Middlesex CC Reflects on Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Middlesex Community College is dedicated to creating and providing an accessible and equitable education for all students and working experience for employees. Over the past year, Middlesex has made a number of changes college-wide to increase its accessibility efforts.

“As part of MCC’s Digital Accessibility Team (DAT), it is our responsibility to ensure that the college is continually finding solutions to make working, teaching and learning accessible for every employee and student,” said Reginald Nichols, MCC’s Compliance Officer. “Global Accessibility Awareness Day reminds us why we must foster an inclusive on-campus and online environment that removes barriers and sets up our community members for success.”

Some of the highlights of the DAT team’s accessibility efforts from the past year involves creating an on-demand best practices search committee training video which include closed captioning. They are also putting all software through a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) review and approval process, and making sure accessibility review software and tools are available for faculty and staff to verify their content is accessible.The DAT team – along with MCC’s Academic Technology & Distance Learning division have hosted professional development workshops to cover accessibility topics and train attendees in best practices when creating digital documents and communications.

With the pandemic and the shift to more remote learning and working, MCC evaluated existing digital communications to make sure they meet International Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards and are accessible to students and staff with a wide range of abilities. This includes the website, videos, PDF files and social media posts, according to Beth Noël, MCC’s Director of Marketing Communications.

“From ensuring that users with mobility issues are able to navigate our website and that screen readers can easily translate words into audio descriptions, to adjusting colors and contrast for people with low vision, this work involved a cross section of employees from around the institution,” Noël said. “We worked to develop policies, procedures and training opportunities so that as a college, we can be proactive in our commitment to making digital content accessible. Technology is continually changing and MCC will continue make adjustments and improvements that enhance learning and working for the entire MCC community.”

In order to make the physical campuses more accessible, Middlesex has made a number of cosmetic changes that address previous ADA issues, according to Patrick Cook, MCC’s Executive Director of Public Relations. This includes restriping spaces for accessible parking, repaving parking lots and pathways, and regrading areas around campus. The college has also purchased six accessible transportation vans.

“This work has been in motion for the past four years in both Bedford and Lowell,” Cook said. “We wanted to make it easier for our students, employees and community members to get around campus, park in closer and better spots, and have an accessible option to get from one campus to another using the vans. Middlesex is committed to providing an accessible and equitable educational experience for all, and that includes maintaining our physical environments.”