Improving the accessibility of information technology is work that makes a profound difference in people’s lives. Fully participating in modern life requires using IT: to attain an education, hold a job, manage everyday tasks, and forge social connections. I am proud to be part of a community of colleagues who are making the world a more just and inclusive place.

I heard about CPACC as a result of John Jameson doing an accessibility check on the Drupal site I built.  I was surprised to learn that some of my linked PDF’s were not accessible so I took a LinkedInLearning course to learn more about Acrobat's Accessibility tools.  I have a passion for the productivity tools in Word and spend every spring helping seniors use the tools in Word to be more productive when formatting their theses.  So to see my work in Word be relevant to accessible PDF's sparked an interest in seeking out more information, which led me too Mary's accessibility courses in the spring in which she mentioned a certification path.

I love being a part of something bigger than myself and always strive to see the perspective of others.  We all have unique needs for navigating the world and when we make it more accessible for more people, and when we think of being inclusive with easy to implement solutions, we all benefit.

Advancing the cause of accessibility gives rise to innovation. It challenges us to bring a critical perspective to information communication technology (ICT) and create new, more inclusive designs and implementations that respect the diversity of human experience.

We all create digital environments and materials every day. It could be something as simple as an email, or as robust as an online course. We are creators! It’s what we do. When we work hard to craft content, we want it to be accessible to everyone. The CPACC helps highlight barriers to access that may otherwise go unnoticed to creators. With the knowledge I’ve gained from the CPACC certification, I can not only help break down those barriers, but help educate others as well. This certification helps me be a better creator and accessibility ambassador.

All people should be given an opportunity to participate and contribute to society in any way they see fit.  Giving them the needed tools is a benefit which far outweighs any short term expense.  Getting a CPACC certification is allowing me to contribute to that in my own small way.

Society’s advancement relies on the equitable design of information. The CPACC credential embodies this idea by providing technologists practical ways to create accessible information and evaluate its impact. As a developer and user researcher, these techniques have improved the nature of my work.

The web has become an important resource for many people. It is crucial that we remove any potential barriers and design and develop websites, systems, and applications in a manner that is inclusive for all.

Preparing for and earning a CPACC certification opens your eyes to the world in a way you’ve never experienced it before. It not only affects my work at Princeton University but I find myself considering accessibility everywhere I go -- when I use public transportation, when I use my cellphone, when I attend events, even when I’m just at the supermarket. I began this work with an intention to be more inclusive in my role at the university but I never expected the content of the course to affect everything I do. Especially after learning about the different models of disability, I’ve come to understand that considering accessibility isn’t just something to do when you’re in the right mood. It’s a necessity if we want to include everyone in everything we do. And at Princeton University, we want and need to include everyone.

A sense of belonging and connection are necessary for us to be healthy humans. A focus on accessibility fosters connection that yields practical societal benefits as well as emotional and mental health benefits. By facilitating inclusion, we increase the potential for individual growth through education, training, jobs and general participation in society. Such connection and inclusion are natural drivers of innovation and creativity.

My group creates fully online courses (MOOCs) for learners around the world. Over the past 5 years we have had over 2 million people from more than 190 countries enrolled in our courses. Our learners can be everything from young grade school kids or college students, to adult learners and retirees. They have very different language skills, abilities and social and economic backgrounds. I want to make sure we create an inclusive environment for all of these learners, and that we do everything we can to give them equal or equivalent access access to our content. The CPACC certification has helped me be better able to achieve that goal.

This course has opened my eyes to the obstacles that students, faculty and staff could face while at Princeton. Providing accessible web content, open and accessible events and programming is vital to providing the best experience at Princeton for everyone. I want everyone to feel like they can participate and take advantage of every learning opportunity we provide.

Access to information is a core professional value in libraries. Without disability inclusion, libraries are unable to design services, collections, spaces, and programming that enrich the lives of all members of our communities. The CPACC certification helps provide the skills needed to make sure that libraries are useful, usable, desirable, and accessible for all users both now and in the future.

What originally brought me into the field of museums and collections information was an interest in increasing access to information and a belief in equal access to information to all. I am looking forward to using the knowledge I gained through the CPACC certification to better live those beliefs through my work, not only in the digital products I develop, but also as a resource to my colleagues and an advocate for accessibility overall at the Art Museum.

Accessibility is important to me because it removes barriers to a site’s content and makes it available to everyone. A more inclusive website means that it has a wider reach and respects the diversity of its users. It is a unique technical requirement in that it not only benefits a particular website experience, but benefits society as a whole.

Technology increasingly touches everyone’s lives and having access to it is a fundamental necessity.  This is a unique chance to improve that accessibility to some while improving the user experience for others.

The CPACC certification is the perfect addition to my skill set and will allow me to play a key role in ensuring that the digital and physical worlds are barrier-free and accessible to all. I look forward to serve as an accessibility liaison within the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.

At the McGraw Center, we support faculty members and instructors as they advance as teachers, graduate students as they begin their teaching practice and progress as teachers and professionals, and undergraduates as they develop as learners and scholars. We are committed to ensuring that our digital resources are accessible in teaching, research, and learning.

“Is that yellow text on a white background inside an image inside a carousel?"

Having a quality assurance role, I found the WAS especially helpful for understanding how assistive devices parse and interact with our sites.

