1. eLearning & Section 508 Panel Discussion Gettysburg, PA November 3, 2010

2. Introduction 2 nd year for this topic. – We have learned a lot over the past year – Thankful for the time many of you have spent and the opportunity to discuss this topic Panel guests – Don Barrett - Education – Annette Carr – Transportation – Joe Gorup - CourseAvenue – Paul Lloyd – Target Center/USDA – Isabel Morrow – USDA 11/3/20102Section 508 eLearning Panel

3. Introduction Notes from last years eLearning session: – The elephant in the room nobody is talking about? – Basics: Terminology - What exactly do you mean by eLearning? – Basics: Why its difficult and different than a web page. – Agency perspective: Homeland, Education, & USDA shared their experiences. About this years session: – eLearning Basics/Level setting – STILL The elephant in the room nobody is talking about… – Observed wide range of compliance processes between agencies – The Downside of non-compliance – What you can do moving forward… 11/3/20103Section 508 eLearning Panel

4. eLearning basics and level setting Last year showed multiple examples of non-eLearning eLearning – Pure.pdf files, a maze of HTML links, a.PPT with a play button. Here are two examples of what most people agree is truly self- paced eLearning. – Courses from the VA and USDA.VA USDA Panel Members: – Can you share some thoughts on the eLearning that comes across your desk? Are the VA/USDA courses what people generally are looking for when they say eLearning? Do you deal with simplified PDF versions of content for compliance purposes? 11/3/20104Section 508 eLearning Panel

5. Audience Thoughts? eLearning experience? o Expert? Significant eLearning compliance experience? o Practitioner? Some learning compliance matters dealt with? o Newbie? Little or no interaction or experience with eLearning? 11/3/2010Section 508 eLearning Panel5

6. Elephant in the room? Agency 1: – 95%+ 1 st pass rejection rate on Section 508 compliant eLearning Agency 2: – 84% 1 st pass rejection rate on eLearning compliance checking – Civil rights violations issued due to non-compliant eLearning. Agency 3: – Significant rejection rate. – eLearning accessibility know-how = abysmal Agency 4: – Were fine. WHAT? Panel Members: Do the high rejection rates quoted surprise you? What has your experience been? What do you think is going on with Agency 4? 11/3/20106Section 508 eLearning Panel

7. What does this tell us? If you actively check for Section 508 compliance in eLearning - you will almost always uncover [significant] issues. Alternatively, if you rely on a combination of – Published Standards & Guidelines – Vendor supplied VPATs – eLearning vendor solutions/work abounds …you are setting yourself for potential slew of problems Panel Members: What do you think would result if instead of testing, you simply relied on standards and guidelines, VPATs and the like? 11/3/20107Section 508 eLearning Panel

8. 508 Coordinators - Active Validation? Agencies 1 – 3 – 508 Coordinators actively inserted themselves into the eLearning development and publishing process – During eLearning development and/or pre-publishing of content compliance is reviewed Agency 4 – Not so much Panel Members: Where do you fit into the process? How did you get there? It is easy? Who do you have to interact with? The LMS provider? Who? 11/3/20108Section 508 eLearning Panel

9. Audience Thoughts Your Compliance Process? o Little testing or passive at best o Reliance on published standards, VPATs, etc. o Reliance on vendors/contracts o Integrated testing into the Agency LMS/content publication process Panel Members: Observations? 11/3/20109Section 508 eLearning Panel

10. Whats the downside? First and foremost – its a Civil Rights violation – Lawsuits against Agencies can and do happen – Law aside – at a personal level impact can be huge Nothing will change as inconsistency continues – Easier to find ways out than to address the matter Ripple Effect – Remedying a non-compliant course costs 4 to 5 times the original development cost. Everyone loses Panel Members: – What have you encountered as the downside of non-compliant eLearning? 11/3/201010Section 508 eLearning Panel

11. Re-cap so far eLearning: – Can be encompass a wide range of technologies and formats…but can in general, the examples given cover a fairly large percent of the market. Active Validation? – Agencies that investigate…find a lot of issues – Reliance on self-validation by vendors, VPATs, and/or published specifications are likely setup for failure Downside – Its steep… Panel Members: – Share your thoughts – comments? 11/3/201011Section 508 eLearning Panel

12. Why so challenging? Resistance to change eLearning vendors have templates and/or investments made that are not accessible…and dont want to update them Misunderstanding by contractors/suppliers – term used loosely eLearning suppliers: What youve asked for is impossible… eLearning Software Tools: Oversimplify: check this box for 508 Accessibility Very fine print: To make a course 508 compliant - re-code everything Inconsistent validation across Agencies We submitted courses to Agency 4 and we passed Panel Members: – What is your perspective on this? Do you have examples of being told its impossible, software vendor trickery, etc.? 11/3/201012Section 508 eLearning Panel

13. Non-compliance Demonstration Example of non-compliance: – Course example from a USDA supplierUSDA supplier Other non-compliant common issues: – Flash components simply not-readable/interpretable – Little or no keyboard support – Inability to complete the course / print certificate – Assessment feedback issues (e.g. try again or not) Panel Members: – Is this course is not for the visually impaired anyway a common retort? – Assessments? Are multiple paths through the learning an issue? 11/3/201013Section 508 eLearning Panel

14. What you can do? For those that are actively validating - Keep it up! – Recognize that you dont have to settle for alternative versions or least common denominator solutions. – Designing eLearning with accessibility in mind is possible and should be the goal – Is procurement, Civil rights office supporting you fully? They can help. For those not actively validating - Get started! – The risk is that your Agency is being inundated with eLearning that is non compliant and there is exposed to all the downside. – See eLearning Compliance Checklist for a place to start Panel Members: – Share your thoughts. What the they key things you could like to share with everyone regarding eLearning? 11/3/201014Section 508 eLearning Panel

15. End of Panel Discussion Thank you!