ELearning Development Checklist

Instructional designers often look for a handy eLearning development checklist that they could use as a reference when they develop their courses or when they do that final check before hitting the publish button. I created a checklist below for my personal use. Not everything in it will apply to all projects, and there are additional questions that may have to be added depending on your project’s needs and your roles and responsibilities on that project. Therefore, feel free to modify this checklist for your personal use. 

Content/Slides

•     Are the objectives SMART?

•     Is the content broken into manageable pieces?

•     Do the slides include a maximum of 5 bullets?

•     Is the language on all slides clear?

•     Have you checked spelling and grammar?

•      Are there any typos?

•      Is the tone consistent throughout the course?

•      Have the SMEs approved the content?

•      Are the punctuation and capitalization accurate and consistent?

•      Are the graphics and images meaningful?

Look and feel

•      Do all headings have names and descriptions?

•      Did you use appropriate logos in your course?

•      Is your color scheme consistent?

•      Do your slides have enough contrast?

•      Is there enough white space on the screen? 

•      Did you use a maximum of two/three fonts?

•      Are the fonts and styles consistent throughout the course?

Exercises and Assessments

•      Do all headings have names and descriptions?

•      Do you provide constructive, meaningful feedback?

•      Do you have relevant assessments?

•      Do you use a variety of assessment types?

•      Do you provide appropriate feedback/remediation for each assessment item?

•      Did you remember to include post-evaluation in your course?  

Technical Issues, Navigation, and Functionality Checks

•      Is the course load time acceptable?

•      Is the course viewable on all web browsers?

•      Have all hyperlinks been tested and work appropriately?

•      Do all buttons take users where they are supposed to take them?

•      Is the sequence for all navigation easily identifiable and correct?

Accessibility

•      Can the course be navigated with keyboard?

•      Did you use appropriate ALT tags throughout the course?

•      Did you provide text equivalent for all non-text elements?

•      Have the captions for all video files been included?

Audio and Video

•      Have all video and audio files been tested in multiple browsers and various resolutions?

•      Have all video files been compressed and optimized for all web browsers?

•      Are the videos consistent in quality and type?

•      Are the voiceovers clear?

•      Can users easily control the volume?

•      Can users mute/pause audio?

•      Have all audio files been correctly synced to the slides?

Other

•      Has the total completion time been appropriately estimated /calculated?

•      Has the table of content been created?

•      Have you checked the legal rights for all images and videos used in the course?

•      Did you hide all Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?

•      Are all buttons and icons logically labeled?