At Aperian, our mission has always been to enable bridge-building across boundaries. Usually, we talk about those boundaries in terms of culture, geography, or corporate structure. But there is another set of boundaries that often go overlooked in the digital space: the barriers to learning and inclusion faced by people with different ability levels.
At its core, digital accessibility is the practice of designing tools and content so they can be used by everyone, including people with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive disabilities. It ensures that information is not just present, but functional, regardless of how a person interacts with a device—whether they are using a screen reader, navigating via keyboard, or using voice commands.
The true beauty of accessible design is that it follows the principle of universal design: improvements made for a specific population often end up benefiting everyone. This is known as the “curb-cut effect.” Just as sidewalk ramps help people in wheelchairs, they also help parents with strollers and travelers with heavy luggage.
In a learning platform, accessibility works the same way. High-contrast text doesn’t just help someone with low vision; it helps someone trying to read a learning module on a smartphone in bright sunlight. Video transcripts don’t just help the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community; they help a manager in a co-working space who forgot their headphones.
Aperian recently partnered with an accessibility auditor to conduct a rigorous assessment of the user experience in the Aperian platform. This collaborative review benchmarked current performance and identified strategic opportunities for enhancement. Over the subsequent six months, those insights were translated into a series of technical refinements to align with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 level AA standards. These updates ensure a more seamless, intuitive, and inclusive environment for every learner.
A truly accessible experience begins with clear visual and auditory communication. The following improvements were designed to ensure that content is easily perceivable, regardless of how a learner interacts with the platform:
We also spent significant time addressing structural issues that are invisible to the average user but vital for others. We’ve optimized our pages for screen readers (programs that read web pages aloud), ensuring every interactive element communicates its purpose clearly.
Keyboard navigation was also a primary focus. For learners who navigate without a mouse, tabbing through pages is now more efficient and intuitive. Users can maintain a clear sense of their location on the page and the actions available to them at any given time.
Sometimes, accessibility requires more than a quick fix. A great example is the Compare Profiles page within the GlobeSmart Profile. Our previous “carousel” model didn’t meet our high accessibility standards. Instead of patching it, we reworked the page from top to bottom to improve the functionality and provide an inclusive experience for all learners.
We are also excited to share a new step forward in our learning modules. Using new AI-assisted tools, we have begun adding audio descriptions to videos.
When active, videos automatically pause, and a synthesized voice will describe the on-screen action before resuming. While this feature is currently limited to our English-language content, it represents a major leap forward in making our multimedia learning more inclusive.
The landscape of digital inclusion is constantly evolving. As new technologies emerge, so do new opportunities to broaden access and refine the user experience. The objective at Aperian is to move beyond reactive adjustments by embedding accessibility standards into the foundational design of every new feature from the outset.
This commitment reflects a core principle: for global collaboration to be truly effective, the digital tools facilitating it must be accessible to all. Prioritizing these standards ensures that the tools used to bridge cultural gaps are themselves free of barriers, providing every learner with an equitable opportunity to participate, contribute, and succeed.
Learn more about the many ways the Aperian platform helps global organizations learn and grow, and contact the Aperian team to learn more about how we can help you meet your goals.
