CSCU Accessibility Summit

Thursday, 13 April 2023 9:15 AM - 2:45 PM EDT

Charter Oak Rd, Building 33, Willimantic, CT, 06226, United States

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Thursday, 13 April 2023 9:15 AM - 2:45 PM EDT

Eastern Connecticut State University - Student Center, Charter Oak Rd, Willimantic, CT, 06226, United States.

The CSCU Accessibility Council is excited to announce the upcoming Accessibility Summit, a one-day event designed for all faculty and staff wishing to incorporate digital accessibility and inclusion best practices into their daily routines.

The event will be held at the Student Center (33) on the campus of Eastern Connecticut State University. Parking is available within the Shakespeare Garage (P). Please note that Level 2 of the garage is reserved for ECSU parking passes and not available to visitors.

Please refer to the campus map for more information.

Cancellation policy

If you are not able to attend, please cancel your reservation at least 48 hours in advance of the event.

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CSCU Accessibility Council description - TBD

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Sessions on Apr 13, 2023

09:15 AM

Arrival & Coffee

09:15 AM - 09:45 AMBetty Tipton Room
09:45 AM

Welcome

09:45 AM - 10:00 AMBetty Tipton Room
    Elsa Núñez
    PresidentEastern Connecticut State University
    Under Dr. Núñez’s leadership, Eastern Connecticut State University has received several major national recognitions, including being ranked the #1 public regional university in New England in U.S. News and World Report’s 2021 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded "Green Campus" status by the Princeton Review 10 years in a row. Prior to joining the Eastern community, Dr. Núñez served as Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs in the University of Maine System from 2003 to 2006. Before her appointment in Maine, Dr. Núñez served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lesley University. From 1993 to 1997 she was University Dean for Academic Affairs and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the City University of New York. Dr. Núñez also served as Associate Dean of Faculty at the College of Staten Island of The City University of New York from 1986 to 1992. Dr. Núñez also has held positions as a tenured faculty member at Ramapo State College, the College of Staten Island of the City University of New York, and Lehman College of the City University of New York. She is the author of “Pursuing Diversity” (1992) and has published numerous articles in the areas of language acquisition, diversity, academic attainment in higher education, cultural differences in education and retention. Dr. Núñez received her B.A. from Montclair State College, an M.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an Ed.D. in Language Education from Rutgers University. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Dr. Núñez is married to Dr. Richard Freeland, former president of Northeastern University and former Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Massachusetts. They have two children, Maria, an anesthesiologist in Detroit, Michigan, and Antony, an academic advisor at Naugatuck Valley Community College.
    Sandra Flores-Gonzales
    Assistant Director of the Office of AccessAbilityEastern Connecticut State University
    Sandra Flores-Gonzales (she/her/ella) is the Assistant Director of the Office of AccessAbility at Eastern Connecticut State University. Sandra’s area of focus is facilitating alternative format accommodation requests while creating awareness for digital content accessibility. Sandra is a member of Eastern’s Digital Accessibility Compliance Committee; she is committed to developing a university wide infrastructure that supports student success and digital access for all users.
    10:00 AM

    Keynote Presentation: What Does UDL Mean for Me?

    10:00 AM - 11:00 AMBetty Tipton Room
      Lauren Tucker
      Assistant ProfessorSouthern Connecticut State University
      Dr. Lauren Tucker is an assistant professor and the graduate coordinator in the special education department at Southern Connecticut State University. She has a dual certification in special and regular education with over 10 years in the field. Dr. Tucker has expertise in assistive technology, universal design for learning, online learning, and technology implementation. Her research focuses on universal design, higher education, and assistive/instructional technology.
      11:05 AM

