Determine the goals of the training and if e-learning will fit your needs.
Identify target audience and develop course objectives and outline.
Create content in PowerPoint using PATHwise template.
Review content with eLearning consultants and other subject matter experts.
Edit content based on feedback.
Work with an eLearning consultant to create engagement slides, quizzes and any other interactivity.
eLearning consultant publishes the files in Articulate for SME to test.
eLearning consultant tests the files to make sure that everything is running as expected. Make any necessary corrections or adjustments.
eLearning consultant publishes final content in Articulate.
eLearning consultant publishes final content on PATHwise.
Time Investment Estimation for a 30 minute course
Below is a general guideline for developing eLearning modules internally at PATH. Currently, our capabilities are limited to creating short and simple eLearning modules.
If your project requires more sophisticated eLearning support, we can help to put you in touch with an external eLearning developer.
Consider using a blended approach when eLearning alone is not enough. For example, create an introduction on eLearning as pre-work to a webinar or classroom learning session.
Identify Target Audience
Who will take your training? Create a brief description of your audience including what their existing experience is with your topic and how it affects their work.
Course Objectives
It is critical to determine your course objective before starting to write your content. It will serve as both a guide and filter to help you determine what to include in your content.
It is best to describe the observable behaviors you desire to take place after the training is complete. Imagine a participant from your target audience has completed training; describe actual behaviors he is doing differently.
Behavioral Examples:
Enters the travel website from PATHnet and logs in successfully
Completes timecard accurately and on time
Can explain the Professional Conduct policy to employees
Avoid objectives that you can’t actually observe such as:
Understands the travel policy
Knows timecard procedure
Understands the Professional Conduct Policy
Outline
Once you know your objectives, brainstorm the content that needs to be provided in the eLearning to allow the participant to be able to complete the objective.
Keep in mind that the eLearning should only contain content directly related to the learning objective and the target audience.
Create an outline of the content that needs to be covered and organize it in a way that makes sense to the target audience.
Keep slides clean
Avoid long paragraphs when possible
Limit text to 3-5 bullets or sentences
When possible, use graphics or photos to emphasize a concept
Attach longer documents or policies – your eLearning consultant will help with this
Link to target audience knowledge and experience
Make sure content is relevant to your objectives and audience
Provide examples or case studies that are easily understood and cab be applied to their work/experience
Avoid acronyms or technical language that your audience will not understand
Create engagement
A wide variety of techniques can be used to create slides that allow participants to interact with the content. Your eLearning consultant can help to identify content appropriate for engagement slides. The following can be illustrated using specially designed engagement slides:
Timeline
Step-by-Step Process
FAQs
Completing a paper or online form
Audio and Annotation
If your audience has access to audio either with speakers or headsets, you can easily record audio for your course. Your eLearning consultant will help you to create and edit your audio track.
Write a script – you will need it for your recording and it will be added to the module for participants who choose not to use audio. Use simple words and avoid slang or jargon. Use the notes section of PowerPoint to save the script.
Limit audio to about 1 minute per slide
Use animations and annotations to emphasize the audio
Make sure the words that you use in your audio match the words on the screen
Attach longer supporting documents for review
The eLearning development tool allows documents to be attached to your training program. You will need to provide these to your eLearning consultant.
Create knowledge checks or quizzes
The eLearning tool can create quizzes such as drag and drop answers, multiple choice, and fill-in the blank.
Ask questions that reinforce key learning from the module
Make the difficulty appropriate for the audience and content
Your eLearning consultant will help with the following:
Double checking to make sure the content is relevant to your audience and objectives
Identify content that can be made into interactions
Help write quiz questions and answers
Make sure the content is between 15-30 minutes in length
Additional Reviewers to consider
Legal or other policy owners to make sure content is within PATH’s policies
A PATH certified proofreader
A couple members of the target audience to determine if the content connects with them
Before going back to your eLearning consultant, make sure you have made all of the adjustments and changes you want to the content. Arrange for proof reading if possible.
You will need to book some time with your eLearning consultant to create the interactions. You will probably need to book a couple of sessions depending on the complexity of the module.
1-2 hours to create engagement slides
1-3 hours to record, edit and annotate audio
1-2 hours to create quizzes and answers
Your eLearning consultant will publish your module using the Articulate tool. This will create a set of files that become the eLearning module.
