Imperial College London
Helping a leading university make digital learning more accessible at scale
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At a glance
- Client: Imperial College London
- Sector: Higher Education
- Support provided: Accessibility review, training, strategic guidance, learning content support
- Focus: Improving the accessibility and consistency of digital learning materials across departments
- Outcome: Greater confidence among internal teams, clearer accessibility standards, and a more inclusive learning experience for students
Overview
Imperial College London wanted to strengthen the accessibility of its digital learning content and build a more consistent approach across the organisation.
With a wide range of departments, contributors and learning materials in use, the challenge was not simply identifying issues. It was helping teams understand what good accessible learning looks like in practice, where to prioritise effort, and how to build confidence internally for the long term.
eLaHub supported Imperial with a practical and people-focused approach that combined expert guidance, targeted training and clear recommendations. The result was a stronger foundation for inclusive digital learning and a clearer path forward for internal teams.
The challenge
Like many large institutions, Imperial had a broad mix of digital learning content created by different teams, using different tools, at different levels of accessibility maturity.
This created a few key challenges:
- Accessibility knowledge varied across departments
- Some learning content had grown over time without a consistent accessibility approach
- Internal teams needed practical guidance rather than overly technical advice
- There was a need to balance quality, usability and compliance with the realities of busy academic and learning teams
- The organisation wanted a more sustainable approach, rather than a one-off fix
Imperial was looking for a partner who could help make accessibility feel achievable, relevant and embedded into everyday practice.
What eLaHub did
eLaHub worked closely with Imperial College London to support both immediate accessibility needs and longer-term capability building.
The work included:
Accessibility review of learning content
A focused review of selected digital learning materials helped identify common barriers affecting usability and access. This gave the team a clearer picture of where the biggest opportunities were and what needed attention first.
Practical recommendations
Rather than delivering generic advice, eLaHub provided prioritised recommendations that were easy to understand and realistic for teams to act on.
Staff training and guidance
Training sessions helped internal teams build confidence in creating and reviewing more accessible learning content. The focus was on practical steps people could apply in their day-to-day work.
Strategic support
Alongside hands-on guidance, eLaHub helped Imperial think more broadly about how accessibility could be embedded into content workflows, quality processes and future learning design decisions.
The approach
A big part of the project was making accessibility feel clear and manageable.
That meant:
- translating complex accessibility requirements into practical guidance
- focusing on the learner experience, not just technical standards
- helping teams prioritise the most important changes first
- creating momentum by building internal understanding and confidence
- supporting a more joined-up approach across content, people and process
This balance of strategic thinking and practical delivery helped move the conversation from “What do we need to fix?” to “How do we improve this in a sustainable way?”
The outcome
Through the work, Imperial College London was able to take positive steps towards a more inclusive digital learning experience.
Outcomes included:
- improved visibility of key accessibility barriers across learning materials
- clearer internal understanding of what accessible content should look like
- greater confidence among teams responsible for creating and maintaining learning content
- a stronger foundation for more consistent accessibility standards across departments
- progress towards a more inclusive experience for students engaging with digital learning
Just as importantly, the project helped position accessibility as part of learning excellence, rather than as a separate box-ticking exercise.
Key takeaways
- Accessibility became easier for teams to understand and apply
- Internal stakeholders gained clearer direction on priorities
- Learning content decisions became more learner-centred
- The work supported both immediate action and longer-term change
- Accessibility was framed as a quality issue as much as a technical one