#whiteboarding #visible-work #design-thinking #collaboration #accessibility #in-person-work > [!summary]+ Summary > This page describes an effort that combined research and whiteboarding to explore options for addressing accessibility in MOOC design. (See the bottom of this page for the results of this activity.) # Planning accessibility standards for IMFx MOOCs In 2016 I was increasingly becoming concerned about accessibility in the courses I was designing. Participants were writing to let us know we needed to make content more accessible. They also wrote about the network challenges they faced when taking courses from lower to middle-income countries (LMIC) with slower internet connections Making courses more accessible posed two challenges. One, this would add extra cost through both time and labor; and two, U.S. law on making learning accessible did not apply to us. So I had to help my colleagues see how we could do it and find ways to build it in more easily. ## Drawing out to make recommendations ![[20160617_Accessibilty_Planning.jpg]] I knew creating documents on accessibility or sharing resources wouldn’t get us very far. There was empathy, but nobody wanted to read about this. They just wanted to see what to do. I focused on creating a centerpiece for conversations with colleagues. After a little refresher research, I drew out some ideas on my whiteboard for how we could address accessibility. The things we needed to address were: - Webpages and HTML elements, such as ALT text - Downloadable files - Color usage in the palette and fonts - Captions and available languages in videos - Chart and diagram styling ## 🎯 Results The activity enabled me to have discussions with multiple team members and gain their buy-in. We were able to have thoughtful discussions on color and style internally, as well as with creative professionals. I was also able to build accessibility principles into HTML templates and then coach developers as they built the modules.