Sociopolitical events (#MeToo, Black Lives Matter amongst others) have been the catalyst for organizations and businesses around the world to evaluate their policies on diversity and inclusion. But what about accessibility?
Many have now put specific diversity and inclusion training in place as part of their learning and development offering. And while this is a brilliant step forward, is the training provided accessible to a wider, more diverse audience?
At Attensi, we’ve made it our business to know everything we can about amazing learning and development. Here’s our tips for building a more accessible L&D offering for your organization.
Let’s face it. No one wants to suffer death by Powerpoint presentation. Team members can feel excluded from learning that is not accommodating how they learn as individuals.
There are a number of different ways we take in information. A common model is ‘VARK’ – visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinesthetic. Chances are you have a few of every type within your organization.
Creating resources and sessions to suit all these core learning types is a great way to start building a more inclusive learning culture.
Let’s take a look at the key characteristics and how you might apply these to your L&D:
Good at retaining information when it’s presented in a graphic way.
Will generally like seeing things in graph, charts, diagrams or symbols for example.
Likes organizing their own information through images so they can see a clear information hierarchy.
Likes to take part in team projects where there’s lots of communication involved.
Prefers information to be presented to them vocally – lectures, videos or seminars for example.
May like to read aloud to themselves if information is given in written form.
May take in the most information when given text-heavy tasks such as worksheets, presentations or textbooks.
Likes taking their own notes they can refer back to.
Generally learns best when they can ‘learn by doing’.
Tends to thrive in practical activities or workshops.
Enjoys a hands on approach to learning.
When creating your program, you want to find as much balance as possible. It’s best practice to make sure your L&D incorporates as many of these core learning styles as possible so everyone can feel included.
Creating a culture where your team feels they can disclose any disabilities is vital. Not only for the individual employee’s wellbeing during their time with you, but also for making sure they’re able to reach their full potential during their learning and development.
Remember, just because you can’t see someone’s disability doesn’t mean it won’t impact the way they receive your training. In addition to physical accessibility (access to venues etc), think about making your training more accessible to members of your team who are maybe neurodivergent or have chronic illnesses.
Here are just a few questions when you’re building your inclusive learning and development sessions:
If you’re unsure about how you can ensure any disabilities are catered for in training, there are plenty of guidelines available that can help you ensure everyone is included1.
At Attensi, making learning fun has always been our top priority. Part of this is making sure that our gamified modules can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. And if you don’t see a feature you think your team would benefit from, we want to hear about it.
Our gamified training is designed to be played on multiple devices – whether that’s mobile, tablet or desktop. Wherever your team are, they can access their learning and their leaderboards. No matter their location, staff can always connect with their team – no exclusion here.
In the times your teams do come together, you can support their learning with Attensi with practical workshops or discussions based on the work the modules they’ve completed in their own time.
Remember what we said about different learning types? Attensi has you covered. From practical, immersive sessions where players will interact with realistic avatars to different visual and auditory activities, there’s something for everyone.
Everyone in your team is unique, your training should be too.
We don’t pretend to know everything about what your organization needs from your training. That’s why you’ll have your very own CREATOR tool to design the training your people need, in the way you want to deliver it.
With Attensi, anyone can be a creator.
We could talk about why learning and development is important all day long (we often do!)
Part of building a diverse and inclusive workforce is ensuring that the disabled members of your team have equal access to the training you provide. After all, everyone deserves the chance to throw themselves into learning.
4 areas to consider when creating accessible training, texthelp.com/resources/blog/4-areas-to-consider-when-creating-accessible-training/