Accessing Higher Ground

Accessible Media, Web & Technology Conference

November 12-16, 2018, The Westin Westminster, Colorado

In collaboration with AHEAD & ATHEN

 

Overall Schedule

 

Monday, November 12

9 am – 5 pm Registration Desk Open

9 am – Noon AM Coffee Break

10:30 am – 1 pm Preconference Sessions

1 – 2:30 pm Lunch (on your own)

2:30 – 5 pm Preconference Sessions

3:30 – 4 pm PM Coffee break

 

Tuesday, November 13

8 am – 4:30 pm Registration Desk Open

10:30 – 11 am AM Coffee Break

9 am – Noon Preconference Sessions

Noon – 1:30 pm Lunch (on your own)

1:30 – 4:30 pm Preconference Sessions

3 – 3:30 pm PM Coffee Break

 

Wednesday, November 14

7 am – 4:30 pm Registration Desk Open

8 – 9 am Breakout Sessions

9 am – 6:30 pm Exhibit Hall Open

9:15 – 10:15 am Breakout Sessions

10:15 – 11:15 am Exhibit Hall Refreshment Break

11:15 am – 12:15 pm Breakout Sessions

12:20 - 2 pm Lunch (on your own)

2:15 – 3:15 pm Breakout Sessions

3 – 3:30 pm PM refreshment break

3:30 – 4:30 pm Breakout Sessions

4:30 – 6:30 pm Exhibit Hall Reception

6:30 – 8:30 pm ATHEN Annual Meeting

 

Thursday, November 15

7 am – 5 pm Registration Desk Open

9 am – 5 pm Exhibit Hall Open

8 – 9 am Breakout Sessions

9:15 – 10:15 am Breakout Sessions

10:15 – 11:15 am Roundtable Discussions

11:15 am – 12:15 pm Exhibit Hall Refreshment Break

12:20 – 2 pm Lunch (on your own)

2:15 – 3:15 pm Breakout Sessions

3:15 – 4 pm Exhibit Hall Refreshment Break

4 – 5 pm Breakout Sessions

7 – 8:30 pm Keynote Banquet featuring Britney Wilson

 

Friday, November 16

7:30 am – 1 pm Registration Desk Open

8 – 9 am Breakout Sessions

9:15 – 10:15 am Breakout Sessions

10:15 – 10:30 am Refreshment Break

10:30 – 11:30 am Breakout Sessions

11:45 am – 12:45 pm Breakout Sessions

 

Feedback

Find conference evaluation forms at accessinghigherground.org/evaluate

 

Social Media

#AHG18

 

Table of Contents

Special Sessions, Receptions, & Meetings

Preconference Sessions

Monday

Tuesday

Breakout Sessions

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Exhibitor Presentation Schedule

Exhibit Hall Map

Exhibitor Directory

 

Advertising Index

3Play Media

Accessibility Oz

Equidox by Onix

Microsoft

Perkins School for the Blind

Sonocent

Adobe

QA Info Tech

Ai Media

Enhanced Vision, Freedom Scientific, Optelec, The Paciello Group

Accessibility Oz

Blackboard

Texthelp  

 

The inclusion of third party advertisements, samples, displays, sponsorships and/or exhibits does not constitute an endorsement, guarantee, warranty, or recommendation by AHEAD and we make no representations or warranties about any product or service contained therein.

 

Special Sessions Receptions, & Meetings

 

Teaching About Accessibility Institute (registration required)

Tuesday, November 13, 9 am - 4:30 pm

Cotton Creek I

AccessComputing, in collaboration with Accessing Higher Ground and Promoting the Integration of Universal Design into University Curricula (UDUC), will host Teaching about Accessibility in Computing and IT Courses: A Capacity-building Institute to provide techniques and strategies for teaching about accessibility in Computer Science and IT curriculum. The Institute can be attended in person or virtually.

 

Accessibili-IT Reception

Tuesday, November 13, 4:30 - 6:30 pm

Westminster Ballroom Foyer

Please join Adam Spencer from Accessibil-IT Inc. for a kick-off event at AHG 2018 to discuss document accessibility and share some complimentary cocktails. All welcome and looking forward to meeting with old friends and new colleagues.

 

Creating and Strengthening Our Connections to Our Purposes and Each Other Through Poetry

Wednesday - Friday, 7:15 - 7:45 am

Library (between fireplace and Kachina Grill)

A special early morning series presented by Scott Marshall, Associate Director for Instructional Technology and Accessibility, University of Minnesota. If our work is to be beyond compliance and sustainable, we need to be intentional about the connections we create. Our connections to our purposes for this work and our connections to each other are critical. Using poetry, we will gather to create and strengthen those connections.

 

EPUB and Accessible Educational Materials Track

In this main conference track, offered Wednesday – Friday, representatives from the publishing industry, early adopters from DSS offices and representatives from the Standards community will talk about how educational materials has been transformed and accessibility improved by the advent of the EPUB standard and the development of EPUB educational materials. The benefits offered and the challenges still faced by those seeking to adopt EPUB will be discussed with input and questions encouraged from the AHG audience. These sessions are labeled “EPUB Track” in the schedule.

 

UDUC Mini-Conference on Teaching Accessibility and UD

This series of sessions, offered throughout the main conference (Wednesday - Friday), will focus on topics related to the teaching and application of accessibility and Universal Design in university curriculum. These sessions are labeled “UDUC Track” in the schedule.

 

Exhibitor Reception

Wednesday, November 14, 4:30 - 6:30 pm

Westminster Ballroom Foyer

Join us in the Exhibit Hall for hors d’oeuvres & refreshments (Cash Bar)

 

ATHEN Meeting

Wednesday, November 14, 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Westminster Ballroom IV

Stop by the ATHEN Annual Meeting (WB IV) to learn about the Access Technology Higher Education Network and its resources.

 

Keynote Presentation & Dinner

Thursday, November 15, 7 - 8:30 pm

Westminster Ballroom I/II/III

“...and People With Disabilities”

Britney Wilson, Staff Attorney/Dodyk Fellow at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice

Ms. Wilson will discuss how disability intersects with race, gender, and several of the political issues of the day as well as the need for social justice advocates to recognize and fully incorporate disability and disability rights into their work.

 

Monday, November 12

9 am - 5 pm Registration Open, Fountain Greens Foyer

9 am - Noon AM Coffee Break, Standley Foyer

10:30 am - 5 pm Preconference Sessions

1 - 2:30 pm Lunch (on your own)

3:30 - 4 pm PM Coffee Break, Standley Foyer

Complete session details can be found at accessinghigherground.org

 

Monday, November 12, One-Day Preconference Sessions, 10:30 am - 5 pm

 

Knowbility’s Accessibility Master Class

Eric Eggert, Knowbility

Robert Jolly, Knowbility

Becky Gibson, Knowbility

The big picture overview for any stage of implementing an accessibility program across an organization. Starting with the institutional evaluation and providing tools and methodology for each stage, our team will take you through what you need to put in place a process to ensure that you reach and maintain your accessibility goals.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Accessible Adobe InDesign Layouts to Produce Accessible PDFs and EPUBs (Virtual)

Bevi Chagnon, PubCom—Publishing Communications

Hands-on workshop that teaches how to construct INDD files that export “graciously” to accessible PDFs with minimal remediation afterwards. We expect new InDesign features in the fall, so this workshop will incorporate them into a doable design workflow.

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Hands-On Video Accessibility Workshop (with Able Player)

Terrill Thompson, University of Washington

In this hands-on workshop, participants will develop a complete understanding of how to make video fully accessible. They will add captions, audio description, chapters, and interactive features to a video using Able Player.

Standley II Lab

 

Learning, Practicing, and Honing Our Leadership to Shape Our Work and Our Field

Scott Marshall, University of Minnesota

Leaders are made, not born. The future of our field is worthy of our best efforts to practice our leadership. We can shape our field in powerful ways: Do we see problems or possibilities? Want compliance or commitment? Rely on leadership or citizenship? We seek answers by first looking inward at ourselves, then outward toward our communities.

Cotton Creek I

 

Monday, November 12, Two-Day Preconference Sessions, 10:30 am - 5 pm

 

Growing an IT Accessibility Program on Your Campus

Dawn Hunziker, University of Arizona

Rob Eveleigh, Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges

Nate Evans, Michigan State University

This dynamic, interactive workshop is presented by ATHEN members. It includes foundational legal information, an analysis of federal agreements, and best practice approaches towards the goal of working through institutional challenges to create a strategic, and comprehensive approach for creating an accessible EIT environment.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

PDF Train-the-Trainer and Introduction to PDF Accessibility (BYOD Workshop)

Rob Haverty, Adobe

In this session you can learn about creating accessible PDFs & how to teach others. Day 1 - introduction to PDF accessibility. Day 2 - advanced topics and accessible PDF forms. This is a hands-on lab. You can attend 1 or both days. Attendance at both days is required to be certified as an “Adobe Certified PDF Trainer.”

Westminster Ballroom III

 

360 Degrees – Approaching Accessibility in Chemistry & Math from All Sides (BYOD Session)

Wink Harner, The Foreign Type

Susan Kelmer, University of Colorado Boulder

Multiple presenters who are experts in alt-text conversion in STEM subjects, teach key steps to convert text in chemistry and math for both sighted (text-to-speech) users and non-sighted or LV users (screen reader) and Braille/tactile users. Using a broad base of specific assistive technologies for chemistry & math conversion.

Cotton Creek II

 

Tuesday, November 13

8 am – 4:30 pm Registration Desk Open, Fountain Greens Foyer

9 – 10:30 am AM Coffee Break, Standley Foyer

9 am – Noon Preconference Sessions

Noon – 1:30 pm Lunch (on your own)

1:30 – 4:30 pm Preconference Sessions

3 – 3:30 pm PM Coffee Break, Standley Foyer

Complete session details can be found at accessinghigherground.org

 

Tuesday, November 13, Full-Day Preconference Sessions, 9 am - 4:30 pm

 

Everything You Need to Know About Accessibility Testing (BYOD)

Gian Wild, AccessibilityOz

The Accessibility Testing workshop will cover a whole range of testing requirements: starting with an overview of testing – who, when, what and how.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Growing an IT Accessibility Program on Your Campus, Day 2

Dawn Hunziker, University of Arizona

Rob Eveleigh, Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges

Nate Evans, Michigan State University

This dynamic, interactive workshop is presented by ATHEN members. It includes foundational legal information, an analysis of federal agreements, and best practice approaches towards the goal of working through institutional challenges to create a strategic, and comprehensive approach for creating an accessible EIT environment.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

PDF Train-the-Trainer and Introduction to PDF Accessibility, Day 2 (BYOD Workshop)

Rob Haverty, Accessibility, Adobe

In this session you can learn about creating accessible PDFs & how to teach others. Day 1 - introduction to PDF accessibility. Day 2 - advanced topics and accessible PDF forms. This is a hands-on lab. You can attend 1 or both days. Attendance at both days is required to be certified as an “Adobe Certified PDF Trainer.”

