Why Accessibility Belongs at the Heart of Learning Design
By Hollie Woodward, Learning Designer at MLA College
Accessibility is a foundational part of learning design, yet we routinely treat it as optional. Instead of embedding it from the start, it is often reduced to a last-minute checkbox or a quick pass with an accessibility checker. This approach undermines both learners and the integrity of the design process. When accessibility shapes decisions from the outset, we create learning experiences that are clearer, more resilient, and more equitable for everyone. Ideally, accessibility should be infused throughout the entire digital learning process: from analysis and design, through development and implementation. But this is often not the reality. Why design accessibly from the beginning when there is a handy accessibility checker you can click at the end?
Accessibility as risk management
For many organisations, the primary driver for digital accessibility is meeting legal obligations. This is completely understandable. No one wants to risk breaching legislation through the learning content they create.
However, this framing positions accessibility as something that can be added once content is complete: a final check, followed by a few minor adjustments. When this happens, accessibility becomes reactive rather than intentional.
What is concerning is that the learning experience of students is not more consistently the primary motivation for accessibility work. Meeting minimum requirements often takes precedence over how learners actually engage with, navigate, and understand the content. In this mindset, accessibility risks becoming a checklist rather than an integral part of good learning design.
Accessibility literacy is a team sport
One of the major contributors to inaccessible learning materials is a lack of awareness about what actually makes something accessible. Often, we create accessible content by accident, not because we intended to, but because a design choice happened to work well.
Doing accessibility on purpose is different.
According to AbilityNet’s Attitudes to Digital Accessibility Report 2025, around seven in ten digital accessibility professionals feel confident in their own accessibility skills, yet only around one in four feel the same confidence in their organisation. This gap highlights a key issue: accessibility knowledge is often held by individuals, not embedded across teams.
Accessibility awareness needs to extend beyond learning designers alone. It requires shared understanding, senior backing, and a clear organisational priority. This might include mandatory training, onboarding support, agreed communication guidelines, and visible leadership commitment.
Pay now or pay later
Around half of respondents say accessibility is deprioritised due to competing demands. Accessibility beyond compliance can feel costly; materials may take longer to create, and specialist software or expertise may be required.
But when accessibility is left until the final stage of production, the real costs begin to surface. Teams build up technical debt through retrofitting and workarounds. Learning materials become fragile and harder to maintain. Barriers to learning are discovered too late, and accessibility expertise is relied upon only at crisis points.
This approach costs more time and effort in the long run, and it is not just learners who pay the price. Learning providers do too; lost time and potentially lost learners can be very costly.
Better design, better learning
When accessibility is applied from the outset and embedded into the culture of content creation, learning design naturally begins to reflect the reality that learners vary in how they access, understand, and engage with content.
The result is clearer structure and navigation, reduced cognitive load, flexible formats that work across devices and contexts, and learning materials that are easier to update and reuse. By taking a little more care and intentionally considering the needs of diverse learners, we create learning experiences that are both functional and engaging for everyone.
Accessibility strengthens quality. It does not dilute it.
Join the conversation at ALTC25 Revisited
These ideas will be explored further in my session at ALTC25 Revisited, Designing for Everyone: Embedding Accessibility at the Heart of Learning. I would love to continue this conversation with the ALT community. How confident do you feel about creating accessible learning materials in your organisation — and what would help move accessibility from compliance to culture?
References
AbilityNet (2025). Attitudes to Digital Accessibility Report.
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