2017 Session Descriptions

Accessible Publishing: Making Educational Materials at W.W. Norton & Company

Evan Yamanishi and Matt Vitale will give a behind-the-scenes look into how Norton makes their educational materials, highlighting the path Norton has taken toward creating more accessible ebooks and online learning tools.

Presented by: Evan Yamanishi, Accessibility Lead and Co-Director of the Norton Lab, W.W. Norton & Co. and Matt Vitale, Media Accessibility Specialist, W.W Norton & Co.

Changing Face of AT

Panel Discussion

Presented by: Andy Zeisler, Moderator, Stephanie Dawson (Miami), Amanda Weyant (Kent State), Jason Piatt (Kent State), Tom Webb (Wright State), Michael Southern (University of Cincinnati), and Mitchell Jones (University of Cincinnati)

Collaboration Driven Accessibility - A Publisher's View

The notion of being in publishing these days goes far beyond providing an electronic version of a text book. With the rising student appetite for consuming video, animated health science simulations, and online math Elsevier has accelerated our collaborative and user centered design spirit. No longer can a company develop useful and accessible products without feedback from external thought leaders and users themselves, including people who experience a disability. We recently we worked with HighCharts to develop an accessible chart library for the web. In addition, we are testing our approach to accessible Math as part of the DIAGRAM center to help drive standards for math in EPUB books and reading systems. Our university collaboration group includes people using assistive technology to provide feedback on our web content before it is published.

Presented by: Ted Gies, Elsevier

Creating Disability Pride on Campus: Students with Disabilities Advisory Council Promoting Disability Studies 101

Presented by Dan Darkow and Executive Members of the Students with Disabilities Advisory Council

Presented by: Dan Darkow, Accommodation Coordinator, Miami University

Digital Accessibility and Higher Education: What You Need to Know

It’s no secret that higher educational institutions face liability for inaccessible web content and technologies at an increasing rate. Our expert team at Level Access will provide the following in this interactive presentation and demonstration:

  • An overview of the state of digital accessibility in higher education
  • Miami University's RFP process for digital accessibility
  • Brief introduction to the suite of solutions Level Access offers, and
  • An interactive demo of AMP (Accessibility Management Platform)

Presented by: Mary Smith, Level Access and Rachael Edenbaum, Level Access

Digital Accessibility for Education: Tips to Help You Through the Process

Our expert team has been working with clients in the education sector for many years, and will share important information your school should be aware of as you make decisions and prioritize next steps with your digital accessibility program:

  • Common complaints that persons with disabilities may have about your website
  • Digital accessibility laws that pertain to educational institutions
  • Things you may not have considered when making your website accessible

Presented by: Rachael Edenbaum, Level Access and Matt Baillargeon, Level Access

Inclusion Drives Innovation

Keynote Address from Janet Peters, Project Coordinator, Great Lakes ADA Center, University of Illinois

Presented by: Janet Peters, Project Coordinator, Great Lakes ADA Center, University of Illinois Chicago

MU Center for Assistive Technology (MUCAT): Engineering Improved Quality of Life

MU CAT is a cross-disciplinary scholarly research center with a mission to identify and research socially relevant problems and develop engineering solutions for them to improve quality of life. MU CAT engages students and faculty at Miami University across multiple divisions and conducts externally funded interdisciplinary research projects. MU CAT currently focuses on engineering solutions to assist and enhance the lives of older adults and people with disabilities. Undergraduate and graduate students work with faculty participants, on active, multidisciplinary research projects in the center. This talk will showcase the work performed at this center.

Presented by: Amit Shukla, Director, Miami University Center for Assistive Technology

Policy & Procurement at Miami

This session will review the new Accessibility Policy for Miami as well as a walkthrough and answer questions about the accessibility process built into procurement. This session will help build a better understanding of how accessibility applies to your area and specifically what can be done to help ensure you're procuring the most accessible technology.

Presented by: Kara Zirkle, Accessible Technology Specialist (MU)

Read and Write Gold: Rollout to Accessible Learning

Success stories of a Sinclair Community College and the Rollout of Read and Write Gold to Students.

Presented by: Jon McPeters, Territory Director, texthelp and Matt Striet, Assistive Technology Specialist/Web Content Editor, Sinclair College

STEM Accessibility

Persons who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) are very underrepresented in STEM careers although they are as interested in science as other students during high school. Part of this discrepancy between interest and employment is due to the actual and perceived inaccessibility of STEM undergraduate courses, in particular, laboratory courses. In this session, we will discuss various aspects of STEM accessibility and show that, although there are accessibility challenges, STEM courses are not as inaccessible to students who are blind or visually impaired as it is often thought. Several science lab access solutions, ranging from low tech to high tech, will be discussed or demonstrated. We will also look at the current state of accessibility for math and online STEM content.

Presented by: Greg Williams, Independence Science and SeeWriteHear

Students Accessing Miami (SAM) Faculty Portal

This training session will introduce participants to the SAM: Students Accessing Miami Faculty Portal. The portal can be used to view and manage accommodations for students with disabilities. In addition to portal training, the session will provide an overview of Miami's recent accessibility changes and new initiatives. Participants will also have a discussion opportunity to ask questions and get answers about accommodating students. Please bring your laptop or mobile device.

Presented by: Stephanie Dawson, Associate Director, Student Disability Services, Miami University

Tour: Student Disability Services, Rinella Learning Center & the AccessMU Center

Tour

Presented by: Stephanie Dawson, Associate Director, Student Disability Services, Miami University and J. Andrew Zeisler, Director, Student Disability Services, Miami University

Universal Design for Learning: Accessibility for Faculty

This session explores accessibility and universal design for learning best practices for faculty. We will discuss challenges and suggestions for accessibility planning and examine emerging technologies that can assist with accessibility efforts for instructors.

Presented by: Janet Peters, Project Coordinator, Great Lakes ADA Center, University of Illinois Chicago