Westminster Ballroom III

 

Introduction to Online Course Accessibility

Joseph Feria-Galicia, University of California, Berkeley

Lucy Greco, University of California, Berkeley

Ryan DiGiondomenico, University of California, Berkeley

This workshop provides an introduction to online course accessibility. Reasons for building and maintaining accessible courses are contextualized, explained and demonstrated from both a student and an institutional perspective. Emphasis is given to the use and evaluation of features within a Learning Management System (LMS).

Standley II Lab

 

360 Degrees – Approaching Accessibility in Chemistry & Math from All Sides, Day 2 (BYOD Workshop)

Wink Harner, The Foreign Type

Susan Kelmer, University of Colorado Boulder

Multiple presenters who are experts in alt-text conversion in STEM subjects, teach key steps to convert text in chemistry and math for both sighted (text-to-speech) users and non-sighted or LV users (screen reader) and Braille/tactile users. Using a broad base of specific assistive technologies for chemistry & math conversion.

Cotton Creek II

 

Teaching About Accessibility in Computing and IT Courses: A Capacity-Building Institute

Sheryl Burgstahler, University of Washington

Terrill Thompson, University of Washington

Richard Ladner, University of Washington

Howard Kramer, AHEAD, University of Colorado Boulder

Naomi Peterson, Central Washington University

Learn how accessible/inclusive/universal design and other proactive design practices can be integrated within computing and IT courses and thus increase the pool of future computing and IT professionals

Cotton Creek I

 

Tuesday November 13, Half-Day Preconference AM Sessions, 9 am - Noon

 

Understanding and Evaluating WCAG Color and Contrast (Virtual)

Jonathan Whiting, WebAIM

This workshop will begin with a thorough review of WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 requirements, and important principles not included in WCAG. We will then practice evaluating electronic documents and webpages for contrast using several free tools and resources.

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Demystifying Assisted Listening Devices

Dave Litman, National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC)

Stephanie Zito, National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC)

Assistive Listening Devices(ALDs) can improve access to speech perception for deaf students who use hearing aids or cochlear implants. This presentation will provide an overview of ALD technology through an interactive demonstration, review best-practices for supporting the use of ALDs on campus, and discuss ways to support student self-advocacy.

Meadowbrook I

 

Campus Accessibility Compliance Strategies Utilizing a Maturity Model (BYOD Workshop)

Susan Cullen, California State University

Cheryl Pruitt, California State University

Perspectives on the Capability Maturity Model driving the California State University Accessible Technology Initiative implementation. The Capability Maturity Model closely aligns with the resolution agreements of the Office of Civil Rights. Explore assessment techniques which can be applied to strategic accessibility compliance campus planning.

Meadowbrook II

 

Tuesday November 13, Half-Day Preconference PM Sessions, 1:30 - 4:30 pm

 

Mobile Accessibility Challenges, Best Practices, and Techniques (BYOD Workshop)

Joe Humbert, Interactive Accessibility

Kathy Wahlbin, Interactive Accessibility

Mobile devices have significantly changed the way that people access content and services, and this opens new opportunities for persons with disabilities. This hands-on session will cover all the basics of mobile accessibility and will cover what is new for mobile accessibility in 2018 including WCAG 2.1.

Westminster Ballroom IV

 

Accessible PDF Forms from Adobe InDesign

Bevi Chagnon, PubCom—Publishing Communications

Learn to make accessible forms with Adobe InDesign’s excellent tools. If you know the basics of making accessible layouts from InDesign, this hands-on lab expands your skills for making accessible well-designed PDF forms quickly and efficiently. InDesign is a powerful tool for creating forms that need little—if any—remediation in Acrobat.

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Captioned Media: Developing a Systematic Approach that Meets the Needs of Your Institution (Virtual)

Stephanie Zito, National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC)

Dave Litman, National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC)

The National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes’ mission is to reduce barriers to postsecondary education and support institutions in creating accessible environments. During this workshop, presenters will provide an overview of captioned media models as well as strategies to streamline the process.

Meadowbrook I

 

Understanding EPUB: How to Examine the Structure and Accessibility of EPUBs (BYOD Workshop)

Rachel Comerford, Macmillan Learning

Amy Salmon, Tech for All, Inc.

Accessible EPUBs are becoming easier to find and purchase from any number of channels but in the educational world, many are far more comfortable with PDF. This workshop will take an accessible EPUB checklist and walk users through a live EPUB step by step, examining the features and resources that are available within the format.

Meadowbrook II

 

Wednesday, November 14

7 am – 4:30 pm Registration Desk Open, Fountain Greens Foyer

8 – 9 am Breakout Sessions

9 am – 6:30 pm Exhibit Hall Open, Westminster Ballroom Foyer

9:15 – 10:15 am Breakout Sessions

10:15 – 11:15 am Exhibit Hall Refreshment Break

11:15 am – 12:15 pm Breakout Sessions

12:20 - 2 pm Lunch (on your own)

2:15 – 3:15 pm Breakout Sessions

3:30 – 4:30 pm Breakout Sessions

4:30 – 6:30 pm Exhibit Hall Reception, Fountain Greens Foyer

6:30 – 8:30 pm ATHEN Annual Meeting, Westminster Ballroom IV

Complete session details can be found at accessinghigherground.org

 

Wednesday, November 14, Breakout Sessions, 8 - 9 am

 

AIMHub: Cost Effective, Rapid, Accessible, Instructional Materials Exchange

Jack Sullivan, California State University

Cheryl Pruitt, Accessible Technology Initiative, CSU Office of the Chancellor

Gaeir Dietrich, Access Consultant

Launched in August 2017, AIMHub is an accessible instructional Launched in August 2017, AIMHub is an accessible instructional materials exchange service that assists accessible instructional material staff, by eliminating redundant efforts and integrating the best aspects of existing systems. We will demonstrate how AIMHub can help your campus and discuss how campuses nationwide can subscribe.

Waverly

 

Not So Fast: Implementing Accessibility Reviews in a University’s IT Software Review Process (Virtual A)

Crystal Tenan, North Carolina State University

Bill Coker, Software Licensing Manager, NC State University

In this presentation, we will provide an overview of NC State’s IT Purchase Compliance process and focus on the accessibility review process. We will discuss the process of implementation, important considerations for working with the campus community and vendors, and the impact of the IT Purchase Compliance process on campus.

Meadowbrook I/II

 

Navigating the Course: Creating Accessible STEM (Virtual B)

Megan Gibbs, Kennesaw State University

Kennesaw State University recently developed a STEM-specific online guide for faculty to refer to when creating accessible STEM materials. This session will discuss the research conducted to create this guide, the implementation process, and our future plans to turn this into a professional development workshop.

Cotton Creek I

 

A New Automated Notetaking, Captioning, and Transcription Solution

Chris Frazier, VZP Digital

A demonstration of VZP REACH, a multi-Voice Recognition API solution that maximizes speed, accuracy and accessibility to any classroom setting. After the demo, there will be a discussion of two different ways to use it, a traditional model and a new solution to include an entire campus that will increase accessibility and effectiveness of learning.

Cotton Creek II

 

Introduction to Accessible PDF Documents

Rob Haverty, Adobe

Making PDF documents & forms accessible can be a daunting task when you don’t know what tools are available & which is the best one to use. In this session, participants will be introduced to the various tools available in Acrobat Pro DC & walk through the workflow to take a document, convert it to a PDF, & fix some of the basic tagging issues. (Double Session)

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Audio Description: An In-Depth Review and Analysis (Lecture Session)

Joel Snyder, Audio Description Project – American Council of the Blind

A workshop on “The Four Fundamentals of Audio Description” and an in-depth look at audio description development and analysis.

Standley II Lab

Finding the Ways to Make Wayfinding Work

Kaela Parks, Portland Community College

Michael Cantino, Portland Community College

Online maps, tactile maps, written directions, beacons, and 3D campus models are all approaches used at Portland Community college. In this session we will share what we have learned in the process of making our campus map and path of travel information more accessible and usable for those with different needs and preferences.

Windsor

Accessibility – How to Deal with Documents!

Sachin Gupta, Deque

You have handled accessibility for your website and mobile apps. What about the documents that you post on the website, and distribute digitally to the consumers? In this session, we will cover various considerations for document accessibility for multiple document types.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Making Websites Usable, Not Just Accessible (Videotaped)

Karen Hawkins, Publicis.Sapient

Almost anyone today can make a website accessible. But that doesn’t mean that people using assistive technologies can USE them! I aim to change that. As a user experience professional, I will walk the audience through more accessible AND usable implementations of common web components and flows.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

DIY IT Accessibility: Building the Foundation for Accessible Course Content at the University of Maryland (Videotaped) (UDUC Track)

Sue Johnston, University of Maryland

UMD’s commitment to creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive educational environment for people of all abilities means that creators of web-based information must have the skills and abilities necessary to ensure it is accessible to all students. Learn how UMD is helping faculty become accessibility DIY’ers with their own course content.

Westminster Ballroom III

 

It is All About the Student; Selecting the Right Reading App for Student Success (EPUB Track)

Richard Orme, DAISY Consortium

Joseph Polizzotto, Alternate Media Supervisor

An app or browser extension is needed to read EPUB titles, but they vary a lot in their functionality. When it comes to learners with disabilities, which apps will enable them to excel at their studies? This session presents an initiative that aims to answer that question.

Westminster Ballroom IV

 

Educating College-Level Students on Assistive Technology

James Fleming, Beacon College

There is an increasing need for understanding and incorporating assistive technology in education and in the workplace. Recognizing this need, a college level course was designed (Introduction to Assistive Technology) to help students learn the practice of and incorporating assistive technology. The outcomes of the course also help to develop an interest in the field as well as improving their personal needs.

Lakehouse

 

Exhibitor Presentations (South Courtyard Foyer)

9 - 9:30 am CommonLook–Using CommonLook PDF GlobalAccess to Remediate and Verify PDF Documents for Accessibility

9:40 - 10:10 am Crawford Technologies–Using Smartphones and Barcodes to Make Documents Accessible

 

Wednesday, November 14, Breakout Sessions, 9:15 - 10:15 am

 

Video Notes: A Mobile Device Strategy for Learning for Postsecondary Deaf Students

Suzanne Ehrlich, University of North Florida

This presentation explores how video notes can be leveraged to support Deaf students learning experiences in higher education. Students’ study practices are essential to their academic success (Mega, Ronconi, & DeBeni, 2014). This new approach to note taking for deaf students using video capture of interpreted lessons in face-to-face classroom.

