Week 1: Maximizing Accessibility Features on Your Smartphone
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
11:30-noon, Teams Virtual Webinar
Presenter: Anthony Gomez, Student Accessibility Services
Join us for an informative 30-minute virtual workshop designed to help you unlock the potential of your smartphone's built-in accessibility features. Whether you have a disability or simply want to enhance your phone's usability, this workshop is for you.
What You'll Learn:
- Discover a range of accessibility features available on most smartphones.
- Learn how these features can assist people with various disabilities.
- Gain practical tips on how to use these features to improve your daily activities.
To register, please follow the link to AAD Week 1 Registration Page.
Week 2: Introduction to the Panorama Digital Accessibility Tool
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
11:30-noon, Teams Virtual Webinar
Presenter: Mark Lubrick, Office of Open Learning
Panorama is a tool that assists instructors and students with creating a more accessible learning environment within Brightspace. Panorama will review files for instructors, provide reports, and assist with fixing common accessibility issues. Students will have access to alternate formats that might support their needs better. Panorama even allows users to customize how their Brightspace page will look for them. This workshop will show participants how to use the various features of Panorama to enhance accessibility as they navigate Brightspace sites.
To register, please follow the link to AAD Week 2 Registration Page.
AAD Week 3 - Pathways to Inclusion: A Student’s Perspective
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
11:30-noon, Teams Virtual Webinar
Presenter: Disability Studies Student Association (DSSA)
Event is in partnership with EDID Week
Accessibility Awareness Days week 3 is presented by the University of Windsor's Disability Studies Students Association (DSSA). This session aims to foster a more inclusive and accessible campus environment. Join us for an engaging 30-minute workshop on how we can enhance accessibility and create a sense of belonging for all students.
Session Highlights:
- Tips for Students: Practical advice to help students navigate and thrive in the university setting.
- Tips for Professors: Strategies for educators to support and accommodate students with diverse needs.
- What We Wish You Knew: Insights from individuals with specific accessibility needs, sharing their experiences and what they wish others understood.
- Questions and Answers
Come and be part of the conversation to make our university a more welcoming place for everyone.
To register, please follow the link to AAD Week 3 Registration Page.
AAD Week 4 - AI and Assistive Technology
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Session 1: AI for accessibility: How might AI support people with disabilities?
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Presenter: Nick Baker, University of Windsor
Generative AI is rapidly transforming our world as it becomes integrated into everyday technologies and processes. These advancements hold immense potential to enhance accessibility for individuals with various disabilities. AI tools can offer automatic captions, language translation, language support, speech recognition, assisted speech, sign language translation, image descriptions, technology control, mobility support, information summarization, and diverse learning aids.
However, there are risks. Few AI companies design their products with disabilities in mind or include the disability community in their development processes. Additionally, the ease with which non-technical users can create bots raises concerns about the potential for harmful applications to be released, either intentionally or unintentionally.
This session will explore the rapidly evolving capabilities of AI as an assistive technology, particularly for students in higher education, and provide considerations for the safe use of these systems.
To register, please follow the link to AAD Week 4: Session One Registration Page.
Session 2: Exploring lived experiences of AI and disability
1:00-2:00 pm
Panel Experts: Safiia Mohammed (UWindsor, PhD. Candidate), Dave Dame (Microsoft Corporation), Mary Rice (University of New Mexico), Tina Szymczak (Windsor-Essex Family Network)
Emerging AI tools, including agentic AI that can act on behalf of humans, have the potential to eliminate or reduce long-standing barriers for people with disabilities. But are these technologies truly living up to their potential? What is the lived experience of using AI? What are the risks and rewards, and does one outweigh the other?
This expert panel will delve into these questions and more, sharing experiences of using AI and considering what the future may hold for people with disabilities who have access to powerful AI assistants. Join us as we explore the transformative possibilities and challenges of AI in creating a more inclusive world.
To register, please follow the link to AAD Week 4: Session Two Registration Page.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please email aad@uwindsor.ca.