Building an Inclusive Future

On the Forefront of Accessible Digital Education
At Hudson County Community College (HCCC), accessibility is central to the institution’s educational mission and digital strategy. Extending beyond just meeting compliance requirements, the HCCC Center for Online Learning (COL) has integrated accessibility as an intentional piece of the course design process, and their overall strategic vision. By creating an approach rooted in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles at every stage of development, the College is able to provide an inclusive, accessible digital campus that supports diverse learning needs and creates a high-quality learning experience for every student. This commitment has not only enabled HCCC to achieve ADA Title II compliance across its online courses and programs, but also positions the institution as a leader in accessible digital education.

Driving Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning
For the last fifteen years, Matthew LaBrake, Executive Director, Center for Online Learning at HCCC, has been involved in distance education in both the K-12 and higher education space, promoting digital inclusivity and accessible learning environments that cater to diverse student needs. In his current role, LaBrake leads a team of online learning professionals including instructional designers, technologists, a multimedia specialist, and LMS administrator.

“Before joining HCCC in 2021, I served as Senior Director for Online Library and Technology Services at Berkeley College,” says LaBrake. “My team worked to scale our digital library services, collections, and instructional support for a community of online students and faculty. In this role, I had the opportunity to collaborate with online faculty to integrate library resources into online courses, design interactive learning objects to supplement curriculum, experiment with educational technologies to improve online learning, and to develop engaging assessments.”

LaBrake has also taught online courses in Berkley’s online Information Technology Management program. “I am very passionate about access, equity, and inclusion for all students, expanding access to high quality education through different learning modalities, and leveraging digital tools to create more engaging experiences.”

Callie Martin, Senior Instructional Designer at the Center for Online Learning at HCCC, began working in higher education around twelve years ago. “I worked with faculty and administrators to convert on-ground courses to hybrid format and ensure they ran smoothly. I reviewed curriculum to determine how to effectively present them online. I had studied Elementary Education as an undergraduate but found a home in higher education instructional design.” Martin continues, “While earning my master’s degrees in both library sciences and educational technology online, I was continually frustrated by the inaccessibility of the course content. I am disabled and struggle to read print. The lack of an option to listen to the articles required for research basically forced me to go through the materials and make them more accessible.”

“Now I have the opportunity to do this for others. Online learning should be inclusive of everyone!” continues Martin. “Ensuring the accessibility of our online courses at HCCC will greatly impact the experience (and success) of our students.”

Creating Accessible Online Education for a Multicultural Community
Online learning has the power to make quality education more accessible to students around the world, including those in underserved communities. “For working adults, parents, and individuals juggling full-time jobs, online learning can provide an opportunity to earn the education they deserve through flexible learning modalities,” says LaBrake. “This is especially important in places like Hudson County and Jersey City, where we serve one of the most diverse populations in the United States. By offering accessible online education, we can better meet the unique needs of such a vibrant, multicultural, and multilingual community.”

The (COL) empowers students to achieve their educational goals and pursue life-long learning by working with academic schools to design, develop, and deliver a wide variety of high-quality, technology-rich online and hybrid courses. “At the COL we aim to build courses that are inclusive and accessible to all learners, and through stackable credentials students can start small and work toward degree opportunities,” explains LaBrake. “We want to enable cross-cultural collaboration and peer learning, prepare students for the global workforce, reduce cost barriers through open educational resources, and ultimately create pathways to high-paying careers.”

Scaling from nine to 21 fully online degree programs within the last three years, the COL continues to make significant progress in providing equitable access to college education through its robust catalog of online and hybrid courses. Additionally, the COL is committed to improving the quality of online learning, educating faculty on best practices around online teaching and learning, and scaling virtual student support services.

“We’ve taken a very proactive approach to accessibility, where UDL guidelines are built into our quality review process of any course we produce,” says LaBrake. “As we continue to expand access to high-quality learning experiences and new degrees, each will meet rigorous standards. These updated standards not only include comprehensive accessibility criteria, but also integrate key diversity, equity, and inclusion elements—components that are often overlooked in traditional online course quality standards.”

Designing an Inclusive Learning Environment
To help prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow, developing technology literacy will be an important part of equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in a rapidly changing workforce. “Online learning is evolving quickly and there’s no great way of knowing exactly what’s coming and how to be prepared for what’s ahead, but we must be proactive,” says Martin. “All the work we have done to improve the accessibility of our past courses and building these standards into the quality review of future course development allows us to keep pace, instead of continually playing catch up to changing technology and standards. In addition, by integrating AI education into our curriculum, we are equipping students with the skills they need to thrive in an increasingly technology-driven workforce.”

In addition to helping elevate the learning experience for students with disabilities, improving the accessibility and quality of online courses benefits the wider learner population as well. “HCCC wants to give students multiple ways to engage with content, whether that’s reading text, listening to audio, or watching a video,” explains Martin. “By offering these flexible options, we ensure that every student can select the format that best supports their learning and helps them succeed.”

