Lindsay O'Neill Consulting
As educators increasingly rely on digital content and online platforms, ensuring that our web-based materials are accessible to all learners has become essential. Web accessibility means creating an equivalent experience for everyone, including students with disabilities who may use assistive technologies like screen readers or navigate primarily with keyboards. If you’ve ever wondered how to […]
There are some big changes coming for state and local governments (and public libraries!) that will affect how you handle your digital content. Let’s talk about what’s coming and how to get started. Watch the video or scroll on to get the whole scoop! What’s Happening? In April 2024, the Department of Justice passed a […]
It’s just like the title says: build a custom chatbot in just a few minutes for FREE! Creating a custom AI chatbot might sound like a complex technical challenge, but it’s very achievable in just a few minutes using free tools and a simple copy-paste approach. My directions combine the power of ChatGPT’s language capabilities […]
Learn how generative artificial intelligence can support the implementation of Universal Design for Learning principles to create more inclusive learning experiences. This video covers several free generative AI tools and practical strategies for leveraging AI to meet diverse student needs. Learn about Google Notebook LM, MagicSchool AI, ElevenLabs, invideo AI, and Canva AI! From the […]
As an online graduate instructor, I can usually tell when my students are using ChatGPT to complete their assignments. While we allow AI use in our program, we simply ask students to acknowledge it, but many don’t. But there are some ways to know that students used AI-generated content in their work. When I run […]
Want to have your own custom, onscreen navigation buttons in your Storyline project? No problem! Just disable the default next and back buttons and customize the look of your player. It’s quick and easy and I’ll show you how! Select the “Player” button in the top right of the Storyline editing window to select the […]
Articulate has made amazing strides to develop accessibility features in Storyline. Accessibility is becoming must more of a focus in the elearning industry, and Articulate is at the forefront. Each year they make improvements to accessibility features and add new ones, and while many of their accessibility features are unique to Storyline, they are generally […]
You know how it’s annoying when you open an article you want to read and a video starts auto-playing, sound and all? News websites are notorious for this. Or worse, there’s sound coming from a video you didn’t play in one of your dozens of tabs? And you can’t find the tab to turn it […]
Creating accessible documents is easier than ever thanks to growing accessibility features in software like Microsoft Word. Notice that I point out Word specifically! This is the easiest software in which to create accessible documents. PDFs? Not very accessible. Convert them to Word (literally just open a PDF using Word, it will convert automatically!). PowerPoint? […]
Let’s check our work! Whether you created something from scratch, or you are revising an existing project, it’s helpful to have a way to analyze a project for accessibility. Fortunately there is a very handy tool available from WebAIM that will do the bulk of the analysis for you! What features does a webpage need […]
Color is beautiful! It’s fun to use color to add meaning to your text and images. Your visual styling can add bold drama or soft emotion. Just pay attention when you are combining colors to ensure that everyone experiences the full emotional impact of your design. It’s easy and I’ll show you how! Strong contrast […]
Having a strong portfolio is critical for any job hunt to be successful. Potential employers want to see what you can do, not just read about it on your resume! Read on to learn more about building a winning portfolio. If you are job hunting, or are planning to job hunt, I highly recommend that […]
Closed captions are for EVERYONE, not just people with hearing disabilities. Are you someplace loud? Closed captions. Are you someplace where you have to be quiet? Closed captions. Have trouble understanding the speaker (maybe they talk too fast like me)? Closed captions. Since I had a baby I have become a big fan of closed […]
What does freelancing in instructional design look like? Is it the same as elearning development? What do I charge? Where do I find work? Tune in to get these questions answered and to get started, TODAY! I got started as a freelancer accidentally. I have an academic background and have done a lot of publishing […]
Instructional design can be lucrative: positions often start at 60k and go up over 100k. Freelancers can easily start at $50 an hour and go up to $100, $150, $200 an hour depending on specialization. Find out what instructional designers ACTUALLY do and how you can become one! The official definition of instructional design is: […]
Learn why flowcharts and storyboards are helpful in instructional design and get some tips. Whether you are a solo designer, or part of a team, storyboards and flowcharts can help you be more effective! What Is a Storyboard? A storyboard, as used in instructional design, is a visual or text-based mockup of the content and […]
Without headings, your documents and web content is inaccessible! But not only is it easy to format with headings, it can save you a lot of design time! In this video, I show instructional designers and elearning developers how to add headings to web documents and more. Headings are so important for people that use […]
