Cost Effective Accessibility Professional Development

Handouts

Presented at 9:00 am in Colorado F on Thursday, November 20, 2025.

Speaker(s)

• Christa Miller, Independent Consultant

Session Details

• Length of Session: 1-hr
• Format: Lecture
• Expertise Level: Beginner
• Type of session: General Conference

Summary

Whether your institution already has a comprehensive training plan or not, this is an excellent time to assess how any previous campus accessibility training did or did not improve the accessibility of your institution. In this interactive discussion, we will explore the role that campus culture plays in the effectiveness of professional development. We will discuss the pros and cons of common training methods. Finally, we will identify key considerations for assessing the return on investment.

Abstract

Training. Professional Development. Skill Building. Regardless of the term, Colleges and Universities face the same challenges to hire and retain well-trained employees. In the Accessibility arena there are different levels of emphasis placed on reactive and active methods for achieving compliance. But both come in for their fair share of mandatory mandatory training. As institutions whose core value is to promote learning, it might seem logical for us to be the first to support new training initiatives. However, constraints on time, budget, and return on investment hamper our individual and institutional commitment to ongoing learning. Instead of considering this a barrier, we can use this to fuel creative solutions.

In this interactive session we will work through how to achieve a positive return on your campus' accessibility training investment. From a Human Factors perspective, this could be described as ensuring the people continually have the skills and tools they need. It may be tempting to bow to a checklist approach here such as requiring an automated, biannual refresh training. But how do you know that is really working?

This highlights the need for a comprehensive accessibility training plan. We will consider what questions to ask to help you determine the kind of training that will mesh with your campus' culture. We will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of some common training models: Discussion Based Interest Groups (ex. lunch-and-learn) Committees and Working Groups Development of in-house training (ex. one-time, serial, and micro-badging) For purchase training (ex. Online courses, consultant led, etc)

Lastly, we will discuss methods for assessing and reporting out on the "stickiness" of your training plan.

Keypoints

1. Educating your campus on accessibility requires more than just training material.
2. Consider your organization's culture when developing or acquiring training materials.
3. Commit to ongoing analysis of your intended return on investment.

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Faculty Development & Support, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Christa Miller

Christa is a longtime accessibility advocate and has experience in many roles including assistive technology, Braille, professional development, disability accommodations, and web accessibility.

Handout(s)

• Cost Effective PD (Google Drive)