Building Institutional Community of Practice around IT Accessibility

Thursday, November 13, 2025 | 11:00AM–11:45AM ET
Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Virtual Poster Session
Although the University of Washington (UW) has an Accessibility Technology Services (ATS) team within the central IT unit, their strategy for ensuring accessibility of IT throughout the enterprise is rooted in building communities of practice that recognize and implement recommended accessibility principles and guidelines. An accessibility-focused email distribution list, a monthly meetup, and an IT Accessibility Liaisons network with over 150 members are some examples of this strategy established by UW-IT ATS. Many units within the UW have initiated, adopted, and implemented accessibility practices to various degrees of maturity based on priority, level of impact, and stakeholder commitment. One such unit, UW Continuum College  (UWC2) has demonstrated a multi-pronged approach to address accessibility challenges experienced by students enrolling in professional courses.            
 

Presenters

  • Tanya Nair

    Advancing Accessibility for Engineering Education Intern, University of Washington

  • Lalitha Subramanian

    Program Management Director, University of Washington