Customer Spotlight
Leveling Up Accessibility: Dr. Bevin Rainwater’s Innovative Approach at the University of Hartford
Title
Assistant Director of Academic Technology and Digital Innovation
Institution
University of Hartford
Tenure
11 Years
Anthology Community Involvement
User Group Leader
Social
Meet Dr. Bevin Rainwater
With nearly 30 years of teaching experience, Dr. Bevin Rainwater has become a powerful advocate for inclusive teaching strategies that support every learner. Throughout her career, she has blended her passions for technology, education, and accessibility to make a meaningful impact on her community. A self-proclaimed “techno-geek,” Dr. Rainwater has long embraced emerging tools, most recently leveraging that talent to transform professional development at the University of Hartford. A lifelong learner as much as an educator, she recently completed her EdD in Educational Leadership for Social Justice, with a dissertation exploring the resilience and survivance of Indigenous students in higher education.
How Dr. Rainwater Is Making an Impact
With the release of the US Department of Justice’s updated Title II regulations requiring institutions to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards by 2026, Dr. Rainwater was tasked by the University of Hartford’s Office of the Provost back in April to come up with a strategic plan for accessibility on their campus. Although they are a private institution exempt from these standards, Dr. Rainwater and university leadership are making preparations to achieve them by April 2027. This starts with what Dr. Rainwater calls her “Mission Accessible” challenge for faculty: a gamified approach to accessibility training.
Working within a tight two-week preparation period, Dr. Rainwater designed a challenge composed of six 30-minute sessions, each featuring demonstrations of Anthology® Ally’s accessibility tools followed by hands-on practice. She posted each weekly challenge in the Blackboard organization shared by all faculty, where participants reported their completed fixes and contributed to a running leaderboard to eventually win great prizes. To promote the initiative, she partnered with the Office of the Provost, presented in department meetings, and leveraged the institution’s internal newsletter. Her efforts drew 16 participants, and she hopes to generate even more interest in the spring semester.
In addition to this challenge, Dr. Rainwater and the University of Hartford took part in Anthology’s annual Fix Your Content Day—a 24-hour global competition that encourages institutions worldwide to improve the accessibility of their digital course materials using Anthology Ally. “Ally has been instrumental in our digital accessibility strategy since the inception,” she explained. Reflecting on faculty reactions, she added, “They’re always amazed by how many alternative formats students are accessing. We recorded about 16,000 clicks for alternative formats in just two months.”
[Ally] has been especially helpful since [Blackboard] added the quick fixes with the PDFs. I’ve had that idea out on the Idea Exchange...so when [Blackboard] announced it, it was good to see that my vision was aligned with Blackboard’s vision for making it easier for faculty to transform their content because not all of us have access to Adobe Acrobat Pro. It’s super expensive. So I’m glad it’s something where they didn’t have to take their content offline into something else—they can just leave it all in Blackboard and fix it from there.
- Dr. Bevin Rainwater, Assistant Director of Academic Technology and Digital Innovation, University of Hartford
A True Partnership: Dr. Bevin Rainwater and Blackboard
Dr. Bevin Rainwater is not only establishing best practices at her own institution; she’s also helping campuses across the country learn from her experience. She serves as a leader for both the New England Blackboard User Group and the Teaching and Learning Community Group, two spaces within the Community that bring customers together to connect, collaborate, and share insights. Dr. Rainwater is particularly excited to highlight the work emerging from New England’s diverse, university-dense region and to learn alongside other like-minded leaders.
Reflecting on how her involvement in the Community has shaped her experience with Blackboard, Dr. Rainwater shared, “I’ve been a Blackboard person for a long time. I mean, I started back in grad school on WebCT…all the way through today’s iteration of Ultra. So one thing I have to say is, especially in the past four to five years, Blackboard has really ramped up their commitment to clients and hearing what they want, which I am really happy to see.”
I participate in a variety of Community events, and of course the Idea Exchange. All of these things that [Blackboard] offers are ways for us to have a voice, and they’re proactive and almost aggressive, I have to say—which is great—in seeking client feedback and taking their suggestions into account about what they want. I don’t see any other LMS doing that.
- Dr, Bevin Rainwater, Assistant Director of Academic Technology and Digital Innovation, University of Hartford
Anthology would like to thank Dr. Bevin Rainwater for her commitment to the Community and sharing best practices around accessible learning environments!
Interested in ensuring equitable digital learning for everyone? Find out more about how Anthology Ally can integrate with your LMS to ensure accessible, inclusive learning experiences for all students.