How Cisco Networking Academy is Enhancing Accessibility Schooling

This submit was authored by Lynn Bloomer, Director, Enterprise Operations, Cisco Networking Academy.

Cisco Networking Academy is likely one of the world’s largest and longest-standing purpose-driven IT skills-to-jobs packages, impacting the lives of greater than 4.7 million learners yearly (24.2 million since inception) in 191 nations.

Because the world celebrates the 2025 International Accessibility Consciousness Day (GAAD), Cisco took a major step in the direction of championing incapacity inclusion by partnering with Train Entry, a nonprofit group devoted to enhancing accessibility training. Train Entry envisions a completely accessible future during which college students enter the workforce with data of the wants of individuals with disabilities and expertise to create know-how that’s born accessible. Collectively, we now have launched a group of greatest practices for Cisco Networking Academy educators, designed to empower instructors in educating all learners. Our collaboration underscores Cisco’s dedication to fostering an inclusive digital future by integrating accessibility ideas into know-how training.

This new educating useful resource, the Accessibility Playlist, helps educators in educating digital accessibility. The playlist is tailor-made for Cisco Networking Academy instructors and makes use of Train Entry’s free sources, together with accessibility self-paced programs and curricular gadgets within the Train Entry Curriculum Repository. These supplies cowl a spread of subjects, together with incapacity consciousness, accessible design, and inclusive educating practices throughout numerous disciplines resembling laptop science, UX design, and internet growth. Through the use of these sources, instructors will acquire precious insights into greatest practices in as we speak’s technological panorama and can construct their confidence in educating for a extra inclusive viewers.

On the coronary heart of the Cisco Networking Academy program is a constant dedication to equip and empower communities and college students of all backgrounds via training. Since we started accumulating this information in 2019, over 232,000 college students with declared disabilities have participated.¹ And we proceed to assist incapacity and neurodivergent communities by placing accessibility on the entrance of what we do. For instance, we not too long ago expanded our Advisory Board to incorporate organizations that champion accessibility worldwide, such because the Open College (United Kingdom), the Cisco Academy for the Imaginative and prescient Impaired (CAVI) (Australia), NSITE (United States), and Bridge to Alternative (United States). We additionally actively interact with college students and instructors to establish new accessibility options to boost our studying platform expertise for higher inclusivity.

“Whereas educating Cybersecurity Necessities, we found that the cybersecurity Digital Machines (VMs) software program used within the lab actions now not had the display screen reader. This meant our visually impaired learners had been unable to launch and full the lab actions. I reached out to the Cisco Networking Academy group, who had been capable of rapidly resolve this and add an lodging to permit use with display screen readers. Arms-on studying is so crucial for all learners no matter their expertise and bodily capabilities.” – Karen Woodard, Cisco Networking Academy teacher

Cisco’s ongoing dedication to this work, led by our Workplace of Accessibility, and holding ourselves accountable for our progress is vital for learners with disabilities; furthermore, it’s vital to all of us. We’re higher collectively. In line with our Objective to Energy an Inclusive Future for All, we wish to make the know-how and companies we offer to our prospects, companions, suppliers, and staff accessible to all. We’re making progress, and there’s nonetheless extra work to do.

Be taught extra at netacad.com/accessibility.

Sources:

1. Optionally available self-reporting by learners from July 2019, once we began accumulating this data, to the top of FY2024.

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