Explore, engage, and learn with us to enhance equity and inclusion through technology!
In collaboration with campus partners, UMass Amherst Information Technology is hosting the third annual Digital Equity and Inclusion Week from February 26 through March 1, 2024. All members of the campus community are invited to learn more about steps we can take to make UMass Amherst a more inclusive and accessible campus.
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Thanks for attending Digital Equity and Inclusion Week 2024!
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This year’s asynchronous events and learning resources are still available on the website. Miss something? Browse session recordings
Schedule of Events
Keynote Presentation Tues., Feb. 27, 1 - 2 p.m. on Zoom
Navigating the Accessibility Iceberg: Approaches for Organizational Accessibility Excellence
With Kelsey Hall
Head of Accessibility @ ADP | MBA, Ed.M., MS CCC-SLP | she/her/hers
Too often organizations do not delve deeper than the surface-level, superficial aspects of accessibility from a very reactive standpoint. As many accessibility professionals know, a reactive approach to accessibility leads to fatigue and frustration. We must be proactive and system-oriented, and we must dive deeper to problem-solve systemic barriers to accessibility. We must build organizational resilience!
Read more about the keynote presentation
This presentation delves into the depths of the Accessibility Iceberg, unveiling the hidden challenges and opportunities that lie beneath the surface.
As organizations strive for excellence, the importance of accessibility emerges as a crucial factor that extends far beyond compliance. Together, we explore the profound impact of accessibility across various facets of an organization, fostering a culture of inclusivity that not only helps to meet legal standards, but also enhances innovation, customer satisfaction, and overall competitive advantage. Let’s navigate the waters of accessibility, uncovering practical strategies to support system-wide accessibility efforts.
Kelsey, her husband Patrick, and their Blue Heeler dog, Ollie
Meet our keynote speaker: Kelsey Hall
Kelsey started her journey as a musical theatre major, but ultimately obtained graduate degrees in Deaf Education, Speech-Language Pathology, Assistive Technology, and Business Administration (focused on Human Resources and Change Management). After holding various roles over the past 18+ years in early intervention, K-12, community transition, sub-acute rehabilitation, and higher education, she joined McDonald’s Corporation as the Director of UX overseeing Global Accessibility, Research, Design, and Design System. Now, at ADP, Kelsey has had the honor of building a stellar central Accessibility Team to enable product, design, and development teams (and more) to build inclusive, accessible, user-centered products and services.
Although her work is often technical, the majority focuses on unpacking implicit disability bias and anti-ableism through education. Kelsey is strongly guided by the idea "when we know better (even if it’s uncomfortable), it’s our opportunity to do better".
To decompress and regroup, she loves hiking, bicycling, and traveling with her husband, pottery, painting, photography, live music, and snuggling her two black cats (Ellum & Silhouette "Silly") and Australian cattle dog (Ollie).
Monday, February 26
What is alt text? Click to register
11 - 11:30 a.m. Online on Zoom
What is alt text? Join Assistive Technology Center (ATC) Coordinator, Marcie Savoie, CPACC, for a hands on conversation about how to best make your digital images more accessible. Alt text is important in documents, websites, online courses, presentations, social media and more. Come chat about alt text best practices.
Top 5 Accessibility Fixes Click to register
1 - 1:30 p.m. Online on Zoom
Many accessibility fixes can be applied broadly for documents, websites, apps, and social media. Come join us to learn about some of the top accessibility issues to make all your content better for the disabled community.
Presented by Samm Nelson, Assistive Technology Center (ATC) Coordinator, CPACC
3D Printing for Accessibility Click to register
4 - 5 p.m. In-person in the Digital Media Lab, Lower Level of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library
Come to the Digital Media Lab to learn how UMass Amherst has used 3D printing to increase accessibility for our students. Presented by Dennis Spencer, 3D Print Services Supervisor, UMass Amherst Libraries.
Tuesday, February 27
Glean for Students Click to register
10 - 10:30 a.m. Online on Zoom
This session is for students only.
Sam Robins from Glean will host a session to highlight the benefits of using Glean for note taking.
