Live workshop series

From Policy to Practice: Implementing Digital Accessibility in Higher Education

For higher education leaders who need to move their institution from policy to genuine compliance — before the deadline, and beyond it.
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From Policy to Practice is a four-week hybrid professional development course designed for higher education leaders responsible for implementing (not just adopting) digital accessibility policy. At a moment when the DOJ's April 24, 2026 ADA Title II deadline has put unprecedented legal weight behind the gap between policy intent and actual compliance, this course provides a structured, evidence-grounded framework for doing the hard implementation work that policy documents alone cannot accomplish.

Drawing on the Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM) and current research on digital accessibility in higher education, the course moves participants from diagnosis to strategy to action - producing a 90-Day Implementation Plan they can deploy at their institution immediately upon completion.

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Write your awesome label here.
Write your awesome label here.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, the participants will be able to:
  • Distinguish between policy installation and genuine implementation, and apply this distinction to their institution's current accessibility posture.

  • Develop role-specific, operationally clear definitions of accessible practice for the key content-creating populations at your institution — translating WCAG 2.1 from a legal standard into observable daily behavior.

  • Apply the AIM framework to identify gaps in sponsorship, change agent capacity, stakeholder readiness, and reinforcement within their accessibility initiative.

  • Use AIM's Target Readiness Framework to diagnose where faculty and staff are in their engagement with accessibility requirements and match interventions to those conditions.

  • Design a cascading sponsorship structure that carries accountability from executive leadership to department-level implementation.

  • Evaluate the appropriate role of AI tools and third-party vendor accountability in their institution's compliance strategy.

  • Construct a 90-Day Implementation Action Plan with specific milestones, named owners, and measurable outcomes.

What's included?

  • Weekly live sessions (1.5 hours each, 4 weeks/8 sessions/12 hours total)
  • Pre-session readings and guided reflections
  • Four structured assignments
  • 90-Day Implementation Action Plan template
  • Badge/Certificate of completion

The Tools You Build

Four Deployable Deliverables

Every assignment produces something you take back to your institution and use. By the end of week four you will have built a Sponsorship Cascade Map that names who owns what at every leadership level, a Behavioral Definition of Done that translates WCAG 2.1 into observable, role-specific expectations for your faculty, a Stakeholder Readiness Inventory that diagnoses what each group actually needs to change, and a 90-Day Implementation Action Plan with milestones, named owners, and measurable outcomes. These are not course exercises - they are working documents.

Applied to Your Institution in Real Time

Built for Your Institution, Applied Immediately

Every reflection question, every live session activity, and every assignment is anchored to your institution's actual policies, systems, and people — not a hypothetical. You diagnose your own sponsorship gaps, map your own stakeholder readiness, and define what accessible practice looks like for your specific faculty roles - in real time with your colleagues in the room.

By the final session your cohort leaves with a shared implementation framework, aligned on the same language and the same priorities, ready to act together immediately.

Course Outline (in progress)

Please note that course content will be custom tailored to the needs of your group. We will carefully analyze the issues unique to your institution and adjust content strategy accordingly. 

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Ella Epshteyn is the Founder and CEO of ATTECS, LLC, a Boston-based firm partnering with higher education institutions to design, implement, and sustain strategic initiatives that advance professional learning and institutional priorities. She holds an EdD in Higher Education Administration and is a certified change implementation practitioner and trainer.

Her work draws on deep expertise in instructional design, educational technology, faculty development, and project management — bringing a people-centered approach to complex change that aligns strategy, culture, and capacity while reducing burnout.

Dr. Tes Cotter Zakrzewski is a practitioner, educator, and scholar with over 37 years of experience in global financial services and higher education. Her work sits at the intersection of people, process, and technology — leading functions focused on teaching, learning, and organizational excellence. Throughout her career she has specialized in adult education, change management, organizational development, and strategic alignment, partnering with organizations to maximize human performance and advance business goals. Her current research focuses on transformative listening — using all of one's senses to be fully present and genuinely hear another person's story and perspective.

Tes holds an EdD in Adult Education and Leadership from Teachers College Columbia University, an MS in Training and Development from Lesley University, and a BS in Business from UMass Lowell.

Ella Epshteyn, EdD

Tes Cotter Zakrzewski, EdD

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