Janet Sedgley, EITA Coordinator / ATS Manager, University of Montana
Cyndi Rowland, Director, WebAIM, WebAIM / Utah State University
Disability Area: Topic Area:
Length of Session (in hours): 1-hr
Format: Lecture
Expertise Level: All Levels
Type of session: Not provided
Summary of Session
The presenters in this session will address the question of fostering campus adoption of accessibility agendas with specific suggestions for motivational approaches. We will divide suggestions into general job categories: faculty, staff, technical staff, and administrators; and engender a lively discussion.
Abstract
The presenters in this session will address the issue of campus adoption of accessibility agendas. As DOJ or DOE settlements are announced, many higher education institutions are proactively working to improve electronic and information technology accessibility. Normally the discussions and processes focus on standards, policies and training. However, if community members don’t “buy-in” progress toward accessibility goals can be very slow.
Campuses have multiple subcultures, with members who will react differently to motivational techniques. Even within groups several motivational approaches are needed.
The presenters have over 20 years of experience championing campus technology change along with experience supporting accessibility on campus and through WebAIM. They will present multiple motivational ideas for each of the various campus constituencies developed from this experience and from the results of a 2015 survey of higher education campus accessibility leaders.
Keypoints
How to understand campus culture and dovetail accessibility goals with campus climate.
How to understand the various campus constituencies’ hesitations and struggles with EIT adoption.
How to evaluate which approaches will work best with various campus constituencies.
Speaker Bio(s)
Janet Sedgley
Dr. Sedgley is the Electronic and Information Technology Coordinator at the University of Montana and Manager of Accessible Technology Services within IT. ATS provides captioning, software testing, document conversion, training and consulting to campus. She has spent 31 years in higher education, 28 of them in IT including time spent coordinating technical training for campus, managing the central Help Desk and serving on the web team. For 15 years she also served as the Assistive Technology support on campus for Disability Services. Janet has taught face-to-face and online courses at the University of Montana and Missoula College (a 2-year institution) for a total of 11 years. Her research focuses on self-regulated learning and how accessible education improves access for everyone.
Cyndi Rowland
Dr. Rowland is the associate director at the Center for Persons with Disabilities. She currently directs projects that focus on the development and use of accessible technologies. WebAIM is one such program. Dr. Rowland began WebAIM in 1998 with federal funding and has worked to sustain the excellent contributions of this group over the years. Dr. Rowland is extensively involved in the National Center for Disability and Access to Education where she is the chair of the Technology Institute. Dr. Rowland is considered by many to be an expert in accessibility policy and law. She has worked extensively with education systems in transforming their practices to those that are accessible. Dr. Rowland has presented to over 90 groups on accessibility, and writes on topics of interest (currently the impact of accessible design on individuals with cognitive impairment). Dr. Rowland has taken leadership roles in 25 federal and state contracts and grants.
