Scheduled at 10:30am in Colorado GH on Monday, November 16.
#42912Speaker(s)
- Chris Smith, Senior Instructional Designer, RaLytics
- Jennifer Goubeaud, Accessibility Program Manager, RaLytics
Session Details
- Length of Session: 3-hr
- Format: Bring-your-own Device Workshop: Laptop computer and any digital content (assets) they would like to assess for accessibility concerns
- Expertise Level: Intermediate
- Type of session: Pre-conference
Summary
As institutions move beyond ADA Title II deadlines, many find that automated tools and overlays do not ensure sustainable accessibility. This workshop reframes accessibility as a system, not a tool-driven task. Participants will examine the limits of automation and identify areas requiring human judgment. Through an Accessibility Capability Lab, attendees will map gaps and develop strategies to embed accessibility across governance, workflows, and roles.
Abstract
As institutions move beyond ADA Title II compliance deadlines, many are confronting a persistent gap between technical compliance activity and true organizational readiness. Investments in automated scanning platforms, AI remediation tools, and overlays have expanded rapidly, yet these solutions often produce indicators of compliance rather than sustainable accessibility outcomes.
This pre-conference workshop reframes accessibility as an institutional system rather than a tool-driven task. Grounded in WCAG standards and current research on the limits of automated evaluation, the session begins by clarifying what automation can reliably detect, what it partially evaluates, and what requires human judgment. Participants will examine high-impact areas such as keyboard navigation, meaningful alternative text, form inputs and error handling, and contextual clarity—areas where automation frequently falls short and workflow design becomes critical.
The session then shifts to operational practice. Through guided discussion and structured activities, participants will explore how accessibility risk enters and persists across procurement, CMS workflows, design systems, testing strategies, and training models. Emphasis is placed on distributed responsibility, embedding accessibility across roles including designers, developers, content creators, marketing teams, and leadership.
A central component of the workshop is the Accessibility Capability Lab. Participants will map their institution’s current maturity across governance, workflows, testing integration, and training infrastructure. Using structured frameworks, attendees will identify gaps, prioritize actions, and develop targeted strategies for sustainable implementation.
Designed for institutions both post-deadline and still preparing, this session provides a practical path from compliance activity to long-term capability.
Keypoints
- Automated tools cannot detect many critical WCAG issues that require human judgment and testing.
- Accessibility outcomes depend on systems, workflows, and roles, not tools alone.
- Sustainable accessibility requires governance, training, and distributed responsibility across teams.
Disability Areas
Cognitive/Learning, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Vision
Topic Areas
Accessibility and Accommodation in the Current Political/Legal Environment, Accessible Course Design, Artificial Intelligence, Assistive Technology, Campus & System-wide initiatives, Legal, Procurement, Teaching about Accessibility in Curriculum, Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access
Speaker Bio(s)
Chris Smith
Dr. Chris Smith is a nationally recognized digital accessibility strategist and instructional design leader with more than 25 years of experience across K–12, higher education, and public-sector digital environments. His work focuses on translating accessibility standards into sustainable institutional systems that integrate governance, procurement, CMS workflows, design systems, testing practices, and training infrastructures.
He led the development of North Carolina Virtual Public School’s first organization-wide Digital Accessibility Plan and has collaborated with state agencies, higher education institutions, and national organizations to strengthen accessibility governance and operational maturity aligned with WCAG, Section 508, and ADA Title II requirements. His work emphasizes distributed responsibility models that embed accessibility across web teams, content creators, developers, marketing units, and executive leadership rather than centralizing compliance within a single office.
Dr. Smith regularly facilitates workshops and conference sessions at the state and national levels, including ATIA, NCTIES, and higher education digital forums, where he focuses on automation limits, manual testing integration, institutional risk interpretation, and scalable training frameworks. He is known for bridging policy, implementation science, and technical practice, helping institutions move beyond reactive remediation toward sustainable accessibility capability.
In addition to his strategic consulting work, Dr. Smith teaches graduate courses in instructional design and educational technology, integrating accessibility evaluation, governance alignment, and digital workflow design into advanced coursework. His approach centers on building long-term institutional capacity rather than one-time compliance responses.
Jennifer Goubeaud
Jennifer Goubeaud is an accessibility strategist, trainer, and consultant who brings a rare combination of formal behavioral science training and hands-on digital accessibility expertise to her work advancing inclusive design. With a Master's degree in Applied Behavior Analysis and over 20 years working with and learning from disability communities, she approaches accessibility not just as technical compliance, but as meaningful behavior change requiring thoughtful adoption strategies.
Currently serving as Accessibility Program Manager at RaLytics, Jennifer oversees comprehensive digital accessibility training programs for government agencies and commercial organizations. Her work focuses on translating complex accessibility standards into actionable guidance for designers, developers, and organizational leaders while building genuine enthusiasm for inclusive design practices.
Previously, Jennifer spent five years at Aspiritech, a mission-driven nonprofit providing tech careers to autistic employees, where she built and scaled an accessibility testing service line from one-off projects to over 30 clients including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and startups. Leading a neurodivergent team of accessibility testers, she achieved 100% employee retention through innovative inclusive workplace practices and pioneered the use of AI as assistive technology to support her team's success. This experience provided invaluable insights into authentic disability community perspectives and demonstrated how neuroinclusive practices drive both social impact and business results.
Jennifer's clinical background as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst includes providing behavioral healthcare across diverse settings, coordinating NIH-funded neurodevelopmental research at Stanford University, and working internationally with disability service providers in the Netherlands and Czech Republic through The Global Autism Project. This foundation in behavioral science, research methodology, and direct service provision informs her unique approach to accessibility: understanding that sustainable change requires addressing motivation, reducing cognitive friction, and designing systems that set people up for success rather than relying solely on policy mandates.
Her lived experience with ADHD further shapes her perspective on neuroinclusive design and the importance of reducing cognitive load in digital experiences. She has conducted accessibility audits from a cognitive lens on websites and applications, developed comprehensive training curricula, and provided strategic consultation to organizations building accessibility programs from the ground up.
Jennifer is passionate about making accessibility education engaging, practical, and effective, meeting people where they are and building genuine commitment to inclusive design rather than treating it as a compliance checkbox. She believes in the power of accessible digital experiences to expand opportunity, reduce barriers, and create a more inclusive world.