Terrill F. Thompson
Professional Experience
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Director, Accessibility Consulting & Engagement
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, December 2025 to Present
Serving in various leadership roles in support of the UW’s Digital Accessibility Initiative. Also responsible for leading a central team that supports digital accessibility university-wide by providing tools and services, building community, developing resources, delivering lectures and workshops, conducting accessibility evaluations, and offering consultation and support.
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Manager, IT Accessibility Team
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, July 2019 to November 2025
Same as above, with a primary focus on leading the work of the central team.
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IT Accessibility Specialist
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, November 2001 to June 2019
Same as above, but as a team player rather than a team leader.
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Digital Accessibility Consultant
October 2000 to Present
Assist higher education institutions, government entities, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in improving the accessibility of their digital resources.
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Coordinator of Assistive and Information Technology
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, May 2000 to November 2001
Responsible for providing leadership and technical expertise toward assuring that the university's courses, programs, web and information technology resources are accessible to persons with disabilities. Established partnerships and ongoing communication with a wide variety of groups across campus including centralized administrative groups and relatively autonomous groups within NCSU's ten colleges. Worked extensively with the Provost; Vice Provosts for Information Technology, Distance Learning, and Equal Opportunity; Council of the Deans; Teaching and Learning with Technology Roundtable; and Legal Affairs toward development of a technology accessibility regulation that was ultimately passed by NCSU's Executive Board and issued by the Chancellor following my departure.
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Computer Learning Center Coordinator
Independence, Inc., Lawrence, KS, May 1994 to April 2000
Coordination and management of a computer training facility for persons with disabilities. Responsible for all facets of program management, including lab maintenance, purchasing, budget management, student counseling, marketing, outreach, curriculum development, teaching, and staff hiring and supervision. Increased community awareness and involvement in the center, and established a Business Advisory Council for guidance in curriculum development and to facilitate improved positive employment outcomes for students. Established the Center as a respected regional resource for IT accessibility, and provided IT and web accessibility consultation to area secondary and post-secondary educational institutions and to the State of Kansas.
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Owner/Developer
Peakware.com, January 1995 to May 2020
Developed the internationally acclaimed Peakware World Mountain Encyclopedia web site. Peakware was a search engine before Google, and a wiki before Wikipedia. Sold the site in 1999 but continued to do contractual work for its new owners, developing and maintaining the site until it was ultimately retired. At its peak, Peakware had over 12,000 users from 185 countries who actively contributed content.
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Market Research Analyst/ LAN Manager
Business Technology Association, Kansas City, MO, July 1990 to May 1994
Conducted primary market research for members of an international trade association of business technology vendors and dealers. Also responsible for design, installation and support of the organization's local area network.
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Research Assistant
Menninger Foundation, Topeka, KS, February 1986 to July 1990
Designed, conducted, and analyzed research data in a multi-national research project. Proposed and implemented the automation of the data analysis process. Supervised staff of research assistants and student interns while project administrator worked over extended periods in Asia.
Education
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University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Graduate studies toward Master of Science degree in Special Education
Fall 1999 and Spring 2000 -
University of Missouri at Kansas City, Kansas City, MO
Computer Science classes, Summer and Fall 1992
Grade point average for 9 credits: 4.0 (A=4.0) -
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Bachelors' degree with distinction, December 1986
Major: Psychology
Minors: Philosophy, English
Cumulative grade point average: 5.57 (A=6.0) -
College of St. Mark and St. John Foundation, Plymouth, England
Fall term 1985
Select Presentations at Conferences
- Keynote: In search of... "A Culture of Accessibility" Kansas AHEAD, Online, 10/22
- Keynote: The Importance of Choosing and Using Accessible Technology. Impact UDL, Edmonton, Alberta, 1/16
