The Culture Around Accessibility in Higher Education Or, Why We Need to do It Differently Now

Legal and Ethical Environment Laws and Settlements

Civil Rights Protection Americans with Disabilities Act Title I, access to employment Title II, access to public sector programs, services, activities Federal Rehabilitation Act Federal government and contractors Section 503, Employment Section 504, Public Sector Programs, Services, Activities Section 508, Technology Accessibility Standards

Changing Laws and Rules Technology under the ADA No specific Rules Rulemaking fun! Section 508 Refresh Update federal standards to match newer international standards Final Rule is complete, effective early 2018

Pushes Toward Accessibility Inaccessible technology at center of Federal complaints Higher education Municipal government Federal government Common themes: Purchase of inaccessible technology or technology platform Asked to make technology accessible from the start Increasingly include mobile apps, emerging technologies Great list from Laura Carlson http://www.d.umn.edu/~lcarlson/wcagwg/settlements/

Accessibility as Defined in One Settlement “Accessible” means that individuals with disabilities are able to independently acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services within the same timeframe as individuals without disabilities, with substantially equivalent ease of use. From Department of Education Office of Civil Rights settlement with University of Montana, March, 2014

Typical Settlement Scope “…the University must implement a policy that requires the deployment of accessible technology and course content in the University setting. To that end, the University shall conduct a review of the accessibility of its technology and instructional materials and shall ensure that, from the effective date of and consistent with the Settlement Agreement, all technology, including websites, instructional materials and online courses, and other electronic and information technology for use by students or prospective students, is accessible.” (Paragraph 13(a)) From Department of Justice Settlement with Louisiana Tech University, July, 2013

Common Settlement Outcomes -or- Great Advice from OCR Appoint someone to oversee accessibility effort Look to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, AA at minimum as standard set Form a plan that includes created, purchased and used technology Train folks annually Document progress

People and technology: where accessibility lives

How do these people interact with your campus through technology? People and Technology How do these people interact with your campus through technology?

Who owns the technology that they interact with? Ownership Who owns the technology that they interact with?

Prospective Student

Enrolled Student

Employee

Alumnus

Donor

Different, Different Interactions What if the person cannot see, or see well? What if the person cannot hear, or hear well? What if the person cannot use their hands or have limited dexterity? What if the person cannot tell red from green? What if the person cannot speak clearly? What if the person cannot process written language quickly?

Creating a Truly Open Web Accessibility in Design and Function

Accessibility Account for diverse consumers and their diverse device interactions

Lots of People Use the Web Mixed tech savvy Mixed devices Mixed OS’s Mixed browsers Mixed goals Mixed abilities Accessibility as a mindset is familiar. Just accounting for different interactions.

Assistive technology Diverse Interaction Tools

Keyboard

Screen Reading Software and Refreshable Braille Displays By Eddau (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

Switch Interface By vtsaran - http://www.flickr.com/photos/7871760@N02/2956430381/sizes/l/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20938797

Speech Control

Removing barriers Some General Accessibility Techniques

Access Barriers are Often Environmental Implications: It’s not the disability that limits someone Lots of opportunities for us to remove barriers It is not up to someone with a disability to work harder to overcome barriers IT is not up to us to determine whether someone can use our stuff based on the presence or absence of a disability

Accessibility is Rarely Taught ? This state probably isn’t your fault.

Accessibility: More than Skin Deep Accessibility lives in the visible and invisible HTML/web Microsoft Office Adobe PDF

Accessibility Foundation: POUR Perceivable Operable Understandable Robust

Provide Structure Page Title Page language Headings Lists Table markup

Provide Good Color Contrast The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog is too hard to read.

Required fields are in red: First Name Required fields are indicated with “Required” First Name (Required) Use Color Wisely

Only Color Conveying Meaning Color Use is critical. This chart has three lines on it, one red, one blue, and one green. They are labelled in the chart’s key to the right as Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3. 1 is blue, 2 is red, and 3 is green. But if I cannot distinguish between some or all of the colors, then the meaning is lost.

Color Only in Black and White In greyscale, you can see that they all basically look the same. Especially 1 and 3.

Color and Shape Together With markers added, there is something in addition to color that distinguishes one line from the others: a simple shape. Now 1 is blue with triangles on it, 2 is red with diamonds, and three is green with squares.

Color and Shape in Black and White In greyscale, I can still tell which line is which because the shapes also help to distinguish one from the other. It’s not that we should not use color to convey meaning. It is that we need to use something in addition to color to convey meaning.

Be Predictable and Consistent Limit confusion. Be Predictable and Consistent

Make Tables Make Sense to Everyone Make header cells actual headers Don’t merge cells Simpler is usually better

Example Table

Text Equivalents for Visual Elements Text representation of an image Answer: What meaning does the image convey? Or, “How would you describe the image to someone on the telephone?”

