Sandra Bullins is a Student Success Coach and Adjunct Faculty member at Piedmont Virginia Community College
“Digital accessibility is about building connection with your students and ensuring everyone has the tools they need to succeed,” says TCC Biology and Environmental Science Professor Staci Forgey. “Digital Accessibility lets me feel and be included,” adds Sandra Bullins/PVCC Student Success Coach and Adjunct Professor Sandra Bullins. Forgey and Bullins know first-hand why it makes a difference when colleges make their digital contents accessible to people with disabilities.
Digital accessibility is a pressing subject in higher education. Acting through the U.S. Justice Department, the federal government is mandating that all public colleges and universities nationwide ensure that their digital content and systems meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards by April 2026. The accessibility mandate covers public-facing, student-facing, and internal materials, as well as websites, forms, applications, administrative platforms and course content. Training opportunities are listed below.
“Digital accessibility is extremely important to me,” says PVCC’s Sandra Bullins. “As a professional who is completely blind, if not for accessible materials (i.e. pictures with alt text, tagged PDFs, webpage accessibility, etc.) I could not have access to the world. I could not have gone to college, pursue my degrees, or be able to do my job. There were so many times that individuals would put pictures in an email or do an invitation in Canva, and I didn’t know. I felt left out, overlooked, and invisible.”
Bulllins adds, “Having materials digitally accessible opens up my world for me. I can enjoy cute pictures, jokes, join in activities and events, communicate effectively and efficiently, and be the best me that I can be.”
Staci Forgey is a professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Tidewater Community College.
“As a biology and environmental science faculty member and teaching fellow, I’ve seen how making courses accessible can create learning environments where all students thrive” says TCC’s Staci Forgey. “Since 2009, I’ve worked with students with various disabilities and have discovered that accessibility goes beyond legal compliance. It’s about building connection with your students and ensuring everyone has the tools they need to succeed.”
Forgey adds, “Accessibility includes practices like organizing content with appropriate headings, adding alt text to images, creating accessible tables to accompany a graph, and providing video transcripts. These strategies benefit all learners, not just those with disabilities. Working on Universal Design for Learning practices has shifted my approach from ’How do I accommodate this student?’ to ‘How can I design this course so everyone can succeed?’ This mindset has made my teaching more intentional, compassionate, and ultimately, more effective.”
Our colleges and the VCCS system are encouraging community college personnel to take advantage of multiple training opportunities to learn how to create accessible content.
Nov 25 (Tue), 12–4 PM – Excel & Google Sheets
Convert spreadsheets into accessible PDFs.
Dec 2 (Tue), 10 AM–2 PM – UDOIT Advantage Deep Dive
Interpret UDOIT reports and improve Canvas content.
Dec 3 (Wed), 9 AM–2 PM – Accessible PDFs & PAVE
Hands-on practice tagging scanned/untagged PDFs.
Dec 4 (Thu), 2–6 PM – Google Workspace & Grackle
Check Docs, Slides, and Sheets for accessibility.
Dec 9 (Tue), 9 AM–2 PM – STEM Accessibility
Address formulas, simulations, and STEM tools.
Dec 11 (Thu), 3–7 PM – AI for Accessibility
Use Gemini and Copilot for alt text, transcripts, and simplification.
Dec 15 (Mon), 12–5 PM – Accessible Forms (Google & MS)
Build WCAG-compliant online forms; avoid PDF pitfalls.
Dec 16 (Tue), 1–5 PM – Accessible Emails
Create inclusive emails with structure and alt-texted logos.
Dec 17 (Wed), 9 AM–2 PM – Canva & Visual Design Checks
Design flyers/graphics with proper contrast and alt text.
Dec 18 (Thu), 3–7 PM – Building Accessible Courses
Use UDOIT, headings, and AI strategies for compliance.
Dec 22 (Mon), 9 AM–2 PM – Open Clinic
Bring any document or Canvas page for live help.
Dec 23 (Tue), 3–7 PM – PDF & Document Remediation Clinic
Get step-by-step support using PAVE, Acrobat, or Grackle.
Jan 5, 2026 (Mon), 9 AM–2 PM – Accessibility Refresher & Next Steps
Kick off 2026 with updated guidance and checklists.
Recordings
You can also access recordings of previous training sessions, which are available whenever you wish:
As VCCS Chancellor David Dore noted in the Community College Connection in September, “This is a shared commitment of our system administration and our colleges. We all produce digital content and all of us will need to ensure that information is accessible. In addition to meeting government mandates, it’s also the right thing to do.”
