As NC State continues to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, join us this April as we host the 2021 (Virtual) Accessibility Excursion to raise awareness about campus accessibility.

 This year, a variety of campus partners, including the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED), Student Government, Office of Information Technology (OIT) Accessibility, Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA), Disability Resource Office (DRO) and Office of the University Architect are proud to present the first-ever digital Accessibility Excursion.

Since the Accessibility Excursion’s inception in 2018, individuals have traversed campus identifying accessibility barriers or utilized the campus accessibility map to learn more about the accessible entrances and pathways to various parts of campus. Due to current circumstances around COVID-19, this year’s Accessibility Excursion will explore digital accessibility in the virtual environment while also exploring new and existing resources regarding on-campus accessibility.

This year’s Accessibility Excursion will highlight some of the digital accessibility tools available on the university’s various digital platforms such as Panopto, Zoom and Moodle. One of the items that faculty and staff can learn more about is the various accessibility functionalities of the soon-to-be released Panopto, such as How to Add Automatic Captions to a Video or creating a Quality Matters-certified course in Moodle. All users can learn about keyboard shortcuts within Zoom.

Recently, Talley Student Union received two new touch-free door operators for the two restrooms located next to the Information Desk. Individuals are able to open the bathroom doors by making a motion in front of the motion sensors. These touch-free door operators were installed thanks to the generous support of Student Government.

Individuals who complete the activities on the Moodle page will be entered to win some OIED swag. Make sure you check out the Accessibility Excursion on the OIED website starting April 1, 2021.

Selby Rempfer is an equal opportunity officer in the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity.