Webinar Graphic with title, Back to Basics: Digital Accessibility Essentials, date, time and headshot of Ana Thompson.

Back to Basics: Digital Accessibility Essentials

  • October 7, 2026 | 2:00 PM ET

With the April 2027 Title II ADA compliance deadline approaching, now is a great time to refresh the fundamentals of digital accessibility—and make accessibility part of everyday academic work.

This introductory webinar goes back to the basics: What digital accessibility means, why it matters, and how a few foundational practices can prevent many common barriers. We’ll briefly explore the conceptual basis for accessibility work before moving into practical examples involving documents, web content, images, links, headings, color, multimedia, and more.

Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of what to look for, practical strategies and tools they can begin using right away, and a roadmap for continuing their accessibility work toward April 2027 and beyond.

Learning Objectives

  • Explain what digital accessibility means and why accessible design benefits equitable participation in digital environments.
  • Recognize common accessibility barriers in everyday digital content and identify foundational practices for preventing them.
  • List basic tools and strategies to check digital content for accessibility and address common issues.
  • Identify built-in tools, readily available resources and next steps for continuing to learn about accessibility and improving the content you create or maintain.
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Workshop Leaders

Ana Thompson

Ana Thompson

Academic & Access Technologist, ITAL Lead IT Academic & Collaborative Technology Team, University of Washington Bothell

Ana Thompson has worked in higher education for the last 25 years in the areas of IT support, accessibility training, online learning, strategic planning, instructional design, cybersecurity, ethical and practical AI implementation and as affiliate faculty. As the Academic & Access Technologist at UW Bothell IT Academic Technology, Thompson supports and collaborates with faculty members, administration and staff to streamline the use of technology tools, pedagogies, promote accessibility and technology digital fluency. She currently oversees a team of quality assurance accessibility assistants and AI processes to remediate content and participate in faculty learning experiences to create and maintain accessible digital content and is part of the University of Washington Tricampus Digital Accessibility Initiative. Thompson has an AS in Computer Science, a BS in Business Information Systems with Management Emphasis, a MS in Information Systems and holds several accessibility certifications.