1. Facilitating Technology Implementation Part 2: Ensuring Digital Accessibility
Texas Assistive Technology Network Conference
June 13, 2017
Alise Crossland, Senior Researcher
Jillian Reynolds, Researcher
American Institutes for Research

2. Digital Accessibility
A critical component of technology implementation initiatives JR

3. Transformative Tech MUST Include Students with Disabilities (SWDs)
“Learning experiences enabled by technology should be accessible for all learners, including those with special needs. Supports to make learning accessible should be built into learning software and hardware by default…Modern public buildings include features such as ramps, automatic doors, or braille on signs to make them accessible by everyone. In the same way, features such as text-to-speech, speech-to- text, enlarged font sizes, color contrast, dictionaries, and glossaries should be built into educational hardware and software to make learning accessible to everyone.” (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2016)
JR – So far, we have spent time talking about transformative education using technology at a national level and a state level and the implementation science (how to actually do this), but it’s important that we remember this cannot truly happen without including all students (e.g., English language learners, struggling students, students with disabilities) and ensuring the technology tools are accessible to them. It’s not transformative if it leaves some students behind.
Special educators and assistive technology specialists have an ENORMOUS role to play in this process and must be part of the planning

4. Equal Access to What?
Equal access and equal opportunity to access content, programs, resources, learning platforms, such as:
Websites
Online learning portals
Digital textbooks
Student/parent portals (e.g., schedules, billing, parking, notifications)
Third party applications/software
JR – What are the kinds of technology tool and platforms where we need to ensure accessibility?

5. Born Digital to Born Accessible
Content that is “digital first” or “born digital” should also be “born accessible”
Emerging technologies make this easier than ever before for content creators. User-friendly tools exist to easily add:
Captioning to videos
Alt-text to images on website and in ebooks
Standard headers in websites, forms, ebooks, and documents
Adjust colors and contrast JR

6. Discussion
How are people (teachers, students, parents, etc.) with disabilities currently using your school/district content? What barriers do they encounter?
Who on your staff is responsible for digital accessibility? Are all staff aware of the need for accessibility?
What are your primary concerns around accessibility within your program? What are the concerns within your state?
JR – Depending on group size – discuss questions (in small group or with person next to them) and then report back to the group.

7. Digital Accessibility Policy
Shifting guidelines and increasing awareness of mandate for accessibility AC

8. Accessibility is More Than a Checklist…
Accessibility is More Than a Checklist Handout

9. Clear Federal Mandate for Digital Accessibility
Recent changes to Section 508 would move to WCAG 2.0 and require compliance at both A and AA level (takes effect in 2018)
U.S. Department of Justice has provided guidance in two statements of interest in Harvard and MIT cases (2015):
Existing case law and federal regulations make clear that accessibility is mandatory
Schools, institutions, public accommodations, etc. required to provide equal access to web-based services, programs, activities
ADA explicitly written to keep pace with developing technologies

10. What is WCAG 2.0?
WCAG 2.0 is a stable, referenceable technical standard. It has 12 guidelines that are organized under 4 principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
For each guideline, there are testable success criteria, which are at three levels: A, AA, and AAA.
WCAG is primarily intended for:
Web content developers (page authors, site designers, etc.)
Web authoring tool developers
Web accessibility evaluation tool developers
Others who want or need a standard for web accessibility

11. Quick Poll
Do you know which accessibility standards your school/district website or digital content meets?
508 compliant
WCAG 1.0
WCAG 2.0
I don’t know

12. No title No text Muzzy Lane homepage
What should we look for? Here’s an example of a clear and concise accessibility statement from software company Muzzy Lane. Looking for this language, and requesting accessibility information from vendors needs to be a part of procurement of all new technology. You can see here they specifically mention WCAG 2.0 AA guidelines.
Muzzy Lane homepage

13. What About Emerging Technology?
2010 Joint letter on ebook readers (Kindle DX) provides additional guidance that developing and emerging technologies must be accessible to students with disabilities. “It is unacceptable for universities to use emerging technology without insisting that this technology be accessible to all students.” (U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, 2010)

14. UDL a National Priority
2016 National Education Technology Plan
2015 ESSA (K-12)
2015 EdTech Developers Guide
2010 National Education Technology Plan
2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act
* The 2015 ESSA represents the first time that federal education law for K-12 general education includes an endorsement of UDL

15. Accessibility Key Concern for K-12
Seven states:
Alaska (Juneau)
Guam Dept of Ed
Montana (School for Deaf and Blind)
New Mexico (Santa Fe)
Nevada (Washoe County, Davidson Academy, Dept of Ed)
Oregon Dept of Ed
Utah (Granite School District)
Washington (Bellingham School District, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction)

