Heather Ackmann

Why would a non-blind, non-technical instructional designer or course creator be interested in learning how to use a screen reader? Aren't those just for visually impaired people and accessibility auditing teams? not quite. Think of a screen reader as a secret weapon in your ID toolkit. or, if you're a nerd like me, in your superhero toolbelt. Understanding how to use a screen reader helps you design your content in a way that is more thoughtful, more inclusive, and more compliant. - You can test your own content designs to make sure they work for everyone. - You gain empathy and insight into how people use their screen readers, meaning you can adjust your designs so they actually make sense. - you'll be able to create more compliant courses from the start, meaning you'll be able to proactively design accessible content that is also beautiful, rather than spending hours making beautiful content that you later have to remediate. - you'll have a skill that most other IDs don't have. At a time when the ADA Title 2, European Accessibility Act, Section 508, and similar laws are starting to really come into force, your ability to test with a screen reader and build compliant courses will be competitive advantages for you personally. Batman's toolbelt is filled with everything he could possibly need for any situation. it's what makes him one of the most formidable superheroes, even though he doesn't technically have any superpowers. If you want to be a formidable instructional designer, then you'll want to add practical, hands-on screen reader experience to your toolbelt. That's where Dr. Nicole L'Etoile, CPACC and I come in. We're teaming up to teach you how to use NVDA, a popular free screen reader, so you can improve your skill as an ID or course creator, increase your competitive advantage, and save the day*. Our upcoming, three-day workshop is open for registration. Visit the link in the comments to sign up. Oh, and be sure to check the registration page for how to receive a 10% discount. #A11y #NVDA #InstructionalDesign * Actual results may vary. Day saving isn't guaranteed.

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Storyboard_V1.0: “Looks great!” Storyboard_V17.0: “Let’s just add one small thing…” Every instructional designer knows this story. You submit your first storyboard. Clean. Structured. Beautiful. ✨ Then the feedback starts rolling in: 👉 “Can we add this? It’s important.” 👉 “Let’s include one more example.” 👉 “Maybe a quick scenario?” 👉 “Oh… and a short video.” 👉 “And this compliance point.” Seventeen versions later… Your storyboard has officially entered its ✨ expansion era ✨ Welcome to the world of stakeholder feedback, scope stretch, and evolving learning requirements. But here’s the twist — this is where real learning design magic happens. 🧠 Because behind every “small addition” is: ✔ clearer learning objectives ✔ stronger business alignment ✔ better learner relevance ✔ richer instructional strategy Iteration isn’t the enemy. Unstructured additions are. 😅 The real skill? Turning feedback overload into structured, high-impact eLearning design. 🎯 Be honest… What’s the highest version number your storyboard has reached? 👇😂 #instructionaldesign #elearning #learninganddevelopment #storyboarding #corporatetraining #instructionaldesigner

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If you are creating or authoring Rise content. I recommend checking out Articulate’s maturity plan for Storyline. It outlines known accessibility issues with the application, if there is a planned fix, and provides additional workarounds and details. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gBjW8VfP

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Strong instructional design starts with clarity — not just in content, but in structure. Before authoring tools come into play, visual mockups help bring the learning journey into focus. It's possible to apply core design principles early: sequencing, cognitive load, flow, and alignment with outcomes. This step-by-step carousel shows how a simple visual plan can lead to smoother collaboration, faster approvals, and better results. A win for all involved! Clear beginnings = smoother, faster results. 👇 Curious how others approach the early stages of a course — visual planning or straight into development? #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment #Elearning #Canva #CourseDesign #LXD #IDCommunity #ContentCreation

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Instructional Designers have a lot to learn from design thinking. Empathize with learners. Define the real problem. Prototype learning solutions quickly. Test and refine. Too often, training skips empathy and jumps to delivery. That’s how we end up with content that checks boxes but doesn’t change behavior. What if we treated every course as an experiment in solving a human problem, not just a knowledge gap?

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🎯 New Intellum Evolve Tutorial – Timed Interactions That Reflect Real Life Timers often get a bad name in eLearning — and fair enough, when they’re used poorly. But in the right context, a timer can help replicate how decisions are made in real life. In Arck Learning's latest tutorial, I show you how to build a stylised countdown timer in Evolve, ideal for simulating high-pressure decisions in areas like emergency response, finance, and customer service. The timer is: ✅ Fully responsive ✅ Logic-based ✅ Can be set up with an optional opt-out using simple logic 📽️ Sneak peek below. To watch the full tutorial, head to the latest blog post on our website or find it on the Arck Learning YouTube channel. 💬 Want a copy of the working course file with all the logic and theming in place? Drop me a DM and I’ll send it over. #elearning #learningdesign #instructionaldesign #digitallearning #leadershipdevelopment

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Twine is my favorite tool for creating branching scenarios. It's the fastest way for me to plan the branching structure and write the content without the tool getting in the way. While I've been using Twine for basic prototypes for years, I've also been working on ways to improve the visual design. One easy approach to a more polished design is using an image background. In Twine, you can add that background in two ways: with macros or CSS. My blog post includes code to copy and paste into your own Twine projects to make it simple for you. https://lnkd.in/e-PMRB_w

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Stop underlining text in elearning, especially if it's not a hyperlink. Underlined text isn’t just a style choice — it’s a signal. On the web, underlines tell users, “This is a link.” When that signal is used for emphasis instead, readers can get confused, slow down, or even miss the real links on the page. Consistency in visual cues keeps navigation smooth and cognitive load low. In a study on link marker visualization, Böhme and Köhler (2003) found that “the standard appearance of link markers has seriously underestimated effects on the usability of web pages.” In other words, when underlines are misused, people read less efficiently. So keep underlines for hyperlinks, and use bold or italics to emphasize key ideas instead.

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Please stop designing courses with constant popups on every slide. It's honestly really annoying for learners and as someone who is in the process of finishing his yearly compliance training, this really makes me disengage from it. I swear one course was 116 slides long and every single time I clicked the next button I had a popup that I had to read before being able to click next again to advance the training. So realistically, it made the course feel like it was 232 slides long. Okay, rant over. #instructionaldesign #learninganddevelopment #training

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Instructional Designers: You’re not just building courses. You’re solving business problems. Too many people still think of instructional design as “making slides pretty” or “turning info into training.” But real instructional design is strategy. It’s analyzing root problems, collaborating across teams, aligning training to performance goals, and creating measurable outcomes. And here’s the truth: 💡 No amount of great visuals or interactivity will fix training that wasn’t needed in the first place. Our job is to ask the right questions: ➡️ Is training the solution? ➡️ What performance are we trying to change? ➡️ How will we know it worked? We’re not content creators. We’re learning consultants, experience architects, business partners. Let’s start owning that title. 💬 What’s one time you had to push back and reframe the real learning need? #InstructionalDesign #PerformanceConsulting #BusinessImpact #LXD #LearningDesign #CorporateTraining #IDOLAcademy You can learn more here: https://lnkd.in/ezQY5BRW

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