Introduction

In the summer of 2025 students were interviewed about their experience with digital learning material.

Each student is (or was) registered with Langara’s Accessibility Services office and are (or were) eligible for academic accommodations. Each student uses assistive technology (e.g., text-to-speech, audio recorders, screen reader software) to assist with functional limitations to interacting with digital content.

The interviews illuminated the following themes about the student experience with digital learning material:

• Difficult File Formats
• Impact of Inaccessibility and Exclusion on the Student Experience
• The Additional Time Burden of Inaccessible Content
• Potential Solutions and Better Practice Suggested by Students

The following resource provides context, quotes, analogous demonstrations, and links to provocations, how-to guides, and other resources. Please use this resource to build a sense of understanding for the student experience and consider how your choices of digital learning material impact learners.

Move to the next page (by selecting the link or clicking Next: Formats in the bottom-right corner) to examine specific file formats that do (and do not) work for students.