Similar to other universities, McGill University’s websites are managed by a large, decentralized network of site mangers, many of whom have competing priorities to juggle and only a fraction of their work week to spend making web updates. Unsurprisingly, many have difficulty prioritizing tasks, including taking time to improve site accessibility.

To empower staff to treat accessibility-related improvements as must-do updates, we realized an institution-wide understanding of the importance of these requirements was needed.

So we planned and launched an education and outreach strategy that places a strong emphasis on community. This includes a number of grassroots initiatives, like our community info-sessions, accessibility hackathon, our team of accessibility auditors managed and staffed by students, and numerous connected working groups. Attend our presentation to hear about our efforts, the outcomes, and lessons learned.