Accessibility and legal - course criteria

1. Subtitles and transcripts present for all videos (added via VTT).

Upload a VTT file to provide accurate subtitles for video.  In addition, you can provide a PDF transcript for a downloadable view. 

Many learners follow content using subtitles and transcripts. All content must be accessible to learners who are deaf or hard of hearing. 

Subtitles and transcripts  

2. Descriptive and meaningful alt text present for all images including graphs.

Provide a text alternative for all visual course elements, including images, diagrams, graphs and charts. Alt text should convey the same information as the image it is describing.

3. Detailed images can be viewed adequately, using expandable image function where necessary.

See our guidance on how to add expandable image functionality.  

4. Audio and video are high quality, sufficient to understand the material. 

Follow our top tips and best practice: Design Audio steps and Design Video Steps. 

Beware of visuals and sound which are likely to cause sensory overload [Source]. Use background music sparingly, only if there is a clear pedagogical justification. 

Visuals in images or videos should use simple colours, instead of bright, contrasting colours. 

5. All elements that pose potential accessibility issues have accessible fallbacks e.g. PDFs.

It is best practice to acknowledge upfront any steps or learning material that may present accessibility challenges for learners. Please make this clear to learners in:

1. Course Description Page 
2. relevant step(s) of the course.

Offer an accessible alternative, such as a PDF or Word document equivalent of the learning task.  This will enable all learners to achieve the same learning outcomes without impairment.

All attached documents (essential and optional) added to steps (eg newspaper articles, illustrated transcripts etc) adhere to the same accessibility criteria as the content within the steps of the course, or accessible alternatives are provided. Text should be left- or right-aligned, not justified. See our guidance on creating accessible documents.

You may find the following tools helpful: 

Microsoft’s Accessibility Checker Tool works in MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  

Adobe accessibility checker for PDF documents.

6. Information is never conveyed through colour alone.

A common problem in graphs and charts is that they use colour on its own to convey information, and this can disadvantage learners with colour blindness. Colour blindness or colour vision deficiency (CVD) affects around 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women worldwide.

You must provide text alternatives for all graphs and figures, infographics and animations. 

Colour-blind friendly:

• Use patterns and textures to show contrast.
• Keep colours minimal – this will help reduce confusion.
• Choose colour combinations carefully – for a list of colour combinations to avoid see this post on theuxblog.com.

7. Appropriate use of visual/auditory elements, where present, in media.

Video and audio should be carefully considered and used to enhance the learner experience. 

8. Where surveys are included for conducting research as part of the course FutureLearn’s research terms and conditions should be adhered to.

Surveys have legal and GPDR implications. 

Including a link to any survey must be raised with your Partnership Manager early in the course development process.