10-Day Accessibility Challenge Pilot Program

Rebecca Mushtare, Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, SUNY Oswego
Kate Percival, Digital Analyst
Michele Thornton, Assistant Professor Department of Management & Marketing

SUNY Oswego

 

As SUNY Oswego transitioned to all-remote classes in the Spring and Fall of 2020, it became clear that we needed to increase our efforts to teach others how to take on digital accessibility. In order to successfully shift the culture on our campus, we needed to “build our accessibility muscles” from all sides, including from student group leaders, faculty and staff, to top-level administrators. Rather than “force-feeding” accessibility information to people, we wanted to create a fun, engaging way to encourage members of the campus community to be involved. We used a little bit of gamification to increase participation and engagement and tried to create a supportive environment where our team acted as coaches and cheerleaders to an expanding team of accessibility advocates. Our workgroup on accessibility practices developed a DIY series of programs to help educate and empower others to improve the accessibility of the materials they create. These short, curated programs offer step-by-step guidance on learning about individual aspects of accessibility and making small, incremental improvements in a format that is flexible and fits with everyone’s schedule. We asked each participant to commit to just 30 minutes a day. Each day of the program focuses on one basic principle, why it’s important, and how to incorporate it into digital materials. We provided basic information, written tutorials, videos, and other resources pertaining to each day’s topic. We offered a certificate of completion to those who participated each day and submitted an ending questionnaire. Our pilot program, the 10-Day Accessibility Challenge, ran in January and had nearly 200 people sign up. In this session, we’ll outline how we structured the Challenge, share some of the feedback and responses from our participants, and explain how we measure its success. We’ll also offer ideas for additional challenges and other programs we have in development.  

Rebecca Mushtare is an associate professor of interaction design, the associate director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at SUNY Oswego, and co-founder and co-host (with John Kane) of the Tea for Teaching podcast. Rebecca’s research interests include digital accessibility, design for older adults, and inclusive design.

As Digital Accessibility Analyst, Kate Percival is one of the primary resources to assist campus staff and faculty members with web and digital accessibility issues. She co-chairs the Workgroup on Accessibility Practices, a team of campus accessibility experts working together to anticipate, troubleshoot, support, and resolve the practical needs of our campus community. In this role, Kate helps educate and train faculty and staff on how to create more accessible digital materials. Working closely with Extended Learning and the Office of Accessibility Resources, Kate also leads the efforts of evaluating online course accessibility. This includes creating the process and workflow of assessing online courses and delivering accessible materials.