Blended Accessibility Training for Higher Education
For Bowling Green State University’s Center for Faculty Excellence, I designed and delivered a blended learning solution to help faculty and staff create and remediate accessible Microsoft Word documents ahead of the April 2026 WCAG 2.1 compliance deadline. The project combined a 90-minute virtual workshop, task-based video tutorials, and a practical accessibility checklist, so participants could learn live and keep using the resources afterward. I also created an eLearning course for the CFE team to continue working with the Learning Community on course and content accessibility.
Project Snapshot
Roles & Responsibilities
- Instructional Designer
- Facilitator
- Learning Needs Analysis
- Accessibility Strategy & Guidance
- Multimedia Learning Design & Video Production
- Evaluation Planning & Continuous Improvement
- eLearning Development
Programs & Tools Used
- Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, SharePoint
- Camtasia, Audiate, Snagit
- Jira
- Zoom and Padlet
- YouTube
- Canva
- Articulate Storyline
Context
Public universities are required to meet WCAG 2.1 success criteria by April 24, 2026. While there is strong interest across the BGSU learning community in meeting these requirements, some faculty and staff are unsure where to begin or how to apply accessibility practices within their existing workflows.
The Center for Faculty Excellence is responsible for supporting campus-wide teaching and learning initiatives. With a small team and a large audience to support, they needed practical, scalable training that would help faculty remediate existing materials and create more accessible content moving forward. The solution also needed to fit into busy schedules and support ongoing reference and reuse.
Design Considerations
The Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence reached out to explore whether I could facilitate a virtual workshop and create supporting resources.
After discussing the audience, timelines, and available systems, we identified three primary needs:
- Build awareness of why accessibility matters for all members of the learning community, not just for legal compliance.
- Provide clear, tool-specific guidance that faculty could apply immediately using systems they already use.
- Offer flexible learning options that support both live participation and long-term, on-demand access.
The challenge was to balance compliance requirements with an approachable learning experience that reduced overwhelm and encouraged adoption.
Solution
I designed a blended learning solution focused on practical accessibility fundamentals for Microsoft Word. The content was aligned to WCAG 2.1 success criteria, but intentionally framed in plain language to reduce jargon and cognitive load.
Based on audience needs and time constraints, I focused on five high-impact topics that faculty could apply immediately to existing documents: color contrast, alt text, heading structure, hyperlinks, and font and style choices.
The solution combined live instruction, hands-on practice, and reusable resources to support both immediate application and continued learning after the session.
Key Components
90-Minute Virtual Facilitation on Zoom
I designed and facilitated an interactive workshop using PowerPoint slides, live demonstrations in Microsoft Word, and guided practice. Participants were encouraged to work in their own documents or use a provided remediation file. A Padlet activity supported reflection and peer learning, while live demonstrations modeled real-world workflows.
Video Tutorials
I recorded short, focused video tutorials in Camtasia for each topic covered in the workshop. These videos demonstrate step-by-step implementation in Microsoft Word and introduce supporting tools such as the WebAIM Color Contrast Checker and browser bookmarklet. The videos were designed for just-in-time use and are being added to BGSU’s Just In Time Resource Library
Microsoft Word Accessibility Checklist
Using an existing PowerPoint accessibility checklist created by BGSU, I analyzed the structure and adapted it for Microsoft Word. The checklist aligns with the workshop content and video tutorials, reinforcing consistent language and expectations across formats.
eLearning Course for CFE Staff
I created a short eLearning for the CFE staff who field requests for accessibility assistance with courses. The course introduces WCAG guidelines in a usable structure and provides practice fielding requests similar to those they will receive on the job.
Impact
Evaluation was intentionally built into the design of this initiative to assess learning effectiveness, guide future improvements, and support long-term accessibility adoption across the institution.
Reflection and Immediate Application
At the conclusion of the live workshop, participants completed a short Padlet activity to identify one accessibility practice they feel confident implementing immediately and one question they still have. This qualitative feedback was used to identify areas of clarity, remaining barriers, and opportunities to refine both the facilitation and supporting resources.
Feedback and Continuous Improvement
All participants completed BGSU’s facilitated session reflection form. This feedback is shared with the Center for Faculty Excellence and reviewed to evaluate learner confidence, perceived relevance, and overall session effectiveness. Findings inform revisions to the workshop and guide the development of future accessibility sessions.
Compliance Progress Monitoring
As faculty apply the practices introduced in the training, remediated and newly created content is reviewed against WCAG 2.1 success criteria for the topics covered. This approach supports tracking progress toward institutional compliance goals leading up to the April 2027 deadline.
