The organisation overcame stiff competition from fellow finalists Coca-Cola, Filtered, Fuse Universal & Hilti and International Workplace to pick up the coveted award from Strictly Come Dancing's Claudia Winkleman in recognition of its eLearning course, Coaching People with a Visual Impairment – produced in collaboration with British Blind Sport and part funded by Sport England.

The course raises awareness of the crucial role coaches play in helping people with visual impairments (VI) overcome barriers to participation in sport and physical activity. With screen reader capability, the eLearning also helps coaches with VI to complete the online course independently, and it was this innovative technology that gave UK Coaching the edge on the night.

UK Coaching’s Development Lead Officer for Learning Architecture Kelly Brown said:

“A special thanks must go to our partners involved in this project, Gary Baldock at Everything eLearning and Logan Gray at British Blind Sport. As learning professionals, we should embrace connecting with the wider learning and development sector, whether that’s in sport and physical activity or further afield. This award shows there is much to gain from cross-sector collaborations for the benefit of the learner, as well as organisations.”

British Blind Sport’s National Partnerships Manager Logan Gray said:

“We want to thank our UK Coaching colleagues, as well as our British Blind Sport members and visually impaired contributors. Their insight and guidance throughout the process have enabled us to make the course fully accessible. We couldn’t have achieved this without their input.”

Member of the awards' judging panel and Director, Product & Innovation at DC-Activ Joe Richardson said:

“What is amazing is that they achieved this with virtually no budget and have validated and tested by including the end users right from the start of development and responded to the challenges along the way. The technology itself, while having a limited application currently, has the ability to become a new protocol for an industry such as SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model) or AICC (Aviation Industry Computer-based Training Committee) and with the right push and development should make any digital content developers stand up, take a step back and evaluate what accessible learning truly means.

“I had goose bumps during the presentation and they are a more than deserving winner, especially as they were so humble all the way through.”

Learning and Performance Institute CEO Edmund Monk said:

“The 2019 winning entry from UK Coaching – making eLearning accessible for people who are blind and sight-impaired – proves that, when the very best people work with the very best technology, the results can be an inspiration to us all.”

The course is packed full of helpful tips, practical solutions and vibrant videos to help coaches increase their knowledge, assurance and skills of coaching participants with VI, ultimately, making their practice more inclusive.

The Learning and Performance Institute’s Learning Awards is an annual celebration of outstanding achievement, best practice and excellence in corporate learning and performance.