What I believe about learning, and what I do about it
Six frameworks guide my work. For each one: what it is, what I do differently because of it, and where you can see the result. Sources are cited in APA style, and the full list is at the end of this page.
AODA and WCAG
AODA is the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (LAPHO in French). It sets the accessibility standard for digital content in Ontario organizations (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005). WCAG is the technical standard behind it (W3C, 2023): content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
What I do
I treat accessibility as a design requirement from the first storyboard, so it is never a last-minute repair.
Structure: heading levels used as an outline (one H1 per page, H2 for sections, H3 beneath, none skipped), real lists, descriptive link text, and landmarks.
ARIA: roles and labels where native HTML is not enough, so controls without visible text still have a name for assistive technology.
Colour contrast checked on every colour pair, and meaning never carried by colour alone.
Keyboard navigation: every interactive element, including H5P activities, works from the keyboard alone, with a visible focus and a logical order.
Alternative formats: alt text for images that teach, captions and transcripts for the videos I make in Camtasia, and an accessible PDF as an equal alternative to an interactive course.
Where you can see it: I built 3+ Rise courses to AODA standards, designed the learner experience of 15+ Brightspace courses, and made an accessible PDF alternative for the Storyline course. My HTML skills and Front-End Web Development certification let me fix problems in the code, not only in the authoring tool.
Cognitive load theory
Working memory is limited (Sweller et al., 2019). Some load comes from the content itself (intrinsic). Some comes from how it is presented (extraneous), and that is the part design can remove.
What I do
I cut extraneous load: no decoration, no repeated text, one purpose per page, and instructions placed where the action happens.
I designed a UI template for course pages, so every module has the same styling and navigation. Learners never spend effort relearning the interface, which lowers cognitive load and improves the user experience.
I break complex tasks into short steps, with scaffolding resources, so effort goes to understanding and not to finding things.
Where you can see it: The 15+ Brightspace courses share one course map and module layout. In teacher training, each session segment teaches one task at a time, in a practice course.
Mayer’s multimedia principles
Research-based rules (Mayer, 2021) for how to combine words, images and sound so learners can process them without overload.
What I do
Coherence: I cut decoration and side stories that do not serve the objective.
Signaling: I mark key terms and steps so attention goes to what matters.
Segmenting: I split long explanations into short steps that learners pace themselves.
Modality: I use narration or diagrams in place of dense on-screen paragraphs.
Interactive content with a purpose: accordions to segment long explanations, image hotspots to tie a visual to its labels, flashcards for recall, and H5P activities for practice with feedback. I choose each by what the learner must do, never as decoration, and test each with a keyboard.
Where you can see it: The 100+ multimedia resources I made at Collège Boréal with Camtasia, Snagit, Photoshop and Canva follow these rules.
Dual coding theory
Verbal and visual information travel through separate channels. When both carry the same idea, memory has two routes to it (Paivio, 1986).
What I do
I pair each key rule or concept with a purpose-built visual, not a stock picture. In interactive courses that can be an image hotspot, where the label and the part of the image appear together.
I check that the image adds meaning instead of repeating the text word for word.
I give every visual a text alternative, so the idea reaches learners who cannot see it.
Where you can see it: Grammar infographics I designed in Photoshop raised written results by 18% at Effiduase Methodist Basic B.
Socio-constructivism
Learners build understanding through interaction with others, not by receiving information alone (Vygotsky, 1978).
What I do
I design discussion prompts, shared tasks and peer feedback into the course instead of adding them afterwards.
I use scenarios that ask learners to apply ideas to their own context and compare their reasoning.
In my training work, I teach by working alongside teachers, in live sessions and through workshops.
Where you can see it: I led a Brightspace rollout for hybrid teaching that raised learner engagement, and trained 43 teachers in Ghana and 100+ at Collège Boréal in digital tools and methods.
Eclecticism
No single theory fits every audience. I draw on several and choose what the learners and constraints call for. In my work that means ADDIE as the process (Branch, 2009) and adult learning theory for staff audiences (Knowles et al., 2015).
What I do
I use ADDIE as the working process: I profile users, prototype the first module, review it with my team, then build, publish and evaluate with short interviews and forms.
I apply adult learning theory (andragogy) when the audience is staff: relevant, practical, self-directed.
I use UX principles and accessibility standards to review a course before release.
Where you can see it: I have worked from primary classrooms to staff training, on Moodle, Brightspace, Canvas, Google Classroom, Rise and Storyline. Moodle modules I restructured raised completion by 22%, measured in LMS analytics against the expected rate.
AI
How I use AI
AI is a partner in my design and build work, not the author. I use it where it speeds up real work, and I keep the decisions, the review and the accessibility checks.
In my phishing awareness course design, I use AI for the LMS-like learner experience, the scenarios and the branching scenarios.
In MyLMMCenter, I use AI for front end design, the back end, metrics and analytics, feature flags, API versioning and feature prototyping.
Accessibility is a workflow, not a checklist at the end
Step 1PlanRead the source content and profile the users: interactivity, colors, page length, multimedia and assessment tools. Decide what learners must be able to do, and what to cut.
Step 2Build inPrototype the first module and review it with the team. Source or design the multimedia, with structure, headings, reading order and text alternatives in place.
Step 3Check and reviewRemove extraneous cognitive load. Test with keyboard only and contrast checks, fix what fails, review against AODA, and pilot when needed.
Step 4SupportPublish, train the people who teach with the course, troubleshoot, and collect feedback through short interviews and forms.
I design accessible, interactive online courses in Articulate Rise, Storyline, Brightspace and H5P, and I train teachers on Brightspace, SharePoint and Snagit. Tell me who the learners are and what they need to do.
Branch, R. M. (2009). Instructional design: The ADDIE approach. Springer.
Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., III, & Swanson, R. A. (2015). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (8th ed.). Routledge.
Mayer, R. E. (2021). Multimedia learning (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Paivio, A. (1986). Mental representations: A dual coding approach. Oxford University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds.). Harvard University Press.
Albert Koffi Holali Adamavi