Your eLearning consultant will test to make sure that the system is behaving as it should. You will also test the module to identify anything that needs to be changed. Together, you will make final edits and corrections before the final publishing.
The final step in the process is to publish the module. This will allow other employees to locate and take the eLearning.
The eLearning consultant will test the module one last time to make sure that it is operating accurately.
Templates
What is involved and what is the time commitment from the content owner?
The content owners are responsible for creating and writing their eLearning content with support from an assigned eLearning consultant. The amount of time depends on the length and sophistication of the eLearning module.
Here is a breakdown for a basic 15-30 minute course.
What types of training work well as eLearning?
Our current internal eLearning resources are limited and we want to ensure that learners have a quality experience. Therefore, eLearning projects should focus on topics that can be communicated in 15-30 minutes through relatively simple text and audio.
Topics to consider are policies, processes, or systems that are easy to understand and demonstrate.
What topics should be avoided?
Any of the following would make eLearning less successful
Content that creates lots of questions
Processes, policies or systems that require complex decision making
Content that changes frequently
Audiences that can be easily gather together in person
Topics that require a great deal of practice for mastery
What is the difference between webinars and eLearning modules?
Webinars take place live using a web casting tool such as Live Meeting, Elluminate, or WebEx. Both the presenter and the participants log into the event at the same time from any where in the world.
eLearning modules are created ahead of time and loaded into an eLearning portal such as PATHwise to be completed by a participant at any time. Participation is recorded and tracked by the learning portal.
eLearning Accessibility Checklist
Course content
Audio/visual
See the Word, PDF, and PPT checklist, e.g., add column headers in in-slide tables
Add alt text to images; Make sure to select “Make object visible to accessibility tools” checkbox for all non-decorative images
Have narration/audio begin .5secs after slide start
Avoid adding external hyperlinks, and if added, only offer them as supplemental reference material (i.e., course navigation and completion not dependent on external hyperlinks)
Generate audio narration via Text-to-Speech using Articulate Storyline’s built-in TTS functionality (in part for the sake of generating closed captioning)
Select the “Generate Closed Captioning” checkbox in the TTS dialog box
Use font size of 12 pt+ (if smaller, ensure that screen is zoomable)
Use a native Articulate Storyline san serif font
Add audio descriptions, if important to the learning experience
Add audio narration for questions in the in-course knowledge checks (if any remain after the knowledge checks get extracted for the sake of post-test eval).
For videos, if any, add closed captioning via veed.io or other software (98.6%+ accuracy)
Note: For videos embedded in Articulate 360 eLearnings, can utilize “Closed Captions Editor” to manually add closed captions
Add alt text to data charts and infographics
Avoid unnecessary animations or time-released features in a slide, as a best practice. It is fine to use animation or timed items in a slide if it supports instruction, but should be started at the beginning of the slide. This allows screen reader users to pick up all objects/text on the slide.
Use “Select” or “choose” in place of “click” when possible
All items to be read by the screen reader should appear on the slide within first three (3) seconds into the timeline.
For embedded videos:
Ensure proper iframes are used; See Canvas course guidance on iframes
Embedded videos must have closed captions
Color identification, contrast, and sensitivity
Avoid red/orange font that doesn’t meet color contrast requirements
Note: Storyline has a default of yellow on white, which we are not planning to alter. We will continue to use the default.
Use a color contrast checker tool to ensure color scheme meets a minimum of Level AA color contrast. Contrast issues are not necessarily intuitive.
Avoid activities that are dependent on a learner’s ability to identify a specific color
Avoid pulsating or spinning colors/images, such as gifs that play in a loop
Mobility
Ensure that the learner can navigate (including tab navigation) through the entire course (including courses with branching or central hubs), such that there is no obstacle to course completion
Slide titles should always have headings (H1, H2, etc)
Ensure a generally intuitive flow and sequencing of information on a slide, typically flowing upper left to lower right (also a concern for screen readers)
Avoid drag & drop activities (also a concern for screen readers)
Avoid hotspot activities (also a concern for screen readers)
Improve tab navigation
Hide decorative objects on slide (e.g. images or template design features that are not part of what is being taught). This helps streamline the learning experience for learners using accessibility tools like screen readers and keyboard only users. Use slide master to hide decorative shapes/objects on slide template.
