Crafting Learning that Meets Everyone's Needs
We believe that every mind matters and access to high-quality learning should be universal.
Our inclusive UX research and product design process means we consider accessibility and engage people with diverse abilities at every stage. It’s more than a rubber stamp. We go beyond compliance and the letter of the law in our commitment to accessibility by nurturing an organization-wide culture of accessibility and inclusion.
Conforming to Accessibility Standards
We constantly strive to ensure that our learning platforms work seamlessly with various assistive technologies to provide a great learning experience to people with diverse needs. We integrate the latest global accessibility standards into our product process and openly report conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AAA standards and compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, 1973. Our latest accessibility reports are posted on the Accessibility Standards page.
Supporting Clients Through Full Stack Accessibility
Technology
Enable independent and effective teaching and learning.
Content
Support the creation and consumption of accessible learning content.
Pedagogy
Facilitate universal design for learning as a practice of inclusive pedagogy.
Collaborating with our Community
D2L is the only educational technology company that has been a member of the National Federation of the Blind’s (NFB) Strategic Nonvisual Access Partnership program since 2016. NFB provides advisory services where needed through this program and conducts accessibility audits of Brightspace and websites.
We have nurtured an active Accessibility Interest Group for over ten years. This open forum of accessibility enthusiasts and persons with disabilities in organizations that use D2L software meets every month to discuss topics of collective interest and connects via a mailing list at other times.
Our customers who support people with disabilities—including the International Disability Alliance, Vision Australia, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Canadian Hearing Services and more—help us ensure that our learning platforms remains usable to all learners, instructors, admins and other staff.
At the executive level, we run a quarterly meeting of our Accessibility Advisory Board drawn from customers who care deeply about accessibility to explore emerging educational practices and technologies that help remove barriers to access in education.
Expanding our Ecosystem
We leverage partnership with accessibility-focused entities such as ReadSpeaker, TextHelp, Bongo, Ally, SensusAccess, and Kaltura to enhance inclusion in the education ecosystem and serve diverse needs and abilities.
We partner with Aira to offer free help to all Brightspace users with vision loss. Aira’s call center agents assist them in completing visual tasks through the Aira app.
We are an organizational member of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) and an Advisory Council member of the Canadian Accessibility Network.
Want more on accessibility?
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Carin Headrick, D2L’s Accessibility team and Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai, Head of Research & Chief Accessibility Officer, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, discuss the opportunities that online learning presents in reducing barriers to education.
Today, two decades later, we like to say that our goal is nothing less than changing the way the world learns.
These principles offer a step forward in the conversation amongst educators and between schools and their vendors.
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We've integrated an accessibility checker into Brightspace. Sandra Earl, our technical product manager takes you through how it works.
Making education accessible to all types of learners improves the classroom experience for everyone.
Here are some tips on how teachers can make learning accessible for students with disabilities, online and in the classroom.