We want to thank our session presenters for allowing us to record and share these sessions with you. A couple notes about the recordings:
The recordings include the live captions from the event.
Recordings are provided through CCCTechConnect Cloud (3CMedia Solutions)
We hope you enjoy these recordings!
Session Presenter(s): Aaron Holmes (MiraCosta College) and Kelly Falcone (Palomar College)
Session Description: This opening session will provide an overview of what to expect throughout the week, highlighting key workshops and opportunities for learning. We’ll also explore the laws and guidelines that shape accessibility in higher education and, more importantly, discuss why accessibility is a fundamental human right. Whether you're new to accessibility or looking to deepen your understanding, this session will set the stage for a week of meaningful learning and collaboration.
Shared Presentation Resources: AccessAbility Week Kickoff_Why Accessibility Matter (Google Slides)
Session Presenter(s): Donna McCabe, San Diego Community College District
Session Description: Content within Canvas is perhaps the easiest way to ensure your courses are accessible. I'll share five skills to help you make your Canvas materials more accessible for all students, staff, and faculty.
Session Presenter(s): Stephanie Kelley and Nadia Khan, MiraCosta College
Session Description: This session aims to equip faculty with practical tools and tips to ensure accessibility when adopting, curating/revising, and creating Open Educational Resources (OER). By the end of this session, participants will have a better understanding of the tools available and how to use them, ensuring that all students have equitable access to learning resources.
Shared Presentation Resources: Tools and Tips for Accessible Open Educational Resources (OER) (PowerPoint)
Session Presenter(s): Kris Secor, San Diego Mesa College
Session Description: In this workshop, Mesa Web Development Professor Kris Secor will take you on a tour of Canvas’ mobile application from both the instructor and the student perspective. Older devices and emulators will be used to demonstrate the student experience. Recommendations will be made to cater to those older devices as a progressive enhancement approach will be introduced.
Presenter(s): Lucy Lidot, CCC Tech Connect
Session Description: Discover how the Distance Education Captioning and Transcription (DECT) Grant can enhance the accessibility of your educational content. This session will provide a comprehensive overview of the DECT grant's offerings, including direct captioning and transcription services for California Community Colleges. Learn about the application process, how to leverage pre-approved vendors, and the various payment methods designed to streamline your experience. Join us to explore how this grant supports inclusive education through essential captioning services and find out how your institution can take full advantage of these resources.
Session Presenter(s): Mark Pope, Pope Tech
Session Description: This workshop will demonstrate using the Pope Tech Web Accessibility Products improve your Canvas course accessibility. We will cover some basic accessibility principles and show how to use the guide to resolve issues. We will also spend the last few minutes going over recent product updates and share what is coming soon.
Presenter(s): Kelly Spoon, San Diego Mesa College
Session Description: This workshop explores how integrating common accommodations into everyday teaching benefits all students, not just those with disabilities. Learn practical strategies to make your classroom more inclusive by leveraging accommodation letters as tools for improving engagement, understanding, and student success across the board.
Shared Presentation Resources: Accommodations as Good Teaching: Practical Strategies for Inclusive Classrooms (Google Slides)
Session Presenter(s): Tracy Schaelen (Southwestern College), Kelly Spoon (San Diego Mesa College), Fredo Herrera (Southwestern College), and Nadia Khan (MiraCosta)
Session Description: Join us for an engaging Accessibility Lightning Round, where you’ll discover practical strategies for enhancing inclusion in your teaching. Learn how to make accessibility a core practice in your classroom, with tips for creating accessible content and empowering students to use accessibility tools. Next, explore having students engage in inclusive design by teaching accessibility with an example from a statistics course. Finally, discover how to add free professional captions to your Canvas Studio videos using 3C Media and creative use of caption files. This fast-paced session is packed with valuable insights to help you create a more inclusive and supportive classroom for all students.
Shared Presentation Resources: Kelly Spoon: Teaching Students about Accessibility (Google Slides)
Session Presenter(s): Farhonda Alizada, MiraCosta College
Session Description: Learn how to create effective alt text that enhances accessibility for images. This hands-on workshop introduces best practices, common mistakes, and tools like the ASU Alt Text Generator to help streamline your process.