Best Practices Around Color Contrast Click to register
11 - 11:30 a.m. Online on Zoom
Why are color and contrast important for accessibility? Join Assistive Technology Center (ATC) Coordinator, Marcie Savoie, CPACC, for a hands on conversation about best practices using color and contrast and why they are important for digital accessibility. Using the WebAIM contrast checker, participants will learn how to analyze color and contrast to check if they meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
Keynote presentation:
Navigating the Accessibility Iceberg: Approaches for Organizational Accessibility Excellence Click to register
1 - 2 p.m. Online on Zoom
Too often organizations do not delve deeper than the surface-level, superficial aspects of accessibility from a very reactive standpoint. As many accessibility professionals know, a reactive approach to accessibility leads to fatigue and frustration. We must be proactive and system-oriented, and we must dive deeper to problem-solve systemic barriers to accessibility. We must build organizational resilience!
More about our Keynote Presentation
This presentation delves into the depths of the Accessibility Iceberg, unveiling the hidden challenges and opportunities that lie beneath the surface. As organizations strive for excellence, the importance of accessibility emerges as a crucial factor that extends far beyond compliance. Together, we explore the profound impact of accessibility across various facets of an organization, fostering a culture of inclusivity that not only helps to meet legal standards, but also enhances innovation, customer satisfaction, and overall competitive advantage. Let’s navigate the waters of accessibility, uncovering practical strategies to support system-wide accessibility efforts.
UMass Libraries Student Accessibility Listening Session Click to register
2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Online on Zoom
This session is for disabled students who use the UMass Libraries. Come share your feedback directly with the UMass Libraries Accessibility Committee to help us make the changes you need to get the most out of your library experience.
Wednesday, February 28
Accessibility in Virtual Meetings Click to register
10 - 10:30 a.m. Online on Zoom
Join Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Assistant Secretary Andrea D'Amato and Virtual Public Involvement team to learn about accessibility in virtual public meetings, including inclusive outreach and incorporating equitable practices in public engagement.
Automated Testing Tools to Improve Website Accessibility Click to register
11 - 11:30 a.m. Online on Zoom
Catch the WAVE! Join Assistive Technology Center (ATC) Coordinator, Samm Nelson, CPACC to learn the basics behind the WAVE accessibility scanner. WAVE is a web accessibility evaluation tool that provides visual feedback about the accessibility of your web content.
This session is intended for content managers to better understand how to make their sites more accessible and to be able to identify barriers to access on their own websites.
Thursday, February 29
Captioning in Echo360 Click to register
10 - 10:30 a.m. Online on Zoom
Join Dan Cannity, Manager of Instructional Design and Support for Instructional Design Engagement and Support (IDEAS), for a session on how to caption videos in Echo 360. Dan will share best practices and tips for captioning lectures.
Can Icebreakers be Saved? Considering Social Anxiety and Neurodivergent Learners Click to register
11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Online on Zoom
Icebreakers are brief, interactive activities designed to foster personal connections among learners to support deeper learning. However, are these social activities inclusive of those who face social anxieties, including neurodivergent learners? If so, how? This session explores how icebreakers can be equitably designed and implemented in your online and in-person classrooms.
Presented by Colleen Kuusinen, Educational Developer and Lecturer, Center for Teaching and Learning, and Alex Deschamps, Manager of Instructional Innovation, Instructional Design Engagement and Support (IDEAS)
Creating Inclusive and Accessible Events Click to register
2 - 2:30 p.m. Online on Zoom
Join the Office of Equity and Inclusion's Ebru Kardan (she/her), Senior Director of Diversity Communications and Events, and Cas Rego-Martin (he/they), OEI Engagement Coordinator, for guidance and best practices for creating inclusive events. Stay for an optional Q&A after the presentation.
Disabled Student Experience Panel Click to register
4 - 5 p.m. Online on Zoom
Hear from three disabled students about how they navigate technology and the life of disabled students at UMass. Co-hosted by Rachel Adams, Assistant Director, Disability Services, and Samm Nelson, Assistive Technology Center (ATC) Coordinator.
Friday, March 1
SiteImprove Drop In Session Click to join Zoom session
Drop-in any time 10:30 - 11 a.m. Online on Zoom
Assistive Technology Center (ATC) Coordinator Marcie Savoie, CPACC, hosts a drop-in session for any questions regarding SiteImprove audits.
Drupal Book Module Click to register
11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Online on Zoom
In this session for Drupal website managers, learn how to recreate electronic documents, such as word and PDF files, as html pages using the Drupal book module. More often than not, electronic files aren’t accessible and can be a barrier to users of all levels. Recreating these files as web pages provides the largest benefit allowing them to be more easily edited and updated for administrators and more easily accessed by users.
