1. Purchasing Born Accessible Software and Content Can Change the World
16 November, 2018

2. Speakers
Philip Voorhees, Technology Accessibility Coordinator, University of Nevada
George Kerscher, Chief Innovations Officer, DAISY Consortium
Robin Seaman, Director of Content, Benetech

3. Introduction
Philip Voorhees Technology Accessibility Coordinator University of Nevada

4. George Kerscher
A Model for Systemic Industry Wide Change Chief Innovations Officer DAISY Consortium

5. Handshake between Reading App, Content and Assistive Technology
Reading App, Content, and Assistive Technology must all be working together
Content must be feature rich, for structural navigation, page navigation, and ease of use
The App must expose features to the end user
The Assistive Technology must integrate with the Reading App

6. Strategy Towards Born Accessible Published Materials
Identify Standards for the format
Establish the baseline and get buy-in for the format
Build tools for accessibility checking of the format
Develop a methodology for evaluating Reading Apps
Create perfect test books in the format
Disseminate results of testing the Reading Apps

7. Google Impact Challenge
Thank you to Google for the funding that made this work possible
We are at the end of the three year grant
The work will carry on

8. EPUB 3 the Publishing Standard
Standards work conducted in the W3C
EPUB 3 approved in 2011
Improvements continue, with 3.2 being approved this year
Whole EPUB 3 solid with accessibility
Broadly adopted in publishing
Publishers want a single file they can move into all distribution channels
Distributors of EPUB include: Apple iBooks and the new Apple Books, Google Play Books, Microsoft Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, VitalSource, RedShelf,Follett, and Amazon’s Kindle recommends EPUB 3 for their ingestion

9. EPUB Accessibility Conformance and Discovery Specification
Approved January 2017
Establishes the baseline for accessibility
References WCAG A and AA
Adds EPUB specific requirements
Publishers can make conformance claims
Metadata present that can be used for Discovery
Praised by the publishing industry for setting the bar

10. Accessibility Checker for EPUB Ace by DAISY
Free open source software
Works for all versions of EPUB
Automatically checks the whole title and reports errors
Identifies content for manual review
Provides in HTML report for easy viewing
Includes a JSON report for machine processing, like for a distributor
Has a simple GUI so anybody can run it

11. Isolating the Reading App for Testing
First we must be able to test only the Reading App
We start with a perfect EPUB with no errors
We can then test features of the App
We test with Assistive Technology
We test in environments we know students use
We work with App developers to fix their errors
We work with AT vendors to improve their offerings

12. Dissemination of Accessibility Results
We want universities to pick Reading Apps that really work
We want to be able to discover what content conforms to AA
We want students to use the Reading Apps that are best for them
We want Disabled Student Offices to promote Born accessible EPUB
Learn more at:

13. Robin Seaman Global Certified Accessible Director of Content Benetech

14. Global Certified Accessible
First-ever certification initiative
A global initiative – Creating a worldwide “standard” in collaboration with DAISY
Engaging publishers and procurement offices
Expanding Benetech’s social mission to help publishers create material that’s accessible from the get go

15. Global Certified Accessible Participating Partners
Dedicon
RNIB
Vision Australia
DAISY Consortium

16. Why Certification? The Legal Landscape
Increasing demand to provide third-party validation of digital files
Achieving the Potential of Digital Publishing
Accessibility presents the most exciting challenges in digital publishing
A Training Tool for Publishers
Fulfilling Benetech’s social mission

17. Benetech’s Certification Model
An Economical Two-step Approach Based on Subscription Pricing
Publisher Accreditation
Benetech accredits the publisher after a rigorous review of a representative sample of titles (anywhere from three to ten titles) from a single production workflow.
Auto-Certification
Once accredited, Benetech grants them the publisher a one-year license to certify their content, renewable on an annual basis through a subscription model.

18. VitalSource Bookstore: AccessibleBooks.org
First retail store for accessible books
All GCA titles included
VitalSource® will promote certification to their publishers and include certification metadata in their catalog feed to retailers

19. Benetech’s Certification Pilot
40 titles from 10 publishers:
Macmillan Learning
Wiley
Penguin Random House
Harvard Business Press
Elsevier
Amnet (Conversion Vendor):
Oxford University Press
Springer
Duke University Press
University Press of Kentucky
Demos Medical

20. Initial Publishing Partners
Macmillan Learning
McGraw-Hill Education
Wiley
Simon & Schuster

21. What Does It Take To Be Certified?
Conformance to EPUB 1.0 Accessibility Specification Baseline
WCAG AA (excluding Long Description requirement)
Page Navigation
Discovery and Conformance Metadata

22. Philip Voorhees
Procurement, Policy and Process Technology Accessibility Coordinator University of Nevada

23. Policy
16 November, 2018

24. Do you have an Accessible Procurement Policy?
THEC Accessibility Task Force Recommendations
Penn State
University of Montana
University of Miami
Nevada System of Higher Education
Section 15. Policy for Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) Accessibility

25. Legal Background Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The Americans with Disabilities Act
Section 508
Settlement Agreements
2010/11 Dear Colleague Letter/FAQ

26. The Hat Rack
Definition of Accessibility With respect to this policy, “accessible” means that individuals with disabilities are able to independently acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same benefits and services within the same timeframe as their nondisabled peers, with substantially equivalent ease of use. NSHE Section 15. b.

27. What Are Your Guidelines and Are They Consistent?
508
WCAG 2.0 AA
EPUB Accessibility
ATAG, UAAG, WCAG21CT, (WAI-ARIA) 1.1 etc

28. What is this WCAG Stuff Anyway?
Why WCAG?
Higher Ed Agreements and Consent Decrees
Private Sector
Andrews v.Blick Art Materials

29. Accessibility Language in Contracts
What to meet (guidelines)
How to demonstrate the vendor meets guidelines
What happens if vendor does not currently meet all your requirements
Warranty,
Indemnification
and Cancellation

30. The Documents Used to Support Policy
Accessibility Statement
Accessibility Roadmap
VPAT

31. Building the Vendor Relationship
16 November, 2018

32. A Relationship is Essential
Most vendors are not fully conformant to accessibility guidelines!
Working with vendors is essential in supporting your ICT accessibility initiative!
Which vendors will be willing to work with you and which will not?
Higher-Ed
General Market - The in-betweens
Very Specialized

33. What to Expect From the Vendor
A product accessibility expert is available
Specify where technical standards are, and are not, met
Warranty availability and performance of technical standards that are met
Participate in identifying accessible alternative access options
Negotiate support in providing options

34. Using the Dear Colleague 2011FAQ Letter
WHAT educational benefits and opportunity does your institution provide through the use of the technology? (ASK THE VENDOR!)
HOW will the technology provide those benefits? (ASK THE VENDOR)
DOES the technology exist in an accessible format?
IF NOT, is there an accessible alternative/can it be modified?
WHAT does an accessible modification look like?
DCL 2011 FAQ

35. Now What?
Develop a procurement workflow: Requester, Accessibility Liaison, Testing / Validation
Procurement Review documentation for accuracy
Leverage vendor’s testing results
Have vendor demonstrate accessibility
Always confirm accessibility of ICT
Include accessibility roadmap in contract
Create an alternate access plan with vendor when needed
Never rely on vendor accessibility results only! Test! Test! Test!
Possible 3rd party conformance certificates

36. NEEDED!!! Repository of vetted vendors with their:
Accessibility Rating
Accessibility Statements
Accessibility Roadmaps
Alternate Access Plans
Example (AIMT) Conformance Webform

37. Myriad of Questions?
16 November, 2018