Jennison Asuncion

I am a pragmatic and community-focused digital accessibility professional who combines: nine plus years supporting accessibility in the financial services industry, over ten years researching the accessibility of information and communication technology (ICT) in higher education, with first-hand insight born from being a user who happens to be blind.

As a community builder, I am passionate about causing conversation on a broad range of digital accessibility topics, with a particular focus on engaging and connecting the developer, design, research, and related communities. I am a tireless champion of the barcamp/unconference movement as one way of providing an informal, open environment for raising awareness on digital accessibility within the IT community and elsewhere. I have helped organize events in Seattle, Boston and Washington D.C., and led the first Accessibility Camp Toronto in 2011. I co-organized the first Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 9 2012.

As a practitioner, I have been working in corporate accessibility since 2001. I first brought accessibility subject matter expertise to a number of strategic e-learning initiatives at the BMO Financial Group Institute for Learning. Currently, I am part of RBC's IT Accessibility Team, which largely consults on making systems and applications accessible to persons with disabilities.

As a researcher, I co-direct the Adaptech Research Network http://www.adaptech.org, where we conduct, publish and present on applied, empirical research in the area of the use and accessibility of ICT by postsecondary students with a variety of disabilities in Canada.

I run the following LinkedIn Groups:
Web 2.0 Accessibility Forum,
Mobile and Handheld Technology Accessibility Forum,
Library and Museum Accessibility Forum,
ICT Accessibility in Higher Education Network,
The Open Source Accessibility Network, and
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Forum.

1. accessibility consulting
2. accessibility testing
3. research design
4. JAWS

• Volunteer Experience

  • Selection Committee Member, Winston Gordon Award for Technological Advancement in the Field of Blindness and Visual Impairment

    Canadian National Institute for the Blind

    2005 – present (7 years)

  • Senior Advisor

    National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS)

    2002 – present (10 years)

    In my role as Senior Advisor, I bring thought and leadership born from industry experience, along with my background in disability student advocacy to the work of the organization. In particular, I lead NEADS' IT strategy and approach, provide project management and research expertise, mentor student leaders, and staff, and identify new strategic relationships and opportunities for growth. Most recently, I have taken ownership of developing NEADS social media strategy.
    
    Since 1986, the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) has been Canada's cross-disability, consumer driven organization supporting access to postsecondary education and employment for college and university students and graduates with disabilities. For more information see http://www.neads.ca.

  • Event Leader

    Accessibility Camp Toronto

    2011 – 2011 (less than a year)

    Organized Toronto's first Accessibility Camp Toronto. Learn more by visiting http://www.accessibilitycampto.org and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeP5Kl4GDgA.
    

  • Instructor, Screen Reader Accessibility and Usability Testing Fundamentals

    John Slatin AccessU

    2011 – 2011 (less than a year)

    Co-instructed a course focused on accessibility and usability testing strategies using the JAWS and NVDA screen reading software. Course was geared at a beginner audience. More information on the John Slatin AccessU can be found here http://www.knowbility.org/v/accessu.

  • Member, Organizing Committee

    Boston Accessibility Unconference

    2010 – 2011 (1 year)

    Helped organize the first (2010) and second (2011) Boston Accessibility Unconferences. More information on the event can be found at http://www.a11ybos.org.

  • Member, Organizing Committee

    Accessibility Camp DC

    2010 – 2010 (less than a year)

    Helped organize the second Accessibility Camp DC. More information on the event can be found at http://www.accessibilitycampdc.org.

  • Member, Board of Directors

    Ski for Light, Inc.

    2006 – 2010 (4 years)

    Founded in 1975, Ski for Light, Inc. is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization that teaches visually- and mobility-impaired adults how to cross-country ski. It holds an annual, week-long event in the USA, where skiers with disabilities are paired with volunteer guides for a week of recreational skiing. Participants and guides attend from across the USA and around the world.
    
    We are always looking for new guides interested in volunteering time to share their passion for cross-country skiing. Visit http://www.sfl.org and/or drop me a line if you are interested.

  • Member, Proposal Review Committee

    27th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference (CSUN 2012)

    October 2011 – November 2011 (2 months)

    Reviewed and recommended speaker proposals. More information on the conference can be found at http://www.csunconference.org

  • Chair

    W3C WAI-Engage Web Accessibility Community Group

    • Science and Technology
    April 2012 – present (2 months)

    WAI-Engage is an open forum for responsive development of material supporting web accessibility, including support for the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) resources. More at http://www.w3.org/community/wai-engage/wiki

  • Co-Organizer

    Global Accessibility Awareness Day

    The purpose of the day is to get people talking and thinking about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) accessibility and users with different disabilities, especially among the design, development, usability, and related communities who build, shape, fund
    and influence technology use and change.
    Website: http://www.globalaccessibilityawarenessday.org
    Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/globalaccessibilityawarenessday
    Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gbla11yday hashtag #gaad

• Multiple perspectives on the accessibility of eLearning in Canadian colleges and universities

  • Assistive Technology Journal
  • 2010
  Authors: Jennison Asuncion, Catherine Fichten, Ph.D., V. Ferraro, Maria Barile, C. Chwojka, Mai Nhu Nguyen, J. Wolforth

  An exploratory study identified and compared the views of 77 campus disability service providers, 38 professors, and 45 e-learning professionals from Canadian colleges and universities regarding their experiences with e-learning and its accessibility to students with disabilities. Findings indicate that all groups saw benefit in having someone who makes e-learning accessible to students with disabilities on campus and that problems related to e-learning accessibility were most likely to go to campus disability service providers and least likely to e-learning professionals. Only half of the participants indicated that professors are taught about e-learning accessibility, that there is someone on campus who makes e-learning accessible, that accessibility is a criterion for selecting new types of e-learning, and that their school has e-learning accessibility guidelines or policies. These findings suggest that important e-learning accessibility problems remain. Recommendations for colleges and universities on how to increase e-learning accessibility are provided.

• Social Media Use By Students With Disabilities

  • Academic Exchange Quarterly, Editors' Choice (Spring 2012)
  Authors: Jennison Asuncion, Jillian Budd, Catherine Fichten, Ph.D., Mai Nhu Nguyen, Maria Barile, Rhonda Amsel

  The objective of this exploratory study was to investigate the use and accessibility of social media by postsecondary students with disabilities in order to raise basic awareness by the higher education community. YouTube was the most popular form of social media used by these students. MSN / Windows Live Messenger was rated the most accessible social medium, and InternSHARE.com was the least accessible. The most popular suggestion for developers and producers of social media was to have a simpler or better layout.

Websites:

• Accessibility Camp Toronto vid
• Interview on Web Accessibility

Interests:

professional networking, community building, accessibility of Web 2.0 and next-generation technologies, consumer electronic trends, jazz, live comedy, cross-country skiing

Honors and Awards:

2011 Invited keynote, Accessibility Camp Seattle.

2010 Recipient: RBC Royal Performance Quarterly Individual Star, RBC Royal Performance Quarterly Team Star, and RBC Royal Performance Convention Awards.

2010 Featured in the RBC Diversity Progress Report 2010.

2009 Featured in the CNIB Annual Review 2008-09.

2009 Reviewer, International Journal of Usability Studies Special Issue: Universal Design and ICT.

2009 Conference Proposal Review Committee Member, Accessing Higher Ground: Accessible Media, Web and Technology Conference.

2008 Invited Reviewer, International Journal of Disability, Development and Education.

2006 Closing Panel Moderator, Hard-Wiring Inclusion,A Conference about Building an Accessible ICT World.

2005 Invited Reviewer, ALT-J Special Issue: Disability, Technology and e-Learning.