# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A Free 24-Hour Online Community Event On Accessibility.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
AEM: Making Everyday Curriculum Materials Accessible for All Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Making Everyday Curriculum Materials Accessible for All Learners is a pre-approved course for the IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) credential. If you currently hold IAAP Certification, you can submit the completion of the module series as a pre-approved CAEC program. Please inform us if you plan to use the online series for CAECs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ari Ne'eman, the former director at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, discusses Julia, an autistic muppet on "Sesame Street." (Nicki DeMarco/The Washington Post)

An autistic "Sesame Street" Muppet is caught in a conflict between the most prominent autism organization in the United States advocating for early intervention, and autistic adults who see the condition as a difference, not a disease needing to be cured.

FAQ: What to know about the omicron variant of the coronavirus

Since 2017, a Muppet named Julia has given children on the spectrum a role model and helped parents and peers understand the condition. The red-haired, green-eyed 4-year-old flaps her hands when she gets excited, cries when loud noises overwhelm her, strokes her stuffed rabbit for comfort and communicates in her own way and her own time, sometimes using a communication device.

Autistic self-advocates, who were consulted in her creation, have applauded how she is not only depicted but also accepted by other human and Muppet characters on the show.

Over the summer, Julia became embroiled in a controversy over a partnership with Autism Speaks, an influential and well-funded organization that some autistic adults say has promoted ideas and interventions that have traumatized many people in their community.

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), an organization run by and for autistic people, announced it had cut ties with "Sesame Street" after the children's program partnered with Autism Speaks to make the Muppet the face of a public service campaign encouraging early screening and diagnosis of autism. ASAN has accused Autism Speaks of using "language of acceptance and understanding to push resources that further stigmatize and treat autistic people as burdens on our families." It contends that resource materials from Autism Speaks encourage parents "to view autism as a terrible disease from which their child can 'get better.' "

"I think part of why people feel so let down right now is that 'Sesame Street,' as a show, is very, very personal to a lot of our members and a lot of people in the autistic community," said Julia Bascom, an autistic self-advocate and executive director of ASAN, explaining that many autistic people have relied on the show as a learning tool.

Autism Speaks denied ASAN's characterization of its approach, or resource materials. Lisa Goring, Autism Speaks's chief strategic initiatives and innovation officer, said the group's job "is to empower families with the information they need so their child can be successful."

Jeanette Betancourt, senior vice president of U.S. social impact at Sesame Workshop, said Sesame is "saddened" ASAN has ended its relationship with the children's program as it has been "incredibly supportive of our efforts along the way and of contributing to Julia."

The controversy touched a nerve for many autistic adults who say they grew up being taught to conform to the world, rather than being encouraged to find their place in it.

Many of today's self-advocates were children when autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was being described by some researchers and educators as an "epidemic," scaring parents, some of whom accepted fraudulent claims that it was caused by vaccines and pursued physically and emotionally painful therapies promising a cure.

Some children with autism were trained to behave more like other children - told to make eye contact, mimic common facial expressions and suppress repetitive behaviors called stimming, such as hand-flapping, bouncing and toe-tapping. They say it induced anxiety and made them believe there was something wrong with them.

Some were put on special diets and treated for heavy metal poisoning, without evidence the unpleasant and potentially dangerous treatments had anything to do with autism.

Some were forced to drink bleach - a quack treatment the Food and Drug Administration warned against last month.

Now, this rising generation of autistic adults is joining others in the movement to change autism discussions that, they say, have historically been "about us, without us." More and more, they are influencing policies, leading protests against misleading anti-vaccine messages and the marketing of quack treatments, pushing for fair representation in media coverage, movies and TV shows, such as "Sesame Street," and helping to reshape language and outdated opinions about what autism really means. (For example, many self-advocates ask to be called " autistic people " rather than "people with autism" because the latter implies a disability.)

More and more autistic people, such as 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg, are taking pride in their identities. This month, she called autism her " superpower."

"There are a lot more of us who are openly autistic and open about our opinions about the direction of autism research and services," said Ari Ne'eman, an autistic adult who co-founded ASAN.

"The movement has a tremendous amount of visibility and legitimacy now," Ne'eman said. "It is no longer as terrifying, or revolutionary, a thing as it once was to simply be open about the fact that you're an autistic adult."

One leader in the movement, Lydia X.Z. Brown, an autistic attorney based in the Washington area and founder of the Autistic People of Color Fund, grew up at the height of the autism panic. Brown, who prefers the pronouns "they" and "them," said they were diagnosed as autistic at 13 - the year ASAN was campaigning against advertising that used ransom notes to portray autism as an abductor stealing children.

"One of the first things I remember being told was that it would be a bad idea to tell other kids at school because then they just might bully me more," Brown said. "So for a couple of years there, I internalized the most pervasive messages about autism and really all disabilities."

