This curriculum equips learning professionals with the knowledge and tools to build effective and accessible online learning programs.


YOU ARE WARNED: We have observed that while accessibility is often initially perceived as a set of constraints, most people who learn more about accessibility and its tools and techniques become very passionate about accessibility!

Audience

The accessibility curriculum provides practical guidance for the design, development, and delivery of online learning. Therefore, the primary audience is online learning designers. With possible the exception of Part 3, the course content should be relevant to anyone producing electronic resources and/or websites. 

Learning objectives

By the end of this curriculum, you should be able to:

  • Explain the key concepts related to disability and accessibility.
  • Describe the online learning challenges of people with disabilities and how they may use assistive technologies. 
  • Implement Universal Design principles when designing online or offline learning.
  • Demonstrate best practices implementing accessibility features in common authoring tools and platforms 
  • Conduct a thorough quality assurance and testing of accessibility in online learning deliverables.

Dates and study time

Each of the four parts of the programme includes a one hour webinar, 2 to 4 hours of self-study, and hands-on practice. The total time commitment for the accessibility curriculum is approximately 16 hours of learning – or two hours per week. 

Structure

The curriculum consists of 4 parts.  

PART 1: Understanding disability and accessibility

This session explains key accessibility and inclusion concepts. We will discuss the importance, challenges, and opportunities for accessible learning in an organizational context. Disabled learners will provide testimonials about the challenges they face with online courseware and how they use assistive technologies.

PART 2: Universal Design

The focus of this session is the core principles of Universal Design for learners with a wide range of abilities and disabilities in online and offline settings.

PART 3: Authoring tools specific guidelines and tips

This session highlights practical tips for authoring tools, learning delivery, and video platforms such as Articulate Rise, Storyline, H5P, Moodle, Zoom, and Vimeo. We will demonstrate how to easily reference this information in the Agora wiki for future reference.

PART 4: Quality assurance and testing  

This session provides an overview of accessibility QA strategies, techniques, and testing tools referencing UNICEF specific guidelines.

Methodology

Each part consists of:

  • A one-hour webinar
  • Self-study resources
  • Recommended practical exercises
  • Discussions
  • Additional resources and/or suggested learning opportunities

The curriculum’s home page includes a general discussion forum, glossary, and a list of in-depth resources. 

Contact details

We strongly encourage you to ask questions through the General Forum of the course. A dedicated block appears on the right side of the course page. 

If you have accessibility issues on Agora due to disability or assistive technology, please submit a ticket to the Global Accessibility Helpdesk.

If you are a UNICEF learner and encounter a technical challenge with progressing in the course, please submit a Report an IT Problem ticket through the Service Gateway portal for timely support.

Guest users can reach us using this support request form.