They say content is king. But color matters, too. In fact, designers have long used color, typography, and other elements to sway people’s emotions, draw their attention, and enhance the overall user experience.
So when you’re creating an online school you’d be wise to consider these elements, too.
Don’t worry. You don’t have to get a degree in graphic design or a PhD in UX to create appealing online courses. With a little investment of time and creativity, you can make e-courses that engage people’s minds and eyes. Just keep your core content front and center and leave the bells and whistles for your marketing and social media blitz.
Want to make your online school visually-stunning and user-friendly?
Ask yourself these questions before you hit publish:
- Are all your resources downloading properly, quickly and clearly? Take the time to open and view documents from different devices and print out any PDFs that you’ve uploaded to see how they look.
- Does your course work on different devices? Smartphones, tablets, desktop computers — there are lots of ways your customers will access in your course. Use Screenfly or another tool to make sure your students like what they see when they get there.
- Are all your videos loading and playing correctly? Excessive load times and other technical glitches can ruin even the best-conceived course. Browse your course from different devices to make sure everything is working properly.
- Are your graphics, photos and other media appropriate for your course content and your audience? In the world of online learning a picture really is worth a thousand words. So invest in quality stock photos (just beware of copyright laws) and custom images that work for your brand while also helping your students learn. Remember, too, that colors may appear differently in different browsers and devices. Think, too, about your ideal customer. Gender, generational and cultural preferences come into play here, too. Will the images you’ve chosen resonate with your target learner?
- Are you using interactive visuals, like hotspot-enabled images, effectively? Certain topics lend themselves better to interactive imagery than others. This is especially true for how-to-course or when you’re explaining a step-by-step process. For example, say you’re designing a course on recycling and you’ve got a module on composting. You could create an image that depicts the entire process and the learner could then click on the hot spots to read more about each phase.
- How do the images and text in your course appear to people with visual impairments? People who are color blind may have difficulty reading low contrast text or seeing images. Red and green can be particularly problematic colors for people with the most common form of color blindness. You can test your site’s accessibility with Color Oracle’s color blindness simulator.
Don’t forget that you may have students who are using screen reader software to view your course. How will you adapt your course to meet their needs?
Follow these tips and get your e-course a place on the best-dressed (and most learner-friendly) list.
