We recently came across a talk by Marcy Sutton, Accessibility Engineer at Adobe, where she raises some interesting points about how to “win” at mobile accessibility.

While the talk was about website and mobile web app accessibility, there were definitely considerations and tips that we felt would apply equally well to eLearning design and development. Here’s a quick summary.

• • First, a quick look at types of disability and the accessibility support they require. Those with no/low/impaired vision require zoom features, the ability to control contrast, and screen readers. Those with hearing disabilities require captions and transcripts. Those with motor or physical disabilities may need to use keyboards or other assistive technologies and devices. There are also those with cognitive or learning disabilities. While this is a newer space, from an eLearning viewpoint, this is a space where approach, structure, writing, and visual design can play important parts in making content more accessible.
  • One of the most interesting points was about how to perceive disability. Marcy referred to the Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit which describes how disability can be something permanent (e.g. a missing arm), temporary (e.g. a fractured arm), or even situational (e.g. being a new parent and having to do many tasks with a single arm while holding a baby in the other). Looking at disability in these ways can also make us realize how accessibility does or could apply to each and every one of us.
  • When it comes to accessibility support, iOS emerges as a clear winner over Android. That said, both platforms do have useful features:

• Here are some ways to overcome common barriers to effective accessibility on mobile devices:
  • Avoid locking down the zoom feature. Keep the pinch and zoom option enabled, so that users can increase the font size on the page/in the app itself, rather than having to go to the OS settings.
  • Avoid scrolljacking. Inconsistent scroll behavior can be confusing.
  • Avoid visual clutter and keep the layout neat and organized.
  • Ensure that icons have text labels to avoid ambiguity.
  • Use buttons or other controls (rather than gestures) for content navigation to avoid conflicts with gestures required for screen reader operation.
• As designers and developers, we need to focus on what is within our control. Some of the suggestions mentioned included:
  • Use HTML buttons and other semantic elements with built-in accessibility, rather than divs, since the latter are not recognized by screen readers.
  • Use the “aria-label” attribute for elements without text labels.
  • Make sure touch targets are large and have sufficient space between them.
  • Use “aria-hidden” for specific regions (for example, content behind a modal dialog box) and set “tabindex = “-1″” for any interactive elements within that region that are part of the tab order. This will ensure they get skipped by the screen reader when they are background or visually hidden elements.
• While there are tools that exist for testing accessibility on desktops, there are currently no tools designed specifically for mobile accessibility testing. By tethering a mobile device to a Mac, you can use the iOS Safari Accessibility Node Inspector for mobile content; however, you cannot run any accessibility audit. On a Windows computer/laptop, you can load mobile content into the Firefox browser, resize the browser window to a smaller size, and use the Firefox Developer Tools aXe extension to run an accessibility audit on the content. However, neither of these options tests accessibility on the actual mobile device. With the Chrome browser, you can tether an Android device and use the Chrome Accessibility Developer Tools to run Chrome Device Inspect against the actual mobile device content. The drawback here is that Chrome is not widely used for accessibility.
• Some potentially useful resources mentioned during this talk included:
  • The BBC Mobile Accessibility Guidelines
  • The WebAIM site
  • The Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit
  • The Simply Accessible site (when viewed on mobile devices)
  • The A11Y Project (a11y is a numeronym for accessibility)

The post Combining Mobile Accessibility and… Winning? first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

1. Focuses on learners. A common thought – about thinking of learners as ‘us’, not ‘them’; putting yourself into the learner’s shoes; empathising with learners and thinking from their perspective; understanding what learners do, want to do, and need to do; understanding how they learn.
2. Is detail oriented. No contest. Every team member mentioned this one!
3. Knows a lot about different things. And is eager to learn. And is willing to struggle to understand in the process! One team member called it being or trying to be a polymath. It all boils down to the interest and passion to keep reading, watching, and listening.
4. Is creative. Is imaginative. Another one that came up on pretty much everyone’s list. But now… heed the next one.
5. Strikes a balance. Is creative and pragmatic. Is able to channelize his/her creativity within the project scope and specifications. Thinks laterally and out of the box within practical limits. And even – is able to come up with effective solutions without being utopian, as a team member very succinctly put it! Ah… You can see they’ve valiantly struggled to remain within scope!
6. Has strong analytical skills. Can make connections. A key task, after all, is understanding the content and context, and then simplifying and presenting it effectively. One team member summed it up as packing maximum meaning into minimum words (and visuals). Another put it as the ability to cull through large volumes of information and distil what is necessary.
7. Is a good communicator. This one encompasses quite a lot. Being articulate, for one – which requires clarity of thought and the ability to express and explain that thought. Questioning – framing questions to extract required information and open doors to solutions. Framing questions to make sure you understand the content right. Framing questions to gauge reactions. And then listening. Collaborating. Sometimes even negotiating or mediating.
8. Writes well. Writes clearly, concisely, and correctly, in a way that suits the audience. Writes different elements like narration scripts, on-screen text, questions, and learner instructions, each in their own way.
9. Can visualize. Can “see” what thoughts, ideas, scripts, and user experiences will look and feel like. Can “see” animations playing out like movies in their mind’s eye. Can “watch” a page as it progresses. Can come up with creative yet clear and accurate ways to represent information – both concrete and abstract.
10. Is aware of technological possibilities and constraints. About devices, delivery mechanisms, development tools and technologies, bandwidth etc. No need to be an expert – but enough general awareness to ask the right questions to the right people and get answers that help design effective learning solutions.
11. Is patient. Whether it’s about problem solving when there doesn’t seem to be a known way to do something; or graceful understanding and acceptance of changes, iterations, and project or client limitations.
12. Is stubborn. Or maybe persistent is a more positive way to put it. Sees his/her ideas through.
13. Is open minded. Talking to others, accepting suggestions, looking at design trends, and just seeing what’s out there can help them think differently about their own work.

