Dr. Jane Bozarth is a veteran learning and development professional, researcher, and author with decades of experience spanning classroom training, eLearning and social learning. She began her career as a literacy trainer and later became a training director for the North Carolina Department of Justice. Jane is widely known for her influential books, including E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring, Social Media for Trainers, and Show Your Work: The Payoffs and How-Tos of Working Out Loud. With a doctorate in training and development, she has spent years exploring how technology, especially AI, can make learning more accessible, inclusive, and practical for real-world workplaces.
Nolan Hout, Senior Vice President, Growth, Infopro Learning
Nolan Hout is the growth leader and host of this podcast. He has over a decade of experience in the Learning & Development (L&D) industry, helping global organizations unlock the potential of their workforce. Nolan is results-driven, investing most of his time in finding ways to identify and improve the performance of learning programs through the lens of return on investment. He is passionate about networking with people in the learning and training community. He is also an avid outdoorsman and fly fisherman, spending most of his free time on rivers across the Pacific Northwest.
In this episode, Dr. Jane Bozarth and Nolan discuss how AI is transforming accessibility and inclusion in learning. Drawing on decades of experience in L&D, Jane shares practical insights about universal design, underserved learners, workplace accessibility and the myths that still shape how organizations think about learning.
- How Jane’s career began as a literacy trainer and evolved into a pioneering voice in eLearning.
- Why accessibility in learning goes far beyond fonts, colors, and screen readers.
- How AI tools are making learning more inclusive for people with disabilities and underserved workers.
- Real examples of technology, from AI hearing aids to sign-language avatars, improving accessibility.
- Why designing learning for everyone from the start is cheaper than retrofitting it later.
- How AI enables personalized learning experiences at scale.
- Why many workplace learning programs fail underserved and deskless workers.
- The surprising research insights about learning styles and why the myth persists.
- How improving accessibility can increase employee engagement and organizational performance.
AI can make us faster at things we already do, but the real impact is when it enables people to do things they couldn’t do at all before.
International Speaker, Author, Director of Research, The Learning Guild
Introduction
Nolan: Hello everyone and welcome to the Learning and Development podcast sponsored by Infopro Learning. As always, I am your host, Nolan Hout. Joining me today we have Dr. Jane Bozarth, a veteran classroom trainer who transitioned to e-learning in the late 90s and never looked back. She’s the author of several books including E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring, Social Media for Trainers, and Show Your Work: The Payoffs and How-Tos of Working Out Loud.
She also holds a doctorate in training and development, which puts her far beyond the question of whether she is smarter than Nolan. Today we’re talking with Jane about her work exploring how AI can enhance accessibility and inclusion in learning, the importance of sharing tacit knowledge in organizations, and insights uncovered through her research. Jane, welcome to the podcast.
Dr. Jane Bozarth: Thanks for having me. I’m glad to be here. You’ve had all my friends on. I wondered when it was going to be my turn.
Nolan: We’re glad we made it happen. Let’s start with your origin story. You were a classroom trainer who transitioned to e-learning. Tell us how that started.
Dr. Jane Bozarth’s Career Origin Story
Dr. Jane Bozarth: Years ago I was having trouble finding work. I had a degree in English and had done several different jobs. There was a magazine called Working Woman, and the cover had “10 Hot Careers for Women.” Workplace Trainer was one of them.
As a teenager I gave guitar lessons and done jobs where I trained people. I thought, I could do this. I talked my way into a job at a hospital for developmentally disabled adults. The state required healthcare techs to pass a written test. They hired me as a literacy trainer.
I quickly learned how to train staff who needed help reading and writing. The hospital had residents with a wide range of disabilities—physical disabilities, blindness, deafness, and severe cognitive disabilities.
Working there gave me strong grounding in accessibility issues. I watched the ADA being implemented and suddenly saw ramps appearing in front of hotels and doors automatically opening. I remember when those things were new.
Later I moved to the Department of Justice as their training director. We had a travel budget problem. North Carolina is large, and we were bringing people to Raleigh for orientation where someone read policies to them for hours. It was expensive and inefficient.
Around that time, I enrolled in a master’s program in training and development at NC State. Some courses were online and very basic—scrolling text and occasional pictures—but I saw how this could solve our travel problem.
We started experimenting with e-learning. I showed it saved money because people didn’t have to travel, stay in hotels, or leave work for two days to attend six hours of training. That experience became my master’s thesis and eventually my book E-Learning on a Shoestring.
One lesson I learned: if your claim to fame is doing things with no money, people don’t want to pay you to consult.
The Motivation Behind a Career in Learning
Nolan: It sounds like your work started with needing a job but turned into making a real difference. Did that motivate you to stay in the field?