New to Storyline or Captivate? My guide on what NOT do to for new elearning developers is now only 99 cents now through Monday, January 23! Create Storyline and Captivate courses that look and feel professional without the learning curve! My new ebook, 10 Mistakes in Elearning Design, is discounted on Amazon for a limited […]
Say NO to asterisks, dashes, and DIY numbering! They may look nice, visually but they do not work for readers with disabilities or that use screen readers. Instead, use the tools provided in your document or WYSIWYG editor to create beautiful and accessible lists for all of your users. Numbered or bulleted, ordered or unordered, […]
“Captivate E-Learning Course” getting you down? Change the default name of your SCORM packages in Adobe Captivate 2019 so that you can differentiate them when they’re all in your LMS (Learning Management System). When you publish your Captivate projects as SCORM packages, you’ll find that the SCORM package name defaults to “Captivate E-Learning Course” in […]
Alt text (or alternate text) is just a text description of an image for users that cannot see the image. When you add alt text to an image, it actually goes into the html code back end of your content, so that someone’s using a screen reader will hear the description. This means that they […]
Do you HAVE to make your elearning accessible? What if you work for a private corporation? I am not a lawyer, but I offer some general thoughts to consider, and I cover what the mysterious Section 508 is and how to use it to make your instructional design and elearning accessible. We’re talking about accessibility […]
Check out my new YouTube short video series: Elearning Accessibility Tips and Tricks! Whether you are an elearning developer, an online educator, or someone just trying to make their online materials accessible and usable for everyone, this video series features bite-sized guidance and practical how-to tips. My goal with this video series is to demystify accessibility, […]
As my day job I teach in an instructional design and technology graduate program. I have a LOT of students that are teachers looking to make a career change to instructional design. There’s a lot to like about instructional design! The responsibilities can vary from position to position, you can design for adults or kids […]
*Updated 9/28/21* The easiest way to share your courses with your reviewers and with learners is via web hosting. Being able to just hand over a link is simply the best, especially for your learner. Whether you’re using Captivate, Storyline, or some other software, the published files can be large and clunky to share with […]
Today I’m going to share how you can capture 360 photos with the phone you already have, and then turn them into interactive tours, for FREE! Who doesn’t love an interactive virtual tour? 360 photos can bring a space to life! You choose your view: spin in circles, look up, look down, zoom in and […]
Happy 4th! I made use of the time I saved by not going anywhere for the weekend (yay?) by creating a new video on Adobe Captivate. Learn how to force users to complete a tutorial’s modules before moving on to the quiz. This might not be the best way to accomplish this, but this is the simplest way. […]
Personally, I get really excited about accessibility. As an online instructor and instructional designer I strive to make all of my digital content as accessible as possible. I’m of the philosophy that making your digital content accessible makes it more usable for everybody, not just those that utilize assistive technology. Bonus: the more accessible your […]
I’m presenting at Realities360! My presentation is titled “Getting Started with Virtual Reality.” I talk about several free and open resources and methods to create immersive 360 virtual reality experiences. Have low or no budget? No problem! Below, find resources related to my presentation, including the slide deck. At the bottom I list my favorite […]
I’ve written before about how Flash is pretty much dead, and HTML5 is where it’s at. But it’s a challenge in Adobe Captivate to figure out what features work in HTML5 and which don’t. Sure, Captivate has an HTML5 tracker, which is very helpful – unless you’ve already built out your entire project and come […]
In my first H5P Essentials post, I gave you an introduction and overview of H5P. In this post, we’re going to get our feet wet by diving into developing a Course Presentation using H5P. As I mentioned in Get Started with H5P, the Course Presentation format is my personal favorite because it allows creation of […]
When I was a new Instructional Design Librarian in 2014 I sought out examples of great online tutorials from other academic libraries to get ideas for what our own library should have. Our library at the time was seriously lacking in online learning. When I joined the library, the newest YouTube videos were four years […]
We are living a golden age of freely available and open content for you to reuse in your design projects. Photos, audio, PDFs, H5P, videos galore! But are you giving credit where credit is due? Are you reusing this content ethically and legally? Are you unsure? Just because it’s available on the internet doesn’t mean […]
H5P is an elearning game-changer. Previously, interactive lessons were only possible with expensive and proprietary software, “freemium” online platforms that come and go like the wind, or advanced HTML and Javascript programming knowledge. Now, H5P allows anyone to create advanced and instructionally sound interactive online lessons from within the web browser. Lessons can be downloaded, […]
