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IAAP Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility
This course is your opportunity to deepen your understanding of creating digital experiences that include everyone.
Introduction to the Course
Welcome to the IAAP Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility course. This course is your opportunity to deepen your understanding of creating digital experiences that include everyone. Whether your goal is improving your current practices, supporting your team, or building accessible products, this course is built to guide you through the process.
Accessibility is not an afterthought slapped onto a product. Accessibility is the foundation of good digital work rooted in quality, responsibility, and respect for diversity. Throughout the course, you will connect technical knowledge with real user needs, explore how design choices impact people, and learn how accessibility fits into broader legal and ethical frameworks.
This course is not about only learning guidelines or tools, but also about changing the way we think. You will be taught to ask important questions: Who can use this? Who can’t? What barriers are we creating? How can we remove them? By the end of the course, you will be better prepared to build usable, respectful, and inclusive digital experiences.
What is the Problem?
Many digital products and services still unintentionally exclude users. These barriers affect a wide range of people, including:
- Individuals who rely on assistive technologies
- People experiencing temporary or situational impairments
- Older adults adapting to age-related changes
- Users with limited digital literacy
- Users with slow internet connections, due to the lack of optimization
- Anyone interacting with technology in non-traditional ways
Accessibility allows us to remove barriers for these groups and build products that support diversity, adapt to different environments, and reach more people.
What is this course about?
This course offers a comprehensive foundation in digital accessibility. It will help you understand, evaluate, and support accessibility practices across your team and projects. You will learn how to:
- Understand disability as a product of environments, not just medical conditions
- Recognize that accessibility benefits everyone, not just people with permanent disabilities
- Comply with international laws, human rights and standards
- Design content that works with assistive technologies
- Build inclusive experiences across websites, apps, documents, and platforms
- Apply standards such as WCAG, ATAG, UAAG, ARIA, and COGA
- Integrate accessibility into your design, development, and testing workflows
- Regard accessibility as both a social obligation and a smart business practice
Who is this course for?
This course is ideal for anyone involved in creating or managing digital products and services, including:
- Designers, developers, engineers, and content creators
- Product managers, QA professionals, and researchers
- Educators, advocates, and policy teams
- Organizations in public, private, or nonprofit sectors
- Anyone committed to inclusive and user-centered work
No prior experience in accessibility is required. Whether you are new to the topic or looking to strengthen your foundation, this course will support you with clear explanations and practical strategies.
Course Outline: Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility
Introduction
- The Importance of Digital Accessibility
- Barriers in the Digital World
- Accessibility as a Human-Centered Practice
Learning Objectives
- Overview of learning goals
Lesson 1: What Is Digital Accessibility and Why It Matters
- Overview
- Key Takeaways
- Core Concepts
- Defining Digital Accessibility
- Accessibility Is Not a Feature
- The Impact of Inaccessibility
- Accessibility Across Platforms and Contexts
- Accessibility as Innovation
- Organizational Value and Strategy
- Accessibility in Iterative Workflows
- Common Myths About Accessibility
- Reflection Questions
- In Practice
Lesson 2: Understanding Disability and Functional Diversity
- Overview
- Key Takeaways
- Core Concepts
- Disability Models: Different Ways of Understanding Human Diversity
- What Is Functional Diversity?
- Disability vs. Impairment: Definitions and Distinctions
- Inclusive Language and Framing
- Reflection Questions
- In Practice
Lesson 3: Accessibility Beyond Disability
- Overview
- Key Takeaways
- Core Concepts
- Older Adults and Aging Populations
- People Facing Temporary or Contextual Barriers
- Accessibility for Users with Technological Limitations
- Accessibility for Users with Low Digital Literacy
- Language Barriers and Cultural Differences
- The Value of Universality
- Accessibility Benefits Everyone
- Reflection Questions
- In Practice
Lesson 4: How People with Disabilities Use Digital Products
- Overview
- Key Takeaways
- Core Concepts
- Disability as User-Environment Interaction
- Major Disability Categories and Practical Interaction Impacts
- Temporary and Situational Impairments: Practical Implications
- Reflection Questions
- In Practice
Lesson 5: Assistive Technologies and Inclusive Interaction
- Overview
- Key Takeaways
- Core Concepts
- Defining Assistive Technologies
- Types of Assistive Technologies and How They Work
- Digital Compatibility Requirements for Assistive Technologies
- Testing with Assistive Technologies
- Compatibility as a Shared Responsibility
- Reflection Questions
- In Practice
Lesson 6: Accessibility as a Human Right and Legal Obligation
- Overview
- Key Takeaways
- Core Concepts
- Digital Accessibility and Inclusion as International Human Rights
- Digital Participation and the Right to Information
- Key International Treaties and Conventions
- Overview of Global Accessibility Laws and Standards
- National Laws, Regional Directives, and Organizational Responsibility
- Why Legal Compliance Matters for Teams and Businesses
- Reflection Questions
- In Practice
Lesson 7: Accessibility as a Technical Standard
- Overview
- Key Takeaways
- Core Concepts
- Why Technical Standards Matter for Accessibility
- Introduction to the W3C and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
- Core Accessibility Frameworks
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG)
- User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG)
- Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA)
- Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Task Force (COGA)
- Practical Implications of Accessibility Standards
- Reflection Questions
- In Practice
Lesson 8: WCAG Success Criteria, Conformance Levels, and Legal Alignment
- Overview
- Key Takeaways
- Core Concepts
- The WCAG Structure: The POUR Framework and Its Principles
- Relationship Between Principles, Guidelines, and Success Criteria
- WCAG Conformance Levels: A, AA, AAA
- How Legal Frameworks Reference WCAG for Compliance
- Applying WCAG to Guide Inclusive Product Development
- Planning and Requirements
- Content Creation and Design
- Development and Engineering
- Testing and Validation
- Continuous Learning and Improvement
- Reflection Questions
- In Practice
Lesson 9: Integrating Accessibility into the Software Development Lifecycle
- Overview
- Key Takeaways
- Core Concepts
- The Shift-Left Mindset
- Collaboration Across Roles
- Tools and Workflows That Support Accessibility
- Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
- Reflection Questions
- In Practice
Creating accessible digital experiences is not just a technical task or a legal requirement. It is a commitment to equity, usability, and respect for diversity. This course invites you to explore how accessibility connects with design, development, content, policy, and everyday interaction. You will examine how barriers are introduced and how they can be removed through intentional and inclusive choices.
This is not about memorizing rules. It is about understanding people. Each lesson is an opportunity to reflect on how your work affects access, participation, and inclusion in the digital world.
No matter your role or background, you have the ability to make a difference. By the end of this course, you will be better prepared to recognize exclusion, advocate for change, and contribute to digital experiences that are open and accessible to all.
Welcome to the IAAP Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility course. Let’s begin.