On May 16, 2024, as part of a full day of activities commemorating Global Accessibility Awareness Day, the UW IT Accessibility Task Force will present UW Digital Accessibility Awards in a hybrid ceremony to honor individuals and teams who have demonstrated a commitment to digital accessibility over the last year.
See below for specific criteria, eligibility, and submission information for two awards:
- UW Digital Accessibility Individual Award
- UW Digital Accessibility Team Award
Eligibility for Digital Accessibility Awards
- Nominations must be made by members of the UW community (UW NetID is required).
- Nominated individuals and teams must be affiliated with UW Seattle, UW Bothell, UW Tacoma, or UW Medicine. Awards are open to faculty, staff, or students.
- Self-nominations are accepted.
- Winners of the IT Accessibility Capacity Building Award (for departmental units) from the past two years are not eligible for the UW Digital Accessibility Team Award.
- Winners of the IT Accessibility Trailblazer Award (for individuals) from the past two years are not eligible for the UW Digital Accessibility Individual Award.
- Individuals or teams with representatives on the IT Accessibility Task Force are eligible, but if nominated their Task Force representatives must abstain from voting.
- Individual members of the IT Accessibility Task Force are eligible, but if nominated must abstain from voting.
Criteria
The criteria for both the UW Digital Accessibility Individual Award and the UW Digital Accessibility Team Award are the same. There is a field on the nomination form for you to specify whether yours is an individual or team nomination.
Selection of recipients for Digital Accessibility Awards is based on the degree to which a team or member of the UW community (faculty, staff, or student) exemplifies and provides evidence of the following:
- Impact – Nominated individual’s or team’s work has produced tangible results to improve digital accessibility.
- Longevity – Nominated individual’s or team’s work has included institutionalizing accessibility by establishing policies, procedures or workflows that assure digital assets will continue to be accessible in the future.
- Collaboration – Nominated individual’s or team’s efforts have involved collaborating with other individuals, departments, or units throughout the UW, thereby helping to build bridges and community in support of digital accessibility efforts.
- Alignment with UW’s Aspirational Policy Statement on IT Accessibility – Nominated individual’s or team’s work contributes toward the UW’s goal of “striving to ensure that people with disabilities have access to the same services and content that are available to people without disabilities, including services and content made available through the use of information technology,” as expressed on the UW policy- IT accessibility web page.
- Alignment with UW’s Diversity Blueprint Goals – Nominated individual’s or team’s work contributes to the Diversity Blueprint Goals defined by the UW Diversity Council, especially those goals related specifically to access and accessibility:
- #1. Cultivate an Accessible, Inclusive and Equitable Climate
- #6. Improve Accountability and Transparency at All Levels
Additional Support (Optional)
Evidence of nominated individual’s or team’s impact and efforts supporting Digital Accessibility, may include:
- A website
- An online document or slide deck
- A video
- Another online resource
The nomination form includes two fields for sharing the evidence:
- The URL to the online resource
- A description of the resource
Timeline
- Friday, March 15: Digital Accessibility Awards Nominations Open
- Monday, April 15: Nominations Close
- Wednesday, May 1: Award Recipients notified
- Thursday, May 16: Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) Awards Event
Submission Process
Please submit your nomination using the UW Digital Accessibility Awards Nomination Form by April 15, 2024 at midnight PDT. All nominees will be notified by email by May 1. Awards will be distributed at the UW Digital Accessibility Awards event on May 16.
Questions?
Contact Mary-Colleen Jenkins, mcj6@uw.edu