Seven modules for people who do not read English at a desk

The audience is standing up

Food Prep Inc wanted a cost-effective answer to complex training needs, simple but interactive, and self-paced.

They named the difficulty precisely: capturing the participant so that they stay motivated and involved to the end.

Food safety training has a particular version of that problem. The people who need it are not office staff. They are on shift, often on their feet, frequently in a second language, and the training is happening because the law requires it rather than because anybody asked for it. Every one of those makes finishing less likely.

What it had to cover

Food and health safety. Foodborne illness, step by step. Food safety hazards. Personal health and hygiene. Receiving and storage. Cooking, cooling, thawing and cross contamination. Pest control.

Seven modules, one per area, rather than one long course. On mandatory content that is not a stylistic choice, it is what makes the training fit into a shift.

The smallest feature in the build is the one worth naming

A transcript button, on every screen, showing the script of the voiceover.

It reads like a checkbox item. It is not. For a learner working in a second language, hearing a term and seeing it written are two different pieces of information, and having both at once is often the only way the term lands. For a learner on a busy floor who cannot use audio, it is the difference between taking the course and pretending to.

It also happens to be the accessible choice, which is how most accessibility features work. They get built for one group and quietly help everyone.

Alongside it, a menu showing progress through the module, so a course taken in ten-minute pieces between shifts can actually be resumed.

The rest of the build

Designed to Food Prep's branding and colour scheme, with interactivity and animation used to hold attention across content that is, honestly, not inherently interesting.

Self-paced with voiceover instruction. Multiple choice at the end of each module, written as choose the best option rather than choose the only correct one, which is closer to how the decisions actually present themselves in a kitchen.

SCORM compliant and responsive.

What happened

Food Prep saw participation and involvement rise. The modules were challenging enough that people treated the quizzes as something to prove.

Their results showed staff who took the courses knew more about food safety and management. The voiceover kept people engaged, and every slide could be replayed as often as someone wanted. Food Prep were satisfied and got the outcome they were after.

What we would tell someone in the same position

What we would tell someone commissioning mandatory training

Find out where your learners will actually take it. If the answer involves a shift, a shared device, a noisy room or a second language, that changes the build more than any decision about content does. Put the script on screen, split the course into pieces that fit a break, and make progress resumable. Those three cost very little and they are usually the difference between a completion rate you report and one you explain.