What does it mean to access education in a digital-first world? As elements of our education ecosystem increasingly move online, digital tools become central to the ways we teach and learn.
On May 21, Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) invited us to reflect on how digital spaces are designed – and who their design might inadvertently leave out. With more than one billion people worldwide living with disability, accessibility is not a niche consideration but fundamental to inclusive and equitable participation.
Accessibility extends beyond compliance with government-mandated standards. In an educational context, it ensures all students can access materials, participate meaningfully and express understanding on the same basis as their peers.
According to GAAD, digital accessibility refers to the ability of people with disability to ‘independently consume and/or interact with digital … applications and content’.
The mission of GAAD is challenge and reshape how digital products are developed by making accessibility not only a requirement but a core pillar of the design process. Celebration of the day aims to achieve this by getting people talking, reflecting and learning about accessibility.
Impact on users
A common misconception about accessibility is that it only affects those with low vision, when it actually also impacts people with auditory, motor and cognitive disability. Features such as colour contrast and captions are well known, but accessibility also includes clear navigation, use of consistent plain language and less visible factors, such as compatibility with assistive technologies (for example, alternative keyboards).
Despite growing awareness of accessibility and frameworks like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), often digital environments fall short in avoidable ways. Many issues with website homepages are often easy to fix.
According to the 2020 WebAIM report, the most common causes of accessibility failures are:
These common accessibility failures demonstrate how easily digital content can exclude users, an issue which becomes even more significant within educational contexts. In these settings, accessible design facilitates multiple ways for learners with diverse learning needs to engage with content and express understanding. This is particularly important in online and independent learning environments, where digital resources often include recorded videos, written materials, interactive activities and collaborative tasks.
Importantly, accessible spaces benefit everyone, not just people with disability. They support website navigation, locating relevant content, learning in a second language or even watching a video in a noisy location.
In an education context
For education, design of accessible digital products is the foundation of inclusivity in our increasingly online and technologically reliant society. A lack of digital accessibility risks reinforcing forms of exclusion – where those who can easily navigate digital systems are advantaged while others face additional barriers. This highlights a need to embed accessible practices throughout the process of digital design and production.
While progress has been made in physical accessibility, digital aspects have not kept pace with technological change. Websites, learning management systems, resources, assessments and more are increasingly integrated in education contexts. Education systems and educators need to be aware that regulatory change as well as individual effort are both required to address this.
At the same time, educators face real constraints, including time, workload and access to tools. Accessibility must therefore be understood as a shared responsibility and an ongoing process. Though the adoption of digital accessibility regulations has driven improvement, there are practical ways for everyone to participate in creating inclusive digital spaces. We don’t need to wait for perfection to make progress.
Here are some quick and effective ways you can improve accessibility
When sourcing or creating presentations, documents, videos and more consider:
Does the content have clear headings?
Does the video have captions or a transcript or caption? Can you include one?
Do charts and key visuals have descriptions?
Have you checked clarity and readability?
Does text have sufficient colour contrast?
These simple checks can significantly improve accessibility and contribute to creating more inclusive, equitable environments. We can all do our part to make digital space a more inclusive place.
