As the primary college on campus offering degree programs, training, and services in disability studies, rehabilitation, accommodations, and accessible educational supports, a goal of the College of Applied Health Science (AHS) is to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to digital, video, audio, and print information.

Through the Information Accessibility Design and Policy (IADP) certificate program, website developers, programmers, designers, information technology specialists, compliance officers, and disability service providers will learn about the following:

Principles of accessible information architecture and universal design information technologies used in educational, healthcare, corporate, and employment settings
Federal and state legal mandates governing information technology accessibility and their relationship to the civil rights of people with disabilities
Information technology accessibility standards, design practices that enable adherence to those standards, tools that support validation and evidence of compliance to those standards

Admission Requirements

Individuals must hold at least a bachelor’s degree to be eligible to receive the professional certificate. Interested students must complete the “Intent to Register” form. The Program Director and faculty will review the form and determine eligibility for admission. Upon approval for admission, directions for registration will be provided.

Professional Program Requirements

Each certificate requires the completion of three online courses (2 hours each, a total of 6 hours) identified in the certificate offerings on the Curriculum page. The grade in each course must be a B or higher and all three courses can be completed within a one-year timeframe (two academic semesters).

Cost

Tuition for this online certificate program is assessed on a per credit-hour basis. The credit-hour rate listed below includes both the tuition cost and a non-refundable administrative fee. The fees are also assessed per billing hour. Off-campus online tuition rates are the same for both in-state and out-of-state students. Tuition rates are for Academic year 2021-22: $490 per credit hour ($980 per course). No tuition waivers involved.

Why Should You Apply?

Guided curriculum of courses taught by University of Illinois faculty and academic professionals.
Courses count as University of Illinois credit and may likely apply toward an undergraduate or master’s degree if you are admitted to a university.
Courses are delivered online to accommodate your learning pace and work schedule.
Official University of Illinois certificate of completion awarded by the College of Applied Health Sciences, along with a Digital Badge for your electronic vita.
Submission for consideration of Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or Professional Development Units (PDUs) to your professional associations or licensing/certification bodies.

Curriculum

SHS 480 – Understanding Disability and Assistive Technology
The purpose of this course is to help students understand the experience of disability related to using information technologies. The course will include an overview of disability demographics, common disabilities and their impact on consuming electronic information, the use of common assistive technologies, and the legal landscape of IT accessibility. Students will learn about typical operating system accessibility features, including Windows, OS X, iOS and Android mobile operating systems. The course will end with students learning how to perform a functional accessibility evaluation of web sites and standalone applications.
SHS 481 – Creating and Procuring Accessible Electronic Materials
The purpose of this course is to deepen the accessibility awareness of participants by exposing them to a broad range of accessibility concerns when creating electronic materials. This will include an examination of how people with disabilities are impacted by different technologies. The course will expose students to the building blocks of the web—HTML and CSS—and provide an introduction to multimedia accessibility and document formats including MS Word, PDF, and PowerPoint. Students will also be invited to explore some of the more challenging areas of accessibility, like maps and emerging media-rich design trends. The course will close with a look at best practices for purchasing and vetting third-party vendors and give students the opportunity to apply techniques for conducting usability/accessibility testing for audiences with disabilities.
SHS 482 – Designing Universally Accessible Web Resources
The purpose of this course is to help students understand how to apply usability and accessibility principles and techniques, including W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and WAI Accessible Rich Internet Application (ARIA) techniques, to design and create highly usable and accessible web resources. Students will learn how HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript interact with web browsers to make content available to assistive technologies, such as screen readers. Throughout the course, students will use assistive technologies and automated tools to understand the accessibility features of HTML5 and ARIA.

Cohort begins mid October.
Courses must be taken in sequence.
Students are required to successfully pass (B or higher) three courses (6 credits) to complete the online certificate program. The program can be completed in one academic year and will begin with the first course in the Fall and the last two courses in the Spring.
Upon completion, students will receive an official University of Illinois Professional Development Certificate.

Application Checklist

Complete the “Intent To Register” Form to begin the registration process
Upon approval from Program Director, register at the IADP Website: Iadp.ahs.illinois.edu/register

Illinois Online

Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning
ONLINE.ILLINOIS.EDU/IADP

Degree Options

Certificate

Program Faculty

Dr. Marc Thompson
Hadi Rangin
Mark McCarthy

College of Applied Health Sciences

1206 South Fourth Street
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-2131

Questions & Submissions

Relevant Careers

Web Developer
Educator
Instructional Designer
Management Information Specialist
Computer Systems Analyst
Software Developer
Healthcare Professional
Computer Programmer
Marketing Professional