“Accessibility isn’t just for students with documented disabilities. Planning with accessibility in mind helps all students" -John Sellmeyer

He firmly believes that accessibility is not just for students with disabilities but benefits all learners, including international students and those with diverse learning styles. John advocates for early planning, explaining that incorporating accessibility features from the beginning of course design saves time and effort later on.

A strong proponent of practical tools, John highlights the built-in accessibility checkers available in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Adobe, and Brightspace, which help ensure content is accessible to all students. He also stresses the importance of providing multimedia content with accurate captions and transcripts, reminding colleagues that auto-captions are only a starting point and should always be reviewed for accuracy.

John’s approach to accessible document design—using proper headings, styles, and alt text—helps create content that is both usable and efficient. His advice to fellow faculty is to take incremental steps towards accessibility, improving one aspect at a time, rather than striving for perfection all at once. “It doesn’t have to be 100% perfect right away. Pick one thing that you can fix and fix it. Then build from there,” says John Sellmeyer.By doing so, educators can gradually build a more inclusive and accessible classroom for all students.

Through his work, John inspires others to view accessibility as an ongoing process, one that enhances the educational experience for everyone.