Waverly

 

Math Accessibility in Word, Canvas, Conversion and More! (Virtual A)

Paul Brown, Texthelp

Rachel Kruzel, Augsburg University

This session will overview Texthelp’s exciting math accessibility program, EquatIO. Learn how students and professors easily insert math into Word, Canvas, and more as well as make STEM textbook conversion a much easier process. Augsburg’s Rachel Kruzel will provide an inside look into how EquatIO is making math accessible across her campus.

Meadowbrook I/II

 

Understanding WCAG 2.1 (Virtual B)

Becky Gibson, Knowbility

The recently updated Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) improve web accessibility for a wider range of users. Learn how the 17 new success criteria in WCAG 2.1 address mobile accessibility and increase access for people with low vision and cognitive impairments.

Cotton Creek I

 

Thinking Outside the Dots

John Jones, Wichita State University

Wichita State has been working to support a pre-med student who is blind for the last few years. Over the course of that time, we have gotten better and faster at producing materials to support this student’s learning. We will discuss lessons learned and the challenges we faced.

Cotton Creek II

 

Introduction to Accessible PDF Documents (Continued)

Rob Haverty, Adobe

Making PDF documents & forms accessible can be a daunting task when you don’t know what tools are available & which is the best one to use. In this session, participants will be introduced to the various tools available in Acrobat Pro DC & walk through the workflow to take a document, convert it to a PDF, & fix some of the basic tagging issues.

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

Accessible Educational Materials All the Way Through Postsecondary

Sam Johnston, CAST Inc.

Cynthia Curry, CAST Inc.

Increases in digital materials has helped students who struggle with print-based materials. However, digital materials and technologies are not always designed to be accessible from the start. We will address how higher education institutions can better meet their legal obligation to provide students with accessible educational materials.

Standley II Lab

 

How do You Know it’s Working? Assessing Access-Focused Professional Learning on Campus

Jordan Cameron, Kennesaw State University

This presentation showcases Kennesaw State University’s online Access4All Accessibility Basics series for faculty and staff and discusses how creators and facilitators employ Guskey’s Five Critical Levels of Professional Development to assess the impact of the initiative on learning throughout the university.

Windsor

 

UDL Jedi Training: Move Learners and Leaders with Only Your Mind (UDUC Track)

Thomas Tobin, University of Wisconsin-Madison

This interactive presentation radically reflects on implementing the UDL framework to provide better learning access, expand time for study and practice, and save faculty members time and effort, by broadening our disability focus toward a mobile-device mindset. Learn use-them-tomorrow strategies—without changing what or how we teach.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Making Websites Usable, Not Just Accessible (Continued) (Videotaped)

Karen Hawkins, Publicis.Sapient

Almost anyone today can make a website accessible. But that doesn’t mean that people using assistive technologies can USE them! I aim to change that. As a user experience professional, I will walk the audience through more accessible AND usable implementations of common web components and flows.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

IT Procurement: Accessibility as a Functional Criterion (Videotaped)

Hadi Rangin, University of Washington

At the University of Washington, Accessibility is increasingly becoming a functional criterion for locally developed and third-party IT solutions. In this session we will share with you how we consider accessibility in our locally developed and third-party procurement processes.

Westminster Ballroom III

 

Mathematics in Born Accessible Publications

George Kerscher, DAISY Consortium/Benetech

Digital Educational publications with mathematics must be visually correct, and they must be accessible to persons with disabilities. We will look at the techniques that deliver born accessible publications in HTML and EPUB 3. We will demonstrate techniques with AT and explain how publishers are implementing the recommendations.

Westminster Ballroom IV

 

Open and Accessible: Low Cost and Inclusive by Design

Kaela Parks, Portland Community College

Rondi Schei, Portland Community College

Lakehouse

Open education can lower textbook costs for students, but the movement also allows accessibility personnel to partner with instructional faculty, and librarians to foster inclusive course design. Open licensing allows users to Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute, which can allow accessibility related features to improve over time.

 

Exhibit Hall Break, 10:15 am - 11:15 pm

Westminster Ballroom Foyer

 

Exhibitor Presentations (South Courtyard Foyer)

11:15 - 11:45 am Sonocent–AT or a Tool for UDL? How All Students Improve Note Taking with Sonocent Audio Notetaker

 

Wednesday, November 14, Breakout Sessions, 11:15 am - 12:15 pm

 

Navigating the Venn Diagram of Video Accessibility Laws

Elisa Edelberg, 3PlayMedia

With multiple accessibility laws in the US, as well as dozens of lawsuits and DOJ/OCR inquiries related to inaccessible IT, it can extremely difficult to navigate the legal requirements for video accessibility at your organization. This session will create a Venn diagram of video a11y laws to help you navigate your obligations.

Waverly

 

“We Don’t Have Enough Staff Assigned to Making It Accessible!” (Virtual A)

Sheryl Burgstahler, University of Washington

How often do we hear people say this or feel this way ourselves? In this session the speaker will engage with attendees on promising practices for making the most of limited resources toward a more accessible IT environment on campus.

Meadowbrook I/II

 

State of ARIA 2018 (Virtual B)

Joe Humbert, Interactive Accessibility

This session will discuss compatibility testing done a number of ARIA states & properties and their current level of support with Assistive Technology software across operating systems and devices as well as look ahead at the changes coming in the next version of ARIA.

Cotton Creek I

The Power of Partnerships: Institutional Alliances to Transform Accessibility for a Small Liberal Arts College

Corrine Schoeb, Swarthmore College

Using a multi-pronged intradepartmental model, Swarthmore college is moving toward a paradigm of proactive inclusion of accessibility and away from a reactive model of accommodation. [additional sentence forthcoming]

Cotton Creek II

 

How to CADET: Free Caption and Audio Description Authoring Software from WGBH’s NCAM (Lecture Session)

Bryan Gould, WGBH/NCAM

WGBH’s NCAM has released CADET (Caption and Description Editing Tool) - free, downloadable software that enables anyone to easily produce high-quality caption files and audio description scripts that are compatible with any media player on any web browser. In addition, new resources from the DIAGRAM Center for accessible digital images.

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Campuses Take Proactive Measures on Accessibility Certification, Testing, and Procurement

Christopher Lee, G3ict

Faced with legal repercussions colleges are beginning to take proactive measures in certifying accessibility professionals, testing products and services, and establishing procurement policies and procedures. This session will explore how campuses are taking proactive measures through launching creative initiatives to improve equal access for students, staff and campus visitors.

Windsor

 

Accessibility Education: A New Certificate and Undergraduate Minor in Accessibility Studies (UDUC Track)

Naomi Petersen, Central Washington University

Find out about a new undergraduate minor and professional development certificate in Accessibility Studies: The online curriculum and the very real influence it has to increase awareness and acceptance as well as advocacy skills--not just for its students but the faculty who had to approve it in order for it to get into the catalog!

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Identifying Challenges to EPUB Adoption (Videotaped)

Christian Vinten-Johansen, Penn State University

Philip Voorhees, University of Nevada Las Vegas

Jamie Axelrod, Northern Arizona University

Instructional materials and ebooks in the EPUB format have been slow to be adopted by students, institutions and consumers. What might be the real and perceived barriers to acceptance? The panel will facilitate a discussion with attendees to discover the possible reasons.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

All Numbers and Notes: Creating Accessible Math and Music Materials for Students Who Are Blind (Videotaped)

Michele Bromley, Portland State University

This presentation will break down the logistics for developing an alternative formats program around STEM and music materials. Attendees will learn how to (1) generate a basic alternative formats process, (2) administer alternative formats needs assessments, and (3) develop comprehensive procedures for addressing inaccessible math and music.

Westminster Ballroom III

 

Designing Accessibility: Building it in Versus Bolting It On

Gary Aussant, Perkins School for the Blind

Incorporating accessibility best practices during the design of a digital experience (building it in) is much more cost effective than waiting until coding and development begins (bolting it on). This presentation will discuss an approach for reviewing designs for common accessibility pitfalls and documenting requirements in design artifacts.

Westminster Ballroom IV

 

How to Design and Create Accessible Documents and Contribute to Barrier-Free Education

Lars Ballieu Christensen, Sensus Aps

Tanja Stevns, Sensus Aps

This presentation will present how to design and create accessible documents and explain why this is important if we want to aid the process of providing barrier-free education for all. In addition, accessible documents can be re-purposed! Both presenters have a vast experience in the field of accessibility and will share their tips, tricks and resources.

Lakehouse

 

Exhibitor Presentations (South Courtyard Foyer)

2:30 - 2:55 pm IAAP/G3ict–IIAP’s Higher Education Community of Practice

3:05 - 3:30 pm 3Play Media–Quick Start to Accessible Video

 

Wednesday, November 14, Breakout Sessions, 2:15 - 3:15 pm

 

Which Piece of the Puzzle are You Missing? Unwebbing the Possibilities

Kara Zirkle, Essential Accessibility

This presentation will discuss workflow ideas to help businesses and organizations, including higher ed. institutions incorporate accessibility into various different areas such as Policy/Procedure, Testing, Procurement and Equal Access/Assistive Technology. We’ll also discuss how each area compliments one another and ultimately fit into the larger picture of enterprise accessibility planning.

Waverly

 

Creating Inclusive Learning Environments with Microsoft Accessibility

Anita Mortaloni, Microsoft

Manju Banerjee, Landmark College

Meet Microsoft Accessibility experts, joined by Landmark College, to learn how Microsoft products can help create an inclusive learning environment meeting the needs of all learners. Landmark College, which exclusively serves students who learn differently, shares how they develop confident, independent students at scale through Microsoft products.

Meadowbrook I/II

 

Practical Approaches for Involving People with Disabilities in Digital Product Design and Evaluation (Virtual B)

David Sloan, The Paciello Group

Find out effective ways for successfully involving people with disabilities in digital product design and evaluation activities, from activity design to recruitment to generating high-impact results.

