Designing for Everyone: Making Learning Accessible in Rise 360

Hi reader!

I want to start this post with a little challenge: When you’re designing a course, do you think about who might be left out?

It’s easy to get caught up in layouts, colors, interactions, and animations (hey, I’ve been there too!), but real impact comes when we ask: Is this accessible to everyone? As educators, designers, and creators, we don’t just build content we build experiences. And those experiences should be usable by all learners, not just the ones who fit a certain mold.

Today, let’s take a closer look at Articulate Rise 360, a tool I often use and one that many instructional designers love for its clean, mobile-friendly design. But how does it hold up when it comes to accessibility?

For fully accessible text, see below:

Accessibility in Articulate Rise 360

Helping educators and designers build better, more inclusive learning experiences one course at a time.

Tool Introduction. What’s This All About?

• Tool Name: Articulate Rise 360

• What It Does: Rise 360 is a browser-based authoring tool that lets you design sleek, responsive eLearning courses without needing to code.

• Why It Matters: It’s perfect for busy educators and instructional designers looking to quickly build mobile-friendly, interactive modules that look great on any device.

Accessibility at a Glance. How Inclusive Is It?

Moderately Accessible. It’s good, but not flawless so approach with awareness.

TL;DR: Rise 360 gets the basics right, like the keyboard navigation, alt text support, and screen reader compatibility (mostly). But it stumbles with complex interactions, custom blocks, and inconsistent assistive tech performance.

VPAT Highlights. What the Report Really Says

Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR)

Key Takeaways:

• Supports alternative text for images

• Most layouts are keyboard-navigable

• Tabs, sliders, and interactive elements may be clunky with screen readers

• Some custom content lacks proper accessibility markup (e.g., ARIA labels)

Designing with Accessibility in Mind. Tips for Better Builds

What Every Educator Should Know Before Publishing:

• Describe everything. Add clear, descriptive alt text.

• Test it out. Use keyboard-only navigation and screen readers during QA.

• Think in contrast. Make sure colors pop, and the text is easy to read.

• Audio? Add transcripts. It’s an easy win for accessibility.

• “With a few tweaks, Rise 360 can help your learners rise, too.”

Why It Matters (Really)

Creating accessible learning isn’t just about checking a box or passing an audit. It’s about respect, equity, and understanding that learners come with different abilities, backgrounds, and tools and still deserve a meaningful experience.

With a few smart adjustments, tools like Rise 360 can be part of that inclusive learning vision. Because when we design with everyone in mind, everyone wins.

If you’re building in Rise or any authoring tool right now, I’d love to hear what you’ve done to make your content more inclusive. Let’s swap ideas, share tips, and keep building learning that lifts everyone up. 💜