Summary

In this CTLE session, Kaela Parks, Dean of Inclusive and Accessible Education, provides key updates on student accommodation processes and accessible education teams º£ÌÄÖ±²¥. The presentation outlines the core areas supporting students and instructors, including Student Accommodation, Accessible Technology, Communication Access, Digital Inclusion, and Disability Culture.

The session walks through the three-step accommodation framework: self-disclosure, faculty notification, and collaborative implementation. Parks addresses common barriers students face during self-disclosure—such as documentation costs and social stigma—and highlights PCC initiatives like the Learning Evaluation Access Project (LEAP) designed to reduce these obstacles.

Faculty will also learn about essential campus tools and policy updates. Key features include Digital Navigators available to support all students with technology, campus-wide accessibility software like Read&Write, guidelines for working with ASL interpreters and captions, and important changes to Flex Plans, which are now instructor-defined to help balance course structure with flexible accommodations.

Presentation Slides:

Learning Outcomes

After reviewing this post and presentation, faculty will be able to:

• Identify the roles and services provided by PCC’s Accessible Education teams.
• Navigate the three-step student accommodation process and support students through self-disclosure barriers.
• Connect students with support resources, including Digital Navigators and Read&Write software.
• Set up and customize instructor-defined Flex Plans to accommodate unpredictable student needs while preserving course integrity.
• Apply practical strategies for effective communication access, including live captioning and working with interpreters.

Post generated by CTLE Web Designer Gem on 08/16/2026

Summary

In this presentation, members of PCC’s Accessible Education and Disability Resources team examine how the social model of disability can help educators create more inclusive learning environments. Unlike the medical model, which often treats disability as an individual problem to be fixed, the social model focuses on barriers within environments, policies, communication, and attitudes. This shift encourages educators to ask what can be changed around a student rather than what needs to be changed about the student.

The session identifies four major types of barriers: attitudinal, environmental, institutional, and communication. Examples include low expectations, inaccessible physical spaces, policies that create unnecessary obstacles, limited access to alternative formats, and assumptions about what disabled students can or cannot do. Presenters emphasize that removing these barriers benefits not only students with documented disabilities but often improves the learning environment for everyone.

The presentation also places the social model within the history of disability rights and disability justice. Participants learn about the contributions of disability rights leaders and the movement from basic legal access toward a broader focus on equity, belonging, and full participation. Disability justice encourages educators to recognize that all people have strengths and needs and that disability intersects with race, gender, class, sexuality, and other identities.

In the classroom, applying the social model can include providing course materials in advance, offering multiple ways for students to demonstrate learning, using accessible formats, building flexibility into assignments, and designing courses with a wider range of learners in mind from the beginning. Presenters stress that formal accommodations remain important, but accommodations alone cannot create full access. Inclusive course design, strong relationships, self-advocacy opportunities, and a sense of belonging all contribute to student persistence and success.

Slides:

Presentation Outcomes

• Distinguish between the medical model and social model of disability and explain how each shapes approaches to accessibility and student support.
• Identify attitudinal, environmental, institutional, and communication barriers that can limit participation for students with disabilities.
• Recognize key developments in the disability rights and disability justice movements and their influence on access to higher education.
• Explain how belonging, relationship building, academic mastery, and self-advocacy can support the persistence and success of students with disabilities.
• Apply social model and disability justice principles by focusing on removing barriers and recognizing student strengths rather than viewing the student as the problem.
• Use inclusive teaching strategies such as providing materials in advance, offering multiple ways to demonstrate learning, and building flexibility into course design.
• Recognize the limits of relying only on formal accommodations and consider how Universal Design for Learning and person-centered approaches can improve access for a broader range of students.

Post generated by CTLE Web Designer Gem on 08/16/2026

Summary

In this presentation, Kaela Parks, Jennifer Gossett, and Andy Freed explain what updated accessibility requirements mean for faculty and digital course materials º£ÌÄÖ±²¥. The session emphasizes the difference between accessibility and accommodation. Accessibility is proactive and designed to remove barriers before a student needs to request help, while accommodations respond to the needs of an individual student after a barrier has already been identified.

The presenters connect these expectations with PCC’s Accessible Technology Policy and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG. Digital course materials, including documents, multimedia, websites, third-party tools, and instructional technology, should meet accessibility standards. When a resource cannot meet those standards, faculty can work with PCC accessibility specialists to develop an Equally Effective Alternate Access Plan, or EEAAP.

The session offers practical guidance for creating accessible materials. Faculty are encouraged to use logical heading structures, properly formatted lists, meaningful link text, alternative text for images, sufficient color contrast, structured tables, captions, audio descriptions when needed, and accessible approaches to equations. Presenters also demonstrate why the structure of a digital document matters, especially for people who use screen readers, magnification, read-aloud tools, alternate formats, or other assistive technologies.

Faculty are introduced to accessibility tools available º£ÌÄÖ±²¥, including built-in Microsoft accessibility checkers, Grackle for Google Docs and Slides, D2L Brightspace accessibility tools, and Panorama. The session also covers accessible PDFs, presentation reading order, library materials, technology reviews, training opportunities, consultations, and other resources. The overall message is that accessibility is a shared responsibility, and faculty do not have to address these requirements alone. PCC provides tools, training, and staff support to help instructors create and select materials that provide more equitable access from the beginning.