Presented by Bill Leahy, Web Design Manager, University Relations MarCom Group.
DEIW In-Person Celebration!
Drop-in any time from 1 - 3 p.m. In-person in the Calipari Room, lower level of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library
Join us for refreshments to celebrate the third year of Digital Equity and Inclusion Week. Meet many members of our disabled community and chat about ways to connect and improve all of our experiences at UMass.
Asynchronous - Online events available any time
Self-Guided Workshop: Video Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions
Available online at any time in Canvas
Did you know that only 20% of people who use captions are deaf or hard of hearing (Cooke et al., 2020)?
We invite you to take this workshop at your own pace to learn tips, tricks, and best practices for adding captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions to your media.
Digital Accessibility Toolkit: Join the Spring Makeover Challenge
Available online at any time in Canvas
Join the Spring Makeover Challenge to explore accessibility strategies and apply them to one small chunk of content in your course. We also encourage you to share your reflections, strategies, and examples with your peers in the asynchronous discussion.
Themes of the 2024 Digital Equity and Inclusion week include:
- Awareness: Elevating digital equity, accessibility, and inclusion as topics of campus-wide discussion.
- Enablement: Expanding the range of activities, resources, and learning options to improve digital accessibility awareness, knowledge, and action.
- Dialogue: Providing opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to engage in meaningful discussions and learning activities related to disability equity and digital inclusion.
Follow IT on social media to share and learn more throughout Digital Equity & Inclusion Week!
X (formerly Twitter) | LinkedIn | Instagram
Optional Online Training for Faculty, Staff, and Student Employees
As part of the 2024 Digital Equity and Inclusion week, we're highlighting our short and informative training course on disability culture & inclusion in the workplace. Participants who complete the training will be able to:
- Learn to identify and eliminate barriers to inclusion
- Examine and address issues related to discrimination and harassment
- Explore best practices related to workplace accommodations
The optional Tapestry | Accommodating Abilities (Disability Culture & Identity) online training can be completed in approximately 30 minutes, and is available to all faculty, staff, and student employees.
Start the online trainingLearning & Resources
UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff have unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning. Sign in with your UMass Amherst account.
Learning Path: Accessibility & Inclusion Advocacy- Driving Inclusion Through Empathy
- Disabled vs Disability - Disabled Is Not A Bad Word
- Equality vs Equity
- Inclusive Language Evolves
- Principles of Inclusive Language
- Digital Accessibility for the Modern Workplace
- Why Should You Prioritize Accessibility?
- UX Foundations: Usability Testing
- How to Counter Unconscious Bias
- Bias in the Design and Development Lifecycle
- Strategies to Foster Inclusive Language at Work
Recommended Readings
Articles and content that put digital equity and inclusion into context.
Improving inclusion
Improving accessiblity & usability
- Building a Culture of Accessibility in Higher Education
EDUCAUSE Review - Captioned Video Accessibility: “Stranger Things” Captions, a Fascinating Case Study
Meryl.net - Taking the Guesswork Out of Accessibility Testing
Sparkbox - How to Design Your Game for the Hard of Hearing
Polygon - Accessibility and Usability: The Dynamic Duo
Stark Blog
UMass Amherst Stories
Kim Enderle
PhD Student
History Department
“My name is Kim Enderle and I am a PhD student in the History Department. One way that I encourage my students to use assistive technology is in proofreading their written work.
I have shown my students how to use the Read Aloud tool in Microsoft Word so they can listen to their papers to identify any errors in their writing. Several of my students have provided feedback that using this tool has helped them in their writing process. Hopefully, it will benefit others in our campus community as well.”
Peter Dutilloy
Library Service Desk Specialist
UMass Amherst Mount Ida Campus
“Accessibility is important to me because it helps me reconsider the standards I hold myself and others to. Normative expectations don’t have to be the goal in order for my work and my behavior to be valuable and fruitful.
I’m a library circulation staff member at the Mount Ida campus in Newton. Hybrid and digital accessibility for trainings and events helps me participate in the UMass Amherst campus without getting special permission or driving four hours to build professional and learning communities in my position. I benefit from assistive technology like captions and automatic transcription on zoom which help with note taking, as well as ebooks and audiobooks that I can use to learn with more flexibility in my free time or during my drive to work. ”
Ashley Woodman
Senior Lecturer of Psychology
UMass Amherst
“As the director of Developmental Disabilities and Human Services program and senior lecturer in Psychology, I use a variety of technology tools to assist me in my teaching.
First, I use Otter.ai to transcribe my meetings and classes. By allowing Otter to "join" my Zoom meetings, everyone in the meeting gets a copy of the transcript automatically and I don't need to retreive a recording or transcript manually through Zoom. It's a great way to keep track of the key points of a meeting or class.
Second, I use Camtasia to record my screen. I do this to create videos for class, but I also use it to provide student feedback. It's especially helpful when I'm providing feedback on a variety of files or file types, especially if they don't allow for traditional track change feedback. Lastly, I use Speechify to convert readings to audio format."
Marcie Savoie
Digital Accessibility and Assistive Technology Specialist
UMass Amherst Information Technology
“Accessibility is important to me because by designing with accessibility in mind, whatever we create is likely to benefit a much larger group of people. I strongly believe that accessibility benefits us all.
Whether we are zooming in on a document to see it better, using the automatic door opener to get the door open because our hands are too full, or using the curb-cut into the sidewalk to enter or exit the street on a bicycle to avoid going over the curb, we all benefit from accessibility.”
Samm Nelson
Digital Accessibility and Assistive Technology Specialist
UMass Amherst Information Technology
“I am Samm Nelson. I run the Assistive Technology Center and have been part of UMass since I started my undergraduate career in 2006. I identify as having an invisible disability for which I rely on technological and social accessibility.
Sometimes it is a challenge to fully disengage from technology when I take a break. I know my mom-inbox grows throughout the workday so I will take a walk, get some sunshine, and use VoiceOver to read my emails to me. I rely so deeply on technical and social accessibility to perform at my best. Getting off the screen of my phone, even if I am still actively using it helps me lessen my stress even if I am still on mom duty.”
Lisa Modenos
Senior Lecturer
UMass Amherst University Without Walls (UWW) Department of Interdisciplinary Studies
“I have always loved teaching and transforming student perspectives, and have really prided myself in learning as much as I can to be a better instructor and be as inclusive as possible. And then I had a disabled son, who showed me how much more work I needed to do to reframe my own ableist perspectives and teaching methods and strategies too.
Apollo has helped me become a better teacher and continues to show me how important true accessibility is – that it is more than just including folx at the table, but instead about building a completely new table for all.”
Connect with Communities at UMass Amherst
UMass Allies for Illness and Disability Access (UMAIDA) Network | Employee Resource Group
Promoting a supportive network and work environment that is inclusive and accessible for all individuals with lived experience of disability, deafness, illness (chronic and mental), injury, neurodiversity and their allies. The group also focuses on ways to support the recruitment, retention, professional development and career advancement of employees with disabilities.
UMass Faculty and Staff of Color Network | Employee Resource Group
Fostering connections and developing community for employees from underrepresented groups at UMass Amherst, and promoting an inclusive work environment.
UMass International Staff/Faculty Network | Employee Resource Group
Building connections, assisting in the transition to the University, and promoting a community and working environment for both new arrivals and long-time residents of the U.S., that is both welcoming and nurturing.
UMass Veterans Network | Employee Resource Group
Working to make UMass Amherst a workplace of choice for veterans, reservists, and guardsmen, while fostering a community to support and encourage networking, career development, and mentorship.
University Women's Network | Employee Resource Group
University Women’s Network (UWN) is a longstanding organization on the UMass Amherst campus that dedicates itself to promoting the personal and professional development of its members by networking, educating and supporting, and also collaborating with other campus organizations throughout the state, such as Massachusetts Women in Public Higher Education (MWPHE). Established in 1981 by then Vice Chancellor of University Relations, Deirdre Ling, UWN has maintained a tradition of support and encouragement for all University women in their endeavors and aspirations for over 40 years.
UMass IT is grateful for the collaboration and support of this year’s DEIW campus partners:
Center for Teaching and Learning, Digital Media Lab, Disability Services, Instructional Design Engagement and Support (IDEAS), Human Resources, Office of Equity and Inclusion, Student Affairs and Campus Life, UMass Amherst Libraries, UMass Alliance Against Ableism, UMass Allies for Illness and Disability Access (UMAIDA) Network, University Relations MarCom Group.
Many thanks as well to our off-campus DEIW collaborators: ADP, Glean, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
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