Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Digital Age

Web Accessibility Top Ten

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:14:17 +0000

Web Accessibility Top Ten Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/27/2025 - 17:14 Are you struggling to bring your website into compliance with laws, policies and guidelines on accessibility? Do you need to know more about the ADA, WCAG, and Section 508? Do you want to know more about how to make your website work for everyone? We will discuss how to make websites accessible. We will discuss how accessibility is often broken and how to avoid that. We will discuss practical tools for developers, designers and content editors. Take aways: 1. What to do to make your site/app accessible 2. What not to do 3. Where to find help

Chris Patterson

Technical Lead at UC Los Angeles

Chris Patterson is the Technical Lead for the Disabilities and Computing Program (DCP) and the Research Data and Web Platforms (RDWP) Group of the Office of Advanced Research Computing (OARC). She has 29 years of experience in full stack web development. Chris is a Senior Accessibility Engineer and has served as an accessibility evangelist for UCLA since the 1990's. She helps other web developers and content editors understand what it takes to make a website work for everyone. Chris serves as the Chair of the systemwide Electronic Accessibility Committee (EAC) and is the UC Tech Ambassador for UCLA.

Session Format

Standard Presentation

Session Skill Level

Beginner

Session Status

Accepted

Session Track

Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Digital Age

Session Track Reasoning

This presentation is about accessibility, compliance with WCAG, and making websites so that everyone can use them.

June 26, 2025 @ 1:00 pm - June 26, 2025 @ 1:45 pm

RC C

Building an Accessible-first Component Library with Student Developers

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 22:06:16 +0000

Building an Accessible-first Component Library with Student Developers Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/27/2025 - 15:06 Web accessibility remains challenging, especially in education, where resources are limited. This presentation explores how component libraries can streamline accessible development by embedding Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) into reusable UI elements. This “trickle-down accessibility” approach ensures that student developers build inclusive websites without extensive accessibility training. By integrating accessibility directly into development workflows, teams can reduce manual audits and improve project consistency. Using structured bug reporting and documentation provide novice or seasoned developers with clear guidance, making accessibility fixes more efficient while fostering hands-on learning. A student-led project using this approach demonstrates its effectiveness in building scalable, accessible web applications.

Vladimir Jimenez

Senior Frontend Developer at UC Merced

Vladimir Jimenez is a senior front-end developer working at UC Merced (UCM) after cosplaying as an engineer at Stack Overflow. He has single-handedly taught ChatGPT bad coding practices with templating languages; traffic analytics keep showing ChatGPT as a referrer to his open source templating repositories. With nearly a decade of expertise in accessibility and over 20 years of coding experience, he began contributing to open source projects in middle school. A passionate advocate for open source, he has consistently championed the release of more projects to the open source community. Since 2018, he has mentored over 30 junior developers of diverse professional backgrounds. Vladimir has continued to demonstrate his passion by starting UCM's first student development cohort for the Enterprise Applications Development team. Like most other stereotypical coding nerds, he prefers flip flops, shorts, and free conference t-shirts, enjoys rock climbing, builds Legos, and collects figurines.

Session Files

building-an-accessible-first-component-library-with-student-developers.pdf (96.06 KB)

Session Format

Standard Presentation

Session Skill Level

Intermediate

Session Status

Accepted

Session Track

Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Digital Age

Session Track Reasoning

This paper is a strong fit for the "Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Digital Age" track as it presents an innovative approach to making digital spaces more accessible and inclusive in higher education. By embedding Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) into a reusable component library, it ensures that all web-based university resources are inherently accessible, reducing barriers for individuals with disabilities.

Additionally, this approach empowers student and less experienced developers—many of whom may lack formal accessibility training—to create inclusive digital experiences without extensive expertise. Structured bug reporting and documentation further support learning and continuous improvement, fostering a culture of accessibility and belonging. By prioritizing accessibility from the start, this methodology helps bridge the digital divide and ensures that technology serves all members of the UC community equitably.

