Accessibility is easier to manage when it becomes part of your regular course review process. You do not need to perform a formal audit every time you publish, but a practical review can help you identify common barriers before learners encounter them.
Use this checklist when creating a new course, reviewing existing content, making major updates, or checking a school that includes custom or third-party content.
Start with the areas learners use most often, then review additional areas based on your content, audience, and accessibility requirements.
This checklist provides practical accessibility guidance. It is not a formal accessibility audit or legal advice. For more information about LearnWorlds' accessibility approach, current scope, and ongoing work, see the LearnWorlds Accessibility Statement.Review your course structure and navigation
A clear structure helps learners understand where they are, what they need to do, and what comes next.
Check that:
- Course, section, activity, resource, and assessment titles are clear and descriptive. A descriptive title gives the learner useful information before they open the activity.
For example:
Instead of: Lesson 5 → Consider: Giving effective feedback to your team
Instead of: PDF → Consider: Download the employee onboarding checklist - Similar activities follow consistent naming conventions.
- Sections and activities follow a logical learning sequence.
- Important instructions appear before learners need them.
- Longer content is divided into meaningful sections. Headings are used to structure longer pieces of content where available.
- Links describe their destination or purpose rather than using vague text such as click here.
- Instructions do not rely only on position, shape, or color.
For example:
Instead of: Click the green button below → Use: Select “Submit assessment” when you have completed all questions.
The second instruction remains clear without relying on the button’s color or position
Review video and audio content
Video and audio content should provide ways for learners to access important information without relying only on sound or visuals.
For prerecorded videos, captions or subtitles provide a text version of spoken content. A transcript can also give learners another way to access, review, or search the information. Where important information is communicated visually, provide an equivalent description when needed.
Check that:
- Prerecorded videos include accurate captions or subtitles where they are appropriate for the content
- AI-generated subtitles and translations have been reviewed for accuracy before learners see them
- Names, numbers, technical terms, and other important terminology are represented correctly in captions
- Meaningful non-speech audio is communicated when it contributes information learners need to understand
- Important visual information is explained when learners need it to understand the video content
- Audio-only content includes a transcript or another text alternative that provides equivalent information
- Transcripts include the information learners need to achieve the same intended learning objective
Where a dedicated transcript workflow is not available, you can provide the same information through written lesson content or a downloadable text resource. For example: Download the transcript for this audio lesson is clearer than Download file.For more guidance, see Making video, audio, images, and other media accessible.
Review images and visual content
Images can communicate information that is not available through text alone. Alternative text makes the purpose or meaning of an image available in a written form. Alt text should communicate what learners need to understand from the image, rather than simply describing what it looks like.
Check that:
- Meaningful images include useful alternative text where the LearnWorlds context supports adding it
- Images containing important text make the same information available in an accessible text format
- Charts, diagrams, and infographics provide their important information in another accessible format where needed
- Images used as links or actions describe the destination or action they perform for learners
- Decorative images that do not communicate useful information should be marked as decorative where this is supported, so screen readers do not announce them unnecessarily. If removing an image would cause the learner to miss important information, treat it as meaningful and provide appropriate alternative text instead.
Avoid alternative text such as "Image" or a file name. Describe the information the learner needs from the image instead.Review PDFs and downloadable resources
The accessibility of a PDF, document, presentation, or other downloadable resource depends on how the file was created.
Check that:
- Text can be selected and is not available only as an image or scan
- The document uses headings that communicate its structure in a clear and logical way
- Meaningful images include appropriate alternative text in the original source document where supported
- Links use descriptive text that explains their destination or purpose without surrounding context
- The reading order follows a sequence that makes sense when content is read aloud
- Tables use a clear structure that can be understood without relying only on visual layout
- Important meaning is communicated through more than color alone throughout the document
- Content remains understandable when learners enlarge the text or zoom the document
- PDFs include accessibility information and tags where the authoring software supports those features
A scanned PDF may contain images of printed pages rather than readable text. While the content may be visible on screen, a screen reader may not be able to access the text. Where possible, use a document that contains readable, selectable text instead of a scanned version.If an important document cannot be made sufficiently accessible, provide the same information in another accessible format where possible.
For more guidance, see Preparing accessible course content and downloadable resources.
Review color, typography, and visual design
Your school's colors, typography, and layout can affect how easily learners perceive and interact with content.
One common accessibility issue is insufficient contrast between text and its background. For example, light gray text on a white background can be difficult to read for people with low vision and for learners viewing content in different lighting or viewing conditions.
Check that:
- Text has sufficient contrast against its background across the main learner-facing pages and content
- Buttons, links, menus, and other important controls remain visually distinguishable from surrounding content
- Text placed over images remains readable across the backgrounds where it appears to learners
- Important information is communicated using more than color alone throughout the learner experience
- Font sizes remain readable without requiring learners to rely on browser zoom immediately
- Decorative or stylized fonts do not make important content difficult for learners to understand
- Important content remains usable when learners enlarge text or zoom the interface
- Custom design choices do not hide the visible focus indicators used during keyboard interaction
- Error and status messages remain easy to identify without relying only on color
-As a practical reference, WCAG guidance uses a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.Review assessments and interactive activities
Assessments often combine several accessibility considerations, including instructions, forms, images, timing, feedback, errors, and interactive controls.
