Adaptive Technology Professional Development Overview: From Inventory to Intake to Implementation (2026)

Scheduled at 10:30am in Independence on Monday, November 16.

Speaker(s)

• Wink Harner, Assistive Technology Consultant, The Foreign Type
• Michele Joy Bromley, Manager, Digital Accessibility and Content Office of Information Technology Portland State University, Portland State University

Session Details

• Length of Session: 2-day
• Format: Bring-your-own Device Workshop: tablet, iPad or laptop
• Expertise Level: All Levels
• Type of session: Pre-conference

Summary

Adaptive technology evolves rapidly, making it difficult for colleges and HE professionals to choose effective tools. To make informed decisions about adoption or upgrades, they need a strong understanding of disabilities and assistive technologies. This knowledge helps them support students, faculty, and staff in designing accessible content, validating responsibly, & ensuring access. This 2-day, 8-module pre-conference builds foundational knowledge & shared responsibility for digital access.

Abstract

on, training, and support of adaptive technology for students with disabilities on college campuses. Participants will engage with select readings, engage in small group discussions, receive mini-quiz evaluations, and contribute to a shared notes document.

This workshop boasts a comprehensive overview of adaptive technologies for reading disabilities, low vision, blindness, deafness, hearing loss, learning disabilities, and physical disabilities. Attendees will likewise receive a review of best practices for proactive faculty and library staff training, campus technology implementation and inventory, student intake evaluations and recommendations, and workshop student training models.

By the end of this two day, eight-module pre-conference, attendees will have a clear understanding of adaptive technology intake, evaluation, and training processes—supported by conscientious data collection and strategic campus, learn about various laws involved, understand how to evaluate adaptive technology, develop evaluation criteria for student & campus use. An extensive, optional reading list will be provided to registered attendees in advance.

This workshop is designed to meet AHEAD Program Domains, Standards, and Performance Indicators (www.ahead.org/professional-resources/information-services-portal/data-collection-and-management/performance-indicators) including all five domains: Leadership and Collaboration, Consultation and Information Dissemination, Access and Equity, Office Administration and Operations, and Professional Development.

Keypoints

1. Learn about a wide variety of different types of adaptive technologies (AT) related to specific disabilities
2. Learn to link AT to specific disabilities, including neurodiverse students, and to adapt AT for specific needs
3. Build digital accessibility capacity across campus to ensure equitable access for everyone, including AT users

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Accessible Course Design, Artificial Intelligence, Assistive Technology, Campus & System-wide initiatives, Faculty Development & Support, Procurement, Teaching about Accessibility in Curriculum, Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Wink Harner

Wink Harner. BA, ABD - Has been an active member of ATHEN for 25 years and served for nearly a decade on the ATHEN Executive Board as Member-At-Large. Wink was invited as the keynote speaker for the 2019 Texas AHEAD conference and has been a keynote speaker at AZTAP in Arizona. She is the former director of disability services at Mesa Community College in Arizona, the Adaptive Technology Specialist for the DR office at Southern Oregon University. She currently works in freelance adaptive technology consulting and provides specialized alternative text conversions in math, sciences and foreign languages. She has been a professor of multiple languages for more than 25 years having completed her doctoral studies in Spanish, Portuguese, & French. Since August 2016, Wink developed and taught the adaptive technology in higher education core course for CUNY's Masters of Science in Disability Studies Program. In 2023 she developed a course in professional development for AHEAD in adaptive technology in higher education. She has presented at adaptive technology conferences for decades. For fun, Wink plays trombone in a wind symphony and a jazz band, as well as performing as a professional storyteller with the Portland Storytellers Guild.

Michele Joy Bromley

Michele Bromley, MA, CPWA, ADS, is a digital accessibility and inclusivity specialist, currently supporting the Office of Information Technology at Portland State University as the manager of the Digital Accessibility and Content team. Michele has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in English from Oregon State University, which laid the foundation for her focus on accessible, inclusive, and usable content management. Over the years, Michele has held various roles, including Business and Professional Writing Instructor, Alternative Formats Coordinator, Adaptive Technology Specialist, and IT Accessibility Coordinator. Her primary areas of expertise are project and change management, enterprise service management, and accessible digital procurement, design, validation, remediation, and incident response. She has presented on these and similar topics for the national Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD), EDUCAUSE, Gender Advocacy and Inclusion Network (GAIN) in Higher Education, the Orbis Cascade Alliance, the NorthWest Academic Computing Consortium (NWACC), and the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation (PALCI).