Institutional Accessibility Strategy: What Does it Look Like?
Concurrent Session 5
Brief Abstract
We know accessibility brings fear on campus because of its legal implications. But it doesn’t have to cause fear when you have a solid plan that answers who, what, when, where and why. Veteran accessibility professionals will share tried and true tips and resources to build your campus accessibility strategy.
Presenters
Kelly Hermann is the Vice President of Accessibility, Equity & Inclusion for the University of Phoenix. She has oversight of the university's accessibility initiative, including the evaluation and remediation of curricular resources, and disability services office. Prior to joining the University of Phoenix, Kelly was the director of disability services for SUNY Empire State College where she coordinated accommodations for students. She frequently presents at national conferences, such as the Online Learning Consortium, WCET and the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) regarding online learning and accessibility for students with disabilities. She also chairs the standing committee on online and distance education for AHEAD and was the chair of AHEAD’s standing committee on public policy from 2009 to 2013.
Cheryl is the Director of the Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) for the California State University (CSU) System. She oversees the ATI implementation across the CSU 23 campus system. Cheryl has been involved with the ATI since the beginning in 2007, first at the campus level, then at the systemwide level. Under her leadership the system has made significant progress towards implementing ATI process improvement in the areas of web accessibility, accessible procurement, and accessible instructional materials. She is currently managing several projects that are moving the initiative forward they include implementation of an ATI reporting process to measure the systemwide progress towards the ATI goals; creation of synergy projects resulting in systemwide shared services that are delivering cost savings; and a high level of cross-campus collaboration through the ATI Communities of Practice. Cheryl established and leads the CSU Accessible Technology Network (CSU ATN) which brings together accessibility experts across the CSU System to work collectively on accessibility projects that benefit the entire system. In addition, she manages the Accessible Instructional Materials Hub (AIMHub) project, an alternative media exchange service jointly developed by the CSU and CCC.
Extended Abstract