So there you have it – some of the key qualities and skills a good instructional designer should possess and/or cultivate. In our ID team’s own words.

IDs also tend to have their own set of special skills gained through observation and years of teaching experience that makes them exceptional. Thus this list can be expanded to an infinite list based on the subject and field of instruction. Can you think of any additional qualities required in a Good Instructional Designer? Do leave your comments below.

The post What Makes a Good Instructional Designer? first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

We had a total of 45 donors—not bad for starters! Some were hardened old hands, while others were first-time donors. Many had signed up to take part in advance; some, seeing their friends and colleagues surface unscathed, were inspired to join in. Or maybe it was just the promise of your choice of tea, coffee, and/or juice, with biscuits and fruit, that was the greatest draw…

The activity had the full support of the management team and seniors in all domains who made sure that the day’s training schedules were designed so as to accommodate donor batches.

Glad to have had such a positive response and experience, we see this as the first step towards a series of more regular and diverse social activities, starting with blood donation camps planned every four months.

The post A Different Type of Recognition first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

MindLeaders’ white paper “Leadership In Crisis: How to Maximize Leadership Development and Succession Planning” examines the importance of effective leadership to an organization’s success, especially at a time like this when a severe worker shortage is predicted in the coming decade.

The paper looks at how organizations generally select and develop leaders, and the typical outcomes of such approaches—even in a successful global corporation like Coca Cola.

It identifies the main problem as the lack of connection between leadership development and succession planning programs, and then goes on to describe several reasons why organizations fail to successfully mould existing ‘stars’ into effective leaders.

The paper next describes the characteristics of an effective leadership development program, and provides tips on how to go about putting these in place.

To illustrate how leadership building practices can impact performance, the paper presents a scenario of a star performer recently promoted to a managerial role. She is required to carry out performance reviews for some of her team members, but is unsure of her ability to coach and mentor her team; nor does she understand some of the company’s decisions well enough to explain their purpose to her team members. Unhappy with how the reviews go and with the direction in which her career is heading, she begins to look for openings in other companies.

Had the manager been provided with leadership training, and had her development as a manager been properly planned and monitored, she may have had better success and would not have been looking to leave.

The paper finally presents a list of factors to consider when selecting a learning and development company to help establish effective leadership development programs, and gives an overview of how MindLeaders’ products and services can help organizations to this end.

How well are your leadership development programs linked to succession planning?

The post New White Paper: Leadership In Crisis first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

MindLeaders’ white paper “Training In Troubled Times: Delivering on ‘What’s To Follow’ With Training” encourages organizations to take L&D decisions during a recession with two goals in mind: (i) surviving the current downturn and (ii) exploiting the upswing that will eventually follow.

Cost cutting exercises during a recession often involve changes to organizational processes and tasks. If L&D budgets are slashed, how will employees be trained to work effectively and efficiently as per these changes? And how will organizations develop the skills they need to ensure they make the most of the next boom?

The white paper examines how training cost cuts may be perceived by different stakeholders (investors, customers, employees). It also advocates viewing downturns as opportunities for organizational ‘soul searching’. All too often, when things are going well, organizations don’t focus on improvement. Tough times force them to ‘introspect’ and rout out the inefficiencies.

During economic downturns, L&D programs have to compete for budgets. L&D program managers have to demonstrate that the programs on which funds have been spent have resulted in positive contributions to business operations.

The white paper suggests four types of metrics that can help L&D departments demonstrate this, while pointing out that specific measurement parameters must be defined based on each organization’s business model. It also stresses the importance of defining L&D programs that are in line with organizational strategies.

The paper goes on to present some points to keep in mind while setting up an effective L&D solution. It then takes a look at the case of an airline company who successfully made it through the 2001 recession and is still going strong today, and identifies the key management and L&D decisions that contributed to the company’s success.

