Accessibility by Design
🔎 Project Overview
Accessibility was often treated as an afterthought in course and program design — something to fix once a student raised an issue. This reactive model created inequities, put students at risk, and burdened faculty with last-minute retrofits.
I led the Accessibility by Design Project at PSU to flip that script. Our goal was to make accessibility proactive and embedded — part of the DNA of every course, policy, and workflow.
🛠️ My Role
Authored PSU’s digital accessibility policies, aligning them with WCAG 2.1 and ADA standards.
Partnered with faculty, instructional designers, and IT to build accessibility checks into every course development workflow.
Developed and facilitated training modules on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), accessible multimedia, and inclusive assessment.
Established a continuous review loop for ongoing compliance and improvement.
📘 Deep-Dive Narrative
The project began with a simple observation: when accessibility is addressed late, students face barriers, faculty feel frustrated, and institutions fall short of their commitments.
I spearheaded a cross-campus initiative that reframed accessibility as a design principle, not a retrofit. This meant:
Every course template and syllabus included accessibility checkpoints.
Faculty were trained to use captioning, alt text, accessible documents, and UDL strategies from day one.
Instructional designers integrated equity reviews into their standard processes.
Policies and workflows were rewritten to reflect accessibility as a baseline expectation.
The cultural shift was profound. Faculty began to see accessibility not as a compliance box to check, but as part of their teaching philosophy — an act of inclusion and care for all learners.
“Excerpt from PSU’s Accessibility by Design framework — embedding WCAG and UDL principles directly into course and program design.”
Optional Resource Link:
View Full Accessibility by Design Presentation →
👥 Leadership in Action
This project required collaboration, advocacy, and persistence. Accessibility can be seen as a burden — so I worked to reframe it as an opportunity: a way to expand learning opportunities, improve outcomes, and align with PSU’s values.
As one faculty partner reflected:
“Molly helped us see accessibility not as something we had to fix later, but as something that made our teaching stronger from the start.”
✨ Key Outcomes
Institutional adoption of Accessibility by Design policies.
Integration of accessibility into course templates and workflows.
Faculty trained and empowered to design for all learners.
PSU strengthened its reputation for equity-driven innovation.
