Terrill Thompson, Manager, IT Accessibility Team, University of Washington
Sheryl Burgstahler, Director, UW Accessible Technology & DO-IT, UW-IT, University of Washington
Disability Area: Topic Area:
Length of Session (in hours): 1
Format: Lecture
Expertise Level: All Levels
Type of session: General Conference
Summary of Session
In this session we will announce the results of a 2012 research study regarding technology accessibility policies and practices at U.S. higher education institutions. We will also discuss the implications of these results for effecting change in higher education.
Abstract
In 2012 researchers at the University of Washington began work on a formal research project to acquire a better understanding of the types of strategies that higher education institutions are employing to improve their web and information technology accessibility. They developed a method for searching college and university websites for technology accessibility-related content and quantifying their findings, and they applied this method to a large sample of U.S. institutions across all Carnegie Classifications. The results of this study will provide practitioners with a better understanding of the current state of accessibility efforts nationwide, and will help to reveal creative strategies and promising practices that higher education institutions can adopt for use on their own campuses.
Kepoints
Participants will learn about the current state of accessibility efforts in U.S. higher education institutions.
Participants will learn several strategies for addressing web and technology accessibility in higher education.
Participants will learn several common characteristics of web and technology accessibility policies.
Speaker Bio(s)
Terrill Thompson
Terrill Thompson is technology accessibility specialist at the University of Washington, where his work is supported in part by AccessComputing, a project funded by the National Science Foundation to increase the participation of people with disabilities.
Sheryl Burgstahler
Sheryl Burgstahler is Director of UW Accessible Technology, and founded and directs the DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center, which promotes the success of individuals with disabilities in postsecondary education and careers, using technology as an empowering tool.