Media Design for Learning Guide

A practical workflow

1. Define the learning objective and learner action.
2. Identify the essential ideas and relationships.
3. Select representations that make those ideas perceivable.
4. Storyboard the sequence and learner attention.
5. Remove extraneous content and duplication.
6. Add signalling, pacing and opportunities for active processing.
7. Design accessibility into the script and assets.
8. Test with learners and revise.

Core design principles

Coherence — remove decorative details, music and text that do not serve the learning goal.

Signalling — use headings, highlights, arrows, labels and verbal cues to direct attention.

Spatial contiguity — place explanatory labels close to the part of the visual they describe.

Temporal contiguity — coordinate narration or explanation with the relevant visual event.

Segmenting — break complex explanations into meaningful, learner-paced units.

Pre-training — introduce key names, components or representations before a complex explanation.

Modality — use narration with visuals selectively when it reduces visual competition; do not assume audio is always preferable.

Generative activity — prompt learners to explain, sketch, compare, predict or summarise.

Accessibility from the start

• Write scripts that verbalise essential visual information where natural.
• Provide accurate captions for speech and meaningful sound.
• Provide transcripts, including descriptions of important visual information where needed.
• Use sufficient contrast, readable text and uncluttered compositions.
• Do not use colour as the only carrier of meaning.
• Ensure controls are keyboard accessible and clearly labelled.
• Avoid flashing and unnecessary motion; provide pause and replay controls.
• Check automatic captions, translations and AI-generated alternatives manually.

Review checklist

• The objective is explicit.
• The media requires learners to do more than passively consume.
• The main message can be stated in one sentence.
• Each visual has a clear explanatory purpose.
• The learner knows where to look and what to notice.
• Pacing allows processing and replay.
• Examples are accurate and representative.
• Accessibility alternatives are complete and tested.
• The final resource is tested with intended users.