Cotton Creek I

 

Build Your Own Content Remediation Model

Krista Greear, Blackboard

Developing a game plan for content remediation is like “build-your-own-adventure”. Let us do exactly that! Participants interested in developing a content remediation model unique to their campus will be led through different components and situations to empower their campus-wide content remediation efforts. (Double Session)

Cotton Creek II

 

Evaluating and Repairing Word & PowerPoint Files (Virtual A)

Jonathan Whiting, WebAIM

In this hands-on workshop, learn to evaluate and repair common accessibility issues in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. (Double Session)

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Tips and Tricks for Accessible PDFs

Rob Haverty, Adobe

At Adobe we are working to improve the experience of creating accessible PDFs. However, it remains a sometimes-challenging process. In my time at Adobe & working with our customers I have garnered a lot of information about making PDFs accessible. The goal of this session is to share some of the ways I’ve learned to make the process easier for you. (Double Session)

Standley II Lab

 

The Path to Digital Document Accessibility

Ryan Pugh, Onix

What’s the first step in developing a digital document accessibility program that works for your organization and your users? Learn what decisions you need to make and how to implement those choices to ensure widespread digital document accessibility now and into the future.

Windsor

 

What the Heck is All this EPUB Hubbub About? (EPUB Track)

George Kerscher, DAISY Consortium/Benetech

Becky Gibson, Knowbility

This presentation will provide an overview of what educational publishers are providing by using the EPUB 3 format. The standards, the accessibility conformance requirements, and reporting will be covered. You will learn about the accessibility of EPUBs before it is purchased, and the accessibility of Reading Apps.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Building a Campus-Wide Universal Design Framework from the Ground Up (Videotaped) (UDUC Track)

Sheryl Burgstahler, University of Washington

UD has emerged as framework for addressing diversity issues in the design of software, instruction, and student services. Engage with speaker and other participants about how promoting the UD paradigm to all aspects of campus life can influence the expectation that IT procured, developed, and used on campus will be accessible too.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

The California State University Accessible Procurement Process from Multiple Perspectives (Videotaped)

Dawn Okinaka, California State University, Office of the Chancellor

Leon McNaught, California State University, San Bernardino

Christine Fundell, California State University, San Bernardino

Lin Mahoney, McGraw-Hill Education

Lauren Trimble, ITHAKA

Tiffany Saulter, ITHAKA

Mary Finer, ITHAKA

Participants will gain an overview of the California State University (CSU) accessibility review process from the CSU and vendor perspectives. Learning outcomes include basic components of a Critical Accessibility Review, strategies for working with vendors to obtain meaningful accessibility documentation, and changes from the vendor prospective. (Double Session)

Westminster Ballroom III

 

Universal Design in Digital Publishing

Deb Castiglione, Cengage

Not just accessibility, but universal design is critical to meet the diverse needs of learners in higher education today. An overview of what Cengage has done and is doing to integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and accessibility into current and future educational experiences will be provided. The specific needs/desires of learners in higher education and those that support them will be discussed.

Westminster IV

 

Zoom: Striving for Functional Accessibility

Hadi Rangin, University of Washington

Ken Ding, Zoom

Web Conferencing Tools are an integral part of higher education systems and are used more and more for webinars, virtual meetings, and team collaborations. Thanks to feedback from the Athen Zoom Accessibility Collaboration Group, Zoom became reasonably accessible to users. In this session, we’ll discuss and demo selected accessibility features.

Lakehouse

 

Exhibitor Presentations (South Courtyard Foyer)

3:40 - 4 pm BeeLine Reader–Mobile Considerations for Text Accessibility

4:10 - 4:30 pm Spellex Corporation–Empowering Through Assistive Technology

 

Wednesday November 14, Breakout Sessions, 3:30 - 4:30 pm

 

The ABC’s of a11y – Creating a Common Vocabulary

William Burgess, Middle Tennessee State University

Is it a heading or a header? Vocabulary is a necessary building block in creating accessible user experiences. Let’s collaborate to be sure we’re all up-to-speed on the terminology of accessibility.

Waverly

 

Why a Less than Perfect VPAT is Okay

Elizabeth Simister, Blackboard Inc.

Helping organizations understand how to evaluate the content in a vendor’s Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) or Accessibility Conformance Report.

Meadowbrook I/II

 

Experiences of Students with Visual Disabilities with Tactile Graphics (Virtual B)

Guy Toles, Georgia Institute of Technology

This session will present the results of nation-wide survey on tactile graphics. Aim of the survey was to investigate experiences of students with visual disabilities with tactile graphics. How tactile graphics can be designed in a way to support students’ learning will be discussed in the light of the results.

Cotton Creek I

 

Build Your Own Content Remediation Model (Continued)

Krista Greear, Blackboard

Developing a game plan for content remediation is like “build-your-own-adventure”. Let us do exactly that! Participants interested in developing a content remediation model unique to their campus will be led through different components and situations to empower their campus-wide content remediation efforts.

Cotton Creek II

 

Evaluating and Repairing Word & PowerPoint Files (Continued) (Virtual A)

Jonathan Whiting, WebAIM

In this hands-on workshop, learn to evaluate and repair common accessibility issues in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Tips and Tricks for Accessible PDFs (Continued)

Rob Haverty, Adobe

At Adobe we are working to improve the experience of creating accessible PDFs. However, it remains a sometimes-challenging process. In my time at Adobe & working with our customers I have garnered a lot of information about making PDFs accessible. The goal of this session is to share some of the ways I’ve learned to make the process easier for you.

Standley II Lab

 

Expanding Access Through University-Wide AT Software Licensing

Carlos Herrera, Queensborough Community College

Shivan Mahabir, Queensborough Community College

Bill Kilroy, VFO Group

Michael Wood, VFO Group

The City University of New York (CUNY) and leading assistive technology (AT) software manufacturers are leveraging the power of a package of AT software tools to increase access and other benefits to all CUNY students, Faculty and staff. One year after entering into this precedent setting agreement, we will discuss the goals and objectives of the pilot.

Windsor

 

There and Back Again on Our Accessibility & UDL Journey (UDUC Track)

Adrian Ricketts, Chattanooga State Community College

This session outlines the journey to attain digital accessibility while utilizing UDL principles in course design at Chattanooga State Community College. The experiences shared will include what our team has learned in four years of combining more accessible user experiences and an updated online course design process.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Website Liability Under U.S. Accessibility Laws (Videotaped)

Ken Nakata, Cyxtera

Do you understand how disability laws affect websites? This presentation reviews the most important accessibility laws for US-based organizations and universities and offer approaches to avoid serious fines and penalties. We will also introduce the roles of enforcement agencies and private litigants—and steps to take to avoid their scrutiny.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

The California State University Accessible Procurement Process from Multiple Perspectives (Continued) (Videotaped)

Dawn Okinaka, California State University, Office of the Chancellor

Leon McNaught, California State University, San Bernardino

Christine Fundell, Lead Accessibility Specialist, CSU San Bernardino

Lin Mahoney, McGraw-Hill Education

Lauren Trimble, ITHAKA

Tiffany Saulter, ITHAKA

Mary Finer, ITHAKA

Participants will gain an overview of the California State University (CSU) accessibility review process from the CSU and vendor perspectives. Learning outcomes include basic components of a Critical Accessibility Review, strategies for working with vendors to obtain meaningful accessibility documentation, and changes from the vendor prospective.

Westminster III

 

From the Professor’s Word Processor to the Student’s Smartphone-Practical Accessible EPUB Using Familiar Tools (EPUB Track)

Richard Orme, DAISY Consortium

In addition to published books and journals, learners also need access to accessible documents produced by their own school and professors. This session will demonstrate practical workflows for creating accessible and flexible course materials.

Westminster IV

 

Fantastic Forms and How to Fix Them

Elizabeth Linnetz, Primacy

Tyrone Mitchell, Primacy

A case study describing the process of transforming complex, inaccessible forms into accessible forms.

Lakehouse

 

Exhibit Hall Reception, 4:30 - 6:30 pm

Westminster Ballroom Foyer

 

ATHEN Annual Meeting, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Westminster Ballroom IV

 

Thursday, November 15

7 am – 5 pm Registration Desk Open, Fountain Greens Foyer

9 am – 5 pm Exhibit Hall Open, Westminster Ballroom Foyer

8 – 9 am Breakout Sessions

9:15 – 10:15 am Breakout Sessions

10:15 – 11:15 am Roundtable Discussions

11:15 am – 12:15 pm Exhibit Hall Refreshment Break

12:20 – 2 pm Lunch (on your own)

2:15 – 3:15 pm Breakout Sessions

3:15 – 4 pm Exhibit Hall Refreshment Break

4 – 5 pm Breakout Sessions

7 – 8:30 pm Keynote Banquet featuring Britney Wilson (Sponsored by Accessibility Oz)

Westminster Ballroom I/II/III

Complete session details can be found at accessinghigherground.org

 

Thursday, November 15, Breakout Sessions, 8 - 9 am

 

EIT Accessibility at Youngstown State University

Thomas Madsen, Youngstown State University

Gina McGranahan, Youngstown State University

The issues with the lack of electronic accessibility on college campuses have been well documented. Efforts are currently underway to correct these deficiencies. In this presentation we will share experiences in making electronic content at Youngstown State University more accessible.

Waverly

 

Powerful Presentation Skills for the Accessibility Professional (Virtual A)

Christa Miller, Virginia Tech

As subject matter experts in disabilities and accessibility, we are often called upon to provide training and professional development to others. However, it is uncommon for us to receive formal training in this area ourselves. Through discussion and small group activities, participants will explore and practice techniques for giving presentations

Meadowbrook I/II

 

Assistive Technology for Campus-Wide Access for those with Visual Challenges

Michael Wood, VFO

In this session we will discuss how colleges and universities are moving towards site licenses of software to provide access to students and faculty anywhere on campus and at home. We will share success stories from other schools currently using this model and discuss the process it took to reach that level.

Cotton Creek I

 

Introduction to Web Accessibility: A Practical Demonstration of the Real-Life Implications for People with Disabilities

Jeffrey Singleton, Cxytera

Ken Nakata, Cxytera

Web accessibility newcomers are often bewildered on where to begin. This session provides a jump start in understanding basic web accessibility principles and the impact on people with disabilities.

Cotton Creek II

 

What’s New in Acrobat (Virtual B)

Rob Haverty, Adobe

Adobe continues to focus on improving the experience in making PDFs accessible & using Acrobat. Each release of Acrobat Pro DC (continuous version) has new or improved functionality to achieve this goal. This session will walk participants though the various updates & how to use the new features & functionality. (Double Session)

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

How to Meet WCAG Requirements with Free WAI Resources

Sharron Rush, Knowbility

Robert Jolly, Knowbility

Step through and learn to use resources from the new WAI website to help you validate, document, and maintain WCAG conformance of your websites and applications. (Double Session)

Standley II Lab

 

Students’ Perspectives: Leveraging Student Workers to Expand Services and Increase Sense of Belonging

Leila Flores-Torres, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Tonya Paulette, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

This presentation focuses on the contribution of student workers to the expansion of accessibility services and to the perception of sense of belonging of students with disabilities. We will explore the experiences and perspectives of university students who provide accessibility services, and those who utilize accessibility services and supports.

