Welcome to our first University of Illinois System Accessibility Newsletter! Over the last few years, the accessibility heads from the three universities and system offices have been collaborating and working more closely together. Earlier this year, we decided that a joint, quarterly newsletter would be a great way to share information about what is going on in accessibility system-wide. So, each quarter, we will share general information about accessibility, efforts at the universities or within departments, and ways for you to contact us.
In our first issue, we have an overview of website accessibility from Helen Zhou at the University of Illinois Chicago. From Carey Applegate at the University of Illinois Springfield, we have some upcoming trainings and events to learn more about accessibility. Matt Macomber, who works in system offices, has written a quick overview of the tool ANDI. In the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning (CITL) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Marc Thompson has a short read on UDL or Universal Design for Learning. Allison Vance has an overview of the Digital Accessibility and Excellence Steering Committee at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
In the coming months, we will share some new training to help staff and faculty understand how to make content accessible in documents. We recently compiled a short video on screen reader accessibility with Peter Berg, ADA Coordinator at UIC. We’re also proud to announce our:
Digital Accessibility Awareness Course Now Available
A system-wide Digital Accessibility Overview Course is now available for all faculty, staff, and students. The training covers many introductory topics and is aimed at helping people grow their understanding of the need for a completely accessible digital world.
Vance Martin
Executive Policy Advisor for Accessibility at the University of Illinois System