- Featured Session: Creating an Institutional Roadmap for Improving IT Accessibility. EDUCAUSE, Indianapolis, Indiana, 10/15
- Closing Plenary: Technology: The Path We're On and How to Change It. AHEAD, Sacramento, California, 7/14
- Teaching Standards-based Accessible Web Design. Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), Quincy, Massachusetts, 07/13
- Exploring Universal Design and IT Accessibility in a Flexible Learning Space (co-presented with Sue Cullen, CSUN; Daniela Marghitu, Auburn University; Sushil Oswal, University of Washington at Tacoma; and Greg Kraus, North Carolina State University). EDUCAUSE, Denver, 11/12
- Web Accessibility: 30 Tips in 45 Minutes. HighEdWeb, Milwaukee, 10/12
- IT Accessibility Law, Policy, and Implementation (co-presented with Tracy Mitrano, Cornell University; Gerald Hanley, California State University, Office of the Chancellor; Daniel Goldstein, Brown Goldstein & Levy; and Tony Olivero, National Federation for the Blind). EDUCAUSE, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 10/11
- Developers' View of Web Accessibility: Pitfalls, Gotchas, and Solutions (co-presented with John Foliot, Stanford University; Christian Vinten-Johansen, Penn State University; Robert Crisler, University of Nebraska; and Susan Cullen, California State University, Northridge). EDUCAUSE, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 10/11
- Accessible Video: Techniques, Tools, Strategies, and Solutions (co-presented with Sean Keegan, Stanford University; Ken Petri, The Ohio State University; and Jayme Johnson, HTCTU, California State Colleges). AHEAD, Seattle, Washington, 7/11
- Crowd-Sourcing Accessibility: Can Accessibility be fixed for free with Community Help? Accessing Higher Ground, Westminster, Colorado, 11/10
- Audio and Video Accessibility: Strategies and Workflows (co-presented with Sean Keegan, Stanford University; Alice Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Madison; and James Glapa-Grossklag, College of the Canyons). EDUCAUSE 2010, Anaheim, 10/10
- Accessibility of Online Instructional Tools and Documents. Digital Accessibility Expo 2010, Chicago, 04/10
- Advancing the State of IT Accessibility in Higher Education. EDUCAUSE Western Regional Conference, San Francisco, 04/09
- March Madness: Web Accessibility Meets the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, 03/09
- Is Assistive Technology Enough? What Teachers Should Know About IT Accessibility. Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education, Charleston, SC, 03/09
- Accessibility of Learning Management Systems (co-presented with Hadi Rangin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Ken Petri, The Ohio State University). Accessing Higher Ground, Boulder, CO, 11/08
- Web Accessibility in Higher Education: How Are We Doing? (co-presented with Saroj Primlani, North Carolina State University). Accessing Higher Ground, Boulder, CO, 11/07
- Accessibility of Higher Education Websites in the Northwestern U.S.: Current Status and Response to Third Party Outreach. International Conference on Technology-based Learning with Disability, Dayton, OH, 07/07
- Using Closed Captions for Accessibility and Full-text Video Search. Ed-Media, Vancouver, BC, 06/07
- International Research on Web Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities. International Information Resources Management Association (IRMA) Conference, Vancouver, BC, 05/07
- Campus Perspectives on IT Accessibility. (Co-presented with Sara Clark, Missouri State University; David Cook, University of Texas at Austin; Craig Jackson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Susan Lewis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Tracy Mitrano, Cornell University). EDUCAUSE, Dallas, TX, 10/06
- Creating an Accessible Technology-Enhanced Learning Environment. ACM SIGUCCS Computer Services Management Symposium, San Diego, 04/06
- Universal Design & The Web: Techniques, Problems, and Solutions. E-Learn 2005, Vancouver, BC, 10/05
- Access Solutions Panel: How to Deploy IT that is Accessible to Users with Disabilities. (Co-presented with Saroj Primlani, North Carolina State University; Fedro S. Zazueta, University of Florida; Robert Gerhart, Georgia Institute of Technology; and Kevin Price, Southeast ADA & IT Technical Assistance Center). EDUCAUSE, Orlando, FL, 10/05
- Accessible Technology in Education: Policies, Procedures, and Partnerships. Access the Future, Portland, OR, 10/04
- Technology Accessibility Policies in Higher Education. (Co-presented with Sheryl Burgstahler, University of Washington; Ron Stewart, Oregon State University; Howard Kramer, University of Colorado-Boulder; and Cristi Harris, Rocky Mountain ADA & IT Center). EDUCAUSE, Denver, 10/04
- Accessible Technology in Education: Policies, Procedures, & Partnerships. National ADA Symposium, Kansas City, 05/04
- Choosing and Using Speech Recognition Technology. (Co-presented with Kevin Price, UCLA). CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, Los Angeles, CA, 03/00
Selected Publications
- Thompson, T. Comden, D., Ferguson, S., Bowker, D., Burgstahler, S., Smith, J., Moore, E. (2024). Predictors of Postsecondary Web Accessibility, 2012 to 2022. Journal on Technology and Persons with Disabilities. Volume 12. Winner of the Dr. Arthur Karshmer Award for Assistive Technology Research.
- Thompson, T. (2018). Media Player Accessibility: Summary of Insights from Interviews & Focus Groups. Journal on Technology & Persons with Disabilities, Volume 6, pp. 325-335.
- Thompson, T. (2015). Vídeos accesibles para todos. Novática num 232, abril-junio 2015.
- Thompson, T. (2015). Video for All: Accessibility of Video Content and Universal Design of a Media Player. In S. Burgstahler (Ed.), Universal design in higher education: From principles to practice, second edition Boston: Harvard Education Press, pp. 259-273.
- Thompson, T., Comden, D., Ferguson, S., Burgstahler, S., Moore, E. (2013). Seeking Predictors of Web Accessibility in U.S. Higher Education Institutions. Information Technology and Disabilities E-Journal, 13(1).
- Hanley, G., Mitrano, T., Thompson, T., Goldstein, D., Martin, V., & Krishnaswamy, K. (2011). IT Accessibility Law, Policy, and Implementation. Proceedings from EDUCAUSE 2011, Philadelphia, PA.
- Burgstahler, S., & Thompson, T. (2011). Fully including students, teachers, and administrators with disabilities in telementoring. In D. A. Scigliano (Ed.) Telementoring in the K-12 Classroom (pp. 89-115). Hershey, NY: Information Science Reference.
- Thompson, T., Burgstahler, S., Moore, E. (2010). Web accessibility: A longitudinal study of college and university home pages in the northwestern United States. Disability & Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, Volume 5, No. 2., pp. 108-114.
- Thompson, T. (2009). Electronic Document Delivery: Improving Access or Erecting Barriers? Journal of Access Services, Volume 6, pp. 295-302.
- Thompson, T. (2008). Universal Design of Computing Labs. In S. Burgstahler & R. Cory (Eds.), Universal design in higher education: From principles to practice. Boston: Harvard Education Press, pp. 235-244.
- Thompson, T., Burgstahler, S., Moore, E. (2007). Accessibility of Higher Education Websites in the Northwestern U.S.: Current Status and Response to Third Party Outreach. In Proceedings of The First International Conference on Technology-based Learning With Disability.
- Thompson, T., Burgstahler, S., Moore, E., Gunderson, J., Hoyt, N. (2007). International Research on Web Accessibility for Persons With Disabilities. In M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.), Managing Worldwide Operations and Communications with Information Technology. Hershey, PA: Information Resources Management Association. Available on-line at http://staff.washington.edu/tft/research/international.
- Thompson, T. (2006). On the Menu: The Quest for Accessible Dynamic Navigation. Accessible Content, Volume 2, Issue 1, Winter 2006.
- Thompson, T. (2005). Information Technology Accessibility in Higher Education: Research and Promising Practices. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) Research Bulletin, Volume 2005, Issue 12, June 7, 2005.
- Thompson, T. (2005). Speech Technology for Persons With Disabilities: Are We Breaking Down Barriers or Creating New Ones? . Speech Technology Magazine, 9 (9).
- Thompson, T. (2003). The interdependent roles of all players in making technology accessible. Journal of Special Education Technology, 18 (4).
- Thompson, T., Burgstahler, S., & Comden, D. (2003). Research on web accessibility in higher education. Journal of Information Technology and Disabilities, 9 (2).
- Johnson, K., Brown, S., & Amtmann, D., & Thompson, T. (2003). Web accessibility in post-secondary education: Legal and policy considerations. Journal of Information Technology and Disabilities, 9 (2).
Professional Activities
- Member, Big 10 Academic Alliance (BTAA) IT Accessibility Group (ITAG), 2024 to present.
- Vice President, Access Technology Higher Education Network (ATHEN), 11/07 to 11/10; co-founded ATHEN in 03/02.
- Chair and founder, EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Consituent Group, 04/07 through 2012.