Humberto Hernandez, a master’s student in Leadership and Innovation, addressed the Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) conference on May 20th. 
With presenters and attendees from around the world, the event saw Hernandez advocate for the rights of students with disabilities who may otherwise miss educational opportunities if adjustments are not made to accommodate their needs.
“It’s an issue of equity. It’s a civil rights issue,” said Hernandez. “Our responsibility is to make sure higher education is available and accessible for all who want to learn.”
“If a class or program is not accessible to a student with disabilities,” he added, “then we’re limiting their access to opportunities, careers, a future.”
Graduating this week from Daemen (and a full-time instructional designer at D’Youville College), Hernandez works directly with educators to design class modules and activities—for those who are blind, have low vision, are dyslexic or have other conditions.
“I help students who wish to succeed—despite being put at a disadvantage,” he said. “Hopefully, this kind of thinking and planning, known as Universal Design, will someday be a normal part of the process.”
Based on his master’s thesis at Daemen, his GAAD conference talk —“How does the awareness of assistive technologies by professors impact students with disabilities’ success at the college level?”—was so well received that it led immediately to another invitation to speak on the topic.
Hernandez accepted immediately—and this week will address the University of Guelph (Canada) Accessibility Conference Wednesday, May 26, at 2 p.m.
“Any time I have a chance to talk about these issues,” he said, “I will be there.”