Shared Presentation Resources: Beyond the Image How to Write Meaningful Alternative Text (PDF)
Presenter(s): Pamela LeBlanc, Abrey Nydegger, and Michelle Farnam (MiraCosta College)
Session Description: This session will provide attendees with an overview of the MiraCosta College Ability Ally training on disability awareness and allyship. The presenters will also discuss the setup, iterations, and progress that has been made over multiple semesters offering Ability Ally training to cohorts of employees across the District.
Shared Presentation Resources: Ability Ally - Disability Aware (PowerPoint)
Presenter(s): Tucker Grimshaw, San Diego City College
Session Description: Discover how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can help create more inclusive and engaging learning experiences for all students. This workshop offers simple, flexible strategies to support diverse learners by providing various ways to connect with content and express their understanding. Participants will walk away with practical ideas to make learning more accessible and rewarding for everyone.
Session Presenter(s): Kelly Helming, Palomar College
Session Description: Achieving universal design in PDFs is possible! Using Adobe Acrobat Pro, this workshop aligns basic accessibility principles to PDFs; highlights key accessibility components of the PDF document (including an overview of the built-in accessibility checker), and illustrates how to certify a PDF through the accessibility report.
Shared Presentation Resources: Achieving Universal Design in PDFs with Adobe Acrobat Pro (PDF)
Presenter(s): Sarah Baker and Alyssa Vafaei, Palomar College
Session Description: Part 1 of The Accessible Course Syllabus will lead faculty through the process of formatting their digital course syllabi in an accessible manner. Faculty are encouraged to have an editable version of at least one course syllabus handy so they can practice in real-time.
Session Presenter(s): Alyssa Vafaei, Sarah Baker, Palomar College
Session Description: Part 2 of The Accessible Course Syllabus will guide faculty in re-thinking common syllabus terminology and course policies that may be considered disability discrimination. Develop inclusive language and policies that welcome all students and attempt to avoid discrimination lawsuits. Bring a syllabus to edit in real-time.
Presenter(s): Leigh Ann Van Dyke, Sarah Baker, and Alyssa Vafaei (Palomar College)
Session Description: This presentation demystifies what exactly executive functioning (EF) is, how common challenges with EF are, how to detect when a student has a challenge with EF, and practical strategies to implement in course design and delivery, office hours, and tutoring sessions.
Shared Presentation Resources: Executive Functioning (PowerPoint)
Session Presenter(s): Kelly Spoon, San Diego Mesa College
Session Description: This session covers practical ways to improve accessibility in math courses. From using alt text and headings to ensuring math content is screen-reader friendly, learn easy-to-implement strategies that create a more inclusive learning environment for all students, regardless of ability.
Shared Presentation Resources: Practical Accessibility in Math: Simple Steps for Inclusive Courses (Google Slides)
Presenter(s): Nadia Khan, Aaron Holmes, Kristi Reyes, and Curry Mitchell (MiraCosta College)
Session Description: Join MiraCosta faculty, the accessibility specialist, and the online education team to explore strategies and examples for prioritizing accessibility in education. This session offers practical tips and collaborative approaches to foster inclusivity, benefiting all students and staff. Gain insights to embed accessibility across departments and advance a culture of inclusion.
Session Presenter(s): Kimberly Lacher and Cara Smulevitz, San Diego Mesa College
Session Description: Join us to learn how to utilize AI to make accessibility improvements easier and faster. You'll also get some hands-on practice with making images and documents more accessible so that you can apply these skills to your own course materials immediately.
Presenter(s): Denise Maduli Williams (Miramar College), Tucker Grimshaw (City College), Johanna Gleason (College of Continuing Education), Kris Secor (Mesa College), Donna Eyestone (SDCCD), and Deka Chhabra (SDCCD)
Session Description: This panel discussion will feature Online Accessibility Mentors (OAM) from the San Diego Community College District (City College, College of Continuing Education, Mesa College, Miramar College) we will introduce the OAM initiative, and the mentors will share their experiences and strategies for supporting accessibility at their respective colleges.