Text Equivalent Homes Alternative text attribute Captions Longer descriptions Add into body of document Add as separate page or appendix with reference in alt attribute and link

Dolovis, Scissortail flycatcher, Creative Commons Context is Key Dolovis, Scissortail flycatcher, Creative Commons

Links and Context Link text should make sense in context at a minimum Ideal: make it make sense on its own. Rule of thumb: avoid “Click here” and “Read more”

Confusing Link Text https://www.ok.gov/triton/modules/formbuilder/form.php?form_id=88917525eae4a02e75030112715662529cebda3f143efe72167c49cd55ced323 This website address is incredibly long and it doesn’t do anything to tell someone what happens if they dare to click on the link.

Fill out our webinar evaluation form here. More Helpful Link Text Fill out our webinar evaluation form here. This link takes the person to the same website as on the slide before, but I’ve used text to tell someone what will happen when they follow the link.

Plain Language: Before When the process of freeing a vehicle that has been stuck results in ruts or holes, the operator will fill the rut or hole created by such activity before removing the vehicle from the immediate area.

Plain Language: After If you make a hole while freeing a stuck vehicle, you must fill the hole before you drive away. From http://www.plainlanguage.gov/examples/before_after/wordiness.cfm

Multimedia Transcribe audio Caption video Provide audio description for video Ensure access to embedded players

Accessibility and accommodations A Thought Exercise

Integrated Ramp By Xnatedawgx (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Temporary Ramp By Desiree Walsh (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Department of Ramps Employ people to provide assistance in built environment Doesn’t exist. Why? Substantially equivalent access? Same time? Same experience? Should not be an individual accommodation, but an accessible environment

Accessible vs. Accommodation Accessible: Widely usable, with or without accommodations. General, done in advance Accommodation: Modification or adjustment to make sure that a qualified person with a disability can participate Individualized, after the fact

Accessibility in organizational Roles A Few Possibilities (Your Mileage May Vary)

Quality Assurance is the Place! Right? Eggs in One Basket, John Unsworth, Creative Commons

Themes Integration Sustainability Scalability

My Big Picture Approach (YMMV) Help institution to think through all technology that it puts in front of people Help institution to identify who owns those tools Product ownership vs. development/implementation/acquisition ownership Align accessibility with those people Think about how a11y integrates going in Set scope and priority Train and support accordingly

Rules of the Game Discuss your office and where it fits Discuss Roles that make your web (in your office, or outside of it) ID where accessibility fits into the Roles and Jobs

Volunteer Today!

Jobs, Roles and Accessibility Accessibility Fit

More roles to consider

Leadership President/Chancellor Managers and administrators VP’s Provost Bursar Chairs Directors

Accessibility Around Campus Disability Services Purchasing decision makers Content authors Multimedia producers Librarians

Technical Staff UX/UI/Web designers Web developers Technical Project Managers Business Analysts Information Architects Product owners Quality assurance and testing

Designers Print designers Graphic designers

Legal and Policy Equal Opportunity Officers ADA Coordinators Legal Counsel

HR and Related Human Relations Professional development creators and approvers Managers and administrators

A few specifics Higher Ed Roles and Accessibility

Project Managers and Accessibility Assign responsibility for accessibility Tools, limitations and workarounds Time allocation and scheduling Process integration Documentation specific to accessibility, standards

Web Designers and Accessibility Color use and contrast Reading order Page structure Headings Lists Tables Interactive elements Third-party features

Content Creators and Accessibility Structure Headings Lists Tables Text equivalents Color use and contrast

Librarians and Accessibility Digital archiving Tool selection and configuration Process definition Procurement and use

Print Designers and Accessibility Tool configuration Visuals Color use and contrast Font size, justification, style Layout PDF accessibility!

Human Relations Professional development Budget Direct training Job descriptions that include accessibility Performance evaluation guidance Hiring technology infrastructure

Procurement and Purchasing Get documentation from vendors Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) Vetting process Paper Demo Documentation Weighing

Management and Leadership By Evan-Amos (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Framing the Conversation Program, not project Integrated into diversity efforts Recognize culture shift Be constructive and provide guidance

Additional Reading World Wide Web Consortium Accessibility Responsibility Breakdown http://bit.ly/W3CARB Deque Blog: Accessibility for UX Designers http://bit.ly/DequeA11yUX Deque Blog: Accessibility for IA, Part 1 http://bit.ly/DequeA11yIA

Resources ABLE Tech IT Accessibility Resources page http://bit.ly/1YfcnV1 World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative https://www.w3.org/WAI/ WebAIM webaim.org Association of Technology Act Programs Webcasts http://bit.ly/1y1DHst

Contact Rob Carr, Accessibility Coordinator rgcarr@okstate.edu Oklahoma ABLE Tech Oklahoma State University 1-800-257-1750 @OKABLEtech, @rgcarrjr on Twitter