Handcrafted Learning, a learning and development company that creates learning solutions for Fortune 500 clients, announced the launch of a new offering: custom interactive learning experiences that serve users who are legally blind. Through this service, Handcrafted Learning supports organizations that are committed to meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) at a AA level while providing end users with best-in-class interactive digital training.
Handcrafted Learning is known for creating highly interactive learning experiences that are simulations of the jobs people do. In those experiences, users make choices, make mistakes, and experience the outcomes of their decisions. This announcement signals that learners with no vision or low vision can fully engage in the same game-like experience as their colleagues.
“Computer-based training for learners who are blind has traditionally been awful. If you use a screen reader, you probably know what I mean,” said Handcrafted Learning’s owner and co-founder, Dorothy Cafino Finnigan. “For years, our team has been passionate about answering the question: what makes a great interactive learning experience when you can’t see the screen?”
Handcrafted Learning’s research and development led the team beyond the training industry into the world of games. “In early interviews with learners who use screen readers, we asked what games people played and what made those experiences either frustrating or enjoyable,” Cafino Finnigan said. “We experimented and gathered feedback from learners who used their assistive technology in a variety of ways. We iterated until the user experience was as smooth and engaging for non-sighted learners as it was for sighted ones.”
Accessible learning experiences by Handcrafted Learning have already been launched to over a hundred thousand learners. With today’s announcement, the company is officially offering this service to more clients.
“Our goal is to create equivalent experiences, so we test during development and get feedback from real learners who use assistive technology,” said Gem Moon, a Lead Learning Experience Designer at Handcrafted Learning. “If part of our design doesn’t give them the intended experience, we change the design. We want something that will be equally interactive for all learners.”
More and more Fortune 500 companies are committing to providing accessible experiences to their employees, as outlined in statements like the one launched in September by Disability:IN, the global disability inclusion non-profit that works with 400 of the world’s largest companies. Google, Merck, and T-Mobile are among the first 20 signers of the Procure Access Statement, which publicly confirms a company’s commitment to advancing the procurement of accessible digital products and services.
“We’re excited that some of our clients are starting to prioritize creating accessible learning experiences for their employees,” said Soo Choi, Handcrafted Learning’s Director of Operations. “Our developers, visual designers, and learning experience designers have spent years improving our user experience design processes, and are proud to have integrated accessibility considerations into our project lifecycle.”
“Upholding WCAG AA standards is a baseline, or at least it should be,” Cafino Finnigan said. “Our team strives for a higher standard: to create accessible interactive learning experiences that are meaningful, fun, and allow people to practice real job skills.”