Sustained Adoption
The on-demand videos and checklists were designed to function as ongoing reference tools. Continued use of these resources supports reinforcement of learning over time and allows the Center for Faculty Excellence to identify areas where additional guidance or expanded training may be needed.
Due to the success of this project, I was asked to lead another virtual workshop focused on making PowerPoint presentations accessible.
My Process
Project Management
The Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence reached out to explore whether I could facilitate a virtual workshop. As an external facilitator, I did not have access to BGSU’s internal project management systems. To support transparent collaboration and efficient decision-making, I selected a Jira Kanban board to manage scope, timelines, and approvals. This approach aligned well with the Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence’s familiarity with tools like Trello, allowing us to focus on the work rather than onboarding to a new system.
A Kanban workflow was intentionally chosen to support flexible prioritization, iterative review, and clear visibility into work in progress. Jira tickets tracked deliverables, feedback, and approval status, helping us manage dependencies across live facilitation, video production, and supporting resources.
Confluence integration supported shared documentation and version control, ensuring both stakeholders were always working from the most current materials without repeated file uploads or confusion around file versions.
For multimedia review, Camtasia videos were shared using Screencast links directly within Jira. This allowed for asynchronous review, time-stamped feedback, and efficient approval prior to final exports and storage in SharePoint.
Needs Analysis & Design Documents
The kick-off meeting was held eight weeks prior to the virtual workshop. During this phase, I conducted a needs analysis and created design documents to clarify goals, scope, delivery approach, and evaluation strategy. These artifacts informed instructional decisions and ensured alignment between stakeholder expectations and learner needs.
Needs Analysis
Design Document
Facilitation Planning
I began with a live document in Confluence of a facilitation brainstorm and used comments for feedback and iterations. From the brainstorm, I created my facilitation proposal to submit to the CFE one month prior to the workshop. After this was approved, I worked on a more detailed workshop outline, including all necessary links. The final draft of this would also be shared with the director, who would be moderating the Zoom chat and adding necessary the links during the presentation, but not shared with the attendees.
Facilitation Proposal
Workshop Outline
Video Script and Creation
Each video was planned using a brief outline that defined the objective, task flow, and expected learner action. Outlines were reviewed and approved prior to scripting to ensure alignment with project goals and scope. I then developed full scripts to guide screen recording in Camtasia, allowing for clear, consistent narration and efficient editing.
When recording and editing the videos, I intentionally paced narration to allow learners time to follow along in their own documents and used visual spotlighting to draw attention to key areas within Microsoft Word. I also made sure videos were accessible, and modeling how to create accessible videos, by carefully describing everything that was happening on screen.
After editing, each script was refined into a complete transcript and shared alongside the finished video as a .txt and DOCX file in SharePoint. This approach ensured accurate captions when videos were uploaded to YouTube and supported easy reuse of transcript files without additional remediation.
Videos were intentionally designed to be task-focused, allowing learners to access specific guidance when needed. Chapters were added to each video to support quick navigation and reduce time spent searching for information.
Sample artifacts are included below, including one of the tutorial videos on YouTube, and one of my full video scripts.
Storyline CFE eLearning
Below are some sample slide from the Articulate Storyline eLearning experience created for the CFE staff, to help prepare them to field questions with confidence and link it to WCAG success critera. Select each image to expand.
Feedback & Testimonial
Participant Feedback
The Accessibility Workshop was especially meaningful. I learned a great deal from Caitlin’s facilitation style, particularly her pacing, clarity, and thoughtful delivery, which are practices I hope to model in my own workshops.
Very helpful and information-rich session. The facilitator really knows what she’s talking about. Everyone in the room was eager to learn and even helpful.
Stakeholder Testimonial
My team needed help creating content to prepare for the upcoming ADA Title II Digital Accessibility requirement deadline. Our most immediate need was to help the BGSU teaching community develop accessible Microsoft Word documents, so I contacted Caitlin to see if she could help. She developed and facilitated a 90-minute interactive Zoom session and a companion guide for creating accessible documents. Caitlin’s virtual facilitation style was clear, inclusive, and accessible, and she ensured participants felt comfortable asking questions at any point. She incorporated thoughtful, engaging activities such as polls and Padlet reflections throughout. In addition to developing the session, she went above and beyond our original plan and created a series of high-quality micro-learning videos on topics addressed in the session for participants to view afterward. Throughout the entire process, Caitlin was in communication with me to share progress, make sure that center and university guidelines and policies were followed, and to be sure expectations were being met. Caitlin is organized, detail-oriented, meets deadlines, and genuinely great to work with!
Chelsea C., Center for Faculty Excellence