Many autistic adults, even those who went undiagnosed for years, say they, too, grew up feeling alone and forced to conform to societal expectations.

Jillian Parramore, an autistic person in California, said she was diagnosed with autism when she was 4 and began therapies. One of the most common, Applied Behavior Analysis, is stigmatizing and traumatizing, self-advocates say, because it teaches autistic people to mimic neurotypical behaviors that are not natural to them. Parramore said providers would come into her preschool class to teach her how to "walk and talk and breathe like a human - one that they understood to be human."

Parramore, who did not fully speak until she was 10, said trainers would also force her to practice facial expressions in the mirror to convey emotions, saying, "show me happy, show me sad, show me angry."

" To this day, I get really freaked out when I see a mirror in public because I immediately want to go through the facial expressions," she said. "I've even learned to put on lipstick without a mirror because it's too much for me."

Self-advocates in this rising generation say that they have found their community online - many using the hashtag #ActuallyAutistic to share such experiences, insights and frustrations, to make friends and to fight for change.

Rebecca Long, an autistic person from North Carolina who also prefers the pronouns "they" and "them," said they were not diagnosed until age 18, "so it took me a while to find autistic spaces."

"I didn't really connect with other autistic people, except for online," Long said. "I started finding other people who had some of the same experiences as me. And for a while, I thought of it as an experiment: If I was actually autistic and I acted autistically - maybe I stimmed, maybe I did something else - how did that make me feel? Did that make me feel more comfortable? And now it's something that is much more comfortable to me."

Steve Silberman, author of " NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity," said this "rise in popularity of social media has also raised the profile of the autistic self-advocacy movement."

"We can have a protest and we can have petitions signed and never leave our homes, which a lot of us have trouble doing," Parramore said.

They advocate for services and support like occupational therapy, speech pathology, and augmentative and alternative communication, especially for those who are nonverbal or need assistance communicating. They also want better inclusion in schools and greater availability of supportive therapies in the general community.

" We are a generation that has experienced the harms of having autism policy research and services being something about us, without us, and we have sought to take our rightful place in the national conversation on autism with the goal of ensuring future generations will not have to go through what we had to go through," said Ne'eman, who served as one of President Barack Obama's appointees to the National Council on Disability.

Many self-advocates credit autism-rights activist Jim Sinclair for starting the movement, with a pointed open letter to parents in 1993 that criticized the culture surrounding autism and the emphasis on a "cure."

The essay, " Don't Mourn for Us," steered the conversation from grieving parents to their children: "We need and deserve families who can see us and value us for ourselves, not families whose vision of us is obscured by the ghosts of children who never lived.

"Grieve if you must, for your own lost dreams. But don't mourn for us. We are alive. We are real. And we're here waiting for you."

Self-advocates say Sinclair's words planted a seed for what has become a worldwide movement advocating for neurodiversity.

John Elder Robison, an autistic person and neurodiversity scholar at the College of William & Mary, said it is important for autistic people to speak for the community, including those with intense support needs, to "show the world that we have voices." He added, "By speaking for ourselves, we assert our essential humanity and human rights."

What do autistic people want to say about autism?

"That the stereotype of autistic people being emotionless has done a lot of damage, that autistic people actually feel emotions really deeply and can feel a lot of empathy - maybe more empathy than a neurotypical - and that many of us grew up feeling excluded and were very aware that we're not always welcome," Long said.

"That it's not a tragedy and that we're not a burden," said Courtney Johnson, an autistic person from Tennessee. "We just want to be loved and to be able to enjoy and experience life like anybody else. We're not defective, we're not broken, we're just us."

"That there's no one-size-fits-all; it's a spectrum. And that spectrum creates that beautiful neurodiversity that should be celebrated," Parramore said. "We aren't a negative. We have so much to offer - if somebody just said, 'What do you want to say?' "

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How a 'Sesame Street' Muppet became embroiled in a controversy over autism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An autistic "Sesame Street" Muppet is caught in a conflict between the most prominent autism organization in the United States advocating for early intervention, and autistic adults who see the condition as a difference, not a disease needing to be cured.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Understanding how school discipline policies can contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline is essential for educators and families. Harsh punishments, automatic out-of-class time and police involvement for discipline can push young people out of classrooms and into the criminal legal system. But educators, parents and caregivers can help to change this harmful system by advocating for and implementing practices that prioritize mental health and well-being.

