Digital accessibility director Khaled Musa honored with president’s award
Khaled Musa, director of the Office for Digital Accessibility, is among this year’s 12 recipients of the prestigious President’s Award for Outstanding Service. This award was established to recognize faculty and staff who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the University well beyond their regular job responsibilities, and is among the highest honors a University community member can receive. Recipients are chosen based on their ability to make a positive, lasting impact on the University, its students, and its broader community, embodying the institutional mission of excellence, outreach, and systemic change.
In his role as director of the Office for Digital Accessibility, Musa has provided what colleagues describe as a master class in supporting institutional change. Navigating a complex landscape of evolving federal regulations alongside diverse academic and administrative needs, his leadership has effectively positioned the University of Minnesota as a leader in digital accessibility, outpacing most Big Ten Conference peers.
Embedding accessibility into institutional fabric
Musa’s leadership is defined by a sophisticated and multi-layered strategy. Recognizing early on that for digital accessibility to be sustainable, it could not be treated as a niche function relegated only to information technology, he worked to embed it into the very fabric of our institution.
Rather than relying on top-down directives, Musa focused on building internal capacity, to be shared across all teams. He established and empowered change coalitions to guide individual colleges and units toward meeting digital accessibility goals. These groups—the Academic Digital Accessibility Liaisons (ADALs) and the Web Digital Accessibility Coordinators (WEDACs)—now form a distributed network of experts to support the work across the University.
A data-driven model for the Big Ten
To complement education and training, Musa implemented a rigorous, data-driven approach to tracking progress. He invested countless hours—often outside regular work—to build a centralized database and reporting system. This system allows senior leadership to monitor remediation efforts quarterly, giving colleges and units clear insight into their own progress. This level of transparency and analytical rigor has become a model recognized as exemplary across the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA).
National leadership and collaboration
Musa’s community-first mindset extends far beyond the Twin Cities campus. He is widely recognized for sharing his processes and strategy with institutional partners across the country, earning immense gratitude from professionals at peer institutions such as the University of California, Irvine.
His outward-facing leadership consistently brings together educational technology vendors, accessibility specialists, and higher education partners to drive systemic change. Rather than simply reporting accessibility issues, Musa works collaboratively with major ed-tech and cloud platform providers to validate fixes, gather meaningful user feedback and ensure solutions meet institutional needs.
"Khaled’s ability to cultivate inclusive communities and sustained partnerships allows many institutions to benefit from the groundwork he tirelessly lays," noted Brian Richwine, senior accessibility strategist at Indiana University.
Cultivating a culture of empathy
Musa's possibly most impressive trait, colleagues note, is the culture of psychological safety he cultivates within the Office for Digital Accessibility and across the broader University community. Operating on the fundamental belief that people want to do the right thing, he resists using authoritative compliance measures, choosing instead to lead with empathy, maintain an open-door policy and turn potential resistance into active partnership.
Khaled would be the first to insist that this honor is a reflection of the work and dedication of his team and the communities of practice he has worked so hard to foster. His sense of humility and awareness inspires those around him to stay motivated and committed, creating a positive environment where every individual feels seen and important.
Driven by a deep personal passion for inclusion, Musa views digital accessibility not as a checkbox, but as a critical component of the University’s mission to provide equitable access to all. His strategic vision, compassionate leadership and tireless advocacy continue to inspire the University of Minnesota community.
Musa, along with this year's fellow recipients, will be formally celebrated at an upcoming University ceremony where they will be presented with the award by President Cunningham.