Accessibility Ambassadors: Physical Access and Inclusive Spaces Across Campus

This presentation will take a look at common access issues on a post-secondary campus and apply MN State Accessibility, the ADA, and good design to compare options. Additionally, the presenters will share some history on the UMD Commission on Disabilities and information about accessibility scans. The commission was established in the mid-1990s and has been organizing accessibility scans on the UMD campus since the very beginning. Learn about how this process has evolved into what is now called the inclusivity scan and how you can help raise awareness and increase inclusivity in your own space or shared spaces at the University.

Roberta Kehne is the physical accessibility coordinator for the University of Minnesota. She has worked for the U since 1991 and at the Twin Cities campus since 1993. Roberta is a Minnesota state-certified accessibility specialist.

Jodi Straka (she/her) serves as the co-chair of the Commission on Disabilities on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus and works in the Office of Admissions as the assistant director of customer service and campus visits. In her free time, she loves spending time outdoors with her fiancé, Eric, and their three dogs—Puggy, Macky, and Wally.

LeeAnn Ilminen (she/her) is the co-chair of the UMD Commission on Disabilities and has been an active member since 2016. She works as the program associate for the UMD University for Seniors program and also serves as a UMD staff senator. Prior to working at UMD, LeeAnn served as an advocate for people with disabilities at an independent living center in Superior, Wisconsin.

Physical Access and Inclusive Spaces Across Campus
Thursday, February 22, noon-1 p.m.

Registration for this session is required. Let us know if you are attending. By default, we enable auto-captioning in the webinar. Please let us know what additional accommodations we can provide. Two weeks notice (February 8) will help us to better fulfill requests. This session will be recorded, captioned, and shared with the Google Group.

About Accessibility Ambassadors

Accessibility Ambassadors is a group of University employees from across all campuses who are passionate about making U of M digital resources more accessible online. They bring different skills, strengths, and backgrounds, but all want to create an inclusive and accessible community at the U of M.

They host events to teach, advocate, and discuss digital accessibility topics and strive to be resources for the University community.

To learn about more accessibility-related events at the University of Minnesota, please visit Accessible U.

For more information about the Ambassadors, join the Google Group or send an email to: accessibility-ambassadors@umn.edu.