June 26, 2025 @ 2:00 pm - June 26, 2025 @ 2:45 pm

RC E

Advancing Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for Women in Tech in the Digital Age

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 20:52:07 +0000

Advancing Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for Women in Tech in the Digital Age Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/27/2025 - 13:52 As technology evolves at an exponential rate, so too must our approach to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) within the digital landscape. Women, particularly women of color, remain significantly underrepresented in tech and face unique challenges in accessing opportunities for advancement, leadership, and meaningful contribution. This presentation will address key DEIB issues within the tech industry, focusing on how inequities persist and how the digital age offers both challenges and opportunities to combat them. Attendees will hear about real-world case studies, and best practices to foster a truly inclusive environment for women in tech—one that values equity, promotes inclusion, and ensures belonging for all. The session will provide actionable strategies to help organizations and individuals create a digital ecosystem that is not only representative but also empowers women in their full professional potential.

Mai Vang

Director of Constituent Management & Technologies at UC Riverside

Dr. Mai Vang is a higher education leader with over a decade of experience in enrollment systems, technology strategy, and student success. She currently serves as Director of Constituent Management & Technologies at UC Riverside, leading digital transformation initiatives across advancement systems, including Salesforce/ascend CRM and data analytics. Dr. Mai Vang holds a Doctorate in Educational Justice and Leadership from the University of Redlands, where her research focused on the experiences of m/others of color in graduate education. She is also an adjunct professor, teaching marketing, excel, and analytics to diverse undergraduate and graduate learners. As a committed advocate for equity, she serves as a DEIB Committee member within University Advancement, as well as served as a First-Generation Mentor at UCR, and currently one of three UC Riverside representatives for UC Womxn in Tech (WIT). With expertise in CRM technology, stakeholder engagement, and metric-driven leadership, she is passionate about building inclusive systems that uplift historically marginalized communities.

Teri Eckman

Executive Director for Student Information Systems at UC Riverside

Teri Eckman, Executive Director of Student Information Systems at UC Riverside, is a leader in higher education technology with a strong focus on building collaborative teams and leveraging technology to enhance student experiences. She leads a team of 30, overseeing student information systems, educational technology, and enterprise applications. A passionate advocate for diversity, Teri co-founded and chairs the UCR ITS Women in Technology (WIT) group and serves on the UCOP Womxn in Technology Committee. She is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment and championing opportunities for women in the tech field. Teri holds a Master's in Organizational Leadership and a Bachelor's in Sociology.

Sureyya Tuncel

Manager for Identity and Access Management at UC Riverside

Süreyya Tuncel is the Manager of Identity and Access Management (IAM) at UCR, responsible for safeguarding critical data and IT resources for faculty, staff, and students. With over 20 years of IT experience in areas such as systems and network administration, security, and risk management, she joined UCR's Information Security Office in 2018 and moved to her current role in 2020. Süreyya is a seasoned leader focused on enhancing security, streamlining user access, and fostering collaboration. She holds a BSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and is dedicated to professional development and team empowerment. Passionate about supporting women and minorities in IT and cybersecurity, Süreyya is a UC Women in Technology (UC Wit) Committee member, co-representing UCR. She is looking forward to sharing her insights on the "Advancing Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for Women in Tech in the Digital Age" panel at this year's UC Tech Conference.

Deidra May

Lead Banner Infrastructure Architect at UC Riverside

Deidra May serves as the Banner Architect in the Student Information Systems Department at the University of California, Riverside. A member of UC Women in Technology (UC WIT), she has been with UC Riverside for seven years.

Session Format

Panel

Session Skill Level

Intermediate

Session Status

Accepted

Session Track

Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Digital Age

Session Track Reasoning

The Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Digital Age track is the best choice for this session because the topic at hand addresses the the equity gap in information technology fields for women in technology. Recommendations will be shared to combat equity, inclusion, and belonging issues in the digital age for this population.

June 27, 2025 @ 10:45 am - June 27, 2025 @ 11:30 am

RC A

UC Womxn in Technology Munch and Mingle

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 01:03:56 +0000

UC Womxn in Technology Munch and Mingle Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/24/2025 - 18:03

An opportunity for womxn to come together and eat lunch and learn more about UC WIT. We will have a guest speaker (last year was LeShelle May).

