To be honest, when Eric Stoller, higher ed technology expert, brought up the subject of accessibility, I wasn’t really sure what that meant. “Ensuring our websites are usable by people of all abilities and disabilities is a legal and moral obligation many higher ed institutions have failed to live up to,” Eric writes on his blog. When building a school building, you would always think to make it wheelchair accessible, but the same logic usually is not top of mind when thinking about the web. The Internet is a valuable resource, and students who might have auditory, visual or cognitive disabilities should be able to access it too. In addition, making the web more accessible naturally leads to better SEO. Sounds like a win-win to me. The easiest way to get accessibility on the agendas of IT departments, technology vendors, administrators etc. is to start talking about it. Social media provides excellent channels for creating hype, so let’s get this initiative going!

Next up is student engagement. As a student, it was interesting to hear how higher ed professionals are trying to get my attention online: contests, iPads, blogs, etc. Social media is a very successful way to communicate with students, but only if you’re doing it right. The first step is to have a plan. Creating the accounts is a start, but a long-term plan and a lot of manpower is required to make those accounts successful. Part of this means giving students opportunities and content they wouldn’t receive elsewhere. You need to give a reason for your school’s community to to follow or fan you. Keep content fresh, engaging and be helpful. If a student is tweeting about limited seating in the library, offer them a different place to study or offer to petition for more seating. Become a trusted source for students.

I learned a lot at #satechBOS and if you’d like to check out more of the discussion, visit the Google Doc for lots of great resources and coverage.

Rebecca is a senior at Boston University studying public relations. Follow her @BeckyLoya.

The School of Education teaches Orientation Session 5 how to do the Terrier Shuffle.

Below are some articles that caught our interest this past week:

The Broader Role of Moderators in Online Communities (The Online Community Guide): Removing bad content and resolving disputes is just a small part of being a moderator on the web (your blog; your Facebook page). A community manager should be interested in proactively starting discussions and guiding what the community will talk about. Setting up weekly features (thinking: BUAA’s Terrier Tip Tuesday) can help to grow a web community.

App Connects Governments And Citizens on Facebook (AllFacebook): The CRT Facebook app allows citizens to report municipal issues to their local governments. How could students work together to solve problems or provide regular feedback in an app like this? What types of issues could it address?

Google Plus is Not Your Blog (Chris Brogan): Nor is Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn — they serve as outposts for your content. They are enhancements to what you are already doing, whether it’s publishing a quarterly newsletter for alumni or hosting events for incoming students. We’ve noticed a few campus organizations, including the Programming Council and the International Affairs Association, have jumped onto Google+ recently (we’re currently holding off, as Google has options for businesses rolling out shortly.) Are you trying Google Plus? What are your thoughts so far?

The Student Affairs Technology Unconference Boston is being hosted by Dean of Students Kenn Elmore and Ed Cabellon on Friday, July 29th. There are a few tickets left, but if you’d rather save them for higher ed folks outside of BU, the hashtag to follow that day is #satechBOS.