Accessible U Committee

Summary

The Accessible U website is governed by the Accessible U Committee, established in the spring of 2021. 

Purpose

The committee makes recommendations to the Accessible U site product owner about how to govern the content, design, and promotion of the site so that it is usable, accessible, current, and reflects the recommendations and shared interests of UMN accessibility community groups and units.

Membership

The committee will consist of the Accessible U site coordinator from the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and up to 12 members from across the University.

Members as of July 13, 2022
Name Unit Community Group Affiliations and Skills
Nancy Bertino University Relations, Twin Cities Not applicable Digital strategy, Folwell Design System training
Christina Goodland OIT User Support, Twin Cities Not applicable Accessible U site coordinator
Kellie Greaves OIT User Support, Twin Cities Accessibility Community of Practice Workgroup Steering Committee Documents, presentations, Cultivate Inclusion campaign manager
Luke Kudryashov Disability Resource Center (DRC), Twin Cities Not applicable Accessibility Specialist for the DRC
Khaled Musa OIT Academic Technologies, Twin Cities Accessibility Ambassadors, Accessibility Community of Practice Academic materials
Jen Neveau Libraries Data + Technology, University Libraries, Twin Cities Information pending Web content strategy
Meredith Schneider College of Education and Human Service Professions, Duluth Accessible Academic Technology Team (AATT) at UMD, Accessibility Ambassadors Documents, presentations, websites
Leah Villa OIT User Support, Twin Cities Accessibility Badging Program Areas covered in badging program

Additional Information

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Member Responsibilities

The Accessible U site coordinator or a delegate will:

  • Schedule initial monthly meetings and quarterly meetings after our goverance processes are established.
  • Send the meeting agenda and call for topics three days before meetings.
  • Invite members who can’t attend to vote for big decisions via a form by a certain date.
  • Ask for a volunteer at each meeting to take notes.

Members will:

  • Solicit and pass on information from the community.
  • Review, research, and make recommendations about changes to the site.
  • Act as ambassadors of the site.
  • Be present, prepared, and engaged at meetings.
  • Honestly debate changes and support decisions.
  • Help ensure the site conforms to U accessibility, brand, and security standards.

Membership Criteria

The committee will ideally include:

  • People with marginalized identities
  • A student and instructor
  • A representative from the Accessibility Community of Practice Workgroup Steering Committee, the Disability Badging Program, the Disability Resource Center, University Relations, and more than one system campus

Members will ideally:

  • Demonstrate engagement with accessibility issues and the goals of the Cultivate Inclusion campaign (start small, start now and keep learning).
  • Have expertise or access to an expert in a particular type of content or accessibility area that rounds out the group.
  • Commit to at least one semester of monthly meetings until our governance processes are established, and then quarterly thereafter.
  • Accept some content review assignments or find a reviewer, and when stepping down as a committee member, suggest an alternate.

In 2021, members were recruited by word-of-mouth. We will develop a recruiting process so all who are interested can apply in the future.