2024 Presenters
Keynote Speaker
Corbb O'Connor (He/Him)
Director of Accessibility Advocacy, Level Access
Corbb O'Connor is a seasoned expert in digital accessibility within higher education. He has led teams that tested hundreds of websites, guided universities through Office for Civil Rights investigations, and developed websites using a variety of content management systems. Now a Director at Level Access, he consults with dozens of universities annually, helping them achieve and maintain digital accessibility standards. Upon his graduation from The George Washington University where he studied economics and political communication, O'Connor received the university's highest honor, which recognizes individuals for their exemplary contributions to the institution and its community.
Presenters and Panelists
Annastashia Blesi
Assistant Director, The Miller Center for Student Disability Services, Miami University
Annastashia Blesi (she/her) currently serves as the Assistant Director of the Miller Center for Student Disability Services where she works closely with students and the broader Miami community to ensure disability access within the university experience. Annastashia brings her lived experience as a disabled woman both into this space and in the classroom where she teaches DST 272: Introduction to Disability Studies. She holds a master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University and is currently enrolled in the Educational Leadership doctoral program at Miami where she is studying the intersection of resilience and disability identity development in college students.
Laura Fathauer
Senior Web Accessibility Specialist, AccessMU Center
Laura Fathauer is the Senior Web Accessibility Specialist at the AccessMU Center. She has a B.S. in Mathematics from Antioch College and an M.S. in Mathematics from Wright State University. She has previously presented on accessibility in Higher Education and on captioning at the CSUN Assistive Technology conference, held annually in California.
Katie Gibson
Information Services Librarian, University Libraries
Katie Gibson (she/her) is a Humanities and Area Studies Librarian at King Library and serves as the liaison to the Miller Center for Student Disability Services and the AccessMU Center. She received her MLS from Indiana University. Research interests include library services to diverse student populations, information literacy instruction, and digital humanities.
Polly L. Heinkel
Web Communications Specialist, University Communications and Marketing
Polly L. Heinkel earned her BA in English Literature (‘07) and her MA in Theater Studies (‘12) from Miami University. During her time as a theater professional living in London, she honed her skills in web design and content management. She rejoined the Miami University community in 2017 as the administrative assistant at the Humanities Center and began her position as the web communications specialist in University Communications and Marketing supporting the College of Arts and Science in May 2022.
Kit Kirby
Interim Coordinator of Faculty Engagement, Miami Online
Kit Kirby is the interim Coordinator for Faculty Engagement for Miami Online Regionals and on technical support, training, and digital accessibility for faculty teaching online. She earned her MFA from UCLA in Design Media Arts in 2019 with a focus on digital performance and game design and also has a BFA in Graphic Design from Boston University. Beyond a passion for the intersection of technology and creativity, Kit is also an avid hiker, fossil-collector, and painter.
Karen O'Hara
Digital Accessibility Specialist, AccessMU Center
In her role as Digital Accessibility Specialist, Karen remediates documents for accessibility and ensures that students registered with the Miller Center obtain alternate textbook formats. During her time at Miami she has specialized in technical documentation, web content, and marketing. For the past 20 years, she has also taught sections of EGS 215 (Workplace Writing) and ENG 313 (Technical Writing) at Miami Regionals. Karen holds a B.A. in Music and an M.A. in Technical and Scientific Communication from Miami University.
Eliza Quinn-Alger
Accessible Technology Coordinator, AccessMU Center
ElizaMarie Quinn-Alger is the Accessible Technology Coordinator at AccessMU Center. She holds a Master of Science degree in Disability Services in Higher Education from the City University of New York, and a BS from the University of Connecticut in Disability Studies, plus a minor in Human Development and Family Studies. ElizaMarie is passionate about supporting students with disabilities, helping them learn and adapt to the various Assistive Technology tools readily available. In her role as Accessibility Coordinator, she has a wide variety of responsibilities working with students, staff, and faculty, including coordinating caption support for live events and recorded learning.
Jessica Rea
Director of Web Marketing, University Communications and Marketing
Jessica Rea is the Director of Web Marketing in the office of University Communications and Marketing, where she leads a team of eight who help support and maintain Miami's marketing web presence. Her team works closely with the AccessMU Center to monitor and maintain template and content accessibility across our web presence. She has worked in corporate website consulting, building front-end user interfaces for clients, and in higher education, where she has worked at Miami for the past 15 years. She went to school at Miami University for graphic design, where she originally fell in love with website creation.
Greg Williams
Independence Science and Tactile Engineering
Dr. Greg Williams received his Ph.D. in computational chemistry from the University of Cambridge and holds B.S. degrees in chemistry and mathematics from Indiana University. He is a former high school teacher with teaching experience in and outside of the sciences.
Greg understands the accessibility issues in STEM courses from his experiences as a blind student pursuing a STEM career. He was a post-doctoral fellow with the Institute for Accessible Science at Purdue University.
Since 2012 he has worked for Independence Science and also works for Tactile Engineering. Greg works with publishers to improve the accessibility of their online STEM curriculum, and consults with high schools and universities on STEM accessibility. He has been part of projects to develop accessible lab technology, including the Talking LabQuest and the Cadence Braille Tablet.
Miami University is committed to providing an inclusive and equitable event experience. If you need disability related accommodations (e.g. interpreter, captioning, materials in an accessible format) to facilitate full participation please contact the Miller Center by phone at 513-529-1541, Ohio Relay 711 or SDS@MiamiOH.edu at least three business days prior to the event.
