Words of Experience: Establishing an Electronic & Information Technology (EIT) Accessibility Policy Emily Lucio Brian Klaas Jason Schnell AHEAD – July 14, 2016

2 OUTLINE 1. Developing an EIT Policy- Where did we start? 2. What areas should be included in the EIT Policy? 3. Stakeholders 4. Preparation 5. Where we are currently 6. What to do if there is a hold up 7. Training and education 8. Final thoughts

3 Where are you in this process? ? ?

4 DEVELOPING AN EIT POLICY: WHERE DID WE START? ► Research ► Review of policies and regulations ► Standards ► Draft policy: launching point ► Create a committee – seek input ► The IT Accessibility Committee. Created April 2015, charged by Vice Provost for Digital Initiatives ► Focus of committee: Establishing the University IT Accessibility policy to identify deadlines for ensuring compliance for both new content as well as previously developed content ●Increasing awareness to the initiative at both senior leadership and community levels ●Developing a plan for a comprehensive training program

5 RESEARCH: CASE LAW Increased enforcement activity against universities by the US Dept of Justice and the US Dept of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has highlighted the need for the University to create a strategic plan to increase the accessibility of our websites and the content therein. Recent legal cases addressing the issue of IT accessibility: ► University of Montana (2012): Library services, course registration, clickers ► The Ohio State University (2011) Captioning and auxiliary aid services at public events ► Penn State (2011) Podiums, clickers, LMS, websites, ATMs ► Northwestern and New York University (2011) Over Google apps adoption and lack of accessibility in Google apps ► Harvard and MIT (2015) Public on-line content

6 RESEARCH: OTHER POLICIES ► University of Montana – ► George Mason University – information-technology-accessibility/ information-technology-accessibility/ ► Stanford University – ► Penn State –

7 WCAG 2.0 AA The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content more accessible.

8 JHU WCAG RISK CHART

9 How would your faculty react? How would your leadership react? ? ?

10 Pro Tip #1 It’s easier for people to give feedback on a policy when it’s written from the perspective of the ADA compliance officer. ! !

11 WHAT AREAS SHOULD BE IN THE POLICY? ► Definitions ► Statement of accessibility ► Inaccessible EIT ► Website and webpage development ► Purchasing ► Instructional materials ► Undue burden

12 WHAT IS ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (EIT)? This includes information technology and any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information. The term electronic and information technology includes, but is not limited to, the internet and intranet websites, e-learnings, content delivered in digital form (note: lecture capture single use content for supplemental instruction in an on campus environment only needs to be captioned upon request as part of the accommodation process), electronic books and electronic book reading systems, search engines and databases, learning management systems, classroom technology and multimedia, personal response systems ("clickers"), and office equipment such as classroom podiums, copiers and fax machines. It also includes any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment that is used in the automatic acquisition, creation, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information. This term includes telecommunications products (such as telephones), information kiosks, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) transaction machines, computers, ancillary equipment, software, firmware and similar procedures, services (including support services), and related resources.

13 STAKEHOLDERS ► Identify key stakeholder roles ► People to keep informed ► People on the committee ► Determine level of involvement ► Inform others ► Examples of stakeholders ► Divisional budget officers ► Library services ► Provost office ► Faculty

14 Stumbling Block #1 Change communication to all stakeholders – known and unknown ! !

15 COMMITTEE ► Who was on our committee? ► Subcommittees and roles ► Multiple representatives from each major division or department

16 COLLECTING DATA ► Discover where you are as a group in assessing these areas ► Discover the scope of needed changes across the institution ► External consultants ► Divisional administrative leadership determines who should respond to data collection It’s data collection and education.

17 Pro Tip #2 Encourage participation by many local representatives in data collection. ! !

18 DETERMINING YOUR INSTITUTIONAL PRIORITIES ► Priorities are specific to every institution ► Dealing with the unfunded mandate ► Leadership change

19 Stumbling Block #2 The large, decentralized enterprise ! !

20 POLICY DEVELOPMENT ► Existing, internal policy development practice

21 What does your policy creation process look like? ? ?

22 POLICY DEVELOPMENT ► Existing, internal policy development practice ► Addressing current issues on campus ► Lecture capture ► Conversion of heavily scientific content ► Addressing impact

23 Pro Tip #3 Build on top of your existing disability support services infrastructure. ! !

24 POLICY APPROVAL PROCESS ► Whoever is involved in approving should be a part of these discussions as much as possible. ► Address all aspects of policy implementation

25 Pro Tip #4 Loop in leadership on legal updates and recent cases. ! !

26 CHANGE COMMUNICATION ► Size and scope of communication needs ► If everyone is potentially a stakeholder, how do you work through that? ► Get information (scope of change) out to leaders early ► How leadership change impacts communication goals and strategies ► Educate

27 Stumbling Block #3 Uncertainty ! !

28 UNCERTAINTY AROUND ► Cost ► Resources ► Impact ► Leadership changes ► Federal regulations

29 What can you do when institutional leadership is reticent to move forward due to forthcoming legislation? ? ?

30 WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING WITH OUR POLICY? ► Educating leadership ► Gathering information to inform the impact of draft policy ► Initial policy drafted ► Educating the community

31 TRAINING AND EDUCATION PLAN ► Build awareness ► Skill assessment/gap analysis (data collection) ► High-level education first ► Administrative leaders can help to identify groups which need to then identify staff to be trained ► Technical training of staff, then faculty

32 Pro Tip #5 Local trained staff can help answer questions specific to the needs of each group ! !

33 KEEPING PEOPLE EDUCATED

34 Have you used external consultant groups? If yes, what did they give you in terms of deliverables? ? ?

35 REVIEW OF PROCESS STEPS 1. Research 2. Identify stakeholders 3. Create a committee 4. Review other policies 5. Draft a policy 6. Collect assessment data 7. Inform community

36 WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ► Legal action can be a strong motivator ► Lack of clear–cut requirements makes it difficult to develop/implement a policy ► Leadership changes can be challenging! Ensure you have the support needed to move forward ► Get the scope of change to leadership early ► Everyone is a stakeholder: how does that affect communication, training, and education?

37 RESOURCES ► Draft policy ► IT in Education Accessibility Checklist: ► Document creation checklist ► PPT template

38 FINAL THOUGHTS Accessibility is a process, not a policy. Communication is key!

39 CONTACT INFORMATION Brian Klaas, Sr. Software Engineer, Center for Teaching and Learning – Emily Lucio, Director, ADA Compliance – Jason Schnell, IT Sr. Manager, University Information Systems –