Windsor

 

Design Considerations in Delivering Accessibility Training in Online Higher Education (UDUC Track)

Tania Heap, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Marc Thompson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Hadi Rangin, University of Washington

This panel presentation aims to share design strategies, experiences, and challenges in delivering accessibility and universal design training to different audiences in online higher education: from faculty members teaching a broad range of disciplines, to eLearning and media professionals involved in online course development and production.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

What’s New in WCAG 2.1 (Videotaped)

Jonathan Whiting, WebAIM

Published in June 2018, WCAG 2.1 is the first update to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in almost a decade. Learn what’s new in WCAG 2.1, if these changes have any impact on US law, and how to start implementing some of these principles today.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

Disability Services Offices Talk About EPUB – Is it Time to Adopt? (Videotaped) (EPUB Track)

Jamie Axelrod, Northern Arizona University

Dawn Evans, AMAC Accessibility

Korey Singleton, George Mason University

Robert Becker, University of Phoenix

A select panel of DR/DS providers will discuss the benefits and concerns of adopting EPUB materials as a way to ensure accessibility.

Westminster Ballroom III

 

ARIA 1.1: An In-Depth View into the New and Shiny

Suman Damera, Deque Software

Discover some of the most significant new additions to WAI-ARIA 1.1, and how well these properties and values are supported with different assistive technologies.

Westminster IV

 

Transparency in Textbooks – Knowing Ahead of Time What You Will Get

Rick Johnson, VitalSource Technologies, LLC.

Amy Salmon, Tech for All, Inc.

Buyer Beware is not what learners want when looking for accessible materials. Transparency into the accessibility features of a textbook or other learning materials before purchase, or before the selection by an instructor has long been a dream, but no longer! Come learn how VitalSource, and the industry are providing this long wished for ability.

Lakehouse

 

Exhibitor Presentations (South Courtyard Foyer)

9 - 9:25 am Dinolytics–Dynolytics Powered by WAVE

9:35 - 10 am Onix–Equidox by Onix: PDF Remediation in Under a Minute

10:10 - 10:35 am Enhanced Vision/Freedom Scientific/Optelec/Paciello Group– Vispero Accessibility Licensing for the Higher Ed Enterprise

 

Thursday November 15, Breakout Sessions, 9:15 - 10:15 am

 

Tips for Working with Accessibility Consultants

Gary Aussant, Perkins School for the Blind

If you are working with an accessibility consultant (or thinking about it) this presentation will provide some best practices to ensure that the client / consultant partnership is a successful one.

Waverly

 

IT Colleagues: From Accessibility Newbies into Accessibility Auditors (Virtual A)

Kristen Dabney, Tufts University

Tufts Student Accessibility Services office created accessibility testing guidelines designed to help IT professionals complete basic accessibility audits for digital products before they are purchased.

Meadowbrook I/II

 

What is VPAT® 2.0?

Joe Humbert, Interactive Accessibility

Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT®) 2.0 is the current iteration of a method for organizations to document the accessibility of their products and services. This session will discuss how VPAT 2.0 improves upon its original version, how they should be created, and how to use them to vet accessibility conformance claims.

Cotton Creek I

 

Can You See Us? We Can Hear You: Unpacking the Realities of the Blind Experience at CU Boulder

Kevin Darcy, University of Colorado Boulder

Mike Williamson, University of Colorado Boulder

Amelia Dickerson, University of Colorado Boulder

This research seeks to illuminate how objective ADA policies and academic accommodations are experienced by blind students at CU Boulder.

Cotton Creek II

 

What’s New in Acrobat? (Continued) (Virtual B)

Rob Haverty, Adobe

Adobe continues to focus on improving the experience in making PDFs accessible & using Acrobat. Each release of Acrobat Pro DC (continuous version) has new or improved functionality to achieve this goal. This session will walk participants though the various updates & how to use the new features & functionality.

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

How to Meet WCAG Requirements with Free WAI Resources (Continued)

Sharron Rush, Knowbility

Robert Jolly, Knowbility

Step through and learn to use resources from the new WAI website to help you validate, document, and maintain WCAG conformance of your websites and applications.

Standley II Lab

 

The Importance of Semantics (For Designers and Developers)

Gerard Cohen, Wells Fargo

Semantics on the web have to do with the implied meaning and interaction, and they are the backbone of web accessibility. It’s important that both designers and developers are familiar with the semantic meaning of elements. Choosing the right element, and using in the correct way, is just as important to designers as it is developers.

Windsor

 

Stories Behind Universal Design, Accessibility, and Diversity: A Complete Video Curriculum for Faculty (UDUC Track)

Craig Spooner, Colorado State University

Marla Roll, Assistive Technology Resource Center

Allison Kidd, Assistive Technology Resource Center

Anna Walker, Assistive Technology Resource Center

Last year at AHG we showed a pilot video and gathered feedback. Now, the videos are complete. We will show samples of this new video curriculum, which uses storytelling to personalize the concepts of diversity and inclusion to help educate faculty and staff about the benefits of universally designed instructional materials.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Thinking Beyond Described Video with Integrated Described Video (IDV) (Videotaped)

Chris O’Brien, Accessible Media Inc

Integrated Described Video (IDV) is the next generation of described video, bringing a proactive, universal design approach to description.

Westminster II

 

Promoting Document Accessibility Efforts and PDF Remediation Options (Videotaped)

Gaby De Jongh, University of Washington

Ana Thompson, University of Washington Bothell

In early 2017, the University of Washington implemented a document accessibility Pilot Project to explore the complexities, financial burden, and time commitments facing units when implementing Washington State Policy 188: Access to Information Technology. Hear the details of the pilot and how it influenced an initiative across campus.

Westminster III

 

Faculty Collaboration – Building Workable Relationships

Edward Beason, Tennessee Tech University

This session will provide real-world insights to successfully building and navigating relationships with faculty and others on campus.

Westminster Ballroom IV

 

Automated Live Captioning with Higher Ed in Mind

Will Lewis, Microsoft

Brian Trager, NTID

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has the largest access services in the world, providing interpretive and captioning services to the 8% of their student population who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH). Microsoft technologies in PowerPoint and Microsoft Translator have provided additional communication tools to fill the gap.

Lakehouse

 

Roundtables, 10:15 - 11:15 am

Locations announced on site.

 

Exhibitor Presentations (South Courtyard Foyer)

10:45 - 11:15 am sComm–Face-to-Face Communication-Deaf Hard of

Hearing, and hearing

 

Exhibitor Break, 11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Westminster Ballroom Foyer

 

Exhibitor Presentations (South Courtyard Foyer)

2:30 - 3:15 pm Docsoft Inc.–Captioning-It’s Time

 

Thursday November 15, Breakout Sessions, 2:15 - 3 :15 pm

 

Leveraging Library Consortia to Improve Vendor E-Resource Accessibility in the Big Ten Academic Alliance

Heidi Schroeder, Michigan State University

This presentation will describe how libraries in the Big Ten Academic Alliance have used their collective influence and resources to engage with vendors to improve library electronic resource accessibility and to share accessibility information with the broader library community.

Waverly

 

Social Media and Accessibility (Virtual A)

Gian Wild, AccessibilityOz

Gian Wild goes through the accessibility issues of each of the four main social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn) and discusses ways that you can make sure your social media content is accessible.

Meadowbrook I/II

 

Building a Sustainable Document Remediation Plan: Hits and Misses from GMU’s 1-Year Pilot

Korey Singleton, George Mason University

Robert Starr, George Mason University

This session will highlight the GMU Assistive Technology Initiative’s efforts to build a sustainable document accessibility strategy. We will cover the successes and failures of our 1-year pilot, strategies for document remediation, and outreach initiatives.

Cotton Creek I

 

Lessons Learned Building an Internal Digital Accessibility Consultancy at Yale

Michael Harris, Yale University

Michael Vaughn, Yale University

Michelle Morgan, Yale University

We will outline how Yale has been successful setting up an internal consultancy to support accessibility throughout the university. We will describe the group’s role and scope within the institution and how it interacts with other campus units. We will discuss approaches to supporting multiple stakeholders, from faculty to web developers.

Cotton Creek II

 

Making Math Accessible Doesn’t Have to be Terrifying! (Virtual B)

Susan Kelmer, University of Colorado Boulder

Making math accessible for the visually impaired or those with specific learning disabilities seems like an insurmountable task. However, it turns out it isn’t all that hard to do! You just need to have access to the right software, learn the software, and give yourself time to practice and hone those skills. Making math accessible doesn’t have to be terrifying! (Double Session)

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Make Accessible EPUBs from Adobe InDesign Layouts (Lecture Session)

Bevi Chagnon, PubCom—Publishing Communications

If you already can make InDesign layouts for accessible PDFs, then this demonstration will give the details you need to know about converting them to accessible EPUBs, giving your college more options to meet the needs of your students with minimal cost and labor. (Double Session)

Standley II

 

Reduce, Reuse, Revise: Saving Your Sanity by Single Sourcing Content

Michael Mace, Indiana University

Greg Hanek, Indiana University

Learn how Indiana University uses a document repository to serve the same accessibility content to online courses, websites, and a knowledge base. Editing a single document permits that information to flow outward to all three distribution channels, simplifying updates and maintenance while ensuring consistency of message.

Windsor

 

A Personalized Approach to Engaging with Course Content: Automating UDL Principles with Blackboard Ally’s Alternative Formats (UDUC Track)

John Scott, Blackboard

Nicolaas Matthijs, Blackboard

Presenters discuss Universal Design for Learning and the importance of representing course content in diverse formats for learners. Drawing from course content research, we demonstrate how Blackboard Ally activates UDL guidelines by automatically generating “alternative formats” of files, allowing students to choose formats that work best for them.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Intro to Audio Description (Videotaped)

Elisa Edelberg, 3PlayMedia

This session will cover the basics of how to add audio description to online video, legal requirements for audio description, video player compatibility, examples and demos, how to create audio description, and benefits of audio description outside of accessibility.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

Making Web Pages Accessible for Persons with Anxiety Disorder Using WCAG Guidelines and UDL (Videotaped )

Valorie Sundby, AMAC

Anxiety is often the companion of other disabilities and can take a backseat, not getting diagnosed and treated. The shame and humiliation of being identified with an anxiety disorder and accepting treatment is not trivial. Some of the Success Criteria in WCAG 2.0 and UDL Principles can help lessen anxiety and prevent it from becoming disabling.

