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Accessibility Champions Training

Explore an accessibility training I designed and facilitated for the University of North Dakota's faculty Accessibility Champions.

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Introduction

I thoroughly enjoy designing courses alongside a variety of Subject Matter Experts across campus. However, I was recently given an opportunity to put my design philosophy and knowledge of instructional design best practices to the test and create a summer training for UND's faculty Accessibility Champions. Read on to see a sampling of the elements and components I created for the course.  ​​

The Context

  • The Problem: UND faculty need to start making course content in Blackboard Ultra Title II compliant

  • The Solution: Identify faculty members in UND's Colleges and train them to liaise between Colleges and the instructional design staff in the Teaching, Transformation, and Development Academy (TTaDA)

  • The Audience: A number of faculty members selected by Deans and Chairs from several of UND's Colleges

  • My role: Design and facilitate intensive accessibility training during Summer 2025 â€‹

  • Constraints: I had a little over a month to put the training together​​

Audience

The Accessibility Champions were nominated by the Deans and Chairs of their respective Colleges/Departments. The Champions:

  • Came from across campus. In total, seven faculty were nominated from each of the following schools: John D Odegard School-Aerospace, Nistler College of Business and Public Administration, College of Education and Human Development, College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines, College of Engineering and Mines, College of Arts and Sciences.

  • Were not required to have any prior understanding of accessibility. I could not assume that any of the Champions were familiar with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or the Office of Civil Rights. 

  • Were not required to meet any technical requirements. This meant I could not assume that any of the Champions were familiar with WCAG 2.1 AA or other accessibility standards or criteria. I also could not assume that they were familiar with screen readers or other assistive technologies. 

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Training Outcomes

Training for the Accessibility Champions began at the beginning of June 2025 and concluded midway through July 2025. At the end of the training, I wanted each Champion to be able to do the following: 

  • Define "accessibility" specifically as it pertains to digital course resources, using definitions from the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), and WCAG 2.1 AA

  • Explore the complexities of the recent Title II regulation shifts

  • Identify the differences between screen readers and assistive technologies

  • Identify the principles of Universal Design in Learning (UDL) and apply UDL to a course assignment

  • Use common accessibility tools and checkers, including Blackboard Ally, to identify common accessibility issues in digital course resources

  • Define and fix common accessibility issues (e.g., headings, tables, images, color, etc.) in a variety of formats, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, YuJa, and Blackboard Ultra

  • Produce a fully-accessible Microsoft Word document and Microsoft PowerPoint slide presentation

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Training Delivery Mode(s)

Because summer schedules were difficult to work with, I designed this training opportunity as a hybrid one. Champions completed synchronous and asynchronous work as follows:

  • Synchronous: Each Champion attended three meetings with the entire group. During these meetings, Champions learned about accessibility, Universal Design in Learning, experienced screen readers and assistive technology demonstrations, and had opportunities to ask questions. Champions were also required to meet with their College's designated Instructional Designer.

  • Asynchronous: Because learning technology can be difficult and requires a lot of time to practice and learn, I conducted the technical training through a self-paced asynchronous Blackboard Ultra course. We had originally intended to review the UDIL Assignment Revision on Zoom, but schedules intervened, so we conducted our Peer Review through Blackboard as well. 

Sample Module

Want a peek at a sample module from the Blackboard course? Peruse the following screenshots, documents, and embedded media (including video and PDF documents) below to see the kind of training opportunity I designed. 

The Course

The Accessibility Champions Course was designed as a learning space for UND's faculty Accessibility Champions to interact with each other, learn more about accessibility tools, like Blackboard Ally, and learn how to identify and fix common accessibility issues in digital documents.

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The Accessibility Champions completed this intensive course in one and a half months. 

screenshot of accessibiity champion course
screenshot of heading module

Sample Module: Accessible Headings

The course contained thirteen modules, including a Start Here!, which provided the course overview, outcomes, and technical information. The remainder of the modules focused on common accessibility issues. Additionally, I included a module for our UDIL assignment/peer review.

 

For demo purposes, I'm focusing on the headings module, which has a standard layout. 

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Module Items

  • Objectives & To-Do List

  • Resources

  • Assignment Directions

  • Assignment Links

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Tools & Technology Used​

  • Blackboard Ultra Modules

  • Canva (image thumbnails)

Sample Module: Objectives & To-Do List

Each module contained a set specific, measurable module objectives that aligned with the broader training outcomes that we reviewed during our initial Zoom meeting. The To-Do List spelled out what tasks the Champions should complete to meet the objectives. 

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Tools & Technology Used

  • Blackboard Ultra​ Documents

screenshot of heading module's objectives and to-do list
screenshot of module's video content and powerpoint

Module Resources: Video Content

Throughout the course, I included video content that I created, along with the PowerPoint slides used in each video.

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Module Items

​​​​​​Tools & Technology Used

  • Blackboard Ultra Media Tool

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

  • Camtasia

  • YuJa

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Module Resources:
Checklists

To help the Champions learn how fix accessibility issues, I created a series of checklists. A sample of these can be found below.

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Module Items​

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​​​​​​Tools & Technology Used

  • Microsoft Word

  • Blackboard Ultra Document​

screenshot of module's checklists
screenshot of module resources, including those for microsoft word, microsoft powerpoint, and blackboard ultra

Module Resources

I used video content and checklists to help the Champions learn how to identify accessibility issues. To help them how to use Microsoft Office, Blackboard Ultra, and YuJa to fix the accessibility issues highlighted in the course, I provided additional resources. These include links to external websites or video content I created where no external content is available.

