.png)
Breakout 2H
1:00 pm - 1:50 pm Central Time
Using Accessibility Data to Make Institutional Change
Presented by Krista Wright, Senior Accessibility Strategist and Amy DiMola, Accessibility Strategist at Anthology (formerly Blackboard)
Krista Wright
Amy DiMola
Every higher education institution faces challenges with making content in their learning management system (LMS) accessible. Ally is a tool that integrates within the LMS that provides data about accessibility issues in content, the amount of accessibility improvements made, and so on.
This session will focus on a meaningful analysis of the national data about the current state of LMS accessibility. For example, in 2020-21 across 11.8 million courses, there were 90.5 million PDFs, of which 13.03% were scanned. The session will conclude by providing ideas to further your institutional accessibility goals, even if your school doesn’t use Ally.
An enthusiastic, data-driven individual, Krista is passionate about inclusivity. With over 13 years of experience, Krista’s focus is to accelerate digital content, with expertise in document and video accessibility. She is excited about improving the experience for all users, students, and clients by working with stakeholders to make changes at an organizational level. Krista has directly supported 200+ institutions in strategizing around improved inclusion through the implementation of Blackboard Ally. Since 2018, Krista has served as the Vice President of ATHEN, a professional association and network accessibility and technology. Leveraging her Master of Education in Educational Technology from Boise State University (2018), Krista is interested in the intersection of accessibility, and instructional design.
Amy DiMola has over 10 years of experience in higher education disability services, with a focus on alternative format production and assistive technology. She brings her decade of experience, along with her Master of Science in Rehabilitation Psychology, to the Anthology Blackboard Ally team with the goal of assisting universities and other institutions in increasing accessibility and inclusion for all students through strategic implementation and use of Ally.