Dr. Jane Bozarth: There’s some truth to that. Teaching someone to read may be one of the most meaningful things you can do. Watching someone who couldn’t read suddenly read something is powerful.
We often struggle in learning and development because we rarely see direct results. Teaching literacy is different—you see immediate improvement. Many of my students were rural workers who had fragmented schooling. Farm kids often missed school during harvest seasons. Literacy challenges were common.
Working with people with disabilities also shaped my thinking. I had friends who were physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. Seeing how learning improved lives made the work tangible. Later I realized I was good at training. I became known for being honest about what worked and what didn’t. If something was a waste of time, I would say so. When eLearning appeared, I saw an opportunity to make training more efficient and accessible.
Accessibility and AI in Learning
Nolan: Let’s talk about AI and accessibility. Many people think accessibility means color contrast or screen readers. But you’ve explored broader possibilities.
Dr. Jane Bozarth: Most accessibility work focuses on web design, fonts, spacing, alt tags, color contrast, screen reader compatibility. That work is critical, but it’s not my specialty.
I’m interested in how AI tools make the world more accessible. AI often helps people do things faster. But what excites me is when AI helps people do things they couldn’t do before.
For example, someone who couldn’t write a report may now use AI to create one. That’s more transformative than helping someone write a report three times faster.
We’re seeing innovations like:
- Exoskeletons that allow workers to lift heavy objects safely
- AI-powered sign language avatars for e-learning videos
- Advanced hearing aids that isolate voices and adjust to environments
- AI captioning tools integrated into software like PowerPoint
These technologies expand participation.
Tools Improving Accessibility
Dr. Jane Bozarth: One example is a free app called SoundPrint, which works like Yelp but measures noise levels in restaurants. People can upload decibel readings, so others know which places are quiet.
This helps people with hearing difficulties or neurodiverse individuals who are sensitive to noise. Many accessibility tools benefit everyone. Closed captions are a good example. They were designed for deaf viewers but now many people use them because audio may be unclear or they’re in noisy environments. Accessibility improvements often become universal improvements.
Underserved Workers and Learning
Dr. Jane Bozarth: Many learning professionals assume workers have desk jobs and college degrees. That’s not always true.
I worked with groundskeepers, food service workers, and employees who worked from trucks rather than desks. During COVID we saw how many communities lacked reliable internet access. Families parked outside libraries to get Wi-Fi for school.
AI tools can help address these challenges:
- translation tools
- 24/7 tutoring
- speech-to-text and text-to-speech systems
- personalized learning pathways
These technologies allow training to adapt to the learner rather than forcing learners into one format.
Universal Design and Personalization
Nolan: AI also allows multiple ways to learn—audio, video, reading—depending on preference.
Dr. Jane Bozarth: That’s the idea behind universal design. Instead of designing separate solutions for different disabilities, you create flexible systems where users can adjust things themselves.
Someone might want:
- Slower narration
- More visuals
- Audio instead of text
- Translation into another language
AI can provide these options instantly.
Organizational Benefits of Accessibility
Nolan: There’s also a business case for accessibility. Inclusive workplaces attract talent and increase engagement.
Dr. Jane Bozarth: Often accommodations are inexpensive. Sometimes it’s as simple as better seating, better lighting, or captions in training materials. The problem is many organizations delay accessibility until they must retrofit systems after hiring someone who needs accommodation. Fixing things early is cheaper and easier.
Surprising Research Insights
Nolan: You’ve done research on learning myths. What surprised you most?
Dr. Jane Bozarth: Two things shocked me:
- How deeply learning styles are embedded in education
- How much money supports those ideas
Teachers receive ready-made lesson plans, quizzes, and professional development built around learning styles. It’s easy to adopt even though evidence doesn’t support it. Research shows people claim to prefer certain learning styles but rarely choose those methods when learning something.
Other Persistent Myths
Dr. Jane Bozarth: Other myths include:
- Personality type assessments
- Generational stereotypes
Generational theories claim things like “baby boomers have strong work ethics” or “younger workers quit more.” Evidence for these claims is inconsistent.
These ideas persist because they are appealing and profitable for consultants.
The Harm of Learning Labels
Dr. Jane Bozarth: The danger is labeling people.
Students may be told:
- “You’re kinesthetic, so academics aren’t your strength.”
- “You’re not mathematical.”
These labels can limit potential. Similarly, personality types or generational stereotypes can influence hiring or promotion decisions unfairly.
Closing Thoughts
Nolan: This has been an incredible conversation. We covered accessibility, AI, learning myths, and more.
Dr. Jane Bozarth: It was fun. We covered steakhouses, cigars, accessibility tools, and learning theory.
Nolan: Thank you for joining us today.
Dr. Jane Bozarth: Great meeting you.