Additional/supplemental resources such as PDFs
Remediate to ensure they meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance. If they are in the course, even as optional/supplemental, they need to be remediated. An alternative is to remove them from the course.
Bullets
Avoid square bullets, since they are not read as “bullets” by NVDA screenreader.
Info from Val: For dot point text, the default circle dot point symbol when used, is announced as “bullet” by NVDA (and the symbol is a dot point in the NVDA Speech Viewer). When the dot point shape is a square symbol, the NVDA does not announce “bullet” (and the symbol is not a dot point in the NVDA Speech Viewer, it is a different symbol). Recommend using the circle dot point symbol since this does not affect the sighted learner’s experience and enhances the screen reader learner’s experience. (Val)
Player settings
Enable the Closed Captioning button (by default, the closed captioning will only appear if someone chooses to click the CC button)
When using text-to-speech (TTS) select the “Generate Closed Captions” checkbox (specific to Articulate Storyline 360)
Enlarge CC as necessary (125%+ recommended)
Enable unforced navigation of the course menu
Number the menu items (achieves the same accessibility measure as unique slide titles)
Enable unforced navigation of the audio playbar in each slide
Set a very clear Exit action (e.g., Please select the Exit button)
Enable the Accessibility Controls option in the player settings - specific to Articulate Storyline 360
Use Modern Player - specific to Articulate Storyline 360
Wrap long menu items
Testing
Run pre-release testing in screen readers (e.g., NVDA or JAWS)
Open the Focus Order for every slide and double-check the alt text is accurate on all items visible to screen readers.
LMS
Ensure that the course, as seen within the player frame, is close to full screen and/or is expandable in size
Ensure accessible navigation within the LMS, including navigation to evals
Perfecting tab navigation (e.g., PREV and NEXT button order)
Adding audio descriptions, except when crucial/important to the learning
Altering hard-set player colors
Changing existing serif font for san serif font
Removing of animations (e.g., fly-in bullets) and motion paths in already-existing eLearnings
No search function within course
For on screen citations, adding the word “Citation” to the Alt Text (FYI: Southern RTA does this extra step)
Use lower case and hyphens in file names
From Val/Southern: For handouts: It's a best practice to use lowercase and hyphens when naming files as this works well with how websites handle files available for download. Camel case (ex: fileName) can work as well but I feel like hyphens are easier to read to the untrained eye (Henry)
This-is-how-you-name-it.pdf
Opening a new layer as an overlay outside of (or hoving over) the main slide
From Val/Southern: Alt text for layer buttons should include “(opens in an overlay)”
Alt text for buttons that perform actions should include the action
Up till now, we have intuitive wording/prompts for buttons, and have not added action instructions within alt text of those buttons
Assign alt text to Visited states once you know the title for the button - “[button name] Visited”
Overkill
Southern RTA document: Accessibility Best Practices - CWDS / Southern
CDSS Accessibility and Policy Unit’s Word, PDF, and PPT checklist
CDSS Accessibility and Policy Unit’s video playlist
Confirmed that CDSS Accessibility and Policy Unit uses the following two as their go-to sources to confirm/check their understanding of how to adhere to WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance standards:
this webpage on WCAG 2.1 guidelines
this webpage on WCAG 2.1 checklist
Auto-generated closed captioning in Articulate Storyline eLearning development tool
Fed and State Accessibility report (Nov 2020)
UCOP on AA conformance (WCAG 2.0), re: website accessibility
See info on captioning and transcripts in section 1.2 of the checklist
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content more accessible. Following these guidelines will make content accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity and combinations of these. Following these guidelines will also often make your Web content more usable to users in general.
WCAG 2.0 guidelines are categorized into three levels of conformance in order to meet the needs of different groups and different situations: A (lowest), AA (mid range), and AAA (highest). Conformance at higher levels indicates conformance at lower levels. For example, by conforming to AA, a Web page meets both the A and AA conformance levels. Level A sets a minimum level of accessibility and does not achieve broad accessibility for many situations. For this reason, UC recommends AA conformance for all Web-based information. The WCAG document does not recommend that Level AAA conformance be required as a general policy for entire sites because it is not possible to satisfy all Level AAA success criteria for some content.