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Existing UO related policies
None existing at this (IT Policy) level. Closest version exists at:
Why Provide Universal Access
Discussion:
Here is a statement that Disability Services staff likes; includes feedback from James, Hilary Gerdes, & Steve Pickett:
The University of Oregon recognizes the importance of its obligation
to provide technology access to university community members with disabilities. The university demonstrates this commitment in several ways, including, but not limited to, the provision of an accessible on- campus computing environment, technical support and resources to departments, and accessible digital content.
Overarching policy should provide language that is inclusive of all technologies, not just web. Also need to be inclusive of all disabilities, e.g. deafness as well as visual impairment. Also incorporates hardware & facilities issues (room design, alternative KB/input devices, etc. Current approach of Disabilities Services is a “quick delivery” model that accommodates known needs with targeted resources when a user with disabilities needs to use a specific facility. Note that true facilities access issues (ramps, elevators, doors, etc.) are handled by University Planning, so our policies should cross-reference one another.
Access to multimedia and enriched web service is a growing concern—podcasts, video lectures, various Blackboard functions are good examples. How does a student with a disability produce multimedia for a course assignment?
Procurement: make 508 compliance “strong preference” in any purchasing/procurement. This is especially critical for systems/services with institutional implications (e.g., enterprise content management systems; course management systems). The need for accessiblity also affects choice of media type (OCR vs image PDFs).
The task force had a long discussion about the need to balance innovative application of technology with the legal requirement for equal participation. Real-world issue: the Bb chat feature is inaccessible, so if there is a blind student in the class the chat feature simply isn’t used & the class uses e-mail instead. In James Bailey’s experience, students and faculty understand and support this approach.
We also acknowledged that a technology may have tremendous benefits for users with one kind of disability while creating a barrier for others. For example, podcasts are a huge boon for students with dyslexia or a learning disability, but create a barrier for students with hearing impairments.
Related policies at other institutions
(note some are state rather than higher ed policies)
University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota 2
Maine Accessibility Policies
State of Washington
NOTES
(JES) See State of Oregon Statewide IT Policy 1.9, Navigation and
Site Design which states that
The Oregon.gov portal web site and agency web sites linked from the
portal shall comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities
Act, be consistent in design and navigation with Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations and
standards, and be searchable.
The University is linked from Oregon.gov, see http://www.oregon.gov/OL_services.shtml
Statewide IT Policy 1.9 goes on to mention:
ADA and Section 508[colon] The Oregon.gov portal web site and
participating agency web sites shall adopt accepted standards
for accessible website design
- The Oregon.gov portal web site and participating agency
web sites should meet the standards of the Conformance Level
“A” of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, using stated standards and W3C
Website Validator http://validator.w3.org/
- The Oregon.gov portal web site and participating agency
web sites should adopt the “Bobby” accessibility standards
as measured by the Bobby website accessibility validator.
Use the “Bobby Approved” logo or a similar text link on all
sites that meet the minimum standards
http://www.cast.org/bobby The Oregon.gov portal web
site and participating agency web sites should give serious
consideration to the use of services and tools to prepare,
evaluate, repair and transform web content to be accessible.
Such resources include:
o W3C WAI Tools http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html
o WebAble Resources http://webable.com/
- The Oregon.gov portal web site and participating agency
web sites shall provide information about the availability
of alternate formats
- The Oregon.gov portal web site and participating agency
web sites shall provide access to converters/translators/viewers
for PDF and other documents http://access.adobe.com/
Comments
James Bailey said… I thank Joe for contributing this [NOTES section] and it helps with the web piece, but we have to remember that the web piece is just a portion of general IT policy. We have to consider students with disabilities using our computing labs or being given technology related assignments in class. Technological accommodations for staff with disabilities needs to be considered. In my opinion this policy includes, but goes well beyond access to the web.
“Send Comments on this policy review:”mailto:bonamici@uoregon.edu