Westminster Ballroom III

 

Automation in PDF Accessibility: What Can and Can’t Be Done

Paul Rayius, CommonLook

Building on last year’s session “Understanding the Standards and Mitigating Risk,” in which a “Multi-Phase Accessibility Plan” was proposed for achieving document accessibility, this year we’ll look at where automation can fit into this plan to help with accessible document creation, remediation, testing, and more.

Westminster Ballroom IV

 

Detangling Complex Components

Justin Stockton, The Paciello Group

Frameworks like React, Angular and Vue allow developers to build reusable components. We’ll look at different types of components and highlight the techniques needed to reuse them in an accessible manner.

Lakehouse

 

Exhibit Hall Refreshment Break, 3:15 - 4 pm

Westminster Ballroom Foyer

 

Exhibitor Presentations (South Courtyard Foyer)

4 - 4:30 pm Eye to Eye–Eye to Eye Mentoring Program: How We Help Serve Your Students

 

Thursday, November 15 Breakout Sessions, 4 - 5 pm

 

AbleData: Finding Assistive Technologies to Support Student Accommodation Needs

Tyler Matney, New Editions Consulting, Inc.

Get an overview of AbleData’s resources to help faculty, administrators and students with disabilities find assistive technologies (AT) to assist them in performing educational tasks. We will help you understand different AT options and support programs available to accommodate student needs and how to help them achieve equal access.

Waverly

 

I was Wrong! Build Your Successful Accessibility Program by Learning from My Mistakes (Virtual A)

Angela Hooker, Microsoft

Whether or not you’re new to the field, when you manage an accessibility program, you can fall into common traps--but there’s no need to! Learn from my observations and old mistakes! Get tips for running a successful program and avoiding poor management choices, poor policy, poor planning, and more that can hinder your program.

Meadowbrook I/II

Does Poor Note Taking Affect Retention? Tennessee Tech Explore Notetaking Software with “At Risk” Students

Craig Nathan Moss, Sonocent

Struggling with retention targets? Retaining ‘at risk of failure’ students is a complex task, but for Tennessee Tech’s DSS department assistive technology was a tool for empowerment on intensive courses. This session explores how a pilot of note taking software enabled every single student to increase their GPA and engage with challenging courses.

Cotton Creek I

 

Standards 101: The Many Shades of Gray

Naveesha Maharaj, Deque

Violation of standards or a best practice? As much as we all want an exceptional web experience for our users, we don’t have the resources to follow every best practice while also ensuring that our process is efficient and effective. Let’s focus on clarifying some of the most confusing, debated and misinterpreted areas in the realm of accessibility requirements and best practices.

Cotton Creek II

 

Making Math Accessible Doesn’t Have to be Terrifying! (Continued) (Virtual B)

Susan Kelmer, University of Colorado Boulder

Making math accessible for the visually impaired or those with specific learning disabilities seems like an insurmountable task. However, it turns out it isn’t all that hard to do! You just need to have access to the right software, learn the software, and give yourself time to practice and hone those skills. Making math accessible doesn’t have to be terrifying!

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Make Accessible EPUBS from Adobe InDesign Layouts (Lecture Session) (Continued)

Bevi Chagnon, PubCom—Publishing Communications

If you already can make InDesign layouts for accessible PDFs, then this demonstration will give the details you need to know about converting them to accessible EPUBs, giving your college more options to meet the needs of your students with minimal cost and labor.

Standley II Lab

 

Access 360: Developing a Shared Framework to Support Institutional and System Level Change

Jess Thompson, WA State Board for Community & Technical Colleges

Colleges participating in Washington State’s Access360 use the GOALS Benchmark and Planning tool from the National Center on Disability and Access to Education to develop a shared understanding of what institutional accessibility looks like and to guide system colleges as they work to develop and implement accessibility policy and procedures.

Windsor

 

Practical First Steps for Achieving Web Accessibility and Avoiding Liability

Ken Nakata, Cyxtera

Jeff Singleton, Cxytera

Web accessibility newcomers are often bewildered on where to begin. This session provides a jump start in understanding basic web accessibility principles and the impact on people with disabilities.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Keep it Simple. Accessible Design Thinking (Lecture Session) (Videotaped)

Eric Eggert, Knowbility

ARIA. HTML. CSS. Animation. Interaction. The Web in 2018 is incredibly complex. In this Talk, Eric Eggert shows how to use accessible design principles to plan, communicate, and implement accessibility in projects from the start.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

The Forest and the Trees: Scaling for Enterprise-Level Digital Accessibility (Videotaped)

Kathryn Weber-Hottleman, University of Connecticut

Participants will learn to incorporate consideration of policies, automated and manual compliance testing, and training for various skill levels of web content authors into enterprise-level accessibility plans.

Westminster III

 

Journals, Monographs, and Trade Books Can Be Accessible Too (EPUB Track)

Bill Kasdorf, Kasdorf & Associates, LLC

Luc Audrain, Hachette Livre

Rob Posadas, Atypon

Jon McGlone, University of Michigan

Richard Orme, DAISY Consortium

EPUB is a standard format for trade and scholarly books--and now, journals too. They are closer to being accessible than most people realize. Speakers will include Luc Audrain from Hachette (trade books); Jon McGlone from the University of Michigan Press (scholarly monographs); and a speaker TBD from Atypon (journal articles as EPUBs).

Westminster Ballroom IV

 

Redesigning the Word Online Ribbon with Community Feedback

Hadi Rangin, University of Washington

Jeremy Spurlin, Microsoft

The Ribbon is an integral part of Microsoft Office products. Thanks to feedback from the Athen Microsoft Collaboration Group, Microsoft recently redesigned the Ribbon for Word Online, simplifying the Ribbon’s user interactions to make it more accessible to all users. In this session we’ll discuss and demo the redesigned Ribbon we collaborated on.

Lakehouse

 

Keynote Presentation & Dinner

Thursday, November 15, 7 - 8:30 pm

Sponsored by AccessibilityOz

Westminster Ballroom I/II/III

“...and People With Disabilities”

Britney Wilson, Staff Attorney/Dodyk Fellow at the National Center for Law and Economic Justice

Ms. Wilson will discuss how disability intersects with race, gender, and several of the political issues of the day as well as the need for social justice advocates to recognize and fully incorporate disability and disability rights into their work.

 

Friday, November 16

7:30 am – 1 pm Registration Desk Open, Fountain Greens Foyer

8 – 9 am Breakout Sessions

9:15 – 10:15 am Breakout Sessions

10:15 - 10:30 am AM Refreshment Break, Standley Foyer

10:30 - 11:30 am Breakout Sessions

11:45 am - 12:45 pm Breakout Sessions

Complete session details can be found at accessinghigherground.org

 

Friday November 16, Breakout Sessions, 8 - 9 am

Unconference

Topics and locations will be announced on site.

 

Friday November 16, Breakout Sessions, 9:15 - 10:15 am

 

Risk Analysis Portfolio Prioritization for Higher Ed

Bill Curtis-Davidson, Level Access

This session will provide an overview of how to: • inventory your digital assets • evaluate your digital assets based on key risk factors • prioritize your digital assets for remediation • establish a prioritization plan for remediation.

Waverly

 

Trending Tech Tools: What’s New, What’s Improved, & What’s on the Horizon for Assistive Technology & Accessibility Tools (Virtual A)

Rachel Kruzel, Augsburg University

The field of Assistive Technology and Accessibility is constantly changing. Tech giants are making more frequent updates to their products. As a result, knowing the latest updates is essential. Assistive Technology and Accessibility software updates from major tech companies such as Texthelp, Sonocent, and Microsoft, as well as free and low-cost tools to support students on campus will be featured and shown.

Meadowbrook I

 

If You Build It, They Will Come – Success with a Custom Captioning Solution

Jordan Cameron, Kennesaw State University

The presentation will cover Kennesaw State University’s collaborative work with vendors to create a custom captioning solution for the university community and the results of making captioning an ingrained part of instructional development.

Meadowbrook II

 

The Power of PDF/UA (Lecture Session)

Naveesha Maharaj, Deque

The question has been in the air from people of all roles. Does a PDF need to just comply with the Adobe Accessibility Checker or does it need to conform with WCAG 2.0 & PDF/UA? Let’s look at the importance of not only producing a universally accessible document, but also a usable high-quality document instead of only conforming with a standard.

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Accessibility: Past, Present, and Future (Virtual B)

Gerard Cohen, Wells Fargo

In this presentation, I go throughout history to meet famous people/events that have helped shaped accessibility and look forward to what’s to come.

Cotton Creek I

 

The Library Accessibility Committee: From Grassroots Interest Group to a Proactive Force for Accessibility (Lecture Session)

Binky Lush, Penn State University Libraries

Vicki Brightbill, Penn State University Libraries

What started as a small gathering of individuals, passionate about accessibility in the libraries, in a few short years grew to become an active organization that advocates for accessibility across the libraries and across Penn State University.

Standley II Lab

 

Teaching Accessibility: A National Survey and the Way Forward (UDUC Track)

Richard Ladner, University of Washington

A survey was done in 2017 of more than 14,000 computing and information science faculty in the US about whether or not they teach accessibility related topics and if not, why not. The results of the survey will be presented along with observations about how to increase the teaching of accessibility.

Cotton Creek II

 

Purchasing Born Accessible Software and Content Can Change the World

George Kerscher, DAISY Consortium/Benetech

Robin Seaman, Benetech

Philip Voorhees, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

It is incumbent on institutions to purchase accessible software and educational publications. Getting accessible software and content in to universities has been difficult, but there are some major breakthroughs! This session will cover techniques that work to purchase both accessible software, and certified born accessible published content.

Windsor

 

Building Interdepartmental Relationships that Promote Change

Christa Miller, Virginia Tech

Changing campus climate to better support disabilities requires a multi-pronged effort including policies, procedures, and requirements. However, it is nearly impossible to create change without building relationships with those who can make those changes. This session will focus on developing an action plan, identifying needs, and partners.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Accessible Interactive Simulations for Science Learning

Emily Moore, University of Colorado Boulder

Interactive science simulations are commonly used in college courses. We will introduce PhET Interactive Simulations, free online simulations that support learning through science inquiry. We will then share our research into creating simulations accessible through auditory descriptions and alternative input, and resources for supporting teachers.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

Friday November 16, Breakout Sessions, 10:30 - 11:30 am

 

Getting to Governance: Prepare Your Digital Content for an Ongoing Accessibility Governance Program

Jacqueline Tolisano, Optum

Angela Tarvin, Optum

This session discusses how to prepare your digital content for an ongoing accessibility governance program. Angela and Jacqui will share their experience in helping Optum and United Healthcare bring their consumer-facing digital properties into compliance and how this approach can work for anyone creating and publishing digital content.

