Achieving high accessibility standards in mobile learning: Challenges and solutions
Posted on the August 6th, 2024
Accessibility in learning is now more important than ever – it isn’t just about compliance, it’s about providing every learner with the chance to succeed without barriers regardless of their abilities, creating inclusive education for everyone. With over 80% of the world's population now using smartphones¹, this has helped to increase the popularity of mobile learning, creating opportunities and challenges for delivering high accessibility standards.
Mobile learning, or ‘m-learning’, has transformed the way we approach learning and training. By leveraging portable devices like smartphones and tablets, learners can access educational content anytime, anywhere. This flexibility and convenience have made mobile learning a preferred method for many, with 30% of smartphone owners already using their devices for learning on the go.²
However, this shift comes with the responsibility to ensure that mobile learning experiences are accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities.
In this blog, we will discuss the challenges faced in achieving high accessibility standards in mobile learning, as well as the solutions to overcome these obstacles. By understanding and addressing these challenges, learning educators and developers can create more inclusive and effective learning experiences for everyone.
Understanding accessibility in mobile learning
Accessibility in mobile learning refers to the design and development of mobile learning experiences that are usable by people with a wide range of abilities. This includes making content available and usable for individuals with visual, auditory, motor and cognitive impairments. Accessible mobile learning ensures that all learners have equal opportunities to engage with and benefit from educational content.
Key principles of accessible design
How do you ensure your learning content is digitally accessible to everyone?
The POUR principles, contained within the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), provide a simple framework for creating content accessible to anyone:
- Perceivable: Information and user interface (UI) components must be presented in ways that users can perceive. This includes providing text alternatives for non-text content, captions for videos and using colour contrast effectively.
- Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable. This means providing keyboard accessibility as well as allowing sufficient time for learners to read and use content.
- Understandable: Learning content and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. This involves making text readable and understandable (using plain, simple English), ensuring content appears and operates in predictable ways and providing input assistance as and when required.
- Robust: Content must be robust enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of current and anticipated technology standards, including assistive technologies. This means using clean HTML, following coding standards and testing across different devices, browsers and operating systems.
Legal and ethical considerations
Ensuring accessibility in mobile learning content is not just best practice, but also a legal requirement in many regions across the world. Laws such as the European Accessibility Act (EAA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act mandate that digital content, including mobile learning, must be accessible to people of all abilities. Ethically, it is our responsibility as educators and learning content developers to create inclusive learning environments that provide equal opportunities for all learners.
Challenges in ensuring accessibility
Technical challenges:
Device compatibility and screen size variations: One of the primary technical challenges in mobile learning is ensuring compatibility across various devices with different screen sizes and resolutions. Creating a consistent and accessible experience on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices requires careful planning and testing.
Limited bandwidth and offline access: Many learners rely on mobile networks that may have limited bandwidth. Ensuring that content loads efficiently and is accessible even with slow(er) connections is essential. Additionally, providing offline access to learning materials can be challenging but necessary for learners in areas with unreliable internet access.
Design challenges:
Creating content accessible to users with disabilities: Designing content that accommodates all abilities requires a deep understanding of different learner needs. For example, content must be accessible to visually impaired users through screen readers, offer subtitles for auditory learners and ensure interactive elements are operable through keyboard navigation for those with motor impairments.
Balancing aesthetic appeal with functional accessibility: While aesthetically pleasing designs are important, they should not compromise accessibility. Striking a balance between visual appeal and functional accessibility ensures that all learners can engage with the content effectively. It is useful to remember the POUR principles again here; ensure your learning content is perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
User experience challenges:
Navigational ease and usability: Ensuring that navigation is intuitive and user-friendly for all learners is crucial. Complex navigation can be a barrier for users with cognitive impairments or those new to mobile learning. Simplified, clear navigation helps all users access the content they need without frustration.
Engaging diverse learning styles and preferences: Learners have diverse preferences and learning styles – no one is the same. Designing mobile learning experiences that cater to various styles, such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, while maintaining accessibility can be challenging but is necessary for effective learning. It is important to take the time to understand these differences and styles and design your learning accordingly.
Solutions to overcome accessibility challenges
Technical solutions:
Implementing responsive design and adaptive content: Responsive design ensures that content adjusts seamlessly to different screen sizes and orientations. Using flexible grids, images and CSS media queries helps create a consistent device experience. Adaptive content can further enhance accessibility by personalising the learning experience based on user needs and preferences.