We offer this new resource page that highlights LFJ articles and content to open dialogue, shift practices and foster change to benefit all young people.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learning for Justice | Education Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learning for Justice provides free resources to educators-teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners-who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Identity-First Language - Autistic Self Advocacy Network

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ASAN intern Lydia Brown originally published this article on their blog Autistic Hoya under the title The Significance of Semantics: Person-First Language: Why It Matters. At the Adult Services Subcommittee’s final meeting last Wednesday, much to do was made about semantic disagreements -- “ASD indi…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Hechinger Report is a national nonprofit newsroom that reports on one topic: education. Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get stories like this delivered directly to your inbox.

Students with disabilities, and especially those with invisible disabilities that affect how they learn, often struggle because of public misperceptions and stigmas.

After all, children with learning and attention issues are as smart as their peers and capable of high academic achievement, but too often they are misunderstood as lazy or unintelligent. Without the right academic and emotional support, they are much more likely than their peers to repeat a grade, get suspended or drop out. These issues are only amplified when students transition from high school to college. The attention, in the recent admissions scandal, on accommodations in standardized testing for students with learning disabilities did not help.

As the leaders of organizations that advocate on behalf of the disability and higher-education communities, we are committed to working together to continue the progress made in recent years to welcome and support college students with a wide range of disabilities. But there is more to accomplish, and we are committed to helping campuses achieve positive change.

Earlier this year, our organizations, along with the American Association of University Administrators, partnered to release new resources focused on actions that college leaders and faculty can take to empower students with disabilities.

The goal is to help campuses better serve students with disabilities and create environments that students with disabilities can easily navigate. Doing so is critical. The differences between high school and college are stark.

Individuals with disabilities bring diverse and valuable perspectives to their schools and can themselves be powerful forces in reducing the stigma of having a disability in college.

While 20 percent of elementary and secondary students have a learning disability, 94 percent of those students received some sort of help or accommodation while in high school. In contrast, while nearly one in five college students has some type of disability, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the median percentage across all institutions of undergraduate students formally registered as having a disability was only 6 percent in 2017.

This is a serious concern, and one that colleges and universities must address head-on.
Related: Twice exceptional, doubly disadvantaged? How schools struggle to serve gifted students with disabilities
While strides have been made in recent years to welcome and support college students with a wide range of disabilities, continuing to improve in this area will benefit both students and the institutions they attend.

Individuals with disabilities bring diverse and valuable perspectives to their schools and can themselves be powerful forces in reducing the stigma of having a disability in college.

Consider Savannah Treviño-Casias: Savannah struggled throughout her life with a disability that affected her ability to learn math. It took years for her to become comfortable with her learning disability, to talk about it and to request the accommodations she needed.

Before Savannah took the SAT, she faced the extra step of documenting her disability to secure extra time. Despite the difficulties she faced, Savannah persevered and became a strong advocate for herself. In early May 2019, Savannah graduated from Arizona State University's Barrett Honors College with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Through these experiences, Savannah has become an outspoken and passionate advocate for people with learning disabilities.

While Savannah found the support she needed to succeed, her story is not universal. Hundreds of thousands of students with disabilities are enrolling in college today, at higher rates than ever before. As these students rise to meet the challenges facing them, colleges and universities must match their determination.

Fortunately, some schools are showing the way.

For instance, at Smith College, a selective liberal arts institution in Massachusetts, the percentage of students reporting a disability rose from 9 percent in the fall of 2008 to 24 percent in the fall of 2017. This is no accident. Smith offers students with disabilities access to a comprehensive range of supports, including the ASSETS program to smooth transitions from high school to college, as well as dedicated support staff and a structured peer-mentoring program.

At Stella and Charles Guttman Community College, which opened in 2012 as part of The City University of New York (CUNY) system, 26 percent of degree-seeking students in the fall of 2018 reported a disability with the Office of AccessABILITY Services. Students with disabilities receive academic accommodations along with support from the CUNY LEADS program, which focuses on comprehensive career readiness.

Examples like these show that campus leaders can drive substantive change in how their institutions serve students with disabilities. But we must not allow external forces to slow this progress.

Part of the outrageous "Varsity Blues" admissions scandal involved parents securing false documentation of learning disabilities for their children. This allowed undeserving students without disabilities to receive accommodations such as a separate testing site, where one of the scam's participants could proctor the exam and alter a student's answers.

Our communities must directly confront this abuse of a system meant to support students with disabilities who require legitimate accommodations and ensure it does not prompt unfair scrutiny of deserving students.

