Belo Miguel Cipriani E.D., Oleb Media Founder and Digital Inclusion Strategist: “We offer online training on accessibility topics, as well as sell guides to help organizations learn to produce accessible content with the tools they are already using.”

Several obstacles to education have been removed as a result of the development of online learning platforms. They have started a revolution in the conventional classroom that has completely changed the educational process. They have assisted in removing the barriers that traditional educational institutions confront due to geography, socioeconomic status, and demographics. What justifies, then, making these platforms even more accessible than they currently are? How can one make sure their online learning platform employs accessibility features that are genuinely beneficial? By working together with the top academics in a brand-new educational environment, online learning was born. The possibilities for personalized learning have increased. Learning programs that make diversity a priority from the outset will help learners succeed in school.

Accessible online learning environments guarantee that everyone can readily access the same resources, participate in the same interactions, and benefit from the same courses. The learning experience will be better for everyone if educational content complies with eLearning accessibility guidelines. Additionally, it provides students with the knowledge and abilities they need to succeed. Globally there are various companies delivering excellent services to make online education accessible, but Oleb Media stands out from the rest. Oleb Media can help your websites, apps, and content meet federal and state access requirements. In addition, the company can help you create content to help engage this massive demographic. Whether your organization is looking for website accessibility testing, or needs a vendor to remediate your library of PDFs, Oleb Media can help.

In conversation with Belo Miguel Cipriani E.D., Founder and Digital Inclusion Strategist of Oleb Media

Q. What was the motivation behind starting Oleb Media?

When I lost my sight in my late twenties, I went from someone who did everything online, to someone who struggled to browse the web. Most websites lack accessibility features, which makes it possible for people with disabilities to use. I launched Oleb Media to help organizations become digitally inclusive.

Q. Can you explain about your services in brief?

Oleb Media offers one-on-one accessibility coaching sessions. We meet with clients via video conferencing and review their websites. We make recommendations based on our sessions to help the organization meet accessibility guidelines. We offer online training on accessibility topics, as well as sell guides to help organizations learn to produce accessible content with the tools they are already using.

Q. Do you offer individualized learning and differentiated instruction and what do these things look like?

Our online courses are self-paced and students earn a badge they can add to their social media profiles or on their websites. Our one-on-one coaching sessions can be used to train someone on a specific accessibility tool. The session is also a time where someone can get feedback on the access level of a course or website they created.

Q. What goes into the screening process? How does the candidate qualify for the program?

We have rolling admissions for our online courses. Anyone interested in learning about accessibility can sign up to take a course.

Q. Tell us in brief about your curriculum and your training process?

When we first launched Oleb Media, we were exclusively a compliance audit company. Many of our clients after receiving our reports wanted us to train them. Many of them were content creators who did not have the web development skills required to take accessibility training provided by most institutes and universities. As a result, we created our curriculum for professionals using popular content production tools.

Q. How do you track the progress of your candidates?

When people take one of our courses they have the option to post questions on the course’s message board or to contact our support team via email. We offer support to our students through every module they complete.

Q. In your experience what is the key to developing a good team?

I think that a good team is one that shares common goals. At Oleb Media, everyone has a passion for access and inclusion. Most of our team members identify as having a disability and so that lived experience helps build synergy in the group.

Q. How do you market your services?

We provide many opportunities for course and content creators to interact with us. We do this through free webinars, our newsletters, and training videos on our YouTube channel. We want our students to feel comfortable with learning from us and so it was important for us to give people a glimpse into the training they are going to invest in.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

We will be launching our Image Accessibility course in late July 2023. People can find the details by visiting our website olebmedia.com.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

We’re building a learning community for course and content creators. We are passionate about inclusion and have created a system where anyone can participate – no matter their budget. We have free trainings, guides that run $37, online courses starting at $99, and our one-on-one accessibility coaching at $147 an hour, which is for anyone who wants to spend more time on getting feedback.

Meet the leader behind the success of Oleb Media

Belo Miguel Cipriani, E.D. is a digital inclusion strategist who became passionate about making online spaces accessible after being blinded by a group of men in 2007. His books and articles on disability issues have received numerous awards and international recognition. He has guest lectured at Yale, and, in 2020, he was appointed by Governor Tim Walz to the Minnesota Council on Disability. Through his digital access consulting firm, Oleb Media, he has helped countless organizations build inclusive websites and apps. HuffPost referred to him as an “Agent of Change,” and SF Weekly named him one of the best disability advocates. Tony Coelho, the primary author and sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act, called him an “important voice” in disability writing.

“We have rolling admissions for our online courses. Anyone interested in learning about accessibility can sign up to take a course.”