Utilising accessible technology and tools: Incorporating accessible technologies such as screen readers, voice recognition software and alternative input devices can significantly improve the usability of mobile learning content. Tools like ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) can also enhance the accessibility of dynamic content.
Design solutions:
Applying Universal Design principles: Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people, regardless of their age, size or disability. Applying these principles in mobile learning design ensures that content is accessible to a broad range of learners from the outset. A great example of this was the National Disability Authority’s (NDA) highly accessible and engaging eLearning solution, ‘Buildings for Everyone.’ Using a case study approach, this learning solution was designed for architectural professionals across Ireland to embrace the benefits of Universal Design throughout the building design process.
Providing alternative formats for content: Offering content in multiple formats, such as text, audio and video helps ensure that learners can choose the format that best suits their needs. Transcripts for videos and audio descriptions for visual content help to enhance accessibility for users with disabilities.
User experience solutions:
Conducting user testing with diverse groups: Regular user testing with diverse groups, including individuals with disabilities, helps identify and address accessibility issues early in the design process. Feedback from real users is invaluable in creating an inclusive learning experience.
Offering personalised learning paths and support: Personalised learning paths tailored to individual needs and preferences can enhance the accessibility and effectiveness of mobile learning. Providing ongoing support and resources ensures that learners can navigate and benefit from the content independently.
Best practices for high accessibility standards
Incorporating accessibility from the outset: Integrating accessibility considerations from the beginning of the design process ensures that accessibility is a core component rather than an afterthought. This proactive approach helps create more inclusive learning experiences.
Continuous evaluation and improvement: Accessibility is an ongoing process. It is important to regularly evaluate and update content based on user feedback and technological advancements, ensuring that mobile learning experiences remain accessible and consistent over time.
Staying updated with the latest accessibility guidelines and standards: Keeping up with the latest accessibility guidelines, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and Section 508 standards, is crucial for maintaining high accessibility standards. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) deadline on 28 June 2025 will also ensure equal access to digital products and services for users throughout Europe. Adhering to these guidelines ensures that content meets current best practices.
Successful accessible mobile learning initiatives
Epilepsy Ireland collaborated with Aurion Learning to create an accessible mobile learning resource that caters to the needs of individuals with epilepsy and their families. ‘EpiLearn,’ utilising the ByteKast mobile learning platform, complements Epilepsy Ireland’s existing learning resources and includes versatile cross-platform resources, effortless curation of various media types and structured learning pathways for users.
Features such as customisable text sizes, high contrast modes and easy navigation helped to ensure effortless accessibility and usability, resulting in a more inclusive learning environment for over 45,000 people affected by epilepsy in Ireland today.
Key lessons learned:
- Engaging users and stakeholder groups early in the design process helps identify the specific accessibility needs of users – in this case, people with and/or affected by epilepsy.
- Continuous testing and feedback is essential for refining and improving accessibility features, especially when catering to the unique needs of Epilepsy Ireland service users.
- Collaboration with accessibility experts can provide valuable insights and ensure compliance with best practices, complementing existing training resources.
Conclusion
It is important to take the time to understand accessibility standards and how this will impact mobile learning initiatives. By understanding the key principles of accessible design, addressing technical, design and user experience challenges, and implementing effective solutions, educators and learning developers can create inclusive mobile learning experiences.
This ongoing commitment to accessibility ensures that all learners, regardless of their abilities, can benefit from the many opportunities offered by mobile learning.
There is still massive untapped potential for mobile learning given the number of people across the world using mobile devices – prioritising accessibility for future learning/training initiatives will be even more important as a result.
At Aurion Learning, we encourage all educators and developers to integrate accessibility into their mobile learning projects, creating a more inclusive and equitable learning environment for everyone.
Discover more about how we are helping to create custom, accessible, mobile-first learning content using our innovative design framework, Aurion High5 today.
Resources and further reading:
- ‘Aurion High5’ custom design framework
- Accessible Learning Checklist
- European Accessibility Act (EAA)
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- Section 508 Standards
By leveraging these resources and adhering to best practices, you can create accessible, engaging, and effective mobile learning experiences that meet the needs of all learners.
If you’re looking at creating a new accessible mobile learning initiative but aren’t sure where to start, let’s start a conversation today. Contact us to discuss your learning challenges and let us help you find solutions.
