UIC Digital Accessibility Services Team Delivers Training to McHenry County Conservation District
Advancing Equity, Inclusion, and Societal Impact
Helen Zhou, Assistant Director of Digital Accessibility Services, and Mingren (Michael) Fu, Digital Accessibility Specialist recently shared their digital accessibility expertise with the McHenry County Conservation District (MCCD), delivering a five-hour, in-person workshop focused on creating accessible Microsoft Word and PDF documents.
Empowering Community Partners
The August 20th training, “Accessible Microsoft Word and PDF Documents,” was held at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, Illinois, and brought together 25 members of MCCD’s leadership and management team, including executive assistants and administrative staff.
The workshop provided participants with an introduction to the legal requirements, technical standards and best practices that guide digital accessibility. Participants learned about the four core principles of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the seven essential digital accessibility best practices as well as why accessibility is both a compliance responsibility and an important part of creating content that can be used effectively by everyone.
Helen's Quote
It was incredibly rewarding to see how engaged the participants were throughout the workshop. Their thoughtful questions and real-world experiences made the training a meaningful exchange of knowledge and perspectives. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the McHenry County Conservation District and share UIC’s digital accessibility expertise with the broader community.
| Assistant Director of Digital Accessibility Services
Supporting Equitable Access beyond UIC
The hands-on training covered how to create accessible Microsoft Word documents from the start using proper document structure and other accessibility features, as well as how to use Word’s Accessibility Checker to identify and remediate common barriers.
The second half of the workshop focused on PDF accessibility using Adobe Acrobat Pro. Participants explored PDF tags, reading order, navigation, lists, tables, images, links, artifacts, document properties and accessible forms. They also practiced automated and manual accessibility testing using tools such as PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker).
Throughout the workshop, instructors emphasized a practical workflow:
- create accessibly from the start
- apply accessibility standards and best practices
- export carefully to PDF
- review and remediate
- validate through both automated and manual testing
Participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Eighty-three percent of respondents rated the workshop “Extremely Helpful,” while 17 percent rated it “Very Helpful.” Organization, clarity of information, examples and demonstrations, and hands-on activities were all rated either Excellent or Very Good.
The workshop demonstrates how university IT expertise in digital accessibility can support organizations beyond campus while helping build practical skills for creating more accessible and inclusive digital content.
Need support? Contact your Accessibility Liaison
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