Accessibility Resources Staff Training
Accessibility Resources staff members are dedicated to lifelong learning. This is especially true when discussing the complexity of disability, accommodations, and equal access.
Accessibility Resources staff are members of AHEAD, the leading professional membership association for individuals committed to equity for persons with disabilities in higher education, and its regional affiliate, MN AHEAD. Accessibility Resources staff receive training across a number of best practices and key issues in disability accommodations and awareness, including:
Accommodations: Determining and Planning
These trainings inform how accommodations decisions are made.
Expand Trainings Collapse| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Effective Models for Reasonable Accommodation Decisions |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Providing classroom accommodations in a digital age |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Psychoeducational Evaluations: A Crash Course in Reviewing Psycho-Ed Reports/Documentation |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Understanding and Developing the Foundation for Sound Accommodation Decision |
| Spring 2024 | AHEAD | It’s about Time: Scrutinizing the Extra Time for Assignment Accommodations |
ADA/504 Compliance
These trainings help ensure we follow the law and meet legal compliance standards.
Expand Trainings Collapse| Regularly | ATIXA | 504/ADA Coordinator Trainings |
| Annually | MinnState | Safety & Compliance Training |
| Spring 2023 | AHEAD | AHEAD Masterclass: Disability Law: Lessons in Application for the Advanced Disability Professional |
| Spring 2023 | AHEAD | Seven Essential Functions of the ADA/504 Coordinator Role |
| Spring 2024 | AHEAD | Support Action on Updating the Section 504 Regulations |
Assistive Technology
These trainings help staff learn how to use the assistive technology students use to succeed, as well as learn what is up-and-coming in the tech world.
Expand Trainings Collapse| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | A new level of digital equity now possible for AT users – and easier AT deployment for IT departments |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Accessible Technology Procurement: A Free Tool for Accurate Assessment Beyond Technical Documentation and VPATs |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Evaluating Document Accessibility: Training Student Employees |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Maximize the Impact: Strategies to Increase Knowledge & Use of Available Assistive Technology Tools Across Campus |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Microsoft vs Google: A Comparison of Accessibility Features in Documents and Slides |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | The Future is Now: Building a Comprehensive, Compliant, Affordable Captioning Service |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Wait... It's That Easy? Using Built-In Accessibility Features on Everyday Devices |
| Fall 2023 | Glean | Several information sessions to learn more about Glean's features and best ways to use it |
| Spring 2024 | AHEAD | A.I. Unleashed: Transforming the Accessibility of Images, Graphics, and Math Through Alt Text Automation |
| Spring 2024 | Great Lakes ADA Center | Accessible PowerPoints |
| Summer 2024 | Great Lakes ADA Center | Assistive Listening Systems: Where We Are Today and What’s On The Horizon |
Best Practices
These trainings guide staff as they navigate the field of accessibility and disability services.
Expand Trainings Collapse| Spring 2023 | AHEAD | Navigating the Field as a New Disability Resource Professional |
| Summer 2023 | MnAHEAD | Disability History |
| Summer 2023 | MnAHEAD | Preventing Burnout in Higher Education |
| Fall 2023 | MnAHEAD | Effective Coaching Skills for Disability Service Professionals |
| Spring 2024 | MnAHEAD | ESA Training with Jane Jarrow |
| Spring 2024 | ADDitude Magazine | Unraveling ADHD Procrastivity: How to Outsmart Procrastination and Improve Productivity |
| Spring 2024 | University Advising | Student Success Advising Academy (8 Clock Hours) |
| Summer 2024 | DAIS | The Role of the DSS Provider: Are You Ready for the Next School Year? |
| Summer 2024 | AHEAD | The AHEAD Professional Competencies: Supporting Excellence in Disability Resource Practice |
Digital Accessibility
These trainings provide information that aid in ensuring accessibility on the web.
