This recorded session is the second installment of ADA Without the Panic and was offered for faculty who were unable to attend the February 4 workshop. The content is identical to the original session. No new material has been added.
The purpose of this workshop is simple: to provide a clear, practical approach to accessibility without creating unnecessary stress, confusion, or overload.
Most faculty care deeply about making their courses accessible. What often stands in the way is not resistance, but time pressure, uncertainty about expectations, and an overreliance on automated tools that can make the task feel far larger than it actually is.
If Ally reports, legacy files, or accessibility flags have made ADA compliance feel overwhelming or unclear, this session was designed with you in mind.
In this one hour online workshop, faculty are guided through a judgment based, defensible approach to accessibility. Rather than chasing perfect scores or attempting to fix everything at once, the focus is on reasonable effort, instructional relevance, and smart prioritization.
The session is led by Richard Gosselin, faculty presenter, who demonstrates how he brings his own courses into an accessible and defensible state in one to two hours using practical decision making rather than box checking.
Serving as moderator is Normajean Brand from Assistive Technologies, whose day to day work focuses on the tools and technologies students use to access course content. She addresses technical and assistive technology questions while allowing the session to maintain its steady, faculty centered focus.
Although Alisa Shtromberg, Director of Digital Accessibility, was unable to attend this session due to a scheduling conflict, the approach presented aligns with the broader institutional guidance on accessibility and reflects ongoing collaboration across faculty and accessibility leadership.
Participants will learn:
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How to use Ally appropriately without letting it dictate course design
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How to identify and safely ignore legacy materials that are no longer student facing
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How and when to mark images as decorative
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How AI can be used responsibly to generate high quality ALT text quickly
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Why importing specific content rather than entire courses reduces accessibility issues
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How to prioritize high impact materials first
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How to approach accessibility as an ongoing, manageable process rather than a one time overhaul
The emphasis throughout is clarity over panic, judgment over box checking, and pedagogy first.
Most faculty can bring their courses into a defensible, accessible state in one to two hours. This session shows how.
