Sorry this went out late, but we do have an August Accessibility Interest Group meeting. I hope we’ll see you there!
Session Time: Thursday August 7, 2025, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET
Session Theme:
A Holistic Approach to Content Accessibility
Speakers
Dr. Sara Stephens, Director of Instructional Design & Technology at Delaware Technical Community College
Dr. Sam Chandrashekar, Global Accessibility Lead, D2L
Dr. Sara’s Bio:
Dr. Sara Stephens is the Director of Instructional Design & Technology at Delaware Technical Community College, where she leads college-wide accessibility initiatives, faculty development, and inclusive learning design. Dr. Sara brings over 20 years of professional, and 16 years of personal, experience in the accessibility space. From that journey, she developed the CHAMPIONS Framework, a research-based model designed to make accessibility approachable, actionable, and sustainable. Born from the recurring challenge that people often don’t know where to begin, or where to go next, this framework offers institutions a clear blueprint for embedding accessibility into the fabric of their culture, strategy, and everyday practice. Today, she’ll share how CHAMPIONS can guide grassroots efforts that lead to lasting, inclusive change.
Session Summary:
Dr. Sara will open the session by introducing the CHAMPIONS Framework, a strategic model that helps institutions cultivate a holistic digital ecosystem grounded in intentional accessibility by design. This framework empowers leaders, faculty, and staff to embed inclusive practices at every level, moving beyond checklists to create meaningful, sustainable change.
Join us on August 7th to learn how you can champion accessibility with purpose and impact—in just 20 minutes!
Dr. Sam will pick up the thread to talk about D2L’s ’Shift-up Accessibility’ efforts, which aims to make it easier for education leaders to manage accessibility in their institutions. She will also introduce the AIG members to D2L Accessibility+, a holistic solution for content accessibility announced at Fusion last week, with due credits to key players.
She will also moderate a discussion with our AIG members centred on three questions:
- What efforts are on at your institution to manage content accessibility?
- What is your wish list of features for a dream solution (tool + systems + processes) that enables you to use the power of AI + human experts to make your content 100% accessible?
- What constraint do you see in making your dream come true?
Please organize your thoughts to contribute to this discussion orally or via chat. We value your contributions in helping us build solutions that meet your needs.