Breakout 3A

Vanessa Garza

2:00 pm - 2:50 pm Central Time
Creating a Culture Shift - Finding Our Place
Presented by:
Vanessa Garza, Learning Experience Accessibility Specialist at University of Texas at San Antonio
RaLynn McGuire, Lead Accessibility/Universal Design for Learning Specialist at University of Texas at San Antonio
RaLynn McGuire
Can a university shift from a stand-alone accommodation model to a proactive approach to accessibility? We think so! We have been on a journey to shift the campus culture. This presentation will focus on the journey of creating the role of accessibility specialist, increasing campus-wide partnerships and visibility, gaining support for new initiatives, and creating an accessibility policy.
Vanessa worked as an educator, developer, and instructional designer before developing a passion for creating accessible content in higher education. Vanessa currently focuses on training and supporting faculty to create accessible content and promote a culture of inclusive education.
RaLynn started her career as a classroom teacher. Years ago she transitioned to working in the field of accessibility in higher education in varying capacities such as training users, performing UX accessibility testing, training and supporting faculty as they create accessible content, and promoting a culture of accessibility and inclusion