Waverly

 

The Big Ten Academic Alliance’s Shared Approach to Procurement and Vendor Relations (Virtual A)

Bill Welsh, Rutgers University

Charlie Collick, Rutgers University

Nate Evans, Michigan State University

Learn how the Big Ten Academic Alliance is working together to develop policies, processes and procedures for procurement of accessible IT as well as assisting each other with managing vendor relationships that can foster better product accessibility within the Big 10. Also, each presenter will share their own institutions practices in this area.

Meadowbrook I

 

Accessibility During a Web Build

Gian Wild, AccessibilityOz

Incorporating accessibility into your web site build is important and can often mean the difference between an accessible and an inaccessible site at launch. Specific stages require accessibility intervention, including design, template, and final site launch. Suitable tasks and training are also covered.

Meadowbrook II

 

Working Collaboratively: Building Partnerships Between Internal Teams and External Vendors to Launch and Maintain Accessible Experiences (Lecture Session)

Elizabeth Linnetz, Primacy

Tyrone Mitchell, Primacy

In this session, we share the steps to building successful partnerships with vendors, internal developers, and authors to design and maintain accessible websites or apps. Our discussion provides solutions for common problems accessibility teams regularly encounter.

Standley I (Adobe Lab)

 

Interactive 3D Printed Tactile Campus Maps (Virtual B)

Holly Lawson, Portland State University

Shiri Azenkot, Cornell Tech

Lei Shi, Cornell Tech

Michael Cantino, Portland State University

This presentation introduces the Markit and Talkit iOS software, which enables an individual to add text or audio annotations to a 3d printed model. Presenters share the use of this toolkit with 3d printed tactile maps.

Cotton Creek I

 

Teaching Accessibility & Multi-Screen Design – A Content Strategy Master’s Course (UDUC Track)

Eric Eggert, Knowbility

Accessibility and Multi-Screen Design is an integral part of the Content Strategy Master’s Course at FH Joanneum in Graz, Austria. This talk shows how the topic of accessibility is positioned inside the Course and how students can be engaged in the topic of accessibility.

Cotton Creek II

 

Accessibility at Scale: Meeting the Diverse Needs of MOOC Learners

Art Morgan, Automatic Sync Technologies

John Tubbs, Director of Digital Media for eLearning, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Gies College of Business

Accommodation strategies used with on-campus degree programs often don’t translate to appropriate solutions for MOOCs. This session explores how the University of Illinois’ hybrid graduate degree and MOOC program used captioned video, audio description, and HTML content modules to create accessible courses for more than 300,000 students.

Windsor

 

More Accessible than You Realize: What the Big 5 Publishers Provide (EPUB Track)

Bill Kasdorf, Kasdorf & Associates, LLC

Deb Castiglione, Cengage

Rachel Comerford, Macmillan Learning

Mary Conzachi, McGraw-Hill Education

Jonathan Thurston, Pearson

Tim Lindner, Wiley

The Big 5 higher ed publishers share their EPUB stories: How are they implementing accessibility and what features can you expect in their new titles? Moderated by Bill Kasdorf, speakers include Rachel Comerford from Macmillan Learning, Jonathan Thurston from Pearson, Lisa Nicks from McGraw-Hill, and Michele Bruno from Cengage.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

More than Disability…Captioning for the World

Eileen Hopkins, Access Innovation Media (Ai-Media)

Sue Sanossian, Access Innovation Media (Ai-Media)

This presentation will touch on some of our research-based findings in to the wider use of captioning and will highlight some of the beneficiaries of this technology – beyond “traditional” users and environments.

Westminster Ballroom II

 

Friday November 16, Breakout Sessions, 11:45 am - 12:45 pm

 

Notetaking Accommodations and Technology – Beyond the Technical Tools

Paul Harwell, Harvard University

This session will discuss the core issues that impact notetaking processes and how to use technology to support effective notetaking. We will go beyond a simple list of tech tools and instead focus on how and why technology, when paired with the right strategies, can improve access.

Waverly

 

Not Another Lecture-Style Presentation (Virtual A)

Brad Held, University of Central Florida

Disability Professionals struggle to garner interest for their presentations or workshops. Just getting faculty or staff to register for their training doesn’t guarantee that the topics will be practiced. In this presentation, the presenter will share tips for designing a memorable educational experience that doesn’t involve a projector/clicker.

Meadowbrook I

 

Best Practices for Automating Document Accessibility

Dennis Quon, Crawford Technologies

It’s important that documents be delivered in accessible formats. Traditionally, this is a manual process. New tools are available today that help automate the generation of accessible electronic formats, including Accessible PDF, Accessible HTML, and ePUB. We will discuss best practices for converting published documents such as course material, syllabi, custom courseware, and other educational material to accessible electronic formats for all assistive technologies.

Meadowbrook II

 

Pretty Accessible: Bringing Beauty, Simplicity, and Usability to Accessible Products (Virtual B)

Rachel Comerford, Macmillan Learning

Amy Salmon, Tech for All, Inc.

As educational materials move to the digital domain, resources provided to students extend beyond texts. Simulations have all become key resources. Each needs to be accessible and comes with unique challenges. Sadly, accessibility has an undeserved reputation for joyless functionality and pedagogical compromise. So how do we make Pretty Accessible?

Cotton Creek I

 

Teaching Accessibility: Case Studies of Courses that Include Accessibility Topics in Their Curricula (UDUC Track)

Howard Kramer, AHEAD, University of Colorado Boulder

Terrill Thompson, University of Washington

Korey Singleton, George Mason University

In this session the speakers will review curricula components that they and other faculty have used in classes that teach about accessibility in computer science, IT and web design courses. Specific resources that can incorporated into classes will be discussed.

Cotton Creek II

 

Our Other Tools: Courage, Freedom, Hospitality, Aspiration, and More

Scott Marshall, University of Minnesota

Beyond technical tools, our work calls us to use qualities like compassion, courage, hospitality, and more. These qualities can be tools, and like all tools, they require intentional practice to wield effectively. We will explore what these qualities are, their presence in our work, and ways we might practice, nurture, and make them a priority.

Windsor

 

New Accessibility Features in MathJax v3.0 (Lecture Session)

Volker Sorge, Progressive Accessibility Solultions

We present an overview of the accessibility features of the new release of MathJax, a library for rendering mathematical formulas on the web. We demonstrate how to convert mathematical teaching material into web content that can be rendered with MathJax and automatically be made accessible for students with visual impairments and dyslexia.

Westminster Ballroom I

 

Exhibitor Presentation Schedule

 

Wednesday, November 14

9 - 9:30 am Commonlook–Using CommonLook PDF GlobalAccess to Remediate and Verify PDF Documents for Accessibility (David Herr)

9:40 - 10:10 am Crawford Technologies– Using Smartphones and Barcodes to Make Documents Accessible (Doug Koppenhofer)

11:15 - 11:45 am Sonocent–AT or a Tool for UDL? How All Students

Improve Note Taking with Sonocent Audio Notetaker

(Craig Nathan-Moss)

2:30 - 2:55 pm IAAP/G3ict–IAAP’s Higher Education Community of

Practice (Christopher Lee)

3:05 - 3:30 pm 3Play Media–Quick Start to Accessible Video

(Elisa Edelberg)

3:40 - 4 pm BeeLine Reader–Mobile Considerations For Text

Accessibility (Nick Lum)

4:10 – 4:30 p.m. Spellex Corporation–Empowering Through Assistive Technology (Vince Petrillo)

 

Thursday, November 15

9 - 9:25 am Dinolytics–Dinolytics Powered by WAVE, Jay Pope

9:35 - 10 am Onix–Equidox by Onix: PDF Remediation in Under a Minute (Pat Needles)

10:10 - 10:35 am Enhanced Vision/Freedom Scientific/Optelec/

The Paciello Group, Vispero Accessibility Licensing for the Higher Ed Enterprise (Mike Wood)

10:45 - 11:15 am sComm–Face-to-Face Communication - Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing (Jason Curry)

2:30 - 3:15 pm Docsoft Inc.–Captioning-It’s Time... (Michael Robichaux)

4 - 4:30 pm Eye to Eye, Inc.–Eye to Eye Mentoring Program: How We Help Serve Your Students (Tori Kissner)

 

Exhibitor Directory; Conference Sponsors

 

3Play Media (Gold Sponsor)

Booth #11

www.3playmedia.com

Accessible Video Made Easy. 3Play Media provides closed captioning, transcription, and audio description to more than 2,500 customers in higher education, enterprise, entertainment, and government. 3Play Media simplifies the process of making videos accessible through flexible APIs, integrations with video players and platforms, simple plugins, and a user-friendly online account system.

 

AccessibilityOz (Platinum Keynote Dinner Sponsor)

Booth #17

www.accessibilityoz.com

AccessibilityOz is an accessibility consultancy based in Australia and the United States. They work to ensure that clients meet accessibility requirements, by providing assistance during fixes and instructional information through AccessibilityOz’s products, OzWiki and OzART. AccessibilityOz offers a range of accessibility services and products to organizations around the world.

 

Adobe (Computer Lab Sponsor)

adobe.com

Adobe gives you everything you need to design and deliver exceptional digital experiences. We’re passionate about empowering people to create beautiful and powerful images, videos, and apps across every screen

 

Access Innovation Media (Ai-Media) (Lanyard Sponsor)

Booth #14

www.ai-media.tv

Ai-Media is dedicated to ending the experience of social, educational and vocational exclusion by creating economic access solutions for people with disabilities. Ai-Media’s US, Canadian, UK and Australian offices operate 24-7-365 to deliver accurate real-time captioning and transcription services. We work with committed partners, contributing to a more inclusive world.

 

Appligent Document Solutions (Bronze Sponsor)

Booth #13

appligent.com

Appligent Document Solutions provides high quality Accessibility Services and Remediation of PDF documents. Our Education customers rely on us for excellent advice and service in providing accessible content. Email us at Section508@appligent.com.

 

Blackboard (Gold Sponsor)

Booth #12

www.blackboard.com

Blackboard Ally is a revolutionary product that integrates seamlessly into the Learning Management System and focuses on making digital course content more accessible.

