The Digital Accessibility Office (DAO) now has an online self-paced version of its popular Digital Accessibility Awareness training.
The goal of this introductory training is to teach the campus community about digital accessibility and how campus members can apply it in their daily lives.
Fits busy schedules
Originally, the DAO offered training as face-to-face courses on campus. The pandemic caused DAO to pivot toward Zoom as a training platform, and University members embraced the training via Zoom. The DAO found that its overall attendance improved. However, for many people wishing to attend, lining up busy schedules with the once-a-month trainings is still a struggle.
“We hear it constantly that someone missed a training opportunity due to work or life pulling them in another direction,” said Chelsea Porter, Digital Accessibility Consultant. “We began looking for a way to better serve everyone when and where they are available.”
The solution, the DAO discovered, was creating online self-paced versions of its trainings and offering them through Carolina Talent. DAO started with the most foundational of the trainings, Digital Accessibility Awareness.
Opens door for more learners
“Allowing attendees to take the training at their own pace and on their own schedule will hopefully give many more people the chance to learn about digital accessibility,” Porter said.
Even without the DAO publicizing the course, about a dozen people registered for the online self-paced training, and three completing the course in just over a week of it being live.
A recommendation
“I really appreciated the ability to take the self-paced online training,” said Brent Caison, Director, ITS Global Systems, and Cloud Architect. “I was scheduled for one of the Zoom classes, but work intervened, and I had to cancel. It was nice that they took a collective approach to presenters, so I feel a little better acquainted with the team. I highly recommend that everyone take advantage of these courses. They definitely give you a new perspective.”
This is only the beginning, Porter said. This year the DAO plans to continue creating online versions of many of its other popular trainings beginning with Digital Accessibility in Course Design. The DAO’s training page will be updated to include new offerings.