Building Accessibility Through Dynamic and Digital Engagement

Remote work may have its pros and cons, but the growth of dynamic digital engagement has been a great “pro” to drive awareness of Wake’s accessibility efforts. Join us to get started improving accessibility in your digital campus endeavors and learn about how the Technology Accessibility Program leverages the digital environment to collaboratively build accessibility support for campus.

Thoughts from the ACWG

“I have learned to not be bashful when asking questions about accessibility (and to be ok repeating myself, too)! I was part of a webinar planning team that did not include an accessibility question on the registration form. We found out at the last minute about accessibility needs and were extremely lucky to have folks from IS jump in to save the day. I know that last-minute accommodations are no fun for anyone (and not at all guaranteed), so now I make sure to not only include accessibility questions on registration forms, but also to follow up with event planning teams and participants via email to make sure everyone’s accessibility needs will be met.” – Carrie Johnston

“It was great to have [colleagues] jump right in and offer support on how instructors could use Canvas and create accessible content. That was a huge undertaking for me and my initiation to Wake. I appreciate all of your collaboration and support!” [Referring to the Teaching Online @ Wake course and its development last year] – Amy Archambault

“It has been so wonderful to find that, even in the midst of consistent adaptation and stressful conditions, faculty, staff, and students at Wake have taken time to learn about technology accessibility and gained skills to make their digital engagements more inclusive for work and their personal lives!” – ACWG Member

“I am incredibly grateful for the auto-captioning features on Zoom and Kaltura. My students take advantage of these when they are Zoomed out and would rather read my recorded lectures than watching yet another video!” – Carrie Johnston

“In addition to messaging to all WFU Colleagues about the live machine-generated caption features in both Zoom and Google Meet, some accessibility resources and tools that I share with WFU colleagues are: Improving Accessibility and Inclusion in Virtual Spaces, A Simple Path to Better Document Accessibility Leveraging Text-to-Speech and Screen Reading Tools, and Technology Accessibility at Wake.”  – ACWG Member

“The Accessibility Team is superb! [They] are willing to work with you to develop accessible technology and are never unwilling to check (and re-check!!) accessibility features. When I was designing a Choose-Your-Own Adventure Game for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, I was struck by the care and thoughtfulness they brought to the project. At the end of the process the game was accessible to screen readers and keyboard accessible, their insight was invaluable and empowering. I now seek them out and try to incorporate the team into all the work I do!” – Isabella Ryan

“Through implementing accessibility features and functionality throughout the Information Systems web presence, I gained an understanding of and appreciation for the concept of Universal Design: the “design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood, and used to the greatest extent possible by all people.” 

Proper heading structure, understandable links, alt text on images, sufficient color contrast, and good navigation are all individually important, but accessibility isn’t simply a list of boxes to check. By recognizing and understanding our audiences, simplifying the information to be communicated, choosing the right outlets and platforms, and carefully creating content with the aforementioned best practices, we can maximize the accessibility, usability, and functionality of our work to achieve Universal Design.”
– Damian Blankenship