The Information Accessibility Design and Policy (IADP) online certificate program is offered through the Department of Speech & Hearing Science in the College of Applied Health Sciences (AHS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The Fall 2023 cohort begins on Oct. 23, and registration is open through Oct. 20.

Through this award-winning program, website developers, programmers, designers, information technology specialists, compliance officers, educators, and disability service providers will learn about the following:

• Principles of accessible information architecture and universal design information technologies used in educational, healthcare, corporate, and employment settings
• Federal and state legal mandates governing information technology accessibility and their relationship to the civil rights of people with disabilities
• Information technology accessibility standards, design practices that enable adherence to those standards, and tools that support validation and evidence of compliance to those standards

Why enroll?

There has been a rapid increase in the use of multimedia sources for information dissemination in education, healthcare, business, government, and other settings. Concurrently, there has been an increase in the prevalence and participation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society including students, employees, and consumers of commercial goods and public services.

In response to the escalating accessibility needs of this population, many states are passing legislation—for example, the Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act—to establish policy parameters for digital accessibility. There are also several national mandates that address information technology accessibility, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

A barrier of achieving the goal of functional information accessibility is that many software developers, programmers, and information designers lack the necessary accessibility knowledge, skills, and tools they need to effectively perform their jobs. In addition, service providers and administrators often lack an understanding of how the various legislative acts and polices of information accessibility apply to their setting.

AHS continues its pioneering efforts on behalf of the full inclusion of people with disabilities by developing one of the very first university-based professional certificates in information accessibility design and policy. At the completion of this certificate program, graduates will have relevant knowledge of policies governing information technology accessibility, along with the skills and tools to meet Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and create and/or convert digital information into accessible formats.

The program is approved by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) for CAEC Professional Development Credits.

The Information Accessibility Design and Policy (IADP) online certificate program starts on Oct. 23, 2023. Register by Oct. 20.

For more information about the program, including course content and learning outcomes, contact Dr. Marc Thompson at thompso1@illinois.edu.

For information about registration, tuition, technology, and other logistics, contact Erika Albin at ealbin@illinois.edu.