      Plenary Session: Student Creation of Accessible Materials

      11:05 AM - 11:55 AMBetty Tipton Room
        Nicolas Simon
        Assistant Professor, SociologyEastern Connecticut State University
        Dr. Nicolas P. Simon is an Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology, and Social Work at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic Connecticut. His major research interests include Sociology of Higher Education, First-Generation College Students, Community Service, Open Educational Resources, Open Pedagogy, and Sociological Theories. Dr. Simon holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree from Université de Caen in France.
        Sandra Flores-Gonzales
        Assistant Director of the Office of AccessAbilityEastern Connecticut State University
        Sandra Flores-Gonzales (she/her/ella) is the Assistant Director of the Office of AccessAbility at Eastern Connecticut State University. Sandra’s area of focus is facilitating alternative format accommodation requests while creating awareness for digital content accessibility. Sandra is a member of Eastern’s Digital Accessibility Compliance Committee; she is committed to developing a university wide infrastructure that supports student success and digital access for all users.
        Isabella Cruz
        StudentEastern Connecticut State University
        My name is Bella Cruz and I am a junior at Eastern Connecticut State University with a double major in Early childhood education and Sociology. I am a part of the ECSU cheer team, I work on campus during the school year and am a manager at a summer camp outside of the school year, while still being a full-time student as well. My future goal is to become a special education teacher and in my later years hopefully come back to ECSU and teach sociology to the next generation of students.
        Ayla DiBiasio
        StudentEastern Connecticut State University
        Ayla DiBiasio (they, them) is a senior at Eastern Connecticut State University studying sociology and criminology. They hope to teach sociology in the future at a university level. Passionate about world studies, they plan on teaching at universities around the world and learning culture through hands-on experience.
        12:00 PM

        Lunch

        12:00 PM - 12:45 PMBetty Tipton Room
        12:45 PM

        Captioning: When? Why? How?

        12:45 PM - 01:35 PMRoom 219, Student Center
          Will Seaman
          Digital Divide CoordinatorOak HIll
          Will first learned about the accessibility field while participating in the Digital Accessibility Specialist Training Program, a collaborative initiative with the CT State College & Universities, Western Connecticut State University, the CT Department of Aging and Disability Services, and NEAT. After successfully finishing the training program, he went on to complete the International Association of Accessibility Professionals requirements to become a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC). He immediately put his credentials to work as a Digital Accessibility Specialist Assistant intern at Oak Hill before moving on to his current role within the agency at NEAT. Will is passionate about technology and making the world more accessible for everyone, and approaches this vision with both personal and professional experiences in the disability community. As NEAT’s Digital Divide Coordinator, he strives to combine these two passions by getting people the technology they need to access the world, and helping them perfect their usage of it. Will works directly with the Bridging the Digital Divide program through the CT Tech Act Project and the CT Department of Aging & Disability Services State Unit on Aging.
          Ramón Hernández
          Assistive Technology Specialist at NEATOak Hill

          Accessible Procurement: Looking for Credible Evidence

          12:45 PM - 01:35 PMRoom 217, Student Center
            Sarah Ellis Murray
            Director, Office of Accessibility ServicesCharter Oak State College
            Sarah Ellis Murray, M.S. Ed, is the Director of Accessibility Services at Charter Oak State College. In addition to overseeing all student accommodations and advocacy initiatives, she chairs the Digital Accessibility Compliance Committee at Charter Oak State College. Sarah provides staff and faculty training in digital accessibility, including accessible procurement, VPAT assessments, and requestor workflows. Sarah greatly enjoys working with her colleagues and students in the CSCU to bring about equal access for all.

            OER - Accessibility & Inclusion

            12:45 PM - 01:35 PMRoom 115, Student Center
              Jillian Maynard
              Reference & Instruction LibrarianCentral Connecticut State University
              Jillian Maynard is a Reference & Instruction Librarian at Central Connecticut State University. She works with students and faculty to enhance information literacy skills across the CCSU community, through teaching one-shot library sessions and a section of the credit-course, LSC150: Research in the Digital Age. She also helps oversee the CCSU branch of the Veterans History Project, whose primary objective is to record, preserve, and share the oral histories of Connecticut Veterans from all wars. Jillian is also a part of the OER (Open Educational Resources) Library Team, tasked with increasing awareness and adoptions of OER on campus. She has presented on information literacy tools and instruction, as well as implementing OER programs and scaling OER efforts.
              Hayley Battaglia
              Serials & Electronic Resources LibrarianSouthern Connecticut State University
              Hayley Battaglia is the Serials & Electronic Resources Librarian at Hilton C. Buley Library of Southern Connecticut State University. She is a member of the CSCU OER Advisory Council, chair of the OER Committee at Buley Library, a graduate of the Creative Commons Certificate Course, editor of the OpenCSCU Blog, and a member of the Northeast OER Summit Steering Committee.

