KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — July 30, 2025

Brett Oppegaard, Ph.D., an online faculty member contributing to the User Experience (UX) certificate program at Oregon Tech, was recently presented the 2025 Special Achievement Award by the American Council of the Blind (ACB) for his research with the National Park Service (NPS) on media accessibility.

About the Award

ACB's Audio Description Project gives annual awards to honor the people and organizations that make outstanding contributions to the quality and availability of audio description nationally. Audio description provides spoken narration of visual elements — making movies, exhibits, parks, and other visual experiences accessible to blind and low-vision audiences.

Oppegaard's work has focused on bringing that accessibility into one of the most visual experiences imaginable: the U.S. National Park system.

What the Research Does

Working with the National Park Service, Oppegaard's research has built and tested audio-description tools and standards so that wayside exhibits, brochures, signage, and digital park content can be experienced by blind and low-vision visitors with the same depth as sighted visitors.

That's not a small undertaking. The National Park system spans hundreds of parks, monuments, and historic sites — each with its own visual storytelling. Bringing accessibility standards to that landscape required years of iterative research, partnership with NPS staff, and validation with blind and low-vision community members.

Klamath Falls + Oregon Tech

What makes this Klamath-relevant: Oregon Tech's UX certificate program is preparing the next generation of designers and researchers to think this way — about who gets included, who gets left out, and how the choices designers make either open or close doors for people with disabilities.

Faculty recognized at the national level for accessibility work signals that Oregon Tech's UX program is doing the kind of substantive research and teaching that earns respect well beyond Klamath County.

Why It Matters

For every National Park visitor who has used (or will use) the audio-description features Oppegaard's research helped build, that experience traces back — in part — to work happening through an Oregon Tech program.

Congratulations to Brett Oppegaard, Ph.D., and to Oregon Tech's UX program. Recognition like this is well-earned and well-deserved.