The folks at HF Innovations are excited to introduce our company to the world. Our four-part HF Stands for blog series provides an idea of our values and approach to instructional development.

Check out our previous posts, HF Stands For… and HF Stand for Clarity.

Let's begin with a statistic: one in five.

That's the number of American adults who have low English literacy skills, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Here's another number: $2.2 trillion.

That's the estimated cost of low levels of literacy in the U.S. each year, according to a Gallup study for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

Simply put, companies that don't account for people who struggle to read English are throwing money away. And yet, companies of all sizes fail to see the urgency of accessibility.

At HF Innovations, we believe accessibility is the key to unlocking your workforce. Our efforts extend beyond reading comprehension and language barriers. Our custom instructional content also accommodates people with visual and audio impairments and other disabilities.

Our multimodal approach to instructional design ensures that folks from all walks of life and situations get the most out of their technical instruction and training. We aim to meet people on their level with the type of training that works best for them.

Here are a few ways HF Innovations emphasizes accessibility in all of its custom content:

• Simplicity: We aim to keep written materials at a ninth-grade reading level or lower.

• Visuals: Images and narrated videos are especially useful for those who struggle to read English.

• Lists: Lists organize material in a visually clear way that makes it easier for the reader to process.

• White space: Giving documents room to breathe reduces cognitive load and improves comprehension.

• Conciseness: Short words, sentences, and paragraphs are the way to go.