In support of the University’s commitment to an inclusive digital environment, the Office of Student Accommodations is welcoming Erin Kelley to the team as the institution’s first digital accessibility program director.
In this new role, Kelley will provide oversight and technical expertise regarding digital accessibility compliance, along with training, consultation and coordination among stakeholders across the institution to align with federal and international web content accessibility standards.
One of her initial priorities will be to establish and implement institutional accessibility standards and a comprehensive campus accessibility plan.
“We have been working incrementally within our units to help improve accessibility of course content for our students and public-facing digital content,” said Dan Long, Office of Accessibility Services director. “With Erin in her new role, we can now focus more on a central University plan and set of resources to support faculty and staff in working toward compliance. It will be a highly collaborative effort with stakeholders across the institution, and Erin is the right person to lead it.”
While Kelley will report to the Office of Student Accommodations, she will work across units, including ITS, academic departments and faculty, procurement, third-party vendors and more to evaluate digital accessibility, remediate barriers and promote best practices.
Kelley, who holds a bachelor’s degree in English and juris doctor from WVU, has significant experience leading cross-functional initiatives across the University.
She joined WVU Extended Learning in 2009 and most recently served as executive director of the former Teaching and Learning Commons from 2022-24. While with this unit, Kelley’s work ranged from providing instructional design support to identifying and implementing instructional technology improvements. She also has extensive experience in addressing digital accessibility issues and providing instructor support in this area.
"I am grateful for the relationships and the trust I’ve acquired through my previous work at WVU, and I am looking forward to building on the frameworks that have already been established to help advance the University’s digital accessibility initiatives,” Kelley said. “The goal is to deliver the best experience we can to everyone who relies on WVU.”
In addition to this new position, the University has also launched a resource website.
The website provides accessibility guides for commonly used products like Word, PowerPoint and PDFs. It also points to resources for editing web, video and social media content for accessibility.
The University also provides the Blackboard Ally tool that is integrated into eCampus to assist instructors with improving accessibility of their digital course content. Students can also utilize Ally to download course materials in multiple alternative formats. Such flexibility supports diverse learning styles and accessibility.
Last fall, ITS implemented a new IT purchase request form that employees must submit before making a technology-related purchase. In addition to streamlining fulfillment requests, the form also requires vendor affirmation that mobile apps and web-based software meet federal accessibility requirements. This affirmation, Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, is required for such requests and ensures the product is compliant with Section 508 Technical Standards.
One of the next steps will be to finalize a formal digital accessibility policy that will provide a framework moving forward. Details about this and other related activities will be shared via ENews and email as appropriate.