CUNY SPS hosted a workshop on January 28 titled “Creating Accessible Content for Inclusive Campus Communities.” The event was led by Amarna Williams, Student Disability Services Specialist at CUNY SPS, with Reshma Jagobin, Student Development and Leadership Coordinator in the Office of Student Life.
This workshop is part of an ongoing initiative at CUNY SPS to promote accessibility and foster inclusive learning environments. The goal is to equip students with the knowledge and tools needed to create accessible content in academic and personal settings. Participants explored core accessibility principles and their practical applications in documents, presentations, emails, and digital communication.
“What comes to mind when you think of accessibility in higher education?” Williams asked at the start of the workshop. General responses from the student included words like “inclusivity,” “access,” and “independence.” Williams engaged participants through interactive exercises using Mentimeter, an online presentation tool.
5 Core Principles for Accessibility
Fifteen key accessibility principles were discussed during the workshop, but Williams focused on five core areas.
- Providing text alternatives: This helps to ensure that all images and visual content include text descriptions.
- Making emails accessible: Creating structured emails for readability, with clear formatting and descriptive subject lines.
- Proper color contrast: Using high contrast color combinations for better visibility.
- Adding alt text to images: Describing images in a way that is useful for screen readers.
- Using meaningful hyperlinks: Writing descriptive link text that conveys purpose and destination.
To apply these to real life, Williams asked the students to describe images to emphasize the importance of alt text and identify the structure and language in an email to highlight barriers screen readers may not pick up.
Barriers & Student Engagement
Williams also posed questions about barriers some people may face in digital, visual, content, and document accessibility. Students were encouraged to share their thoughts and personal experiences.
During this conversation, Williams asked, “What barriers might someone face in images or videos?” One student, Nadia Bon, reflected on visual accessibility, stating, “Sometimes I don’t have good vision, and I just ignore images completely if there are no descriptions.”
The discussion also addressed how poor color contrast, unclear document structure, and vague hyperlinks create challenges. “They might get headaches if they try too long,” one student noted regarding poor color contrast. Another added, “If a document isn’t structured well, I get confused and lose interest.”
Additionally, Williams asked the attendees about hyperlink accessibility: “What barriers might people face if links and resources are unclear, and how does this impact their ability to access information?”
Another student, Liatt Rodriguez, highlighted the potential for disengagement, explaining, “I guess they wouldn’t even try to access the information if the links aren’t clearly labeled. Right? So then whatever it is that you’re looking for, whatever information you’re trying to get, you’ll never find it.” Her point illustrates how vague hyperlinks can deter students from accessing important resources.
Key Takeaways & Future Actions
Participants were left with actionable ways to implement accessibility in their work. Key takeaways included:
- Applying accessibility principles to digital communication at school, work, or personal
- Understanding key accessibility principles to apply them to real-world scenarios
- Improving documents, presentations, and online content to make them more inclusive
- Recognizing and overcoming common accessibility challenges
- Advocating for inclusive practices in academic and other communities
Overall, the workshop emphasized the importance of accessibility in creating an inclusive campus experience. “Accessibility benefits everyone,” Williams reminded attendees. She encouraged students to integrate these practices into their daily work and provided resources for further learning.