After working with bringing accessibility to my local community theatre group, I’ve been wanting to learn more, not only about accessibility, but to also take steps into learning more details about what it means to those who require access and the laws.  In one way or another, accessibility affects us all.  Being able to bring new knowledge to my work at Princeton will help me see the campus, the buildings, the classrooms, the technology, and the social aspect of campus life in a new way.  Through the CPACC Certificate program, I’ve gained more in-depth knowledge about accessibility, how it impacts those who may require accessibility, how it can impact all of society and how it can change the world.  I hope to be able to bring the new knowledge to my work at Princeton and also outside of Princeton.

Being an A11y and a CPACC means ensuring that the idea of open and effective communication is applied fairly to every possible person(s). Accessibility should not mean tailoring an experience to one group, but making every possible experience available to all groups.

Accessibility to me means eliminating barriers and providing an all-inclusive environment. Allowing people to contribute to the benefit of society!

I believe, to my core, in the concepts of diversity, inclusion, and equity. Often times we inadvertently put up barriers that dissuade or block access to spaces in the digital, mental, and physical realm.  It is with this certification that I enlighten, strengthen, and display my dedication to ensure that items that have my fingerprints or input inject the core concepts of accessibility; affording everyone the chance to participate equally and freely.

An accessible web is not a privilege, it is a right. To aid in making an accessible web is a responsibility and privilege.

The CPACC certificate program has broadened my knowledge of digital accessibility and deepened my understanding of the impact of accessibility on my daily job.

As an instructional designer, I strive to assist educators with designing and creating inclusive instructions and learning experiences. With accessibility in mind and applying Universal Design for Learning framework are essential best practices to create an extraordinary teaching and learning experience for everyone here at Princeton.

Equity is important, and we should all do our best to make sure society is as inclusive as possible. Most of my job is centered on web content, and so that is how I found my way to the CPACC course, because I wanted to make sure that the web content on my department’s site was accessible to all.

Elio Lleo is the Support for Computing in Academic Departments/Department Computing Support (SCAD) specialist for the Department of African American Studies.

While our larger global society continues to be divided by our many differences, I believe it is my personal and professional responsibility to help bridge at least one gap by promoting and practicing web accessibility. I’m proud to be a part of the effort to give all members of our community equal access to digital resources for teaching, research, and learning. And I’m grateful that Princeton University has encouraged us to be leaders in this movement toward inclusive, user-oriented design with CPACC certification. 

I now look at the digital world with a new perspective, and I’m eager to build websites and applications to minimize barriers to information and demonstrate both empathy and respect.

The CPACC certification has increased my knowledge regarding disabilities, accessibility, universal design, management strategies, and laws. The challenges and solutions will help bridge the digital divide. I am honored to be part of the initiative to close the gap. Each individual is unique, focusing on the diversity of people is vital.

Accessible websites are of great interest to me as the manager of OIT's Web Development Services group. I want to make sure that we build websites that are usable by everyone. No one should be excluded from accessing the public information that we present on the web. This is especially important since more and more information communication is done via a digital format.

Working in Facilities Operations, my primary focus is on making campus more physically accessible. I became aware of CPACC when I was asked to present on campus accessibility during the 2020 class. While discussing my concept for the presentation with Mary, she explained what CPACC was, and the certification sounded like a wonderful option to pursue. I’m thrilled to be able to participate in the course. It’s been eye-opening to realize how much is involved with making digital aspects of our lives accessible for all.

As purveyors of information communication technology, it is our responsibility to minimize barriers that might exclude people from using the web.

I see a11y as a basic human right. The moment I saw disability through the lens of the social model, I wanted to be part of the ongoing process of removing barriers that restrict choices of disabled people. 

We are all responsible to create societies in which all individuals enjoy their rights to a meaningful societal, political, economic, social, and cultural life.

In the Online Learning Environments at the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, we create web content on a daily basis. Creating this web content, our online courses, with accessibility in mind, contributes to our dedication to inclusive, high-quality education. 

In a way, getting the CPACC was part of the natural process of adopting accessibility in our daily work and planning processes. 

In addition of the altruistic benefits, for me the CPACC skills are an important and practical way to contribute to the work we do.

I originally became interested in accessibility when I started learning more about equity. I felt that any society that doesn’t put in the effort to give everyone a chance to participate is failing. I began working on making my own web sites more accessible and began to participate in various meetups. One meetup that was really an awakening moment was when we had people from the NJ Division of the Blind come by and an actual blind user did a demonstration of accessing a web site with his screenreader. Seeing how awful an experience some web sites are for disabled users was something I figured I could contribute to fixing, at least for web sites I am responsible for. So now every time we add a new feature or functionality to our web application, accessibility is one of the first things we consider in the design phase. We have been going through a review process with Perkins Access to ensure that we are meeting our goals for accessibility.

I believe that everyone should have equal access to information and services. It is important to know and understand the technology that provides this access especially since the departments I support provide essential services to the Princeton community. Thanks to the CPACC course I have gained a lot of insight on designing websites with…

If you have ever looked at the world around you and thought “How can we do this better?” CPACC gives you the “why” and makes you part of the “how”. Now, let's all work together on that “better."

Technology is a great resource but we’re not using it to its full potential if we don’t include the whole community. I took the CPACC to understand the difficulties people with disabilities have to face and I’m now better prepared to support all my end users with technical problems. I’ve also learned to always include accessibility when presented with a problem so that the solution will be inclusive and provide an overall better user experience.

As a learning and development specialist, creating an accessible learning experience is a critical element that extends across all facets of my role. The certification and content that I have learned will enable me to develop and deliver learning programs that serve all learners.