Seeding Accessibility Leadership in the MENA Region: Building Curriculum, Culture, and Capacity

Scheduled at 9:00 am in Virtual D on Friday, November 21.

Speaker(s)

• Zainab AlMeraj, Associate Professor, Kuwait University

Session Details

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

Summary

This session shares the experience of designing and delivering a master’s-level course in Kuwait focused on web accessibility, usability, and ethics. With practical, policy-focused outcomes, it showcases how mid-level and senior tech professionals can become accessibility champions within their workplaces.

Abstract

This presentation highlights the journey of designing and teaching a master's-level course presented under a course titled Special Topics in Computing Information Systems at Kuwait University, with a focus on web accessibility, usability, and ethical technology design.

Developed from the ground up, this course was crafted to address a critical need in the MENA region: building awareness and actionable expertise in digital inclusion among experienced developers. The course engaged tech professionals already in the workforce who were eager to take their learning back to the workplace, where they can begin the journey of accessibility awareness.

The session will walk attendees through an overview of digital accessibility efforts in Kuwait and MENA region from grassroots initiatives to education, the course pitch and the creation process, including:

• Curriculum design and structure aligned with WCAG 2.1, usability heuristics, and inclusive design research.
• The integration of visiting guest speakers from industry and academia, whose contributions added context and inspiration to the learning journey.
• Designing reflective, practical, and policy-relevant assessments that emphasized ethical practice and real-world auditing.
• Strategies for cultural contextualization, helping students relate to global standards through locally relevant examples.

The impact has been immediate: graduates are advocating for inclusive design practices at work and contributing to better procurement, content design, and compliance policies.

This session is ideal for educators, instructional designers, and DEI champions interested in embedding accessibility into curriculum in ways that empower learners to become agents of change in their organizations and regions.

Keypoints

1. Designing curriculum that empowers developers to drive accessibility and inclusion from within.
2. Teaching accessibility through real-world audits, ethics, and usability evaluation.
3. Embedding accessibility education in the cultural and technical context of the MENA region.

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Accessible Course Design, Teaching about Accessibility in Curriculum, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Zainab AlMeraj

Zainab AlMeraj is an Associate Professor at Kuwait University, a certified usability and accessibility professional, researcher, and tech community lead working on building knowledge and skills for a more inclusive world. Much of her research and work involves gathering data in the MENA region to support spreading awareness, knowledge and policy adoption to make tech more usable and accessible for all as well as enhance mindsets. She received her Ph.D from the University of Waterloo, Canada.