You're adapting content for various platforms. How can you ensure accessibility for different audiences?

Knowing your audience is key to making accessible content. Start by understanding their demographics, like age, location, and interests, and consider any disabilities. This helps you design content with features like alt text for images, transcripts for audio and video, and clear fonts with good colour contrast. By putting yourself in their shoes, you can create content that meets their needs and connects with them personally.

To ensure accessibility for different audiences, I incorporate subtitles, captions, and audio descriptions to make the content accessible to people with disabilities. I also adapt the content format and aspect ratio to fit the specific requirements of each platform, ensuring a seamless viewing experience. Additionally, I consider cultural and linguistic differences, localizing content as needed to resonate with diverse audiences across platforms.

1. If something works on one platform, don’t assume that it’ll also work on another platform. Photos that you uploaded might work on desktop, but turn out squashed on mobile. When I build puzzles for my community, I have to test them on both desktop and mobile because the user experience is different. 2. Have a group of ‘beta-testers’ who are willing to test your product and honest enough to tell you if it sucks. Something that seems simple or obvious to you might be confusing to others, and vice versa. Always welcome feedback and adjust accordingly. 3. Keep refining your product. The point is not to make zero mistakes - it’s to get better and better. We learn how to make a good product by making a couple of bad ones.

Websites: Users may navigate primarily with a keyboard, so ensuring keyboard accessibility is crucial. Implementing tab navigation allows users to move through the site without a mouse. Mobile Apps: Users often interact via touchscreens and may rely on voice commands or screen readers. Therefore, designing larger touch targets and enabling voice commands are essential. Social Media: Platforms like Instagram or Twitter rely heavily on visual content. Adding alt text to images ,video subtitles ensures visually impaired users can still access the information. Websites must be responsive, adapting to different screen sizes and orientations, which is important for mobile users who might have difficulty with smaller text or complex layouts.

When assessing platform features, I focus on tools like Articulate 360 and Adobe Captivate, which offer flexibility for creating interactive and engaging content. I also prioritize platforms that integrate well with Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle or Canvas, ensuring smooth content delivery and tracking. Tools like Vyond for video content and H5P for creating interactive elements are also on my radar. My goal is always to use these tools to build a dynamic learning experience that adapts to diverse learner needs, backed by solid analytics for continuous improvement.

When adapting content for different platforms, I focus on using built-in accessibility features like alt text for images and closed captions for videos. These tools help make content accessible to users with visual or hearing impairments. I also consider each platform’s limitations, ensuring that the message is clear and accessible, even if certain media or interactive elements are unsupported. This approach ensures everyone can engage with the content effectively, regardless of the platform.

Clarity in content is key for accessibility. Always use plain language and avoid jargon or complex sentences that might confuse your audience. Define technical terms or acronyms to ensure everyone can understand, even those new to the topic. The goal is to communicate your message clearly and simply, making it easy for everyone to engage with your content.

Maintaining a consistent layout across platforms is key to making content accessible for all users, including those with cognitive disabilities like dyslexia or attention deficit disorder, by using uniform design elements—such as button styles, navigation menus, and marked interactive features—you create a predictable and user-friendly experience. This not only improves accessibility but also strengthens brand identity across platforms.