The creation of inclusive learning environments that are affordable, diverse and digitally accessible has been one of the core priorities of educational institutions and suppliers for some time now as they continue to grapple with the needs and expectations of modern-day learners.
A recent study published by Wonkhe and Kortext highlighted that inclusivity is a core pedagogical challenge for higher education today. Paired with this is the initiative from the European Commission, the European Accessibility Act, which seeks to address the accessibility gap and the issue of marginalisation faced by specially-abled individuals.
Coming into effect in June 2025, suppliers and educational institutions will need to ensure a level of accessibility compliance of their learning environments. It is fully understandable that institutions and educational suppliers are at different stages of their journey to achieve their goals around inclusivity and that it will continue to be work-in-progress.
Having recently attended the CanvasConnect event in Liverpool, it is clear that many educational institutions have task forces of people at the universities who support teaching staff on making course content accessible on their institutional platforms. It is also evident that the level of expertise on what it means to be compliant is patchy and requires a great deal of rigour and needs to be used throughout a university or organisation. Having been part of the education community for the past decade, it is clear that the sector needs expert support on their journey to increased inclusivity.
The team at LearningMate are proud to be able to offer digital accessibility support and services to the higher education community be that to institutions or indeed to digital education suppliers. With learners at the heart of our operation, we feel strongly in the need for greater accessibility of learning materials and have over 700 experts in-house, as well as employees who have the lived experience of coping with disabilities daily.
Our range of services can support both content and technologies and vary from content audits, consultation sessions, right the way to remediation and given that each university or supplier is on their unique journey, we pride ourselves on meeting our customers where they are, understanding where they want to be and supporting them on a path that works best for them.
If you are interested in learning more about our range of digital accessibility services or know someone who may well be interested, then, please don’t hesitate to reach out to geeta.chandolia@learningmate.com to set up a discovery call.
Let’s make learning environments even more inclusive.
LearningMate is an education-first technology supplier with over 20 years of expertise in delivering quality teaching and learning solutions across the US and Europe. We help Higher Education institutions to transform their digital infrastructure, optimise their internal processes and create the very best learning experience, with students at the heart of everything we do.