Designing Accessibility Training That Sticks: Applying Learning Science for Retention, Transfer, and Long-Term Accessibility Ownership
taught by: Eva Nautiyal
Session Summary
Our accessibility trainings are often designed as a one-and-done training program for web editors, with the expectation that they will learn everything there is to know about accessibility and follow through proactively. Let's instead look at how our brain consumes and retains new information and apply those methods to an effective training framework.
Description
This session is for people who are in charge of training others at their institutions and overseeing accessibility across multiple departments.
This presentation introduces the Sustainable Accessibility Training (SAT) Framework, which focuses on sustainability from the learner’s perspective—designing accessibility training that builds lasting skills through reinforcement and practice. The framework integrates established learning models—including spaced reinforcement, retrieval practice, and cognitive load management—directly into accessibility training workflows across digital teams.
Participants will examine their current training structure and then apply the framework to redesign those based on how humans learn and retain information. Rather than focusing on one-time onboarding, the workshop emphasizes reinforcement strategies at specific time intervals and adjusting for different learning styles.
Practical Skills
- Identify why common accessibility training approaches fail to produce lasting behavior change, even among experienced staff.
- Learn how specific evidence-based learning strategies apply to accessibility (and other technical) training.
- Redesign an accessibility training experience using a structured framework that supports long-term retention.