 

Commonlook (Bronze Sponsor)

Booth #24

www.commonlook.com

CommonLook® is a world-leading provider of software products and professional services enabling government agencies and corporations to meet their obligations for electronic document accessibility to achieve compliance accessibility standards.

 

Cyxtera (Bronze Sponsor)

Booth #15

www.compliancesheriff.com

Compliance Sheriff, a Cyxtera solution, allows you to make your website accessible. Cyxtera delivers web accessibility software and a comprehensive framework for web accessibility built upon extensive research and decades of global industry experience to develop a practical and robust accessibility model. Our customers have leveraged Compliance Sheriff to shape customer’s accessibility policies and practices.

 

Deque (Bronze Sponsor)

Booth #9

www.deque.com

Deque Systems is a leading provider of web and mobile accessibility software and services. Striving to provide practical accessibility solutions that reflect real-world development environments, Deque works with a broad range of clients to not only fix their inaccessible content but to integrate accessibility into their existing design and development processes through the use of automation and training. The Deque agile approach to accessibility ensures that organizations that have the toolset to make large and complex websites accessible.

 

Enhanced Vision/Freedom Scientific/Optelec/ The Paciello Group (Gold Sponsor)

Booth #16

https://vispero.com

Empowering Independence

Vispero™ is the world’s leading assistive technology provider for the visually impaired and owner of the brands Ai Squared, Enhanced Vision, Freedom Scientific, Optelec and The Paciello Group. All of the Vispero brands have a long history of developing and providing innovative solutions for blind and low vision individuals, helping them to reach their full potential

 

Microsoft (Gold Sponsor)

Booth #28

http://microsoft.com/accessibility

Microsoft is committed to creating and delivering technology that empowers all people. We know that people interact with our products in diverse ways. So, we’re working hard to ensure our products are designed with accessibility in mind and provide a great user experience for everyone. For more information, please visit our website: http://microsoft.com/accessibility and be sure to attend one of our presentations about the accessibility work being done throughout Microsoft.

 

Onix (Gold Sponsor)

Booth #19

equidox.co

Equidox by Onix™ empowers organizations to easily and cost effectively convert inaccessible PDFs into WCAG 2.0 AA-compliant HTML and accessible PDF and EPUB 2 content. Leverage the Equidox web-based conversion tool for in-house document remediation or outsource your project to their PDF Conversion Services team. Onix also offers website and application accessibility testing, training, and consulting to help organizations break down the barriers to information access and reach everyone in their potential audience.

 

Perkins School for the Blind (Gold Sponsor)

www.perkins.org/access

Perkins School for the Blind, a world leader in services for people with visual impairments and other disabilities for almost 200 years, knows all about making the world more accessible to reduce barriers. Our history, combined with our extensive experience in digital accessibility, has led our accessibility consulting group, Perkins Access, to become a trusted adviser to companies, governments and educational institutions around the world.

 

QA Info Tech (Silver Sponsor)

Booth #32

https://qainfotech.com/

QA InfoTech is a leading independent software testing company with a workforce of 1300+ QA engineers and domain experts. We cater globally to a number of clients in varied domains with our gamut of testing services which include- Manual-Functional testing, Automation testing, Performance testing, Security testing, Globalization-Localization testing, and a niche in Accessibility testing with our novel paired testing approach wherein one visually impaired engineer conducts the test coverage with a sighted engineer to produce realistic and expedient results.

www.qainfotech.com

 

Sonocent (Gold Sponsor)

Booth #23

www.sonocent.com

The future of note taking. Hello from Sonocent! We develop software that enables students to achieve more. Our tools combine audio, color highlighting, text, images and presentation slides all into a single visual and kinesthetic workspace for learning. With our software you can visualize speech from audio recordings, making audio as easy to access and manipulate as text. Sonocent Audio Notetaker can be used to help learners take notes in class, compose essays, practice presentations and more. We’re proud to have already helped over 120,000 students, and be used by more than 300 US colleges and extensively in the UK.

 

Texthelp (Bronze Sponsor)

Booth #21

www.texthelp.com

Hello we’re Texthelp. We believe that literacy is every student’s passport to success. We create smart, user-friendly literacy and learning solutions, that provide the personalized support each student needs; through reading, writing, math and research features.

 

Exhibitor Directory

 

Access Text Network

Booth #25

www.accesstext.org

The AccessText Network provides an easy way for Disability Service Providers to request textbook files from leading publishers on behalf of students with disabilities. Membership is free.

 

Alternative Communication Services

Booth #8

www.acscaptions.com

The mission of Alternative Communication Services (ACS) is to provide the highest quality voice-to-text and sign language services possible, delivering these services to consumers throughout the world, and recognizing the unique strengths of each individual in the process.

 

Automatic Sync Technologies

Booth #27

www.automaticsync.com

Quality matters. Automate the process, keep the learning. CaptionSync by AST was developed more than fourteen years ago, in collaboration with a team of expert advisers from higher education and with funding from an SBIR grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Today AST’s CaptionSync service is the most cost-efficient, high quality, transcription, captioning and audio description service available.

 

BeeLine Reader

Booth #10

www.beelinereader.com/education

Color is the new black. BeeLine Reader is a startup that has developed an alternative text format that helps many readers with dyslexia, ADHD, and various vision impairments. This approach uses line-wrapping color gradients, which pull the readers’ eyes through the text. Independent educational testing has shown strong benefits for reading fluency and reading comprehension, and vision experts at Stanford Medical School and UC Berkeley School of Optometry recommend BeeLine Reader to patients. BeeLine Reader is a social-impact focused startup that has won awards from Stanford University, NewSchools Venture Fund, and The Tech Museum of Innovation. BeeLine Reader was recently recognized at the UN Solutions Summit for its impact in accessibility and education.

 

Crawford Technologies

Booth #31

www.crawfordtech.com

Crawford Technologies is an award-winning, global provider of software solutions for the transformation, manipulation and validation of customer communication data in multiple output channels. We offer a range of services and solutions enabling our enterprise clients to deliver communications such as bills and statements as well as marketing and business documents in accessible format for their blind and partially-sighted customers. CrawfordTech’s mission is to ensure that all companies are in compliance with global accessibility legislation. Using our revolutionary software architecture, MasterONE, we are helping banks, insurance and utility companies and telecoms and healthcare providers achieve this goal. At CrawfordTech we believe in a world where “every document is an accessible document.”

 

Dinolytics

Booth #1

https://dinolytics.com

Powered by WAVE. Web Accessibility evaluation powered by WAVE, built for higher ed. We partnered with WebAIM to create a simple to use, impactful enterprise, web accessibility scanning platform.

 

Docsoft Inc

Booth #22

www.docsoft.com

Liberating Speech. Docsoft is a software development company that specializes in providing an in house solution for captioning your content. Through our “appliance” solution Docsoft can automatically transcribe, time code and provide a unique way of captioning your content for the deaf and hard of hearing.

 

eSSENTIAL Accessibility Inc

Booth #2

www.essentialaccessibility.com

eSSENTIAL Accessibility is a digital accessibility solutions provider. We offer a comprehensive digital accessibility solution to help organizations enhance the digital experience for customers with disabilities, remain compliant with standards and regulations, and project an inclusive and disability-friendly only presence.

 

Eye to Eye

Booth #4

www.eyetoeyenational.org

Unlocking greatness in the 1 in 5 who learn differently. Eye to Eye is a national, award-winning mentoring program for students with learning and attention issues. We train high school and college students with learning differences, including dyslexia and ADHD, to mentor similarly-identified middle school students. We are an easy-to-implement social-emotional intervention with high-impact results.

 

IAAP/G3ict

Booth #30

www.accessibilityassociation.org

The mission of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) is to define, promote and improve the accessibility profession globally through networking, education and certification in order to enable the creation of accessible products, content and services. Higher Education is our fastest growing segment within our membership. We have developed a Higher Education Community of Practice and developed specific programs and resources to assist in implementing an accessibility strategy campus-wide.

 

Kurzweil Education

Booth #6

www.kurzweiledu.com

Kurzweil Education: Learning without boundaries, without barriers. Developing the ability to independently access any content on any device is an important skill for students with learning differences. Our products, k1000 for students with blindness or low vision, and k3000 for students with learning difficulties, unlocks their potential to access curriculum materials, build literacy and accessibility skills, and make real academic progress.

 

Level Access

Booth #5

www.levelaccess.com

Level Access provides award-winning digital accessibility solutions to over 1,000 organizations. Level Access’s mission is to ensure technology is accessible to people with disabilities and the growing aging population.

 

Matchware

Booth #26

www.matchware.com

MatchWare is a global leader in assistive technology. The “MindView” software is a visual learning tool designed to help students develop ideas visually and then export into different MS Office/Google formats.

 

Note taking Express

Booth #18

www.notetakingexpress.com

Note Taking Express is a specialist note taking company which delivers bullet point notes through their web-based software platform NTEHub. Students can then use their audio or video recordings to prepare a full essay or revision notes using NTEHub Writer.

 

sComm

Booth #20

www.sComm.com

sComm is the manufacturer of the UbiDuo 2 communication device. The UbiDuo 2 enables deaf, hard of hearing and hearing individuals to communicate with each other face-to-face anywhere on campus when the interpreter is not available. The UbiDuo 2 allows deaf or hard of hearing people to interact freely with hearing people anywhere, anytime, in the work and social settings on campus.

 

Sensus Aps

Booth #3

www.sensusaccess.com

SensusAccess - Alternate Media Made Easy. Promoting independence and self-sufficiency amongst students with disabilities, SensusAccess® is a self-service solution that automates the conversion of documents into a range of alternative formats including Braille, MP3, Daisy, digital large-print and e-books in 20+ languages. SensusAccess also converts inaccessible and tricky documents into more accessible formats. Subject to a service agreement, SensusAccess can be accessed directly, through LTI plug-ins to popular learning management systems and through a web API.

Spellex Corporation

Booth #29

www.spellex.com

Since 1988, Spellex has been a global leader in Assistive Technology solutions by providing corporations, government, and academia with high-quality and cost-effective AT solutions. Spellex’s flagship product, Spellex Write-Assist provides students and professionals with dyslexia and other communication disorders the tools necessary to improve their spelling and literacy.

 

Tech for All Consulting

Booth #7

www.tfaconsulting.com

Making Technology Accessible for Everyone. Tech for All is an international accessibility and universal design consulting firm serving educational institutions, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, small companies and Fortune 500 corporations. Tech for All’s sole mission is to help its clients successfully address the challenges of making their products, services, websites, kiosks, and mobile apps accessible for all, including people with disabilities. TFA offers a broad range of accessibility support services including training, planning, evaluation, remediation, implementation, and monitoring.