Charron Andrus

Associate Chief Information Security Officer at UC Berkeley

Charron Andrus has over 20 years of extensive IT and cybersecurity experience, spanning private and public entities as well as clinical and academic organizations. Charron has been with the University of California system serving both the Berkeley and Davis Health campuses. Charron holds an M.A. in Gerontology from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in Organizational Leadership from Biola University.

Charron is the co-founder of the Black Leadership Alliance Council at the University of California (BLAC@UC), Chair of University of California Womxn in Technology (UC WIT), and Co-lead of the EDUCAUSE Diversity in IT Community Group. She is an appointed Sacramento City Independent Redistricting Commissioner, and a member of the Hearts with Haiti Executive Board of Directors.

Charron’s focus is on advocating for a diverse, inclusive, and equitable faculty, staff, and student body; and her passion centers around creating meaningful relationships within Higher Education and broader communities.

Charron is the mother of one amazing son who married an equally amazing woman, and they have blessed her with a gorgeous grandson. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, having published a book of poems: Words That Occur in the Absence of Love and a Planner, Journal and Goal Tracker: Simplicity & Joy Planner.

Deidra May

Lead Banner Infrastructure Architect at UC Riverside

Teri Eckman

Executive Director for Student Information Systems at UC Riverside

Michelle Hardwick

Chief Data Officer at UC Riverside

Michelle Hardwick is the Chief Data Officer for UCR. Her primary goal is to create intuitive and insightful data products that drive data-informed decisions and boost data literacy across the campus. With over 20 years of experience in data, Michelle has overseen multiple implementations of data warehouses, BI, analytics, and machine learning across many industries. She is passionate about improving storytelling with data and effective data visualizations. Michelle has a BS in Computer Science from Winona State University and an MBA from Utah State University.

Session Format

Standard Presentation

Session Skill Level

Beginner

Session Status

Accepted

Session Track

Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Digital Age

Session Track Reasoning

If this session could be scheduled approximately 15 minutes after lunch and then last the duration of a lunch session that would be great.

June 26, 2025 @ 11:45 am - June 26, 2025 @ 12:45 pm

RC D

Well, How Big Is the Elephant? 🐘 Digital Accessibility Compliance One Byte at a Time

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 23:01:19 +0000

Well, How Big Is the Elephant? 🐘 Digital Accessibility Compliance One Byte at a Time Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/17/2025 - 16:01

Inaccessible digital content is a huge problem, but how do we describe and measure the problem well enough to formulate a strategy to remediate it? As we work toward the 2026 deadline to comply with federal digital accessibility rules, we're all feeling like the blind men in an Indian parable trying to describe an elephant for the first time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant. They describe the part they touch as if it represents the whole animal. Arguing, they can't reach consensus. Each man is right, but each has only one piece of the elephant. In this session I will share how our campus is describing our digital accessibility compliance problem. With enough data, we can create and execute a strategy, communicate with our leadership and stakeholders, and measure our success. Through discovery tools, data analysis, systems integration, training, and process improvements, we have created enough clarity to describe the elephant.

Erik Wieland

Customer Success & Solutions Architect at UC San Francisco

I've been at UCSF for 27 years, and in that time, I've been a help-desk and field tech, a web developer, a sys-admin, an operations lead, a departmental IT director, a customer engagement manager, a solutions architect, an application manager, a product manager, and an associate director. I have moved from individual contributor to senior leadership and back – twice. I love data and process. I founded a successful tech leadership development program. My favorite title is mentor.

Session Format

Standard Presentation

Session Skill Level

Intermediate

Session Status

Accepted

Session Track

Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Digital Age

Session Track Reasoning

The goal is to improve digital accessibility, and it's based on my experience on a specific compliance project, but most of the work was related to process improvements, data analysis, and integration and orchestration work. So it could be "Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Digital Age" or "Security, Compliance, & Privacy" or "Systems and Solutions: Enterprise Infrastructure, Data, Research Computing and Support." You choose.

June 27, 2025 @ 10:45 am - June 27, 2025 @ 11:30 am

RC C