This article will help you design and create a course aligning with a specific set of publishing recommendations that will boost the quality of your atingi course(s). The article will support you in designing courses that meet the requirements for publication on atingi.
It is our goal to ensure a course design that is user-friendly, responsive, inclusive, and accessible and we therefore recommend sharing this article with your service providers and any other people involved in the development as early on as possible to avoid any design shortcomings, which would lead to many feedback loops. A checklist on the design and create guidelines and recommendations can be downloaded here.
▶️ Please note: If you choose to work with H5P and/or default Moodle resources/activities, it is recommended to use the tools provided within atingi to avoid any issues with content uploads.
Design Guidelines on user-centred design
User-centred design, like learner-centred design, prioritizes the needs, interests, and skills of learners. Unlike content-centred design, which follows a set curriculum, user-centred design tailors experiences to different learning environments, styles, and paces.
❗Technical requirements
- If the target group only has low bandwidth internet access, file sizes (especially of videos & SCORMs) are small enough for users to load quickly
As guidance, see here the download time for a 50MB file (= average size of a 5min video of 480p resolution) in different mobile network speeds:
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🔹 2G = 53kbit/s à 15mins |
🔹3G = 384kbit/s à 2mins |
🔹3.5G = 7,2Mbit/s à 6secs |
🔹 4G = 1Gbit/s à 0secs |
Design for the user recommendations
- Any media should be produced according to the learners needs, context and (prior) knowledge
- Vocabulary difficulty should be aligned with the learners’ language proficiency
- Digital literacy of the learners should be considered in the course design
➡️ e.g., assignments requiring Microsoft Word skills shouldn’t be given to low digital literacy learners
- The course should be localized to the learner context
➡️ e.g., pictures show people of relevant ethnicity; instructors are representative; voice artists used in video have a relevant accent; names, locations, cultural events named are recognizable to the learners
Here are some course examples:
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🔹Women Going Digital (Français) |
Accessibility recommendations
Accessibility ensures that online education is usable by all learners, including those with disabilities. It's vital for inclusivity, meeting legal standards, and providing equal educational access. If you’d like to learn more about accessibility in e-learning, we recommend the following atingi course: Accessibility and Digital Learning.
- Simple, easy-to-read fonts are used, italic texts have been avoided as much as possible
➡️ Tip: Please check this link for further information: https://www.accessibilitychecking.com/blog/fonts-accessibility/
- The contrast ratio for texts should be at least 4.5:1 and colour combinations that are hard on the eye have been avoided
➡️ Tip: Use free tools e.g., Color Contrast Analyser if unsure
➡️ Pro tip: Dark text on light background is always more readable than light text on dark background
- Colour should not be used as the only visual means to convey information
➡️ Tip: you must not show a correct/wrong answer only by a red or green color mark
- The course content can be enlarged by the browser via zoom and adapts to the size of the browser window / devices as much as possible
- All relevant interactive elements (e.g. buttons, links) should be operable via keyboard control
➡️ Tip: Drag & Drop exercises are usually not operable via keyboard and should therefore be avoided if the course aims to reach this level of accessibility
- It should be possible to display textual content (except videos and graphics) in high contrast mode
➡️ Tip: High contrast mode can be activated in the operating system
- Central elements such as headings, regions, tables, lists, buttons, field labels, functions and language should be clearly comprehensible by the screen reader
➡️ Tip: Please check this link for further information: https://webaim.org/techniques/screenreader/
- All images, graphics and graphs contain alternative text, which can be read by screen readers
- All additional documents, including certificates, comply with the above accessibility criteria as well
➡️ In that context, please note that text on screenshots or other image files such as jpg/png cannot be picked up by screen readers
- Any uploaded video has subtitles and a transcript uploaded with it
Gender & Diversity recommendations
- Language and imagery that may reinforce harmful gender stereotypes have been avoided
➡️ Tip: Use gender-neutral pronouns, let women and girls speak from their perspectives etc.
- An intersectional gender lens has been considered in the course design with the goal of ensuring that the learning experience is equally engaging and useful for all users
- The learning content includes and promotes the voice, representation & empowerment of the marginalized
- The promotion of gender equality is integrated into the course objectives
- Learning content and delivery help understand, reflect on and change rigid gender norms, roles and discriminatory social structures (= gender-transformative design)
Design Guidelines on instructional/didactical design
Instructional design involves creating educational experiences that effectively teach specific knowledge or skills by structuring content, choosing teaching methods, and selecting delivery tools to meet learners' needs.
❗Content requirements
- The content is based on verifiable sources and expertise.
- References, or citations are clearly marked, and a plagiarism check was carried out. The content and media do not violate third party copyrights
➡️ *For AI-generated images, we recommend these referencing guidelines: Referencing AI-generated images - Artificial intelligence (libguides.com)
- Creative commons licenses are used to provide content on atingi, preferably the following ones: attribution alone (CC BY) or attribution and shareAlike (CC BY SA)
▶️ Mandatory for all public and open-link courses
- The content does not support hate speech, racism, sexism, or any forms of discrimination
❗Instructional requirements
- The material provides a didactical/instructional added value (compared to text-only)
▶️ Mandatory for all public and open-link courses
- There is some minimum amount of interactivity
▶️ Mandatory for all public and open-link courses
- Your learning offer is clear in structure and navigation (user-centred design)
Here are some course examples:
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- All texts are formatted in a cohesive and structured way
➡️ Tip: Please add for example: headlines, sub-headlines, numbers to give your text(s) structure
Target group recommendation
- Mobile responsiveness: ensure that your course's instructional design accommodates the devices most commonly used by your target group. To test, preview the course on various mobile devices to check that content is accessible and displays correctly. Adjustments to layout and media may be necessary to optimize the experience for mobile users.
➡️ Tip: Drag & Drop exercises are often difficult to use on smartphones and should be avoided if the course is aimed at a target group that primarily uses these devices