Information Accessibility Concepts and Legalities

The Three Waves of Accessibility F Physical Accessibility –Rehab. Act 1973 –Vietnam F Appliance Accessibility –circa PC F Information Accessibility –circa 1992 to widespread Internet Use

What is Information Accessibility? F Information is accessible if it is available regardless of: –platform –User platform refers to a specific hardware or software system that may not share a common set of information access “rules” with a majority of similar systems. An example would be designing a web site with technologies that are exclusive to a single vendor. Creating accessible web sites doesn’t mean you have exclude these technologies, only that you design with accessibility in mind.

What is Information Accessibility? F Information is accessible if it is available regardless of: –user agent –As information technology begins to move away from a PC centric paradigm, more devices are being designed to access information that don’t fit the traditional model of the Personal Computer. An example of these devices are the popular Palm Computing products. These “User Agents” sacrifice computing power to gain universal access anytime, anywhere, any way. They will increasingly require “well formed” documents that adhere strictly to design guidelines such as HTML4.0 and XML.

What is Information Accessibility? F Information is accessible if it is available regardless of: –rendition –One foundation of accessible information is the technique of separating content from rendition. An important technology that addresses this is Cascading Style Sheets. This model allows the actual layout and formatting information to be stored independent of the document’s content. –disability –Given these points, information will be more accessible by adaptive technology and thus accessible by persons with disabilities.

Why is Information Accessibility Important for Distance Education? –Many 3rd Generation web-based DE curricula will use the WWW as a primary means of information dissemination growth of online learners from 710K to 2.2M between 1998 and 2002* 42% of those surveyed anticipate adopting web- based instruction within the next 12 months* –6% of all students have a disability –8% of students with disabilities may require an accessible format (4% will be visually impaired) - University of Georgia survey *International Data Corp. Study - Distance Education Report, April 1999.

Who benefits from Accessible Information? F People with disabilities –separate content from rendition –provide a predictable set of rules for adaptive technology access F People without disabilities –users of next generation user agents –external web search engines –internal search engines –easier navigation scheme

Legal Pieces F Rehabilitation Act of 1973 –Section 504 –establishes principle of programmatic access to federally- funded programs. Does not directly address the internet, Web, or information technology, but lays foundation for accessibility to services ("programs").

Legal Pieces F Rehabilitation act of 1973 –Section 508 –Section 508 establishes requirement that federal government, and by extension through the Assistive technology act of 1998, state government also, procure information technology that is accessible. – A revised version of section 508 was approved in august, 1998 which makes strong recommendations for web accessibility –Standards will be published by February 7, –Administrative complaint process becomes effective august 7, 2000.

Legal Pieces F Americans with Disabilities Act State and local government entities are required to furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services to ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities, unless doing so would fundamentally alter the program or service or create an undue burden. –There is a relevant opinion issued by the US DOJ in September, discussing the applicability of ADA Titles II and III to accessibility of the Webhttp://

Question: F What if I provide accessible information when a student with a disability requests it? – OCR has ruled: –1. “a public entity violates its obligations under the ADA when it only responds on an ad-hoc basis to individual requests for accommodation. There is an affirmative duty to develop a comprehensive policy in advance of any request for auxiliary aids or services.” Tyler vs. City of Manhattan, 857 F. Supp. 800 (D.Kan 1994) –2. “the subsequent substantial expense of providing access is not generally regarded as an undue burden when such cost could have been significantly reduced by considering the issue of accessibility at the time of the initial [design].” OCR Settlement Letter

5 Point Plan to Implement Web Accessibility In Your Area F 1. Be familiar with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines F 2. Implement Level 1 guidelines today F 3. Validate web spaces using Bobby F 4. Implement Level 2 & 3 guidelines F 5. Use accessibility icons on your site to denote universal design/access.