Supporting user experiences - UX and Content Strategy team

The UX and Content Strategy team supports the user experiences (UX) of ASR’s services, systems, processes, products, and communications. Centering people in all of our work, the team aligns with ASR’s DEI Vision Statements through ensuring ASR’s virtual spaces and collaboration tools are accessible, improving processes based on user research and usability studies, and employing a content strategy using plain language that is inclusive to all.

The UX and Content Strategy team is proud to highlight the following upcoming projects and DEI initiatives in our day-to-day work:

• Updating ASR’s web content to comply with the new Title II, federal digital accessibility regulations. These new regulations require that public entities comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2. We have until April 24, 2026 to update all of ASR’s digital content into compliance with this standard. Fortunately, our team has been working on meeting these standards for a while, making the transition easier, despite the amount of work it will take to complete.
• Incorporating all of the 7 Core Skills of Accessibility as part of our DEI goals. The core skills focus on making our digital content more inclusive, accessible, and equitable for our users.
• Providing space in News & Notes for ASR’s DEI Committee to share important conversations relevant to our communities and work. The stories we write involve extensive research and interviews with campus and community members, while providing resources so ASR staff can learn more and create their own DEI-specific goals.

We want to continue highlighting the equity and inclusion work of different ASR teams in upcoming issues of News & Notes. If you have a recent project or success to celebrate, please share it with us at asrdei@umn.edu.

Thank you - Kaity Sharp

As she steps away after 4 years of service, the ASR Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) committee would like to thank Kaity Sharp for her work on the ASR DEI committee. Kaity was instrumental in creating the new employee DEI orientation and the DEI vision statements. Kaity is still in ASR and is completing her master's degree. We will miss her on the committee, but her contributions and commitment to diversity helped bring awareness to issues and build a supportive DEI culture within ASR.