Accessibility isn’t an afterthought at Learnosity - it’s a core principle. Because potential clients often ask about our accessibility processes and how we can help them achieve the highest standards, this article highlights our ongoing commitment to accessibility. It outlines the concrete steps we take to design and deliver inclusive, compliant, and user-friendly assessment experiences from the ground up - empowering every learner and supporting our clients in meeting their accessibility goals with confidence.

A continuous journey

At Learnosity, accessibility isn’t just a feature or a final checkbox—it’s a fundamental principle woven into how we create products. We know that in the world of online education and assessment, providing an equivalent experience is paramount, and digital accessibility is one way we deliver on our core value: Education is a human right.

One of the most common questions we receive is: “When do you think about accessibility?”

The simple answer is: Always.

We’ve moved past the outdated model of tacking accessibility onto the end of projects. Instead, accessibility is an integral part of our entire development lifecycle:

• Planning & discovery: Accessibility considerations begin at the inception of new features and products. Our Product Management team incorporates accessibility into product requirements, proactively considering the diverse needs of end users - including those who rely on assistive technologies - and ensuring they are factored into the core product development strategy.
• Design: Our Design team is deeply invested in creating user experiences that are not only intuitive and engaging, but also inherently accessible. All of our designers receive training in accessibility practices and requirements. This includes adhering to principles such as sufficient color contrast, logical navigation, clear focus indicators, screen reader behavior, and usable interactions for keyboard-only users. Designers work closely with developers, using established accessible design patterns and providing detailed specifications to ensure that visual designs translate into accessible code.
• Development: Our engineers are trained in coding practices that support accessibility. They build features using semantic HTML, implement appropriate ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes where necessary, ensure keyboard navigability and compatibility with screen readers, and follow established guidelines such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Code reviews and design acceptance testing of accessibility requirements are a built-in part of the delivery process.
• Testing & quality assurance: Accessibility testing is a distinct, crucial part of our Quality Assurance process. This involves a multifaceted combination of automated testing tools and extensive manual testing. Our QA engineers and dedicated accessibility testers perform rigorous evaluations, using methods that include (but are not limited to):
  • Verifying semantic structure and navigation with leading screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver).
  • Testing object focus, interaction, and sizing with inspection and magnification tools.
  • Checking contrast ratios using automated and manual color pickers.
  • Assessing responsiveness across different screen sizes on all supported devices.
• Process improvement: The landscape of accessibility is constantly evolving, with new assistive technologies, updated guidelines, and a growing understanding of user needs. At Learnosity, we are committed to:
  • Continuously reviewing accessibility regulations and guidelines.
  • Staying engaged with the wider community of accessibility vendors and advocates.
  • Actively seeking feedback on our products to improve the user experience.
  • Providing ongoing accessibility training for all of our teams.
  • Continuously refining our accessibility processes.

Our Accessibility Guild

At Learnosity, accessibility is everyone’s responsibility. Coordinating these efforts and addressing complex challenges is the role of our Accessibility Guild.

The Guild is a cross-functional group of stakeholders representing:

• Product Management
• Design (UX/UI)
• Engineering (Development)
• Quality Assurance (Testing)

The Guild meets weekly with a structured agenda focused on four key areas:

• Prioritization: Reviewing incoming accessibility-related tickets (bugs, improvements, feature requests) and helping to prioritize them so that critical issues receive timely attention.
• Problem solving: Providing a forum for deep dives into complex accessibility challenges. The Guild analyzes technical constraints, considers broader implications, and makes informed decisions on the best accessibility approaches.
• Knowledge sharing: Discussing interpretations of accessibility regulations and guidelines, sharing findings from testing, reviewing best practices, and ensuring consistent understanding and application of accessibility principles across product development.
• Strategic direction: Contributing to the ongoing evolution of Learnosity’s accessibility strategy by identifying opportunities to improve tools, processes, and training.

Through these efforts, the Accessibility Guild ensures that accessibility is actively managed, championed, and embedded across our entire organization.

Our accessibility roadmap

At Learnosity, the product roadmap is a living framework, continuously evolving to meet emerging educational needs, technological advancements, and client requirements. Because accessibility is embedded in our product development process, it is automatically a part of our roadmap.

While specific features and timelines may shift, we always allocate capacity for accessibility work within each development cycle. The amount of dedicated effort varies depending on the scope of the product area or feature. For example, building a completely new and complex question type may require significant upfront accessibility design and development, whereas refining existing functionality or resolving a specific issue may involve a smaller, more targeted effort.

We continue to invest significant resources in retrofitting older features for accessibility. This is a substantial undertaking that requires careful analysis, prioritization, and dedicated development work—often guided by our Accessibility Guild. We are committed to addressing outstanding issues in a systematic and continuous way.

Our dedication to accessibility is deeply aligned with our core values. Inclusive design is one of our key design principles, guiding both the enhancement of existing tools and the creation of new ones. Our product roadmap reflects this commitment, ensuring that accessibility is not an afterthought but a driver of innovation and progress.