Learners should be able to understand what is being asked, complete the activity, and understand the feedback or result.
Check that:
- Questions are written clearly and concisely.
- Every answer option is understandable without relying on visual layout alone.
- Images used in questions provide an appropriate text alternative.
- Video and audio provide suitable alternatives.
- Correct and incorrect answers are not identified using color alone.
- Instructions are provided before unusual interaction patterns.
- Error and validation messages explain what the learner needs to correct.
- Feedback is understandable and clearly associated with the relevant question.
- Learners have enough time to read, understand, and answer questions.
- Available assessment settings provide appropriate flexibility when additional time or attempts are suitable.
- Timing settings, when used, are appropriate for the learning objective.
If speed is not part of what you are assessing, consider whether an untimed option, additional time, or additional attempts would provide a more inclusive experience.For more guidance, see Accessibility considerations for assessments, embeds, SCORM, and custom content.
Review SCORM, embeds, third-party tools, and custom content
Content created outside LearnWorlds should be reviewed separately because its accessibility depends on how the external content or code was built.
Check that important third-party or custom experiences:
- Remain operable using a keyboard without requiring learners to use a mouse instead
- Provide meaningful labels and instructions that explain the purpose of important interactive controls
- Move keyboard focus through interactive elements in an order that makes sense
- Allow learners to move keyboard focus away from every interactive element they reach
- Keep keyboard focus clearly visible while learners move through the external experience
- Work with the assistive technologies that are relevant to your audience where required
- Provide captions, transcripts, or other appropriate alternatives for media containing important information
- Use sufficient contrast for important text, controls, feedback, and other interface elements
- Communicate important information using more than color, position, or visual appearance alone
- Provide clear error and feedback states when learners complete forms or other interactions
If you did not create the content, ask the provider for its accessibility information where appropriate.For more guidance, see Accessibility considerations for assessments, embeds, SCORM, and custom content.
Review custom code and customizations
Custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can change how the learner experience behaves. A customization that looks correct visually can still affect keyboard or assistive technology use.
If your school uses custom code, check that it does not:
- Replace native buttons or links with elements that cannot be operated using a keyboard
- Hide or remove the visible focus indicators learners use during keyboard interaction
- Create interactions where keyboard focus becomes trapped and cannot move elsewhere
- Add dialogs or pop-ups that learners cannot close without using a mouse
- Remove accessible labels from form controls, buttons, or other important interactive elements
- Reduce the contrast of text, controls, or other important interface information
- Hide important information from screen readers or other assistive technologies unintentionally
- Change visual content order without preserving a logical reading and focus order
- Add moving or updating content that learners cannot pause, stop, or control
Custom code should be reviewed and tested separately because LearnWorlds cannot verify the accessibility of code added by customers.Test the main learner experience with a keyboard
A keyboard check can reveal interaction barriers without specialist software. Open the course as a learner and complete an important task without using a mouse.
Check that:
- Every important interactive element can be reached while using only a keyboard for navigation
- The current keyboard focus position remains easy to identify throughout the learner experience
- Focus moves through buttons, links, fields, and controls in an order that makes sense
- Buttons, links, menus, dialogs, and other important controls can be operated successfully
- Hidden or inactive elements do not receive keyboard focus unexpectedly during normal use
- Learners can move forward and backward without keyboard focus becoming trapped anywhere
- The main course flow can be completed without requiring a mouse at any point
During your keyboard check, use the following controls where applicable:
- Tab to move forward through interactive elements
- Shift + Tab to move backward
- Enter to activate links and relevant controls
- Space to activate buttons and selectable controls where appropriate
- Arrow keys to move within controls or components that support them
For a more detailed walkthrough, see Testing your LearnWorlds learning experience for accessibility.
Perform a screen reader spot check where possible
Screen readers communicate the structure and content of a webpage through speech or other output. A screen reader spot check can help identify issues that are not obvious through visual inspection alone.
For example, a control may visually display Next lesson, while a screen reader announces only Button. Without an accessible name, the purpose of the control may not be clear.
When reviewing a key learner experience, check that:
- Headings communicate a clear content structure when a screen reader announces them in sequence
- Course sections and activities are announced in a way that identifies them clearly
- Buttons and links have accessible names that explain what learners can expect them to do
- Interactive controls communicate relevant states such as selected, expanded, collapsed, or locked where applicable
- Meaningful images provide text alternatives that communicate the information learners need from them
- Forms and assessment questions provide enough context to understand what information is required
- Important errors, feedback, and interface changes are communicated when learners need that information
- Decorative content avoids adding unnecessary announcements that make important information harder to find
Common screen readers include VoiceOver on Apple devices, NVDA on Windows, and TalkBack on Android.
A screen reader spot check does not replace a formal accessibility audit.When you may need a deeper review
The level of accessibility review you need can vary based on your organization, audience, content, and applicable requirements. Formal validation may require additional testing, specialist accessibility tools, or a professional accessibility audit.
Automated accessibility tools can also identify some technical issues, but they do not replace manual keyboard, screen reader, and usability testing.
To learn more about the accessibility features and improvements available in LearnWorlds, see Accessibility improvements