Presented at 4:00pm in Windsor on Thursday, November 15, 2018.
#17621Speaker(s)
- Jess Thompson, Program Administrator, WA State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Lecture
- Expertise Level: All Levels
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
Colleges participating in Washington State's Access360 use the GOALS Benchmark and Planning tool from the National Center on Disability and Access to Education to develop a shared understanding of what institutional accessibility looks like and to guide system colleges as they work to develop and implement accessibility policy and procedures.
Abstract
In Washington State, recent local accessible technology policies have increased awareness and sparked a movement to improve practices around accessible technology. To guide the work, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges developed Access360, a yearlong mentorship opportunity for cross-functional campus teams as they develop and implement accessibility policies. To provide a shared vocabulary and framework, participating schools use the National Center on Disability and Access to Education’s GOALS Benchmark and Planning tool.
Participation in Access 360 helps campuses: 1) create (or strengthen) cross-functional teams to work collaboratively to ensure successful implementation of accessibility policies and practices on their campus; 2) find time, space, and generative structures so campus teams can identify achievable goals and a realistic plan; and 3) provide scheduled support and accountability as teams move through its plan to fully realize their campus goals.
Keypoints
- Access360 framework allows peer institutions to share with and learn from each other.
- The GOALS Benchmark and Planning tool provides a standard measurement tool to track progress across the system.
- The GOALS tool helps the State Board uncover patterns in progress and barriers at the system level.
Disability Areas
Topic Areas
Administrative/Campus Policy, Uncategorized
Speaker Bio(s)
Jess Thompson
Jess Thompson is a Program Administrator in eLearning & Open Education at the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges. Her work focuses on accessibility in online learning and supporting the 34 community and technical colleges in developing policies and practices that support accessibility both in instruction and campus-wide. Jess has been active in exploring and implementing systemwide accessibility solutions, one of which includes a systemwide captioning hub. Jess came to the State Board from one of the state's community colleges where she taught Sociology and Criminology, in addition to serving as faculty lead for the Center for Teaching and Learning.