Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Join OTLT on Friday, Nov. 14, at the Hilton Garden Inn for ICON Day 2025. The event will include a keynote address by Jeffrey Kontio, EdD, the presentation of the ICON All Star awards, as well as an overview of tools, support, and training offered at the University of Iowa to assist with course accessibility. Register by Monday, Nov. 3.

Kontio is an expert in digital accessibility with over a decade of supporting IT in higher education and has published papers on topics ranging from IT accessibility to educational technology. Kontio is a lecturer in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University and the IT Manager for the Department of Politics at Princeton University.

His keynote, “What You Do Matters: Designing for Real Access in Real Classrooms,” will highlight the powerful role instructors and instructional designers play in creating engaging learning environments while helping to reframe accessibility as something that benefits all students. 

A series of lightning talks will share information about extended quiz time in ICON, a new AI-powered note taking tool, resources for PDF remediation, options for captioning tools, and an ICON template designed to be accessible.

You’ll also have an opportunity to select a workshop on one of the following topics:

  • Anthology Ally: An ICON Course Accessibility Tool. Ally provides instructors with guidance and feedback on accessibility issues in their course sites and offers students multiple formats for downloading and using course materials.
  • Student Voices on Accessibility: A Panel Discussion. This event will feature University of Iowa students.
  • ICON Q&A: Ask the Experts. Drop in to connect with ICON specialists for an open Q&A session.
  • Try, Explore, Adjust (TEA): Advanced Course Accessibility. We'll dig into accessible course design, learn more about web and document accessibility standards, and put best practices into use for our courses.

We look forward to seeing you at ICON Day 2025.

Thank you to our campus partners—including the College of Education, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Distance and Online Education, Office of the Provost, Tippie College of Business, and University Libraries—for supporting ICON Day 2025.