Sandstorm's Speaking at Digital Collegium
SUMMARY
Digital Collegium (formerly HighEdWeb) is a community dedicated to advancing digital innovation in higher education. Each year they host a number of conferences for those in higher education to help them learn and grow their careers.
This year we are excited present sessions at Digital Collegium's Accessibility Summit and Annual Conference. And visit us in the exhibitor hall at the Annual Conference. Stop by and say hello and get some fun Sandstorm swag!
These are the two opportunities to hear your favorite Sandstormers speak:
(1) Accessibility Summit - Breaking Free from PDFs: Creating Beautiful, Accessible HTML Alternatives
(2) Annual Conference - Unlocking GA4 insights: Advanced reporting and attribution for higher ed
Let's connect at the Accessibility Summit: July 29, 2025 or at the Annual Conference: September 28 - October 1, 2025
Breaking Free from PDFs: Creating Beautiful, Accessible HTML Alternatives
One of the biggest barriers to achieving true web accessibility, especially in higher education, is PDFs. Too often, critical content is buried in inaccessible PDFs, making it harder for users to engage with important information. Ideally, all content would be created as HTML, but in reality, complex documents like curriculum maps and reports often remain stuck in PDF format.
At the University of Chicago's Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, curriculum maps were a major accessibility challenge. Rather than settling for the status quo, we developed an innovative, user-friendly solution to transform these complex documents into accessible, engaging HTML experiences.
Join us, along with the Associate Dean of Marketing and Communications from Crown Family School, as we walk through this real-world case study. You'll learn actionable strategies to break free from PDFs, enhance accessibility, and create seamless digital experiences that meet both user needs and compliance standards. By the end, you'll be ready to tackle your own PDF challenges and build a more inclusive web.
Certified DEIB Specialist
Unlocking GA4 insights: Advanced reporting and attribution for higher ed
Higher ed institutions rely on data to drive enrollment, improve engagement and optimize digital strategies, but GA4's shift to an event-based model has made channel attribution and user journey analysis more complex. This session will focus on overcoming these challenges by leveraging GA4 event data and advanced reporting capabilities in Looker Studio to gain deeper insights into prospective student behavior, marketing performance and website effectiveness.
We'll explore how to build custom reports in Looker Studio that go beyond GA4's built-in limitations, helping you better understand which channels drive applications, how students interact with your digital content and what optimizations can improve conversion rates. Learn how to use drill-down dimensions, optional metrics and scorecards to clarify user behavior, measure engagement and track key recruitment and retention metrics.
By the end, you'll have the tools to create custom, dynamic reports that provide actionable insights, proving the impact of your digital strategy and helping you make more data-driven decisions for your institution.
