Sustainability
Charged to develop and maintain the long-term framework, policies, practices, and guidelines necessary to uphold digital accessibility beyond 2026.
- Develop long-term governance and policy frameworks
- Imbed accessibility into institutional workflows
- Implement metrics and monitoring systems
- Establish mechanisms for long-term accessibility enablement
Sustainability Team
Accessible Accordion
Chair: Bree Callahan, ADA/Section 504 Coordinator, Civil Rights Compliance Office
- Amy Ko, The Information School
- Beth Somerfield, Deputy ADA Coordinator, Civil Rights Compliance Office
- Darcy Janzen, Director, Digital Learning, UW Tacoma
- Hana Levay, University Libraries
- Jon Payne, Director of Healthcare Nondiscrimination and Regulatory Affairs, UW Medicine
- Karin Roberts, Director, Teaching & Learning Systems, Information Technology
- Lalitha Subramanian, Continuum College
- Lynn Magill, Procurement Services
- Terrill Thompson, IT Accessibility Team Manager, UW-IT Accessible Technology Services
- Thomas Thorpe, Director Web Strategy, University Marketing & Communications
- Project Manager: Jeanne Petty, Civil Rights Compliance Office
Remediation
Charged to reduce accessibility barriers in high-impact digital content across UW.
- The identification and prioritization of digital accessibility risk
- Enable the Remediation of high-impact inaccessible digital content
- Coordinate with distributed IT units
- Track and report progress on remediation efforts
- Recommend tools and workflows
- Support training and knowledge transfer
Remediation Team
Accessible Accordion
Chair: Mary Mulvihill, Director of Digital Accessibility, UW-IT Accessible Technology Services
- Ana Thompson, Academic Technology, UW Bothell
- Claudia Aguirre, Development Services Director, College of Engineering
- Dominick Mendoza, IT – Student Life
- Gaby de Jongh, UW-IT Accessible Technology Services
- Marcus Hirsch, Director, Academic Strategy & Affairs Information Services
- Perry Yee, University Libraries
- Koji Sonoda, Director of Digital Health, UW Medicine
- Kory Kuriel, Director of Digital Experience, UW Medicine
- Tohm Judson, University Marketing & Communication
- Susie Hawkey, UW-IT Accessible Technology Services
- Project Manager: Ahuvah Reese, UW-IT
Change Management
Charged to build awareness, inspire commitment, and provide clear, consistent messaging so that faculty, staff, and students feel supported in making accessibility an integral part of their work.
- Deliver timely, clear messaging about the DOJ Title II requirements, UW’s accessibility standards, and why accessibility matters.
- Use events, stories, and campaigns (e.g., “Join the Pack”) to build a shared sense of responsibility and pride in accessible digital content.
- Develop and maintain communication materials (FAQs, newsletters, website hub, templates) that explain processes and expectations in plain language.
- Highlight resources such as training, remediation playbooks, and liaison networks so people know how to take action.
- Share progress through dashboards, success stories, and recognition programs to keep momentum strong.
Change Management Team
Accessible Accordion
Chair: Gene Shoda, Project Manager, UW-IT
- Beth Somerfield, Deputy ADA Coordinator, Civil Rights Compliance Office
- Darcy Janzen, Director, Digital Learning, UW Tacoma
- Elizabeth Sharpe, Director of Internal Communications, School of Medicine
- Jennifer Mankoff, Director, Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences
- Marisa Nickle, Senior Director, Strategy & Academic Initiatives
- Mary-Colleen Jenkins, UW-IT Accessible Technology Services
- Mary Mulvihill, Director of Digital Accessibility, UW-IT Accessible Technology Services
- Melissa Albin, Communications, UW-IT
- Sarah Frazier, Enterprise Risk Management, Compliance and Risk Services
Course Content Implementation
Implement and execute the AY24-25 Course Content Action Team recommendations. The implementation team membership is designed to change over time to include subject-matter expertise relevant to the area of focus of work prioritized in the near-term.