 

These resources provided the Champions with help they needed to complete the training -- resources they could continue to use and share with their Colleges and Departments.   

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Tools & Technology Used​

  • Blackboard Ultra Document

Module Assignment Directions:
Assignment Overview

To measure whether or not the Champions were meeting the lesson objectives, I created a scaffolded assignment that required each Champion to create a fully-accessible Microsoft Word document and PowerPoint slide presentation. For each module, the Champions corrected the accessibility issue in both documents.

screenshot of assignment overview
screenshot of assignment preparation documents, including inaccessible powerpoint and syllabus templates

Module Assignment Directions: Preparation

To complete this assignment, Champions downloaded two inaccessible document templates. They could download these once and keep resubmitting increasingly accessible documents to the module assignment link. Or they could download each time. 

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Module Items​

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​​​​​​Tools & Technology Used

  • Microsoft Word

  • Blackboard Ultra Assignment​​​​

Module Assignment Directions: Resources

Redundancy is key in online course design, so I provided the appropriate checklists, along with the relevant links in the assignment instructions. 

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​​​​​​Tools & Technology Used

  • Microsoft Word

  • Blackboard Ultra Assignment​​​​

screenshot of assignment resources including word and powerpoint checklists
screenshot of assignment's additional resources with links for microsoft word and powerpoint
screenshot of assignment instructions

Sample Module: Assignment Link

I created the assignment link separately from the instructions, so the Champions didn't feel like they had to complete the assignment all in one go. (This was previously a problem with Blackboard Ultra assignments.)

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​​​​​​Tools & Technology Used

  • Blackboard Ultra Assignment​​

Additional Components

To help the Champions accomplish all of the training outcomes, I also created a number of other components for the course. These include Blackboard Ultra Discussions, Tests, Peer Review, and VeVox polls. The Champions were unsure how to create accessible complex images in Blackboard Ultra, so I also created a number of tutorials showing how to make complex images accessible in the LMS environment.  

Blackboard Ultra Discussions

The course contained two Blackboard Ultra Discussions. One consisted of an FAQ that I"pinned" to the top of the course. Because solving accessibility problems is going to be a major campus-wide initiative that will require the institution to come together, I created a second Discussion: an Introductory Discussion that I hoped would help "un-silo" the Champions from their respective Colleges and Departments. This Discussion was required in the first module of the course.​

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To humanize the course, I encouraged the Champions to post photos and/or videos. 

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​​​​​​Tools & Technology Used

  • Blackboard Ultra Discussions

 

(While I can't show you photos the Champions posted of themselves and their pets in the Discussion, I can show you the photo I posted of myself to my initial thread, holding my favorite baking pan: a removable bottom tart pan.)

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candid shot of Kristi Embry peeking over the rim of a battered removable bottom tart pan
screenshot of discussion board instructions
screenshot of discussion board instructions
screenshot of discussion board instructions
screenshot of discussion board instructions
screenshot of discussion board instructions
screenshot of quiz instructions in blackboard ultra

Blackboard Ultra Tests

For three of the modules, I opted to use Blackboard Ultra quizzes (tests). These were multiple choice and often contained questions with images in them. I added in long description for each image. â€‹

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Champions were given unlimited attempts at the quizzes. Each quiz was adaptive released to ensure that they scored at least an 80% before proceeding with the course.

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​​​​​​Tools & Technology Used

  • Blackboard Ultra Tests​​

Blackboard Ultra Peer Review

In addition to the Blackboard course, Champions were required to complete a UDIL Assignment. We had initially planned to meet over Zoom and review these assignments. When summer schedules intervened in this plan, I pivoted and created a Blackboard Ultra Peer Review Assignment.

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Champions completed the UDIL Assignment Form and submitted it to Blackboard. Then they completed the Peer Review in Blackboard (pictured to the right) and answered the UDIL Peer Review Questions. 

 

Module Items​

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​​​​​​Technology Used

  • Microsoft Word

  • Blackboard Ultra Assignments

  • Blackboard Ultra Peer Review​​​​​​​​

screenshot of peer review instructions in Blackboard Ultra
screenshot of Vevox items in Blackboard Ultra course

VeVox

One of the requirements of the training was for the Champions to meet twice over Zoom. Wrangling summer schedules was a bit like herding squirrels, so I used Vevox, UND's polling system, to create two polls that I integrated into our Blackboard course. The Champions accessed the polls, selected days and times.  I was then able to use the leaderboard to make scheduling decisions that worked with everyone's schedule!​

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​Tools & Technology Used

  • Vevox (built poll in web version)

  • Blackboard Ultra Vevox LTI​​​​​​​​

Accessibility Tutorials

At one time or another, each of the Champions expressed concern with how to make complex images accessible in Blackboard Ultra. I worked up a series of tutorials in Blackboard Ultra showing how to make complex images accessible in Blackboard Ultra.

 

I have printed off one of the first of these tutorials as a PDF and tagged it for accessibility.

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​Tools & Technology Used

  • Blackboard Ultra Document​​​​​​​​

You can use the viewing tools on the side bar to zoom in, scroll, and interact with the PDF.

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