In today’s post, I’ll show you how you can embed your published Storyline and Captivate courses into any webpage using iframes, which is a very simple HTML code. If you can copy and paste, you can do this, I promise! You encounter iframes all the time without knowing it. Iframes are just “frames” that feature […]
I day-hiked Mt. Whitney the other day. Sure, it was pretty cool. Incredible alpine landscapes, sapphire blue lakes sparkling in the sun. Twenty-two miles round-trip, 6,000 feet of elevation gain, took me 16 hours. But really I was just there to get some 360 images to make some smashing virtual reality experiences using Captivate 2019. […]
Closed Captions. You know that they’re a necessity for your video and audio. Creating closed captions for your video and audio can be very time-consuming if you do it yourself, or very expensive if you want to pay someone else to do it. Of course, captions are essential for your elearning, but they’re not only […]
If you know anything about me, you know that I love H5P! This is a free and open software for easily crafting interactive tutorials and learning objects. Create an account instantly over at H5P.org. You can incorporate both standard and interactive videos into your learning content using H5P. Either format may be made fully accessible.* […]
I would love to chat about how you’re using H5P at ALA Annual in New Orleans! I’ve got three presentations/events lined up: Tutorials that are interactive, accessible, AND open? It’s possible with H5P! Poster presenter, The Educators Poster Session Saturday, June 23, 1:30 pm-3:00 pm Learning Roundtable Training Showcase I will be attending this session and […]
This is a list of list of resources for you to explore tools for creating content, for finding and reusing free multimedia, and for creating and editing media. Enjoy! Digital Media Be sure to respect the copyright of these works’ creators. Reuse Creative Commons-licensed material under the terms of the license. Public domain works do not […]
One of the best ways to make your training videos much more effective is to add voice overs. Lots of novice video creators are reluctant to record their own voice, which usually results in videos that have WAY too much text on-screen. Or, maybe they want to keep all that on-screen text because they think […]
I design a lot of learning experiences, but usually they’re accessed directly by users with the web address, or via our LMS. But what if you were asked to design a learning experience that would live on a computer kiosk, waiting for passersby to engage? I wrote recently about my experience re-designing my Open Access […]
Notes and resources for my round table at the Open Education Conference 2017 on the role of the ID librarian in campus OER initiatives: Connector, Adviser, Creator. Handout Download handout from Dropbox More Resources Things I’ve Developed as an ID Librarian Pollak Library Elearning YouTube Pollak Library Elearning Repository LibGuides Affordable and Open Educational Resources Ebooks […]
I love developing eLearning! Even more than that, I love teaching people to design effective online learning experiences. Here are my slides and handouts from a workshop I did recently on designing tutorials (and aligning assessment with objectives!). Download my materials from my workshop on designing an effective tutorial: Presentation Slides Handout – Storyboards Handout […]
Updated 2025! Instructional design competencies as requirements in library job postings are commonplace! Just as instructional design has grown, more librarians are being asked to be familiar with instructional design models and principles. I always encourage librarians to learn more about instructional design! I love being an instructional designer and eLearning developer and think these […]
New to eLearning Development? Read this first! I love Camtasia! I use it regularly for anything from simple screen recordings to long informational videos. All of the videos on my YouTube Channel were created with Camtasia. Camtasia is a video editing program, but you can create surprisingly robust interactive mini-courses using its hotspots feature. Whether […]
New to eLearning Development? Read this first! Adobe Captivate 9 is very powerful authoring software. It’s also very challenging to learn. Sure, you can easily pick up how to do screen recordings, but to create interactive tutorials you’re going to have to roll up your sleeves! Captivate is similar to Storyline, but it does not […]
New to eLearning Development? Read this first! I love Storyline! It’s the authoring software I use most often. I used it for creating the Spark Tutorials and for several of the items in my Portfolio. Storyline is fairly easy to learn. Because it’s similar to PowerPoint, you can use Storyline to make something as simple […]
So you’ve built an eLearning course – congratulations! Now, you want to give your learners access via the open web. (If you want to host it on an LMS, that’s a whole ‘nother topic!). Maybe you’re building your portfolio, maybe you want the SME to review it, maybe you just really enjoy building tutorials and […]
I love developing eLearning! It’s one of my favorite parts of my job. I developed my first Camtasia video as a library intern, and then dove deep into Camtasia, Storyline, and Adobe Captivate as a student in my master of educational technology program. Now, I use Camtasia and Storyline regularly to design info lit and […]