MORE ABOUT ACCESSIBLE LEARNING DESIGN | ‘Enhancing Accessibility in Online Learning: A Quick Guide to Screen Readers’

What Is an Accessibility Strategy?

Everyone should have the opportunity to fully engage with and learn from your courses, but some students have unique circumstances that make traditional learning environments more challenging for them compared to their peers. As a higher learning institution, you must ensure that your programs include tools and resources that help these students gain the same knowledge as their peers without experiencing additional struggles.

An accessibility strategy is a plan that can help your institution best meet these students’ unique needs. The strategy should outline specific approaches your institution can take to make learning environments more inclusive and equitable for not only your learners with disabilities or impairments but for every learner on campus. Employing an accessibility strategy will help your institution identify and minimize learning barriers that could otherwise impede some students’ academic progress.

There are many conditions that can adversely affect your learners, such as:

• Blindness and vision impairments
• Deafness and hearing impairments
• Learning disorders, including dyslexia and dyscalculia

Your accessibility strategy can help you thoughtfully respond to common learning barriers like auditory and visual impairments. A learner who is hard of hearing potentially won’t be able to understand what’s being taught in a video presentation, while a learner with poor vision would likely struggle with reading course content. Your accessibility plan can help faculty and instructional designers take measures to make materials accessible for these learners, such as including transcripts on videos or providing audio recordings as alternatives to written information. Including these alternatives ensures that none of your learners are unintentionally restricted from accessing their essential course content and knowledge.

With the guidance of an accessibility strategy, you can make the appropriate adjustments to reduce or remove learning obstacles for your diverse student population. Removing learning barriers whenever possible ensures that every learner has access to the same knowledge as their peers without enduring unnecessary hardships.

Why Mobile Learning Is Important to Your Accessibility Plan

Accessible course design isn’t just about responding to your learners’ physical and mental capabilities. It’s also about ensuring that all learners have equitable access to their course content in order to complete their assignments and tasks. That’s where mobile learning comes into play.

It’s not safe to assume that all your learners will be completing their coursework on a desktop or laptop computer. Despite how ingrained the internet and related technologies are in our daily lives, not all learners have access to home computers or broadband internet connections. In 2023, 20% of people in the U.S. between the ages of 18 through 29 were dependent on their smartphones for internet access. If your online learning programs aren’t mobile-friendly, then you’re creating a barrier for any students without access to a computer.

Even if your learners do have laptops or desktops, some students might find mobile learning more appealing because of its flexibility. Many students pursuing higher education also work full- or part-time jobs. Others are parents or caregivers with little free time to spare for schooling. Juggling the demands of coursework and other obligations might mean that some students can only complete their assignments during small pockets of time like a lunch break or evening commute. Wherever they choose to do their coursework, the point is that mobile devices allow students to learn on the go from nearly anywhere.

LMS Accessibility

The goal of your accessibility strategy is to ensure your institution is taking the appropriate measures to create inclusive, equitable learning environments. Mobile learning applications play a crucial role in improving educational equity by making it easier for every student to access their courses and accomplish their goals. But a mobile app is just one part of the accessibility equation.

Your learning management system must also be optimized to ensure that your courses and content meet evolving accessibility standards. Look for an LMS vendor that prioritizes improving access for every learner. Providers with a commitment to accessibility will include LMS integrations that help you evaluate your programs so you can easily identify barriers to learning. Your LMS should also include features that support your institution in tracking accessibility enhancements and helping instructors improve their courses so every learner is set up to succeed.

DOWNLOAD THIS EBOOK TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ACCESSIBLE LEARNING | ‘4 Principles for Accessible Design in Digital Learning’