E-learning can open doors for people with disabilities

Unless developers, suppliers and buyers of e-learning take greater action to ensure their products are accessible to learners with disabilities, a great deal of money will be wasted on e-learning that doesn’t meet the needs of the vast majority of users, and employers could also potentially find themselves on the wrong side of the law, according to a new report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the leading professional body for those involved in the management and development of people.

The report also highlights the contribution that the effective use of e-learning can make to including people with disabilities in the labour market, tackling issues such as skills shortages, the growing number of people in the UK unable to work and the impact of future legislation on employing people with disabilities.

Many of the participants in the research felt the Government needed to do more to drive better accessibility in e-learning, particularly if there is a genuine desire to deliver on commitments to reduce inequality and get more people off long-term sick benefits and back to work. According to the report, the Government should:

* Do more to raise awareness of the issue of access for people with disabilities to learning opportunities, and e-learning in particular.

* Provide more support for employers, in terms of advice and financial incentives, to make e-learning content more accessible

* Lead the way by using its position as a major commissioner of e-learning to set higher standards for best practice.

Jessica Jarvis, CIPD Training, Learning and Development Adviser and author of the report, said: In a tight labour market, and with over 8.5 million people in the UK registered disabled, there is a clear business case for employers to step-up efforts to include people with disabilities in the workforce. Having taken this step, employers need to make sure that they are doing everything possible to get the best from the people who work for them - whether they have disabilities or not. Accessible e-learning has an important role to play in encouraging learning and improving the skills base of organisations.

Research shows that where e-learning is adapted to meet the needs of learners with disabilities, the changes are likely to benefit all learners. However, our research shows that employers are not exploiting more accessible and usable methods of e-learning to the full, despite a clear understanding of the potential that exists.

People management professionals have a key role to play in raising awareness of this issue. By exerting pressure over minimum expected accessibility standards during procurement, they can help to ’raise the bar’ across the industry.

Fiona Hover, Fiona Hover of the Educational Development Department, Dyslexia Institute, said: There is nothing that dyslexic people need that wouldn’t make it easier for everyone else. Good clear symbols, good navigation, simple layout, audio - these are all things that a good e-learning package should have.