Digital Accessibility and Institutional Improvement: Professional Development is a Key Cyndi Rowland, Ph.D WebAIM, NCDAE; Utah State University 9/26/18 OLC Accelerate, KC MO

KEYS to Your Success Leadership Support Policy Strategy Resources Communications Monitoring . . . and next . . . Faculty supports

KEYS to Your Success (cont.) Professional Development

The criticality of professional development What percentage of your online content is controlled by someone at your institution? How will they know to do something different?

Professional Development Challenges Who needs what? Is this added to their plate? Effectiveness of professional development efforts Logistics Ongoing efforts Motivation Monitoring outcomes

If everyone in the enterprise has some responsibility, Who Needs What? If everyone in the enterprise has some responsibility, you must provide them with training and supports Administration –laws and risk, changes in standards, leadership motivation Faculty (including adjuncts) –Word, PPT, PDF, Excel, others Staff – specific issues like faculty, procurement or HR have different needs Students – are they employees? Do they create collaborate materials and share with other students in class?

Who needs what? (continued) How deep do you expect them to go? http://ncdae.org/blog/reflections-on-accessibility- expectations/

Who Needs What? ( . . .continued) Be explicit Portland Community College Web Accessibility Guidelines 2015 https://www.pcc.edu/instructional-support/wp- content/uploads/sites/17/2017/11/WebA11Y- HB2_Print-HiRes.pdf

Is training added to their plate? Institutions are doing this differently Some add training completion to role statements Some provide extra compensation or release time

Effectiveness of professional development efforts Training can only be effective if it is a match to what they need Match content taught to what they do HTML Office products (Word, PPT, Excel) PDF Stats programs Design programs Evaluation of products for procurement

Effectiveness of professional development efforts (continued) Training can only be effective if it is a match to what they need Match training to your expectations Knowledge Skill Match pedagogy to your desired level Know that some are information only (e.g., curated resources) Evaluation (e.g., Quizzes or tests? Application?) Feedback from experts (on knowledge or skill?)

Logistics Face-to face or online? Internal capacity external expert (what about longterm?) outsourced/purchased (shelf life?) Internal development (time, cost, ongoing updates) Do you need verification? Certification or badges A paper trail of the completers (for your “good faith” file, or for a legal issue?). Scale? Is it accessible?

Ongoing Efforts Not a “one and done” Need to create technical assistance supports Add accessibility to help desk? Place or assign accessibility point persons in units or departments Regularly share tips or other info at department meetings Available for support individually Establish accessibility mentors amongst peer groups Online community of practice Need to keep training alive New faculty and staff Additional training when performance is not as intended

Do do vs Can do Motivation Police model Gatekeeper model Good citizen model

Motivation (continued) Recommendation Create “carrot” environment Positive reasons to do the work Adequate supports for success Create a policy environment: everyone knows the expectations Know your response BEFORE any violations occur

Monitoring Outcomes Don’t just ask about training satisfaction How is training tied into accessibility outcomes? Know how the data you collect will be used to improve accessibility

What’s out there? SO MUCH! Examples Search for what you need Take it and evaluate based on your own criteria Examples LMS (Canvas, Blackboard) Systems (Texas, Washington, California) Consultancies (WebAIM, Deque, Interactive Accessibility) Other (Udacity, Lynda, Future Learn)

Here’s to Training that Supports your Efforts!