S.02 Ep.11: From Compliance to Culture: Digital Accessibility in South Carolina
2023
This Season 2 bonus episode originated from the AEM Center being introduced to leaders at the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) by both the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Office of Educational Technology (OET) at the U.S. Department of Education (US ED). Throughout May, OSEP and OET partnered on a month-long public campaign to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). On GAAD, held May 18, 2023, the two Offices hosted a joint webinar featuring the evolution of SCDE’s digital accessibility initiative. Alerted by a 2017 letter of complaint from the Office for Civil Rights at US ED citing accessibility violations on its website, SCDE has taken multiple actions to improve digital accessibility within the agency and for districts across the state. In this episode, AEM Center Project Director Cynthia Curry interviews SCDE digital accessibility leaders, Valarie Byrd, Senior Consultant, and Lydia Hutto, Training Coordinator & Staff Technology Instructor.
Guests
- Valerie Byrd, Senior Consultant, South Carolina Department of Education
- Lydia Hutto, Training Coordinator & Staff Technology Instructor, South Carolina Department of Education
Resources
- OET-OSEP joint webinar recording: Implementing Accessibility: Learning from the South Carolina Department of Education
- SCDE Digital Accessibility Complimentary Observations (DACO) Initiative
- SCDE School District Accessibility Training Opportunities
- Office for Civil Rights Video Series
The contents of this podcast were developed under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education, #H327Z190004. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer: Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D.