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Web accessibility for large organizations: narrowing the focus

Handouts

Presented at 10:30am in Meadowbrook II on Friday, November 22, 2019.

#29678

Speaker(s)

  • Kathryn Tipton, Program Manager, CSUN

Session Details

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

Summary

Learn how one large public university changed our approach to reporting, improving the accessibility of our web presence while reducing the frustration of our web content producers.

Abstract

Web accessibility can add a daunting list of tasks to staff who already have many other responsibilities. In a large organization, web content may be distributed across many areas, requiring even more coordination and cooperation to maintain accessibility. At CSU, Northridge, we had detailed web accessibility reports but they weren't being used effectively. First, the accessibility team identified the top issues. Each quarter, we ask web content staff to prioritize one issue. We repackaged the reports into a dashboard format, and taught staff how to use the new format. (We also partnered with IT on top system-level issues.) This new approach has emphasized high-impact improvements while better supporting the staff tasked with them. The results surprised us. The first targeted issue did go down - and then crept back up the following quarter. Now we have a cyclical process, returning to specific issues each year.

Keypoints

  1. Used existing reports to identify the top accessibility issues.
  2. Gave staff a quarterly area of focus, emphasizing one issue (or category of issues).
  3. Updated reports to a dashboard format and provided additional support on their use.

Disability Areas

Topic Areas

Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Kathryn Tipton

Kate Tipton is the Program Manager for Accessibility at the Universal Design Center at CSU, Northridge. She has over 15 years of software development and management experience, with a focus on user experience development for web and mobile. She has presented at AHG, the CSUN Assistive Technology conference, and Educause, on a range of topics around accessible technology.

Handout(s)