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Shift: Building a Movement for Inclusive Digital Learning Across Universities

Scheduled at 2:30 PM in Colorado G-H on Thursday, November 19.

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Speaker(s)

  • Jim Stachowiak, Accessible Technology Strategy and Operations Lead, Northwestern University
  • Emily Baker, Digital Accessibility Specialist, University of Chicago

Session Details

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

Summary

Since 2024, institutions have been working to meet the Title II digital accessibility compliance deadline, now April 2027. Meeting the deadline is one thing, but to ensure sustained improvement, institutions need to shift toward a culture of accessible by design. Northwestern and the University of Chicago have created culture change, and this session will focus on the methods used by each university, their partnership in advancing shared goals, and plans to expand beyond course

Abstract

Changing a culture doesn’t happen overnight, nor is it a solo venture. Historically, in academia, ensuring that educational materials are accessible has been an afterthought or seen as an add-on that leads to extra work. Knowing that accessible materials are necessary for many, beneficial for all, and legally required, Northwestern and the University of Chicago set out to change the culture around digital accessibility at their respective institutions to a more proactive approach that’s integrated into workflows…and it’s working!

This session will explore both universities’ journey toward creating a more accessible digital environment. Discussion will focus on each university’s unique, flexible, agile, data-driven approach that not only created initial success, but quickly adapted to amplify the success and build a movement that’s put the Chicago area at the forefront of accessible digital learning environment design. The presentation will also discuss the importance of partnerships both within and across institutions, and how to cultivate and sustain them. The lessons learned in creating this culture shift can be applied beyond accessibility and across course development.

Keypoints

  1. Incorporating accessibility into course design workflow avoids lengthy remediation post-production.
  2. Collecting and using the correct data to target behavior is the key kickstarting a change campaign.
  3. Developing critical partnerships within and across departments strengthens change initiatives.

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Accessible Course Design, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Jim Stachowiak

As Director of Assistive Technology and Assistant Director of AccessibleNU, Jim assists students with determining, using, and troubleshooting assistive technology (AT) solutions for reading, writing, computer access, note taking, organization, and other academic needs. He enjoys keeping up to date on the latest AT tools and figuring out how to best implement them in education settings. Jim has also played a key role in Northwestern's digital accessibility initiative, developing the digital accessibility liaisons program and helping develop Northwestern's digital accessibility policy. Prior to Northwestern, Jim was the Associate Director of the Iowa Center for Assistive Technology Education and Research (ICATER) at the University of Iowa where he taught classes on AT and worked to prepare teacher education students to work with AT in their classrooms.

Jim holds a Bachelor's of Science in Engineering degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering and a Master's of Science in Engineering degree in Biomedical Engineering, both from the University of Michigan. He is also a RESNA certified Assistive Technology Professional (ATP).

Emily Baker

Emily joined the CDA in January 2020 after 31 years at the University, 28 in IT Services. She pursued her interest in digital accessibility over time in various roles, including Manager of Computing Clusters and Classrooms, Director of Learning Environments, and Acting Director of IT Communications. In addition to the CPACC, Emily holds ATACP (Assistive Technology Applications Certificate Program) certification from CSUN (California State University, Northridge).