              Assistive Technologies Overview

              12:45 PM - 01:35 PMRoom 223, Student Center
                Bo Zamfir
                Director Center for Educational & Assistive TechnologySouthern Connecticut State University
                Bogdan Zamfir is the Director of the Center for Educational and Assistive Technology (CEAT) at Southern Connecticut State University. CEAT promotes the benefits of Universal Design for Learning by providing technology and support to all members of the Southern community, as well as to the community at large. Bogdan’s area of expertise and research interests focus on assistive technology, pedagogy, online learning, and universal design.
                01:45 PM

                Building an Accessibility-Focused Workforce – Digital Accessibility Training Program

                01:45 PM - 02:35 PMRoom 115, Student Center
                  Elisabeth Morel
                  Director, Accessibility ServicesWestern Connecticut State University
                  Elisabeth Morel has been the Director of AccessAbility Services at Western Connecticut State University for the last ten years. Prior to her arrival at WCSU, she was a Program Coordinator at the Center for Students with Disabilities at her alma mater, University of Connecticut. Elisabeth holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in k-12 special education and an Advanced Leadership Certificate in Post-secondary Disability Services. Throughout her professional career she has been an advocate for equal educational access and an active member within the system to enhance the support provided to students with disabilities.
                  Will Seaman
                  Digital Divide CoordinatorOak HIll
                  Will first learned about the accessibility field while participating in the Digital Accessibility Specialist Training Program, a collaborative initiative with the CT State College & Universities, Western Connecticut State University, the CT Department of Aging and Disability Services, and NEAT. After successfully finishing the training program, he went on to complete the International Association of Accessibility Professionals requirements to become a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC). He immediately put his credentials to work as a Digital Accessibility Specialist Assistant intern at Oak Hill before moving on to his current role within the agency at NEAT. Will is passionate about technology and making the world more accessible for everyone, and approaches this vision with both personal and professional experiences in the disability community. As NEAT’s Digital Divide Coordinator, he strives to combine these two passions by getting people the technology they need to access the world, and helping them perfect their usage of it. Will works directly with the Bridging the Digital Divide program through the CT Tech Act Project and the CT Department of Aging & Disability Services State Unit on Aging.

                  Create Accessible Math Right From the Keyboard - No need for the equation symbol editor anymore!

                  01:45 PM - 02:35 PMRoom 219, Student Center
                    Betsey Doane
                    ProfessorHousatonic Community College
                    My real name is Elizabeth but everyone calls me Betsey. My twin sister who is also blind is Barbara; I love being a twin. I am a totally blind mathematics and computer science professor who has been teaching for over 50 years in the CT community college system. I earned my M.A. in mathematics from the University of Massachusetts and an M.S. in computer information sciences from the University of New Haven. I am a retired professor emerita and love teaching, especially the online environment. Most recently, I have been working with TechVision helping blind and visually impaired students navigate computers and mathematics content including software in high school and college classrooms. The visual requirements in these classrooms can be real challenges for those with limited or no vision. Lately, I have been doing research on accessible math content and was one of the authors of the accessibility course developed for CSCU. Some years ago, I worked with Blackboard to assist in making that LMS more accessible.

                    Best Practices for Accessible Social Media and Promotional Materials

                    01:45 PM - 02:35 PMRoom 217, Student Center
                      Brooks Scavone
                      Director, Accessibility ServicesEastern Connecticut State University
                      Brooks Scavone received their Bachelors in Elementary Education and Masters of Counseling with a Specialization in Higher Education from Central Connecticut State University. Brooks is currently in the CCSU Ed.D Educational Leadership Program. Brooks has been working in the Office of AccessAbility Services at Eastern since January 2017. Their passion is working to enhance the student experience for underrepresented groups such as persons with disabilities and the LGBTQ+ community.

                      Digital Accessibility Compliance Committee Roundtable

                      01:45 PM - 02:35 PMRoom 223, Student Center

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