Dear Colleagues,
The Electronic Information Technology Accessibility Policy (HR-86) was inducted into the Campus Administrative Manual in October 2018. Implementation of the policy is being conducted by the Technology Accessibility Review Committee. One critical component of the implementation plan has been the formation of the IT Accessibility Liaison (ITAL) program. The ITAL program is a growing, on-going effort to coalesce and promote accessibility education across campus. It is becoming the de facto organization for disseminating accessibility training, awareness and accessibility law.
The goal of this program is 100% representation of all academic and non-academic units. Liaisons are volunteer technical and/or non-technical staff who have an interest in digital accessibility. Liaisons are tasked with the following:
- Participation in monthly training sessions
- Commitment to monthly exercises such as web site evaluations, facilitating exception process requests, and building an accessibility knowledge base and community
- Serving as a unit resource for policy, program, and accessibility standard updates
- Working regularly with faculty and staff to promote accessibility best practices
- Provide guidance on accessible software purchases
Specifically, we ask that you:
- Appoint a staff member who is interested and amendable to participating in the ITAL training meetings.
- Allow that staff person to attend monthly meetings and conduct training exercises such as evaluating the unit's accessibility level.
- Support the effort to promote accessibility through the IT Accessibility Liaison program.
More information is available at itaccessibility.illinois.edu/accessibility-liaisons. Please have your appointee contact Tim Offenstein (timo@illinois.edu) for inclusion into the ITAL program. Respective manager/supervisors are also invited to attend monthly meetings so that they can stay abreast of program events. Access the Liaison application at https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1254505. Complete the application by February 28.
Thank you,
Sean C. Garrick
Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
