November 12, 2013

TEAM MEMBERS Dominic Dorsey, Director of Accessibility, Chair Klass Kwant, Video Content Production Manager, Co-Chair Kathy Keating, General Counsel Paula Sullivan, Associate Dean, Faculty Evaluation & Hiring MaryBeth Beighley, Director of Staff Development Jeremy Osborn, Director of Center for Teaching Excellence

Introduction: The campus community of Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) relies on administrators, faculty and staff to provide equal access to all programs and activities for individuals with disabilities. By providing ease of access in addition to reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities, GRCC remains committed to adhering to the requirements of Sections 504 & 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended (2008).

Our Responsibility: To ensure that members of the campus community are not excluded from participation or denied the benefit of information, advertisement or academic instruction. Communication mediums must be as effective for individuals with disabilities as they are for others. The most effective means of providing equal access to audiovisual media (including but not limited to videos, movie clips, DVDs, and films) is through the use of products with open/closed-captioning or subtitles for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Why We Can’t Wait: UC Berkley (1999), LaTrobe University (2008), Ohio State (2009), University of Kentucky (2011), Daytona State College (2011), University of Maryland at College Park (2013): More and more colleges and institutions of higher learning are facing ADA class-action lawsuits brought forward by students or agencies [i.e. the National Association for the Deaf (NAD)] arguing that the Americans With Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act obligates institutions to equip its facilities with captioning technology. This includes but is not limited to: Course Content and Classroom Environments Sporting Events and Entertainment Safety and Emergency Announcements Any other announcements

Current Processes Supporting Policy Implementation: Captioning Request ProcedureCaptioning Request Procedure: The GRCC Media Department has an established process and procedure for the conversion of audiovisual materials into an accessible format. This office already responds immediately to accommodation requests verified through DSS and as long as audio is discernable; files can be captioned in a reasonable turn around. Center for Teaching ExcellenceCenter for Teaching Excellence: Through workshop offerings in faculty professional development, courses are offered in Camtasia Relay which shows participants how to create recordings with editable automated captions. Distance Learning and Instructional TechnologiesDistance Learning and Instructional Technologies: In compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) issued by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act issued in the Untied States Federal Government, we’ve instructed all faculty to adhere to accessibility standards required under the Assistive Technology Act, Section 508 while creating and posting Blackboard content.

Audiovisual Captioning Policy In accordance with the academic principals of equity and accessibility in both the curriculum and in the campus community; a policy on the use of audiovisual media must be implemented by the institution. Proposed Policy Statement To support an inclusive environment geared towards universal design concepts which removes barriers and equalizes communication access; all audiovisual media used as part of classroom activities, instruction, distance learning, training modules for university personnel, campus sponsored events and co-curricular activities, should be closed, open or real time captioned.

Benefits of an Audiovisual Captioning Policy This policy would specifically benefit individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing who must have captioned media in order to access the auditory and visual media from one location. Individuals with learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, or other cognitive impairments benefit from the open captions supplementing the audio Persons on this diverse campus where English is their second language benefit from the captions as well as persons globally who see GRCC produced media productions Enhance playback for viewers watching in noisy environments. Anyone in the audience when variations of sound quality or surrounding noise cause distractions would benefit greatly from captioning. Individuals without disabilities have stated that captioning helps in taking notes and improves understanding and recall.

NEXT STEPS 1.Share with your departments. 2.Direct all feedback to by December 2, 3.Committee will consider recommendations and make revisions to policy. 4.Policy will return to AGC on December 10, 2013 for feedback. 5.Policy will return to AGC on January 14, 2014 for vote.

Feedback/Questions: