There is an increasing demand for accessibility in learning content, yet many instructional designers are unsure if they are doing a good job of meeting the needs of learners with disabilities. There is a need for instructional designers to discover what they can do to accommodate and enhance content for users of all abilities.

In this session participants will learn from the accessibility lessons learned in supporting the Connect-Ability project, an online education initiative for individuals with disabilities seeking gainful employment. You will explore how assistive technology (AT) is used and how course designs support accessible content. You will discuss 508 standards, other accessible guideline information, and the practical application of tips to incorporate in your design. You will examine the different considerations to consider for inclusive design based on working with a diverse population of users. This session will help you become more comfortable understanding your learners and how to ask important questions that can influence your course designs.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why 508 compliance is an important factor in course design and important 508 standards to follow
• What tools to consider when developing accessible content
• How JAWS users engage with content and the importance of using headers in content
• How to be creative and still meet accessibility requirements
• About the various types of disabilities to consider
• Considerations for building accessible courses/content
• The top 10 design goals to consider for designing accessible content
• If your courses are inclusive

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
JAWS (screen readers), Lectora, closed captioning and various eLearning tools, Blackboard, 508 standards, and others.

The volume of content in most organizations is getting to a point where manually curating content for various audiences is becoming overwhelming. Sifting through thousands of eLearning packages for relevance to a certain topic, role, or location can be a very time consuming task. The delivery may change, the style of content may change, the packaging and location of content may change, but the volume will continually expand making finding relevant content increasingly difficult for our audiences.

In this session you will learn how computers and systems can be used to curate content for our audiences. You will explore why allowing computers and systems to understand what content is about will allow those systems to filter content that is relevant to a user’s needs or relevant to the context of a user’s situation. You will discover how this will make the increasing volume of eLearning content more manageable. You will leave this session understanding how building intelligence into our content will allow the systems that deliver content to identify the context, understand it, and bring that contextually relevant material to our audience.

In this session, you will learn:

• What structured content and intelligent content means
• How to design intelligent content
• Practical uses for intelligent structured content
• Tools and development techniques for creating structured eLearning
• Practical advantages of using intelligent content

Audience:
Intermediate and advanced designers, developers, and managers who are familiar with custom eLearning content development using both rapid authoring tools and custom code. Knowledge of LMS systems, learning record stores, and how computers interact with each would be beneficial.

Technology discussed in this session:
XML, JSON, HTML, JavaScript, rapid authoring tools, structured content tools, intelligent content design, learning management systems, learning record stores, and computer intelligence.

Learning professionals have long battled what is allowable from an organization’s IT group. Understanding why IT has these issues is the best method of lowering these barriers. In today’s world, data theft has become big business. The IT group sees allowing personal laptops and mobile devices onto organizational networks as a surefire method to data disaster. As such, IT groups often shut all the doors to minimize risks. Opening those doors can yield huge benefits and can be relatively easy—if you know how.

In this session you will learn how easy it is for someone to infiltrate your learning program and use it to attack your organization. You will learn a number of rules you need to employ during development to ensure your training remains safe and how following these rules will put your IT department at ease. You will explore how this process will lower the barriers to successful project implementation.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why IT likes to say no
• How to change your online behavior to stay safe and protect your organization
• Basic mLearning development rules to keep your product clean
• How easy it is for an attacker to infiltrate your organization’s IT infrastructure
• How to ensure your mLearning development is not a cause for concern

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
HTML, Base64, Android, and iPhone.

Data privacy is an issue that is rising in importance around the globe. As more examples of privacy violations are becoming public, the need for learning professionals to focus on data privacy increases. However, most learning professionals have never really put much thought into data privacy or how privacy factors into our design and development.

In this session you will explore two key areas of concern for data privacy in learning. You will examine the importance of learner data, and how companies control how learner data is being used. You will also discuss the increasing frequency in which organizations are extending their content development to SMEs, and the increased risk that places on protecting data in materials. You will leave this session able to assess your own organization’s possible risks, and how to reduce them.

In this session, you will learn:

• How your training materials may be putting you at risk for privacy infringement
• Steps that other companies are taking to minimize risk
• How to create governance around data
• How to manage SME-produced content without being Big Brother

Audience:
Novice designers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
N/A

The Internet is full of compelling images, video, and sound, but most learning designers and developers struggle with understanding what content they are allowed to use, and which content is limited based on copyrights. There is a continuing struggle to quickly develop content while balancing speed with protecting our own work, respecting the work of others, and using copyrighted works fairly.

In this session you will learn how to develop an applied understanding of copyright law and how to find media you can use. You will discover how to use this knowledge to help you become more productive and focused as you maximize your financial and creative resources. You will find sites that already approve use of their content, so you don’t have to stress about copyright infringement. Participants will leave this session with an understanding of copyright law and how to apply legal concepts such as the fair use doctrine to everyday scenarios.

In this session, you will learn:

• The important issues surrounding copyright law and fair-use of images, video, and music downloaded from the Internet
• How to apply copyright law, and fair use in particular, in the context of digital media
• How to find websites that offer public domain and open-access media
• About Creative Commons licensing and which licenses are most accommodating
• How to easily and properly attribute Creative Commons works

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, and project managers with basic graphic design, web, or app skills.

Technology discussed in this session:
API for Creative Commons licenses and plugins for proper attribution of work.