Creating accessible digital experiences across the University of California is a shared challenge. Now, these experiences are part of a shared effort.
Monthly meetings build skills collaboratively
During the July meeting of the UC Digital Accessibility Community of Practice (CoP), accessibility practitioners, instructional designers, IT professionals, and support staff from across the UC system came together to exchange ideas, showcase successful initiatives, and identify practical ways to work more collaboratively. The growing community reflects a common understanding that while every campus faces unique challenges, many of those challenges shouldn’t be addressed alone in campus silos, and this space can help.
The meeting began with a review of findings from the Community of Practice’s inaugural survey, which revealed a consistent message across campuses: practitioners are looking to build capacity, not just for guidance on compliance: practical skills, peer connections, and centralized resources that reduce duplicated effort.
Participants identified document accessibility, PDF remediation, procurement, faculty engagement, and ongoing training as the areas where collaboration could have the greatest impact.
Building Connections, Sharing Knowledge
Attendees also heard from colleagues who are already developing innovative approaches that others can adapt.
Joseph Sepulveda (UC Riverside) shared the success of the XCITE Center for Teaching and Learning’s student-led Accessibility (A-Team), a work-study initiative that to date has reviewed more than 8,700 Canvas course files while providing faculty with hands-on support and encouraging the creation of accessible content from the start.
Margaret Merrill (UC Davis) introduced #SPARK (Sharing Practices, Accessibility Resources, and Knowledge), a UC-wide Slack channel of practitioners using instructional accessibility tools to share resources, exchange implementation strategies, and collectively engage with vendors to improve accessibility.
The discussion extended well beyond the formal presentations. In survey results and the very active Zoom chat, participants called for searchable, centralized resources that endure beyond monthly meetings, greater consistency in accessibility guidance across campuses, and more opportunities to involve people with disabilities in user research and testing. Others highlighted the opportunity for the UC system to leverage its collective influence when encouraging vendors to improve the accessibility of their products. These conversations reinforced the CoP’s vision of creating a collaborative network where knowledge, resources, and successful practices are shared rather than recreated independently.
Ongoing communication updates
To support ongoing collaboration, the Community of Practice will build on the active #accessibility channel in the UC Tech Slack workspace. If you would like to receive CoP announcements and updates you can email digitalaccessibility@ucop.edu to be added to the Digital Accessibility Community of Practice listserv.
Register for the Digital Accessibility CoP Meeting Series
The next Digital Accessibility Community of Practice meeting series begins in August 2026 and will continue the third Wednesday of each month at 2:00 p.m. through November. Whether you’re building accessibility programs, supporting faculty, creating content, or just hearing about accessibility requirements in your department, we invite you to join us as we continue building a stronger, more connected accessibility community across the University of California.
➡️ Register for the meeting series.
Please note that this event is only open to those with a UC-associated email address
Contact
Questions? Contact Jamie Herrera, UCOP Accessibility Program Manager or Kate Miffitt, UCOP Digital Experience and Engagement Officer.
