Disability Pride and Heritage Month

October is Disability Pride and Heritage Month (DPHM) at NAU. We celebrate this month by honoring the history and heritage of individuals with disabilities including activism, accomplishments and contributions, the fight for civil rights, accessibility, and current events. These events for DPHM include a film festival, digital and physical Accessibility Expeditions, a workshop series, a challenge to owners of Canvas shells, making sensory crafts, a partnership with a Flagstaff non-profit – Culture Connection AZ, and an open conversation about disability. All of these events are geared toward providing our fellow Lumberjacks with a better understanding of the place individuals with disabilities hold within our history and culture – both the positive contributions as well as the active work toward inclusion and equity is highlighted.

2026 Events

Canvas Alt Text Challenge!

October 1-31

Challenge: Commit one hour during October to update the alt text on images within your course materials.

Ensure your students have full access to your course information and take part in the Canvas Image Accessibility Challenge and spend one hour during the month of October addressing the alt text on images in your course shells!

Support is happily provided by the Advanced Creative & Instructional Design (ACID) collective through open labs, individual consultation, group training and just in-time online resources. Resources can also be found on D.R.’s Image Accessibility page or by emailing accessibility@nau.edu.

Current online resources include:

Or attend the first workshop in the Disability Pride and Heritage Month Digital Accessibility Workshop Series on October 2nd.

Those completing the one-hour challenge will be provided with a Letter of Acknowledgement for FAAR and entered for a chance to win a $50 Starbucks gift card.

Faculty can submit confirmation that they spent one hour during October working on improving image accessibility by taking before and after screenshots of one (or more) Accessibility Course Report in a current Canvas course shell and submitting it to Jamie.Axelrod@nau.edu with the subject “Image Accessibility Challenge”. Faculty whose screenshots demonstrate improved image accessibility for the course or courses overall will receive the Letter of Acknowledgement for FAAR and be entered for the chance to win the gift card.

 

Digital Accessibility Expedition

October 1-31 

Join us for a monthlong exploration of digital accessibility. Take some time to explore and find the clues for the final task.

 

 

Digital Accessibility Workshop series

October 2, 9, 23, 30 | 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. | Teams

Workshops will be held virtually Fridays and cover the Canvas Alt Text Challenge, adding alt text to images in any platform, how to get started in Venngage, and conducting accessible presentations.

Teams meeting: https://tinyurl.com/DPHM-Digital

Topics:

October 2 – The Canvas Image Challenge: Alt Text and Ally

Taking part in the Canvas Image Accessibility Challenge to spend one hour during the month of October to address the alt text on images in your course shells but need some help to get started? Join Instructional Designer, Jordan Garcia as he walks you through the basics of using Ally within Canvas to identify missing alt text and then shows you how to write and add it to your images.

October 9 – Did you add Alt Text? Alt Text: The Basics…Kind of

You’ve added all your photos and links. Oh, snap! Did you add alt text? Participants will learn how to write simple and meaningful alt text for their images and links. Topics covered: basic alt text, context-based alt text, link alt text, and how to write an AI prompt to generate alt text.

October 23 – Getting Started With Venngage

As part of the university’s longstanding commitment to Universal Design and digital accessibility, Venngage will be available to the entire campus community! Join us to learn how easy it is to get started with Venngage to create ADA accessible content that can be used by everyone including people with disabilities.

October 30 – Presenting Inclusively

Are you reaching everyone in your audience during a presentation? Explore and learn how to create accessible presentations to cultivate inclusion, belonging and empower diverse voices to better engage every part of your audience.

 

Disability History Timeline in partnership with Culture Connection AZ

October 2 | 6:00 p.m. |Opening Reception

Join us exhibition opening night and all October long

The Historic Ice House, Downtown Flagstaff, 201 E. Birch Ave.

Join Culture Connection AZ, the Community for Disability Access and Design, NAU Disability Resources, and the Institute for Human Development for a special presentation of the Disability History Timeline! Explore disability through time from Medieval concepts of disability through the U.S. Disability Rights Movement to today.

 

Northern Arizona Disability Resource Fair

October 3 | 1 – 4 p.m. |

High Country Conference Center

Join the Institute for Human Development to connect with local disability resources and supports, network with individuals with disabilities and their families and caregivers, have fun participating in inclusive family-friendly activities, and enjoy refreshments and take part in door prize drawings!

 

The 5th Annual Not-Inspiration Pørn Disability Film Festival

October 7 | 7 – 9:30 pm |

Cline Library Assembly Hall

Open and free to all! The Institute for Human Development at NAU presents a celebration of the disability experience through the lens of a diverse group of filmmakers.

This year’s festival features several award-winning shorts from around the world and one locally produced film. Both documentary and narrative films will be screened exploring topics such as “special” interests, assumptions, alternative forms of communication, wheelchair use in Mexico, disaster preparedness in Pacific Islander indigenous communities and even a horror film!

For more information email john.schaffer@nau.edu.

 

Sensory Craft Day with CoLAB

October 8 |8 a.m.  – 8:00 p.m. drop in |

University Union Fieldhouse

Drop in to the Community, Leadership, Alliances, and Belonging (CoLAB) Center to learn how to make your own sensory craft!

 

Accessibility Expedition

October 16 |11 a.m.  – 1:00 p.m. |

Louie Statue University Union

What do we mean by access? Join us as we explore north campus to identify barriers and examples of Universal Design. Discussion and pizza to follow!

 

Conversation about Disability: Cross-ability allyship – virtual

October 27 | 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. |

IHD presents an online conversation about disability with faculty and students from the NAU’s disability studies program and faculty and students from the disability studies program at King’s University College at Western University in Canada. The topic this year is Cross-ability Allyship.

Join the Conversation about Disability Zoom Meeting: https://tinyurl.com/IHDDisConvo

Meeting ID: 844 5759 9022

Password: 679497