While we live in a highly advanced and hyper-connected world with technology at our fingertips that allows us to engage with one another from anywhere around the globe, it may be surprising to know that only 4% of the Internet is fully accessible.
This is a significant barrier for individuals with disabilities who rely on digital accessibility to be able to use the technology that is available. Accessible technology is important with helping the disability community who may need it for work, personal interactions, and daily living. Currently, a deadline under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II requires updated and accessible websites and mobile apps is approaching for government, universities, hospitals, libraries, and more. However, the Department of Justice extended the compliance deadline for these requirements until 2027.
The Web Content Accessibility Initiative (WAI) already provides its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure that industry standards are met regarding accessibility for individuals with disabilities. However, there still remains a gap with achieving accessibility skills in technology as future generations enter the workforce in tech and digital industries.
This is where Teach Access and its partners come in, working to combat this issue. They are striving to open educational pathways that will help to create more accessible and inclusive technology.
About Teach Access
Teach Access is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2016, originating with a kickstart workshop of volunteers from various backgrounds who established a vision and goals for the organization. Kate Sonka became the first Executive Director of the organization, beginning in 2019.
The mission of Teach Access is to ensure equitable access to high-quality educational resources. The organization aims to support educators with their teaching and students with their learning about digital accessibility. This goal is to build a workforce for the future that can create technology that is inclusive and accessible for individuals with disabilities.
Teach Access’s mission is achieved through collaboration with:
Education
Industry
Disability advocacy organizations
Individuals
The organization set a goal in 2020 to reach 1 million students by 2030. As of 2025, that goal was already surpassed with 1.5 million students reached!
Addressing the Accessibility Skills Gap
What is the accessibility skills gap? Teach Access defines the accessibility skills gap as a “gap between the demand for digital accessibility skills in the workplace and the supply of workers who are knowledgeable and skilled in accessibility.”
As part of the efforts to address and help bridge the gap between education and industry, Teach Access provides free programs, resources, and training that benefits students and educators with learning and understanding the needs of the disability community and accessible technology.
Some of the programs that Teach Access offers include:
Teach Access by Design — teaches the foundational concepts in disability, accessibility, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Student Academy — offers monthly, virtual webinars for students to build empathy and strengthen their understanding of disability and accessibility.
Furthermore, Teach Access offers an abundance of valuable resources to help educate and ready students for creating accessible technologies. These resources include:
Accessibility in the Disciplines Courses — these self-paced courses, like Computer Science or Web Development, help educators integrate accessibility into their curriculums
Curriculum Repository — provides more than 300 free curricular materials, such as syllabi and assignment prompts, to support the teaching of accessibility across various disciplines. *Note: this option requires the creation of an account.
AI Toolkit — a useful guide to navigating the challenges and opportunities of AI overcoming technology barriers.
A New Summer Fellowship
Recently, Ability Central proudly awarded Teach Access a $50,000 grant in support of their launch of the newest program, the Teach Access Fellowship Summer Institute. In a recent press release from Teach Access, Executive Director of Ability Central, Griffen Stapp, shares that the non-profit “is proud to support the Teach Access Summer Institute because real change starts with education.”
This exciting, new Summer Institute fellowship is a 4-week, intensive version of Teach Access’s existing year-long professional development fellowship program that offers accessibility education and mentorship to educators.
Mindy Kolin, Director of Development and Industry Partnerships for Teach Access, explains that Teach Access fellows “are supported in exploring how accessibility informs their own practice, developing strategies for teaching it to others, and embedding it meaningfully into the curriculum.”
What is the Purpose of the Summer Institute?
Kolin explains that although “the core mission and curriculum remain aligned with the original program’s focus on providing accessibility education, mentorship, and applied learning opportunities, this version introduces a condensed, summer-based training model to enhance accessibility and participation.”
By the end of the 4-week session, the Summer Institute Fellows should be able to:
Demonstrate a foundational understanding of accessibility concepts and skills, contextualized within their respective disciplines
Develop strategies for integrating accessibility concepts and skills into their courses and curriculum
Design effective, discipline-appropriate instructional materials that support student learning about accessibility
Pilot the teaching of discipline-specific accessibility concepts and skills with their students
Engage colleagues to foster collaboration, learning, and sharing of accessibility knowledge within their academic institutions
What Does the Summer Institute Entail?
Here is an overview of the specific requirements of the Fellows in the summer program:
Engaging fully in the 4-week professional development program by:
Attending 5 synchronous Zoom sessions
Participating in follow-up support sessions in the fall and
Completing asynchronous activities (i.e. reviewing resources and developing curricular materials that integrate accessibility into courses)
Fulfilling the following program deliverables:
Develop instructional materials (choose one option)
Create 3 curricular materials to teach accessibility in at least 1 course, or
Develop 2 lessons that focus on one or more accessibility-related topics
All completed materials should be:
Accessible and align with the current WCAG 2.1 standards
Shared to the public through the Teach Access Curriculum Repository under a Creative Commons license that allows reuse with proper attribution
Submitting the following:
Results from a student survey assessing the impact and effectiveness of the implemented materials provided by Teach Access
A final summary case study describing:
Implementation of the new course materials
Student feedback and outcomes
How Do You Know if You’re Right for the Summer Institute?
The Summer Institute is designed for higher education faculty in the United States or Puerto Rico who are committed to integrating accessibility into their teaching and academic practices.
Faculty from a variety of disciplines are encouraged to apply, such as the following the fields:
Engineering
Computer Science
Business and Management
Graphic Design
Disability Studies
Eligible applicants for this summer program must be an alumni of a Teach Access program (Fellowship Program, Faculty Grants, or Teach Access by Design) or have at least one term of experience teaching accessibility within a course.
By supporting educators, Teach Access is helping expand accessibility knowledge across academic institutions and preparing future professionals to create more inclusive technologies.
Although the application period for the summer institute has already closed, you can still learn more and keep up to date regarding future cohort applications by clicking here for more information.
More Resources
Teach Access provides an Accessibility Skills Hiring Toolkit to help organizations with developing a knowledgeable and skilled workforce. The toolkit provides position descriptions and interview questions.
Become a corporate sponsor or a donor to help Teach Access reach its fundraising goals and close the accessible technology skills gap.
Watch this 2023 webinar recording with Executive Director, Kate Sonka, on addressing the accessibility skills gap through curricular transformation.
Connect with the Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology (PEAT), a partner of Teach Access that is working to create accessible technology policies.
Follow and support Ability Central, which offers programs and workshops that aim to help individuals reach their potential and gain skills and knowledge.
Additional Information
The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for legal, medical, or other professional advice. While we strive to provide accurate and up-to-date resources, some information may become outdated or incomplete. Always consult with your provider about personal medical concerns.
