How Accessibility Is Built into Language Learning: Behind the Build with Emma Hossenlopp

An Interview with Our Accessibility Lead

Accessibility is often discussed in terms of compliance, but for language instructors, the stakes are far more personal. When course materials aren’t accessible, students don’t just struggle to participate—they can fall behind before learning even begins.

In this edition of Behind the Build, we spoke with Emma Hossenlopp, Principal Product Manager and Accessibility Lead at Vista Higher Learning, to explore how accessibility is a foundational design principle within language learning platforms.

Meet Emma: Platform Accessibility Lead

Emma works at the intersection of product management, UX, engineering, and quality assurance, ensuring accessibility requirements are part of every build—not a retrofit at the end.

“I’m a member of the Product Management and UX teams, as well as one to three scrum teams of engineers and QA analysts at any given time,” Emma explains. “It takes all of us to ensure our platform is built to be accessible. I define requirements and work with UX to determine what features will look like and how they behave.”

In addition to her core product responsibilities, Emma leads accessibility audits, oversees Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs), and coordinates annual Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) testing and remediation work. Since 2018, they have guided Vista Higher Learning’s Accessibility Cross Functional Team, which supports and advances accessibility efforts across print and digital platforms while maintaining accessibility road maps.

Why Accessibility Matters in Language Learning

Language learning is inherently multimodal. Reading, listening, speaking, and writing all connect with one another, and students bring different needs, devices, and contexts into the classroom. For Emma, this makes accessibility central to product quality, not a separate track or checklist item.

“Accessibility is for everybody,” she says. “When it’s built in from the outset, we can take a universal design approach and ensure a delightful experience for all users.”

This approach means designing features flexible enough to support a wide range of learning and teaching styles, while still meeting rigorous accessibility standards.

When accessibility isn’t considered early in the process, the impact on students is immediate. Barriers may seem small at first—a tutorial that doesn’t work with a screen reader, a control that isn’t keyboard accessible—but they compound over time. Ultimately, they can influence whether a student feels confident continuing in a course or even completing a program of study.

As Emma puts it, “Designing content and platforms without accessibility costs students—ranging from everyday frustrations to being blocked from completing their studies.”

Understanding Accessibility Standards and Compliance

Vista Higher Learning’s accessibility strategy is grounded in international standards, particularly the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines define how digital content can be made perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust so that everyone—including users with disabilities—can access and use it effectively.

“WCAG 2.2 is the latest standard,” Emma notes. “The new legal requirement in the [United States] will be WCAG 2.1 AA as of April this year. We align to 2.2 to stay ahead of legal requirements and set our users up for success.”

The U.S. Department of Justice has finalized rules requiring many public sector digital services to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA by April 2026, with phased timelines based on entity size. As accessibility standards continue to evolve, WCAG 2.2 alignment ensures Vista Higher Learning stays ahead of emerging expectations, delivering a platform instructors can trust to adapt over time.

“When accessibility is part of the design,” Emma adds, “students stay focused on learning—not overcoming obstacles.”

What Success Looks Like: Impact on Students and Instructors

Ultimately, accessibility affects every learner and instructor. When asked how they defined success, Emma shared a powerful story:

“It’s all about student outcomes,” they said. “The first time I really felt it was hearing from a blind student who told me they chose to minor in Spanish because they could actually learn from our platform.”

Stories like this underscore how accessible design can change an individual learner’s trajectory.

Accessibility also delivers everyday value to users who may not identify as having a disability. As Emma explains, “Ever watch a movie with subtitles or use a ramp because you have a suitcase or stroller? Those are accessibility features designed to help people with specific needs, but they benefit everyone. The same applies in the classroom. Students learn in a variety of ways, and accessibility features can be leveraged to support different styles of learning and teaching—it’s all about how you implement them.”

By treating accessibility as a core component of product strategy, Vista Higher Learning aims to provide institutions with platforms that are compliant, future-ready, and usable by every learner.