The paper ends with a list of factors to consider when selecting a L&D provider, and an overview of how MindLeaders’ products and services can help organizations to this end.

The message is clear. Those organizations that invest in employee development during tough economic times will emerge better equipped to thrive during the good times.

The post New White Paper: Training In Troubled Times first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

MindLeaders’ white paper “Why Employee Development Matters: Creating Strategic Advantage Through Your People” looks at how to set up effective employee development programs to grow and exploit employee knowledge to the benefit of both organization and individuals.

Acknowledging the importance of employee development as a key tool for employee retention and engagement, the paper gives an overview of common challenges faced by such programs in the workplace.

It admits that while eLearning courses offered via an LMS have proven to be reasonably effective, they still do not address the tailoring of training, which is an important facet of an effective employee development program.

The paper further points out that employee development is important at all levels within an organization, and uses an example of a recently promoted Sales Manager to illustrate this further. The Sales Manager needs to carry out a performance review for her team but has not been trained on the process and associated behavioral skills. She finds herself having to provide negative feedback to one of her team members; this review doesn’t go well, and the employee shows no signs of improvement. Had the Manager gone through an effective employee development program, she would have been able to draw on relevant skills and resources to help her carry out a more successful review.

The paper then presents a list of factors to look for in a company that helps define and set up employee development programs. It concludes by introducing MindLeaders’ Personal Learning Service (PluS), where personalized learning plans are created for individual employees by human Learning Advisors, with inputs from managers. Progress against the learning plans can be monitored, and plans can be modified to remain in line with changing goals and conditions.

If you’re planning to implement employee development programs in your organization, or are looking to improve your existing programs, this white paper could provide you with some useful insights.

The post New White Paper: Why Employee Development Matters first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

Talent management is about recognizing (potential) value, utilizing it optimally, keeping it engaged, and constantly growing it. That’s the challenge faced by Human Resources (HR) and Learning and Development (L&D) functions today.

The need for an L&D program is further illustrated through an example of a new sales manager who finds it difficult to carry out performance reviews, with a description of how things could have been different if the company had had integrated talent management and appropriate L&D support.

Finally, the paper presents a list of factors to consider when selecting an L&D company to help in the implementation of a strategic talent management program.

So don’t get caught short! Ensure that you have the right people with the right knowledge, skills, and attitudes to meet current and future business needs. Strategic talent management is equally applicable now as it would be in a time of booming economies. Perhaps even more so, as companies can put slow times to good use by investing in developing organizational talent.

The post New White Paper: Effective Strategic Talent Management first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.

The Preparation Before you venture into her office, make sure you’ve done your homework. Do you know what eLearning is today? Do you know what forms it can take? Do you know your organization’s pain areas? What about your boss’ pain areas? And do you know which of those could be resolved through eLearning solutions, and how? If you’ve answered no to any of these, then you may want to consider trying your luck another day.

The Strategy
Okay, so once in, your mandate is to convince your boss that eLearning beats classroom training and workshops on all fronts, right? Um, nope. It’s really not about eLearning versus classroom training; rather, it’s about which forms of Learning delivery are suitable for achieving which desired outcomes, how well designed they are, and how they fit into your overall training and learning strategy. In other words, look at eLearning as a part of your learning mix, not the whole.

Tell her she’ll get hooked – that’s right, hooked. To games. Because well-designed games offer immersive, challenging, non-traditional, and fun learning environments where learners practice knowledge and skill application – and compete – to attain defined learning outcomes.

Perhaps your boss believes strongly in transfer of knowledge through face-to-face experience sharing. Because she knows through personal experience that it works. Reassure her that eLearning doesn’t mean you’ll be barred from interacting with experienced instructors and experts. It doesn’t necessarily do away with all classroom sessions, nor does it eliminate peer interaction.

Tell her about how virtual classrooms, wikis, podcasts, and social news and networking sites are being used to create, capture, share, respond to, and enhance learning. Tell her how you can follow and interact with experts on blogs and micro-blogs, participate in webinars and video conferences, access and share bookmarks, and attend a classroom session in a virtual world. And tell her that all these can be components of an eLearning solution.

The Process Recommendation
Your boss is prudent. And so she should be. So tell her you’ll run a pilot project first, with a control group of learners whose performance could be tracked on a free or less costly hosted LMS.

The End
In short, the decision about whether or not to go in for “eLearning” isn’t about all or nothing. Convince your boss to adopt eLearning as a part of your training and development mix. Getting the size or proportion of that part right for your unique set of needs and circumstances is winning half the battle. The other half is getting the right kind of eLearning component(s) – those that are instructionally effective – and the right mix of presentation and delivery media.

Let us know if you have any specific objection which you can’t overcome. Chances are we can help…

Good luck!

The post Do you still have to sell eLearning to your boss? first appeared on The Upside Learning Blog.