Microsoft Accessibility Lighthouse Program
The OCR partnered with the Microsoft Accessibility Lighthouse Program to build digitally accessible classrooms, increase the number of Computer Science students who design accessible software, encourage students with autism to pursue studies and careers in the STEM disciplines, and support the use of Microsoft digital accessibility tools in classrooms.
Microsoft partnered with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to launch the Microsoft Accessibility Lighthouse Program. Microsoft’s vision is to make Illinois a lighthouse for students with disabilities, where Microsoft sees opportunities to create rich interactions between their accessibility team and Illinois disability programs, promote widespread use of Microsoft accessibility tools across campus, engage with Illinois to formally assess effectiveness of their accessibility tools, and partner with us to increase the pipeline of tech graduates with disabilities. A $200,000 gift launched a full day of events included College of Applied Health Sciences, Grainger College of Engineering, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and College of Education with faculty presentations, unit visits, and remarks from Microsoft’s University Relations and Accessibility teams.
Thanks to the Microsoft funding, DRES Career Services was able to hire two part- time grad students who helped facilitate several activities throughout 2019, including an Autism Hiring Conference, Recruiter’s Forum Panel on Disability, a Diversity and Inclusion Networking Exchange, Autism Allyship workshops, professional mentoring program, and participate in the annual Career Services Conference that focused on disability with 24 Illinois career services offices from across campus in attendance. The Microsoft Lighthouse Accessibility Program continues to be a beacon for Illinois to shine a light on our campus as a great place for students with autism to gain an amazing education and be well prepared to enter the workforce.
We also initiated a “Resume Book” for individuals with disabilities (unemployed/ underemployed) in conjunction with “Catalyze: A Networking Event” at Research Park and developed and piloted “Disability Awareness @Work” Training to improve disability awareness/competency. We are able to provide 1:1 career coaching, workshops (on topics such as: interview preparation, disclosure and accommodations) and job readiness skills training to over 3,000 students registered with visible/invisible disabilities.
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