> [!summary]+ Summary > This page describes an effort made through a little research and whiteboarding to teach and create options to address 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 us about how we needed to make content more accessible. And they were writing about the network challenges they had taking courses from emerging economies with slower internet connections Making courses more accessible posed 2 challenges to me: 1) this would add extra cost through both time and labor; and 2) 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 easily build it in. ## Drawing out to make recommendations ![[20160617_Accessibilty_Planning.jpg]] I knew creating documents on accessibility or sharing resources would not get anywhere. 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. And things for us to address were: - Webpages in the HTML, such as ALT text - Downloadable files - Color usage in the palette and fonts - Captions and available language in videos - Chart and diagram styling ## 🎯 Results The activity enabled me to have a discussion with multiple members of my team and get their buy-in. We were able to have thoughtful discussions on color and style internally, as well as with creative professionals. And I was able to build accessibility principles into HTML templates, then coach developers as they built the modules.