Accessibility is about removing barriers for people with disabilities and ensuring they have equitable access, interaction, and participation. And while the focus in higher education is often on how to teach “accessibly” in the classroom to reach all students, what is often overlooked is the need to teach accessibility, or more specifically, the skills and principles of accessible design and development. Students in fields such as graphic design, computer science, and human-computer interaction can and must be better prepared when entering the workforce to create technologies that are truly inclusive — meeting the demands of technology users of all ages and abilities such that technology products and services are born accessible.
Teach Access’s mission is to make the fundamentals of digital accessibility, including design principles and best practices, a larger part of undergraduate education, through partnerships with educational institutions, the technology industry, and advocates for people with disabilities. Join us for a conversation with Kate Sonka, Executive Director of Teach Access, as we explore both teaching “accessibly” and accessibility and the role Teach Access is playing in creating that future where students enter the workforce with knowledge of the needs of people with disabilities and the requisite skills for creating accessible solutions. Only then will technology achieve its true potential for connecting and enabling everyone in the world.
Kate Sonka is the Executive Director of Teach Access. Previously, she was the Assistant Director of Inclusion and Academic Technology at the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University. Kate has more than 12 years of experience in higher education and has worked to improve teaching and learning with technology through course design and support, experiential learning, and training and mentorship for faculty members and students. In exploring how accessibility exists in professional and academic spaces, Kate helped establish the Teach Access Study Away Silicon Valley program, implemented the Teach Access Faculty Curriculum Development Grant Program, and founded the Accessible Learning Conference at Michigan State University.
We want to hear your questions regarding accessibility in technology, Teach Access, and everything in between! Please submit any questions you may have for Sean Keegan or Kate Sonka in this form so we can discuss them during the Q&A portion of this event.
This event will include CART/Live Transcription. If you need other disability-related accommodations, please contact Hanna Yimer at hyimer@stanford.edu. Requests should be made by June 21, 2023.
