Designing Courses With Accessibility and Usability in Mind

Usability

Usability has a direct effect on the effectiveness of your instructional materials. Label text links accurately to improve keyboard accessibility. Links and form elements must be clearly labeled and follow a logical sequence. You can also improve usability by setting up a semantic structure, highlighting your main points and connecting new information with prior knowledge.

Label text links accurately to describe the location they take the learner to. [508]

Set up a semantic structure using Heading tags for navigation. [508]
from the WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind) site.

Use "breadcrumbs" on larger websites to help learners see the big picture.

Highlight illustrations with arrows and descriptive markers to direct the learner.

Connect new information with prior knowledge to help with transfer of knowledge.
(short effective video from Thinkport.org)

Provide guidance when a student makes an inappropriate selection.
"Meeting the Challenges of Maintaining Confidence as a Learner", Augusta Gross (2002), from LD Online.