IADP Program Director
Dr. Thompson is the Program Director for the IADP program and Assistant Director of Teaching & Learning Experiences at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. For more than 35 years, he has taught at the university level and has over 20 years of experience teaching online and providing online teaching instruction. In addition to his teaching experience, he has a background in web design, instructional media, and web-based learning platforms. He is the accessibility liaison for the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning at the University of Illinois and has presented at a number of workshops and conferences on the teaching of accessibility and universal design for learning, creating accessible course content, and the accessibility of web conferencing systems and learning management systems. Dr. Thompson is a member of the Teach Access Universities Task Force and has partnered with Microsoft on several educational initiatives, including their Accessibility Lighthouse Program. His book chapter entitled “Three Approaches to Teaching Accessibility & Inclusive Design” was published in March 2023, in A Guide to Digital Accessibility: Policies, Practices, and Professional Development.
Hadi Rangin,
Instructor
Hadi Rangin worked for 10 years as a Web Design & Accessibility Specialist at University of Illinois before joining the University of Washington in Seattle in 2014 as their Information Technology Accessibility Specialist. Hadi’s primary job is helping on-campus developers and content creators produce more universally accessible and usable applications and content. He also works with many vendors, including Microsoft, Workday, Elsevier, and others to help them incorporate accessibility in their design, implementation, and quality assurance processes. Hadi’s educational background is in Computer Science with a focus on Network Management and Human-Computer Interfaces. He is blind and has experienced accessibility as a student, faculty member, software developer, trainer, and most recently as an accessibility advocate with multiple hats.
Mark McCarthy, CPWA
Instructor
Mark McCarthy is a Quality Assurance Engineer and Accessibility Architect with AITS under the University of Illinois System Office. He is primarily responsible for ensuring the accessibility of university applications and services, providing assistance and guidance where necessary. In addition to this, he also works with several units on the Urbana campus to assist in accessibility testing and remediation work, contributing to the general campus ethos and practice of accessibility. He is an Illinois-certified professional in Information Accessibility Design and Policy (IADP), a Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA) from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), is a member of the W3C WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices and Working Groups, working with colleagues nationally and internationally to promote accessibility and inclusion. His areas of interest include gaming accessibility, social justice inclusion and advocacy, and user-focused design.
Affiliated Faculty (retired)
Affiliated Faculty (retired)
First Director