1. The landscape of web accessibility in higher education: What you need to know now
Cyndi Rowland, Ph.D.

2. For today’s brief time
Criticality of web accessibility for students, faculty, and staff with disabilities
The legal landscape
A roadmap to follow
Final thoughts – motivation will be your key to success.

3. Criticality of Web Accessibility
You Tube: To Care and Comply (Portland Community College)

4. If it is inaccessible . . . Students can’t Faculty and staff can’t
participate with learning content at the same time as their peers
engage in discussions, assignments, or tests with others (intended pedagogy)
be included in social or political aspects of campus and the community at the same level
Faculty and staff can’t
do their jobs in a timely way
engage in the full range of benefits as employees
All groups have
Lost an opportunity to be independent
May choose to not engage – limiting the institutions diversity potential

5. Starter Poll
Question #1: Which arguments would help YOU make accessibility changes in what YOU do?
It’s the right thing to do – The Ethical / moral arguments
It’s the smart thing to do – economic or learning outcome arguments
It’s the law - Legal arguments

6. Digital Access is a Civil Rights Issue
Those with disabilities are making complaints under discrimination clauses

7. From Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
“ no otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States… shall, solely by reason of his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. . .” (29 U.S.C. Section 794)

8. Laws pertaining to education
Rehabilitation Act (i.e., Sections 504)
American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Some State laws
International laws (i.e., country specific; UNCRPD)

9. Why the technical specification of Section 508 is important
Two Important Notes
Why the technical specification of Section 508 is important
What about the ADA – I’m hearing that DOJ won’t promulgate a rule here?

10. Why the civil rights complaints?
The laws, and the delays in action
Laws were clarified and standards delivered in 2001

11. In the past few years
In the past 2 years alone more than 360 higher education complaints have been filed with U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) because of inaccessible information technology by students, faculty, and staff.
More than 40 lawsuits created formal responses by each institution because of inaccessible information technologies
The emergence of civil rights vigilantes engaged in “Browse-by” complaints
One woman in Franklin Michigan has launched nearly 500 OCR complaints across K-20 in the past couple of years by putting sites through automated checkers many days a week.

12. Cost of litigation
Case study showed the institution paid nearly a million dollars in out-of-pocket costs

13. Legal Issues Timeliness Effective communication
Reasonableness of accommodation
Affirmative obligation

14. What to do?
ACT

15. 7 Common elements found in OCR settlements / reviews / litigation
Designate a person responsible to coordinate IT accessibility
Develop both a “Corrective Action Plan” (remediation) and a “Plan for new Content” (implementation)
Define a policy specific to IT accessibility
Provide a public link to an Accessibility page and define a process for website complaints/feedback; some require this on all pages (i.e., in the footer)
Seek ongoing input from users with disabilities
Define a process for evaluating accessibility as part of the procurement process
Perform a technology audit for student and public-facing solutions (when employees begin making complaints under ADA, this may also extend to institutional intranets)

16. Poll
Question #2: Which of the 7 do you think would be most difficult for your institution?
Getting an accessibility Coordinator
Developing plans for accessible content
Developing policy
Giving the public links about your accessibility work and where to share a complaint
Getting input from users
Adding accessibility into procurement
Performing an audit

17. Context – the field
Indicators and Benchmarks of institutions that achieve and sustain web accessibility
Administrative commitment and leadership
Policy and implementation planning
Resources and supports
Systems for assessment and monitoring

18. Context – the field
Indicators and Benchmarks of institutions that achieve and sustain web accessibility
Administrative commitment and leadership
Policy and implementation planning
Resources and supports
Systems for assessment and monitoring

19. Typical Components of Institutional Policy on Web Accessibility
Summary statement of the policy
Effective dates
Scope of the policy
A technical standard
A provision for procurement
Consequences for non-conformance to the policy
Mechanisms for ongoing review

20. Typical Components of Web Accessibility Implementation Plan
Executive summary of the plan
Provisions to
Gather baseline information and benchmarking
Identify existing institutional challenges and risks
Identify existing institutional priorities and opportunities
Communication and marketing plans
Provision to allocate budget and resources

21. Typical Components of Web Accessibility Implementation Plan
Milestones and measurable steps, including dates persons, and activities
Education and support plans for those who will accomplish web accessibility (i.e., staff, faculty, and students)
Responsibilities (i.e., administration, Accessibility Committee, procurement, HR, faculty, staff)
Plan to obtain and use feedback
Strategy to evaluate and revise the plan in an ongoing way

22. Support for YOUR efforts
Models DO exist

23. Support for YOUR efforts
Consultants are everywhere
Examples include AMAC, NCDAE, & WebAIM

24. Poll
Question #2: Which argument would help others ACT at your institution (colleagues and administration)
It’s the right thing
It’s the smart thing
It’s the law

25. Motivational approaches matter
What looks like a people problem is often a situation
What looks like laziness is often exhaustion
What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity

26. Motivational approaches matter

27. Cyndi.Rowland@usu.edu 435-797-3381
Contact me anytime