16. OCR Review & Approval
The 11 education groups voluntarily committed to make their websites accessible through a range of actions, including:
COMMIT
CONDUCT A THOROUGH AUDIT
DEVELOP CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN
ADOPT POLICIES & PROCEDURES
The 11 education groups voluntarily committed to make their websites accessible through a range of actions, including:
Affirming their commitment to ensuring that people with disabilities have opportunities equal to those of others to enjoy the recipients’ programs, services, and activities, including those delivered online;
Selecting an auditor who has the requisite knowledge and experience to audit content and functionality and identify barriers to access on the existing website for people with disabilities;
Conducting a thorough audit of existing online content and functionality;
Adopting policies and procedures to ensure that all new, newly added or modified online content and functionality will be accessible to people with disabilities;
Making all new website content and functionality accessible to people with disabilities;
Developing a corrective action plan to prioritize the removal of online barriers;
Posting a notice to persons with disabilities about how to request access to online information or functionality that is currently inaccessible; and
Providing website accessibility training to all appropriate personnel.
MAKE WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBLE
POST INFORMATION ABOUT ACCESS
PROVIDE TRAINING
SELECT AN AUDITOR

17. Planting the Accessibility Seed
Starting the conversation around digital accessibility JR

18. Quick Poll
Does your school and/or district currently have an accessibility policy posted on your website?
Do you think teachers in your school/district are aware of the need for accessibility? Do they know how make materials accessible? JR

19. Plant the Accessibility Seed…
As technologies continue to change, we’ll be faced with new challenges to ensure that all of our users have access
Ask:
Do we have a clear accessibility policy posted on our website?
How are people with disabilities currently using our content? What barriers do they encounter? What assistive technologies are they using?
Are all of our staff aware of the need for accessibility?
What are our primary needs and concerns around accessibility? JR

20. Help Your Teams Understand the Benefits
Designing digital content from a UD perspective offers benefits for ALL of your users (students, parents, stakeholders, teachers) regardless of age or ability
We all depend on accessibility features every day: JR

21. Accessibility Benefits Everyone
Often, products designed to support users with disabilities have unexpected benefits for a wide audience.
Closed captions have been shown to:
Improve reading ability, word recognition, vocabulary and comprehension - captioned video has been successfully used to support literacy in both early readers and adults
Support language learning – captioned videos have been used successfully to teach English language learners at all levels
Ask teachers: What other benefits would your students receive if all digital interactions were accessible and universally designed?
JR – Captions benefit all readers, easy way of using an accessibility feature that benefits all students.

22. How Can UD Principles Help?
Designing for accessibility first, rather than waiting to accommodate later, saves time and money
UD and UDL perspective encourages everyone to think about how to present information in multiple ways, accessible to a wide variety of users
Thinking of accessibility first in purchasing and content development: JR

23. Exploration of Accessibility Checkers
HTML_CodeSniffer
Color Contrast Checker
Contrast Ratio
Color Safe
Accessibility checker in Word/PowerPoint
JR – Demonstrate tools depending on timing

24. Making it Happen
Building staff capacity to address digital accessibility AC

25. How Do We Get There?
WEB DEVELOPERS
CONTENT CREATORS
EDUCATORS
STAKEHOLDERS
STUDENTS
PARTNERSHIPS
Be proactive in addressing accessibility, not reactive when a problem arises
Work together to create a system-wide plan for addressing accessibility

26. Activity: Utah Case Story
OCR complaints in your school/district?
How has accessibility been addressed in your context? Do you have the supports you need?
What are your primary needs and concerns around accessibility?
What role can you play in moving the work forward?
Handout Utah Case Study

27. Action Steps
Ensure your teams understand accessibility legislation at state and federal level
Use checklists and guides (ex: WCAG 2.0 checklist) to perform an accessibility audit of your website, instructional materials, etc. and to review existing accessibility policies
Request VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) statement in all contracts and purchases for electronic content
Review accessibility policies at other districts, schools, universities

28. Action Steps
Learn more about your users with disabilities and how they currently use your content, the barriers they experience, and the assistive technology tools they use
Incorporate principles of Universal Design into design, development, curriculum and purchasing decisions
Incorporate personas with disabilities (fictional representations of your users) into technology decision-making to help you think about potential barriers

29. Action Steps
Develop and communicate institution-wide vision of accessibility for all and commitment to Universal Design for Learning
Set goals and benchmarks with clear timelines for success
Carry out regular accessibility audits and solicit feedback from students and stakeholders