Accessible Accordion
Implementation Team
Chair: Marcus Hirsch, Director, Information Services, Academic Strategy & Affairs, chair
- Derek Barbee, Director, Instructional Development & Course Production, Continuum College
- Bryan Blakeley, AVP for Partnerships & Online Learning, Continuum College
- Bree Callahan, ADA Coordinator, Compliance Services
- Darcy Janzen, Director, Digital Learning, UW Tacoma
- Deborah Hathaway, Director, Learning & Teaching, UW Bothell
- Edith Wang, Associate Dean, School of Medicine
- Jake Kulstad, Assistant Director, Academic Technologies, Academic Strategy & Affairs
- Penelope Moon, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Academic Strategy & Affairs
- Mary Mulvihill, Director of Digital Accessibility, Accessible Technology Services, UW Information Technology
- Marisa Nickle, Senior Director, Strategy & Academic Initiatives, Academic Strategy & Affairs
- Priya Keefe, Project Manager, Information Services, Academic Strategy & Affairs
- Phil Reid, Vice Provost, Academic Strategy & Affairs and professor, Chemistry
- Karin Roberts, Director, Teaching & Learning Systems, UW Information Technology
- El Schofield, Service Manager, UW-IT Teaching & Learning Systems, UW Information Technology
- Adiam Tesfay, Director, Disability Resources for Students, Student Life
- Created list of tasks and prioritized for the near-, medium-, and long-term
- Developed support model and framework for interim and future state
- Purchased and launched TidyUp (tool for deleting and archiving content in Canvas)
- Purchased and launched UDOIT (tool for converting inaccessible PDFs to editable Canvas pages)
- Learning Technologies report and current state workflow mapping
- E-Textbook subgroup findings
- Edge Case applications/programs inventory
- Bookstore adoption future workflow
- Implementing support model for response to help@uw questions
- Implementing support model pilot for embedded expertise in key disciplines with unique content challenges
- Exploring how learning technologies and course content fit into plans for an exceptions process
- Developing implementation plan for improving lead time for sourcing textbooks and creating a system of record
- Exploring central repository for remediated course materials
Course Content Communications, Outreach, and Education
Key communications strategies, to date, include messages to tri-campus faculty, presentations to faculty governance groups, workshops, and robust overhauls of web resources to support faculty understanding and practical next steps as they work to ensure accessibility of course materials.
Accessible Accordion
Colleagues are providing input and helping coordinate outreach and communications related to digital accessibility as part of this initiative. Contributors include:
-
- UW Information Technology
- University ADA/Section 504 Coordinator
- The Teaching@UW Leadership Council
- Members of this initiatives Innovation and Research Action Team
- UW Tacoma
- UW Bothell
- Continuum College
- Student Life
- The Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning
- Faculty Senate leadership
- The Office of the Provost
- Faculty accessibility experts from several UW schools and colleges
- Provost message sent to faculty – “Expectations for making digital content accessible” (March 4)
- Vice provost message to faculty – “ADA course content liability and guidance” (June 4)
- Outreach to faculty governance groups – Marisa Nickle & Bree Callahan presented to Faculty Senate, Faculty Senate Executive Committee, FCTL, FCSA, FCITC, FCTCP, and FCUL (March – May)
- Teaching@UW/ATS workshop (video) – “Building an ADA compliant syllabus” (May 2 and recorded for asynchronous access)
- Creation of a new Teaching@UW portal page “Making course materials accessible“
- Step-by-step instructions for faculty based on Action Team recommendations, to date:
- Presentation to BODC with offer to visit departmental retreats/meetings (June 25)
- Published Academic Course Content Action Team proposal and working groups reports on the Digital Accessibility Initiative webpage (July)
- Met with academic leadership to discuss unique challenges in the Colleges of Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Environment, and Built Environments (Aug – Sept)
- Sept Chairs’ Toolkit sent to deans and associate deans (Sept 11)
- Presenting at faculty retreats and meetings at chair’s request
- Updates to BODC, PSO, and Faculty Senate
- Meeting with academic leadership to discuss unique challenges in the Foster School, School of Medicine, iSchool, Public Health, and Social Work
- Monthly communications toolkits for associate deans to share with chairs and faculty. Monthly topics include:
- New rule – Setting expectations and prioritizing effort (Sept)
- New tools – Deleting and archiving content in Canvas using TidyUp. (Sept)
- New resources – Making documents and slide decks accessible. (Oct, Nov, Dec)
- New resources – Making videos and images accessible. Using accessibility checkers. (Jan, Feb, Mar)
- New guidelines – Accessible textbooks. (TBD)
- Step-by-step instructions for faculty based on Action Team recommendations:
- Making assigned readings accessible (with UW Libraries)
- Deleting and archiving content in Canvas using TidyUp
- Converting PDFs to Canvas pages using UDOIT
- Using accessibility checkers – how to interpret and improve scores
- Workshops (Teaching@UW, ATS’s Course Accessibility Lunch & Learns, and UW Bothell):
- A Cleaner, Leaner Canvas Course with TidyUP (Oct 7)
- Accessible Docs: Secrets Revealed (Oct 9)
- Making slide decks accessible (Oct 14)
- Accessible Slides: Secrets Unlocked (Oct 20)
- Does it really have to be a PDF? A chat about alternatives (Nov 4)
- Accessible Docs: Secrets Revealed (Nov 7)
- Accessible Slides: Secrets Unlocked (Nov 14)
- Making your syllabus accessible (Dec 2)
- Explore UDOIT, our new Canvas Accessibility Checker (Dec 9)
- Ask Us! Accessibility Resources at the UW Libraries (Jan 6)
- Harnessing accessibility checker tools (Jan 22)
- Seven Practical Moves Toward Disability Justice in the Classroom (Feb 3)
- Regular UW Insider messages and Canvas banners
- UW-IT messaging to webpage owners, including faculty who host courses on webpages
- Course content related FAQ, in partnership with the ADA Coordinator
- Vice Provost messages to faculty (tentative)
- Information ecosystem improvements – coordinate analysis and updates to resource webpages to improve clarity and alignment across unit pages and improve the user experience for faculty seeking resources and information from pages such as Teaching@UW, Digital Accessibility, the Digital Accessibility Initiative, ATS, DRS, and Libraries.