Slides:

Presentation Outcomes

• Distinguish between proactive accessibility and individual accommodation and explain why accommodations alone cannot remove all barriers to learning.
• Describe PCC’s Accessible Technology Policy and understand how WCAG Level AA requirements apply to digital content and course materials.
• Explain when an Equally Effective Alternate Access Plan, or EEAAP, may be needed for a resource that cannot fully meet accessibility requirements.
• Apply accessibility practices such as heading structures, meaningful links, alt text, appropriate color contrast, structured tables, captions, and accessible multimedia.
• Recognize accessibility issues that can occur in scanned PDFs, Google documents, PowerPoint and Google Slides presentations, library resources, and third-party courseware.
• Use tools such as Grackle, Microsoft accessibility checkers, D2L accessibility tools, and Panorama to identify and address accessibility barriers.
• Use PCC’s technology review process when adopting digital courseware and work with accessibility specialists when barriers or alternate access needs are identified.
• Locate PCC training, consultation, accessibility review, and professional development resources that can support accessible course design.

Post generated by CTLE Web Designer Gem on 08/16/2026

Summary

This session focuses on helping faculty understand and use student accommodation notices to support equitable access for students. The presenters discuss the purpose of accommodations, how faculty can respond to notices, and how accommodations help remove barriers without changing the essential learning goals of a course.

The presentation also explores the importance of creating learning environments where students feel comfortable using approved accommodations. Faculty practices, communication, and course design can affect whether students feel supported and able to participate fully in their classes.

The session connects individual accommodations with broader inclusive teaching practices. Examples include providing course materials in advance, offering appropriate flexibility in how students demonstrate learning, and considering barriers that may affect students before they ask for additional support.

Faculty are encouraged to work collaboratively with Accessible Education and Disability Resources when questions arise about accommodations, course requirements, or how to support a student while maintaining the academic expectations of the course.

Slides:

Presentation outcomes

• Understand the purpose of student accommodation notices and how they support equitable access.
• Recognize the role faculty play in implementing approved accommodations.
• Discuss how accommodations remove barriers without providing an unfair academic advantage.
• Identify inclusive teaching practices that can support students with a range of access needs.
• Consider how communication and course design can affect whether students feel comfortable using accommodations.
• Recognize when to collaborate with Accessible Education and Disability Resources for additional guidance.

• Ira McKinzie, Student Advocate Coordinator for Accessible Education and Disability Resources (ADR)
• Shannon Pagano, Disability Counselor & In-Class Aide Coordinator (ADR)
• , ADR Student Advocate
• , Counselor and Accessibility Specialist (ADR)

During the 2019–2020 academic year, approximately 21% of undergraduate students reported having a disability. Despite this significant presence, disabled students in higher education continue to face lower program completion rates and higher rates of departure compared to their non-disabled peers.

This workshop explores how higher education institutions can move away from the traditional medical model of disability—which views disability as an individual impairment that needs to be fixed—toward the social model of disability. The social model asserts that individuals are disabled by environmental, attitudinal, institutional, and communication barriers within society rather than by their personal impairments.

By framing disability as a natural aspect of human diversity, PCC faculty and staff can foster an inclusive environment that emphasizes belonging, self-advocacy, and universal design for learning.

Presentation Outcomes

After reviewing this presentation, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish between the Medical and Social Models of Disability: Understand how the medical model focuses on individual deficits while the social model targets systemic and societal barriers.
• Identify Four Major Categories of Societal Barriers: Recognize attitudinal, environmental, institutional, and communication barriers present in academic environments.
• Trace Key Milestones in Disability History: Gain foundational awareness of the Disability Rights and Disability Justice movements, including key figures like Judy Heumann and Ed Roberts.
• Apply Social Model Principles in the Classroom: Implement universal design practices—such as providing materials in advance, offering flexible assignment modalities, and reducing reliance on invasive accommodation processes—to improve student persistence and success.

Post generated by CTLE Web Designer Gem on 07/22/2026

Summary

This presentation explores how Open Educational Resources (OERs) promote equity, reduce student costs, and ensure course accessibility from day one. Presenters highlight PCC’s OER achievements, including saving students over $30 million since 2017 and authoring more than 23 open textbooks. Faculty panelists share how open education allows instructors to decenter dominant cultural narratives, integrate local examples, and involve students directly as creative learning partners. The session also details PCC’s Accessible Technology Policy, alignment with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and partnership opportunities with Disability Resources to ensure course materials are fully accessible. Finally, presenters share details about available PCC funding, pilot grant opportunities, and mentorship programs for faculty interested in adopting, adapting, or maintaining OER content.

Presentation Outcomes

• Understand the definition, benefits, and impact of Open Educational Resources (OERs) on student retention and cost savings º£ÌÄÖ±²¥.
• Learn how open education practices can decenter white, Eurocentric viewpoints and elevate diverse student voices.
• Identify web accessibility standards (WCAG) and strategies for proactively designing accessible course materials.
• Discover PCC grant funding, mentorship programs, and institutional resources available to adopt, adapt, or maintain OER content.

Post generated by CTLE Web Designer Gem on 08/24/2026

Summary

NIH reports that approximately 8% of the U.S. population has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This evidence-based presentation will focus on strategies for teaching and supporting neurodiverse students. Common myths, ways to accommodate and motivate students will be discussed.

Summary

Often, non-native English speaking students are referred to the Accessible Ed & Disability Resources office for extended time on exams. And yet, these students may or may not have a disability and referral to the DS office may not be the best course of action. Come join us to learn the preferred course of action to support your students.

Summary

PCC has a high number of Deaf faculty and serves Deaf students. This presentation will explain the cross-cultural perspectives between Deaf and hearing people. Many biases exist in the educational system that affect Deaf students and Deaf faculty. These barriers prevent students from reaching their fullest potential. Learn how to create inclusive environment for visual learners.

Summary

This session is about the process used to ensure PCC provides equitable access to technologies, including, but not limited to, digital courseware. The panel of presenters with different roles will share insights from their particular perspectives thus providing a rich conversation.