A recent trip and an art gallery ‘Welcome Wall’ inspired this post on how we can use this concept to help create more inclusive learning.
One of the things we love most at eLaHub is coming across everyday examples of accessibility that are simple, practical and make life easier for everyone. On a recent visit to the Modern One art gallery in Edinburgh I saw a wonderful example that made a big impact on me. On one of the gallery walls, just before you entered the first exhibition room, was a collection of accessibility resources that visitors could simply borrow and use throughout their visit.
The wall supported a wide range of access needs, including vision, sensory and cognitive needs. Magnifying glasses, reading overlays and large-print labels supported people with different visual access needs, while sensory maps highlighted features of the gallery environment such as changes in light, noise and quieter areas. Ear defenders could support people who are sensitive to sound, including neurodivergent visitors who may experience sensory overload. Communication badges could also help people who find verbal communication difficult or who want a simple way to indicate how they would prefer to interact.
There was also clear information about quieter spaces where visitors could take time out if they needed to. Knowing that these spaces were available could help create a greater sense of psychological safety, particularly for anyone concerned that the gallery environment might become overwhelming.
A simple idea with a much bigger message
What struck me most about this Welcome Wall was not just the wide range of resources available and the care that had gone into making as many people as possible feel welcomed and included. Even more striking than that was the fact that all these resources were visible and freely available to everyone.
- Nobody had to disclose a disability.
- Nobody had to explain an access need.
- Nobody had to find a member of staff and ask whether something was available or justify why they wanted to use it.
The wall simply recognised that people experience the same environment differently and gave them options to make that experience work better for them.
Accessibility – visible, available and normalised
When I shared the Welcome Wall on LinkedIn, I was delighted by the response it received. The post prompted lots of reactions and comments, with people picking up on different aspects of why the idea worked so well.
Some people highlighted the way putting accessibility resources openly on display normalised their use. Others valued the fact that support was available to anyone who wanted it, without people having to identify themselves as disabled. Another important point was that having to ask for an adjustment can itself create an access barrier.
Their responses reminded me of two important accessibility principles.
- Accessibility works best when it is built in, visible and available from the start. This way people do not have to ask for support or rely on individual adjustments. That is when accessibility begins to feel normal rather than exceptional.
- When accessibility is provided in this way, its broader benefits become much easier to see. Features introduced to support particular access needs can make the experience clearer, easier and more comfortable for many other people too. It also removes the need to make assumptions about who might need them, something we explore in our Insights post, Accessible learning by default – because who are we to decide?
This made us think more carefully about what accessibility by default looks like in learning. What are the features, choices and design decisions we can build in from the start so that learners do not have to identify a barrier, disclose a disability or access need, or ask for support before they can take part?
Our Designing Accessible Learning Content Programme is a good example of this principle in practice. Accessible features and choices are built into the programme and available to everyone from the outset. Learners do not have to declare a disability or access need, or ask for something to be provided before they can use it.
What would an eLearning Welcome Wall include?
We began exploring what the principles behind the Welcome Wall could look like when applied specifically to eLearning. At the start we considered what an eLearning Welcome Wall might include and whether it could provide a simple way of showing some of the key features that make learning accessible by default.
We knew we couldn’t include everything. There are a such large number of WCAG requirements that can be relevant to digital learning, alongside other inclusive design considerations, that trying to represent everything would quickly become overwhelming. Our Accessible and inclusive eLearning – eLaHub ultimate guide explores the wider range of considerations in much more detail.
Instead, we focused on a small number of features that learners are likely to recognise and use. These included captions and transcripts for multimedia, keyboard navigation, screen reader support, options to resize or zoom text, good colour contrast, adjustable playback speed and reduced motion. Together, they provide a practical snapshot of the different ways learning content can be designed so that accessibility is already there when somebody needs it, rather than something they have to request afterwards.
To be continued…
We took the idea away and developed our first eLearning Welcome Wall, then shared it with our LinkedIn community to find out what people thought. Their feedback helped us rethink some of the features we had chosen, identify things we had missed and consider more carefully how the wall could represent accessibility without becoming overwhelming.
From there, we created a digital version and refined it again with feedback from the eLaHub accessibility testing team. That gave us another perspective on which features were most useful to make visible, how clearly they were represented and whether the wall reflected the real experience of disabled people and people with access needs.
We are sharing the next part of that journey in The eLaHub Accessibility Briefing. The newsletter will reveal the final eLearning Welcome Wall, the thinking behind the features that made the final version, what changed as a result of the feedback we received and what we learned through the process.
Subscribe to The eLaHub Accessibility Briefing to explore the next part of the story and access the final Welcome/Wonder Wall.
Links and resources
- National Galleries of Scotland sensory-friendly resources and Welcome Wall
- Original LinkedIn post about the Modern One Welcome Wall
- Accessible learning by default – because who are we to decide?
- W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2
- Accessible and inclusive eLearning – eLaHub ultimate guide
- Designing Accessible Learning Content Programme