Expand Trainings Collapse| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Creating a Digital Accessibility Hub |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Predictors of Web Accessibility in Higher Education: Ten Years After |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Replacing an Accessible Website: Ensuring a Better New Site |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | The History of Web Accessibility |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Providing Classroom Accommodations in a Digital Age |
| Summer 2024 | Great Lakes ADA Center | Beyond Section 508 Digital Accessibility Requirements: An Overview of Web Accessibility Requirements from WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 |
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Accessibility Resources staff recognize that students with disabilities are multifaceted individuals with multiple aspects of their identities. These trainings inform how Accessibility Resources' work can be intersectional, welcoming, and affirming.
Expand Trainings Collapse| Spring 2023 | AHEAD | "I'm Unlearning!" Applying Reflexivity to Higher Education Disability Services as a Tool for Supporting Students with Intersectional Identities |
| Summer 2023 | MnAHEAD | Infusing Accessibility and Disability into DEI Work |
| Summer 2023 | MnAHEAD | Resisting Trans Hate with Radical Care |
| Fall 2023 | Maverick Diversity Institute | LGBTQ+ Safe Zone Training |
| Fall 2023 | MinnState | Minnesota State Equity Scorecard: An Overview, Demonstration, and Leveraging the Tool |
| Fall 2023 | ASLIS | The Intersection of Interpreting and Identity |
| Fall 2023 | MinnState | Implicit Bias Training |
| Spring 2024 | TextHelp | Strategies for Cultivating an Inclusive Campus |
| Spring 2024 | AHEAD | Applying Principles of Intersectionality in Serving BIPOC Disabled Students |
| Spring 2024 | AHEAD Research KPC | Reclaiming Neurocrip: Living at the Intersections of Race, Neurodivergence, and Chronic Illness |
| Summer 2024 | AHEAD | AHEAD, Live! Disability IS Diversity |
| Summer 2024 | TextHelp | Building a More Inclusive Campus: Strategies for Higher Education Leaders |
Deaf & Hard of Hearing
These trainings assist professionals in best practices when working with d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. This can range from providing captions to working with ASL interpreters.
Expand Trainings Collapse| Spring 2024 | Disability Alliance | Teaching Deaf Students and Students with Hearing Disabilities |
| Spring 2024 | Disability Alliance | Discussion: How We Can Include Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Others with Hearing Conditions In Our Work |
| Summer 2024 | Great Lakes ADA Center | Assistive Listening Systems: Where We Are Today and What’s On The Horizon |
| Summer 2024 | National Deaf Center | Certificate: Accessibility Practices for Deaf Students (35 Clock Hours) |
Neurodiversity
We know that everyone's brains work differently. We attend training opportunities to learn how to best support those whose thinking and learning styles are different from the expected norm (neurotypicality), including students who are autistic, have ADHD/LD, or other forms of neurodivergence.
Expand Trainings Collapse| Spring 2023 | AHEAD | Neurodiversity, Autism Politics, and Language, a Brief Introduction |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD | Neurodiversity Cultural Responsiveness: Improving Communication and Understanding |
| Fall 2023 | ADDitude | Executive Function Strategies to Externalize Time, Memory, Motivation |
| Spring 2024 | Normandale Community College | Security Training: Persons with Autism |
| Spring 2024 | MnAHEAD | Neurodiversity: Our Differences Make Us Stronger |
Title IX and Parenting
While students may work directly with their professors for pregnancy- and parenting-related accommodations, Accessibility Resources will ensure that the policies and practices of individual instructors are aligned with Title IX regulations and do not discriminate against pregnant students.
Expand Trainings Collapse| Fall 2023 | Grand River Solutions | Pregnant and Parenting under Title IX |
| Fall 2023 | MinnState | Title IX Workshop: Pregnant and Parenting Students |
| Spring 2024 | CUPA | The 2024 Title IX Regulations: What You Need to Know |
Conferences Attended
In addition to various trainings in-person and online, Accessibility Resources staff attend conferences for hands-on training and networking.
List of Conferences Attended Collapse Conferences| Spring 2023 | AHEAD | Equity and Excellence 2023 |
| Fall 2023 | AHEAD & ATHEN | Accessing Higher Ground 2023 |
| Summer 2024 | MnAHEAD | MnAHEAD Annual Seminar |