“Integrating accessibility and UDL guidelines into course design allows you to connect with a wider audience and create an inclusive environment,” adds LaBrake. “Along with helping people with disabilities to succeed, we can ensure those with diverse linguistic backgrounds, various levels of technology literacy, or minimal computer training can interact with the content successfully. We want to promote a sense of community and belonging where everyone feels acknowledged and empowered to reach their goals.”

Shifting from Reactive to Proactive
Following the UDL framework to design curriculum ensures multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement are incorporated into each program. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to education,” says LaBrake. “Using the UDL framework allows institutions to create flexible learning experiences that accommodate the diverse needs of all learners. By providing various ways to engage with content, demonstrate understanding, and receive feedback, UDL fosters an inclusive environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their individual learning styles or challenges.”

HCCC launched a multiphased initiative in Spring 2022 to create an inclusive digital campus. To set a baseline for accessibility across all course shells and to highlight strengths and areas of improvement, the Center for Online Learning performed an internal audit. With the results revealing a need for a robust, proactive approach, HCCC turned to partner, Edge, to support this initiative and help their team address issues and identify opportunities. “We were already partnering with Edge on several projects, but upon learning the scale of work in front of us in reaching our accessibility goals, we shifted focus to prioritizing accessibility across all courses,” said LaBrake. “We recognized the need for specialized expertise and support, so we decided to fully integrate Edge’s resources to help us not only address existing issues but also build a sustainable, inclusive framework moving forward.”

Creating a Foundation for Accessibility
In the initial phase, HCCC established a comprehensive accessibility baseline by compiling a list of 183 courses with detailed metadata, including Ally scores, content types, and identified accessibility barriers. The Blackboard tool, Ally, is designed to help improve the accessibility of educational materials and can integrate with Learning Management systems to provide feedback and guidance on how to make content more inclusive and usable. Once an accessibility baseline was established, the Edge team could take these insights and focus their efforts on the most pressing issues, and establish a solid foundation for the College’s accessibility initiative.

In Phase 2, Edge accessibility specialists conducted a thorough audit, manually reviewing each course to address issues not identified by Ally. This phase focused on ensuring that all courses meet rigorous accessibility standards, prioritizing an inclusive experience rather than just meeting basic compliance requirements.

In the final phase, HCCC and Edge moved beyond basic remediation to embed UDL principles throughout all courses, making accessibility a core design element. The Edge team incorporated various methods of representation, expression, and engagement into course materials, fostering a digital learning environment that caters to the needs of diverse learners.

“Throughout this ongoing process, Edge has truly become an extension of our team, offering reliable communication and seamless collaboration,” says Martin. “We value their expertise and support in overcoming challenges, and their partnership has been essential in helping us consistently meet our accessibility goals while enhancing the overall learning experience.”

Moving the Needle Toward Accessibility
For institutions looking to integrate accessibility and UDL practices into their online programs, LaBrake recommends starting with the highest enrolled programs and courses first. “By focusing initial efforts on the courses that reach the most students, you can have the highest impact and set a strong foundation for accessibility across the entire curriculum. Once those programs are optimized, it’s easier to expand these practices to other courses, creating a broader, more inclusive learning environment for all students.”

“Using a tool like Ally for the initial assessment will provide a baseline accessibility percentage, which serves as a valuable starting point,” says LaBrake. “From there, an institution can prioritize meeting compliance requirements, use this tool to identify any gaps, and then collaborate with experts to develop a phased approach toward achieving a fully integrated universal design for learning.”

“Educating faculty on best practices around online teaching and learning is also essential to creating a campus-wide culture of accessibility,” continues LaBrake. “Equipping the online learning team with in-depth accessibility knowledge ensures that inclusivity is prioritized across the digital campus.” Martin adds, “Having learning resources ready to answer questions and help guide both students and teachers is also key to supporting this culture and helping everyone to be successful.”

As data was collected during this process, the results began to reveal positive insights. “We could see the efforts of our team were directly contributing to student success, and that insight fueled a strong sense of motivation and commitment to continue our work,” shares LaBrake. “For all students at HCCC enrolled in an online course section for the last four academic years, their average course grade (ACG) increased 9.4%. While we have put many student success initiatives in place during this time, we largely attribute this upward trend to our accessibility work.”

“Evolving our approach to accessibility from reactive to proactive was a big change,” says Martin. “Instead of simply checking a box, we’re now integrating this strategy from the beginning, which is the best way to make this change permanent. By embedding accessibility and UDL principles into our course design process, we ensure that every aspect of the learning experience is intentional and accessible, creating a lasting impact on both current and future students. While the journey can be overwhelming at first, it’s important to take the first step. By using an incremental approach and breaking the project into phases, it allowed our team to make steady progress without feeling overwhelmed. Each phase built upon the last and created a manageable path forward that ensured we kept moving the needle toward a more accessible and inclusive learning environment. This commitment has positioned us to not only meet our accessibility goals but to continue to build on this foundation and adapt to the evolving needs of our diverse student body for generations to come.”

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