College leaders and faculty must continue to help students with disabilities develop the self-advocacy skills and self-determination they need to be successful. We must work to increase accessibility on college campuses across the country and seek to defeat the stigma that often holds students with disabilities back. And together we will continue to celebrate students with disabilities - their strengths, their diversity and their persistence in overcoming challenges to achieve the success we know they are capable of.
This story about ending the stigma for students with learning disabilities was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our Lindsay Jones Ted Mitchell is president of the American Council on Education. Join us today. is president and CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. newsletter.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ending the stigma for college students with learning disabilites

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Hechinger Report is a national nonprofit newsroom that reports on one topic: education. Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get stories like this delivered directly to your inbox. Students with disabilities, and especially those with invisible disabilities that affect how they learn, often struggle because of public misperceptions and stigmas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Universal Design for Learning & Accessibility

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The University of Cincinnati is committed to providing full and equal access to students with disabilities, and in particular, has been focusing efforts around increasing the accessibility of our electronic resources, including course content. As part of that effort, the university invested in Ally, an accessibility tool in Blackboard that provides feedback and instruction on how to make course documents more accessible.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is WCAG 2.1? Ooo that's an exciting question. I'd like to address it in parts if you don't mind. My name is Glenda "The Goodwitch" Sims and I've been in the field of accessibility since before 2000. Right now, I have the great privilege of being an active member of the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group at the W3C. That's what I do as a volunteer position. My day job, is I am the lead of a wonderful group of accessibility experts at Deque.

To answer this question, let's start by understanding the history of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). If video is your preference, please feel free to follow along with the recording below, which includes subtitles:

What is all this talk about WCAG 2.1 and, by the way, what in the world is WCAG?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, also known as , has been around since May 5th of 1999. Version 1.0 was published on that date many years ago. That first version of the Accessibility Guidelines was very focused on HTML and it was a wonderful step forward in making the web and digital technology accessible. It was followed, a number of years later, December 11, 2008, to be exact, with WCAG 2.0.

What is the difference between 1.0 and 2.0?

WCAG 2.0 had learned a lot in those almost ten years and technology had advanced a lot, as well. In 2.0, the W3C wanted to make sure that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines was technology agnostic. It wasn't just focused on HTML because HTML is not the only digital asset that we have and use. Whether it's PDF or a texted document like Word or a Google Doc or a spreadsheet, or a presentation, or an eBook, or a native mobile app. All of these things are digital assets that need to be accessible.So, WCAG 2.0 in 2008 broadened the technical footprint of what we were covering.

The Four Principles of WCAG 2.0

Another key piece of WCAG 2.0 was the four principles that were established and these principles are great because it's not just a long checklist of things. It's a concept of making things digitally accessible for people with disabilities. If you understand the concepts of perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, you can carry the litmus test too. Is something accessible around with you, in your mind, and in your heart from a high-level perspective? So, perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust were the principles that were clearly delineated in WCAG 2.0. That was a wonderful gift.

Fast Forward from 2008 to 2017: WCAG 2.1 and Silver

So here we are, it's 2017 and WCAG 2.0 from December 11, 2008, is still our measuring stick for accessibility. The web and digital technology have changed a lot in the ensuing years since 2008. So, there's been a movement to create a dot release of WCAG, a WCAG 2.1. It's currently being drafted right now. It's available for public review.

At a high level, WCAG 2.1 is going to add to 2.0. 2.0 was so well-written in 2008 that it's stood the test of time in that all of the requirements are still very, very valid. So, hang on to 2.0 and let's add 2.1 to it. There's a parallel effort to the WCAG 2.1 dot release. The 2.1 dot release is very focused on filling known gaps. Lastly, there is another movement called , this is Accessibility Guidelines 3.0.

If we could reimagine, with everything that we know today, start from scratch on Mars, perhaps. How would we design Accessibility Guidelines now? That's the Silver. So, as we look at WCAG, recognize it is a wonderful standard to use today and I'm looking forward to, in future installments, telling you more about the upcoming WCAG 2.1 and Silver in more detail.

Interested in the second article of this series? Check out Understanding WCAG 2.1: What to Expect here!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is WCAG 2.1? Let's understand the history of WCAG first.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is WCAG 2.1? Ooo that's an exciting question. I'd like to address it in parts if you don't mind. My name is Glenda "The Goodwitch" Sims and I've been in the field of accessibility since before 2000. Right now, I have the great privilege of being an active member of the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group at the W3C.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
david macdonald web accessibility ottawa

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
my wish list for the next version of wcag- david macdonald web accessibility blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
David MacDonald, CanAdapt offers WCAG Training,My Wish List for the Next Version of WCAG- David MacDonald Web Accessibility Blog, testing, teaching, and discussion, WCAG accessibility audits and accommodation of employees with disabilities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
0

0

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) has been a part of digital accessibility since 1999. WCAG 2.0 was published in 2008 and of course, technology evolved quickly and our standards needed to catch up in order to ensure that people with disabilities are able to access today's systems. The accessibility community has been eagerly awaiting the release of WCAG 2.1.-created by the W3C-a private organization made up of a cross section of stakeholders from government, industry, and consumer groups that creates standards. WCAG 2.1-like 2.0-is a voluntary consensus standard. The standard is then adopted for use by organizations at their choosing or referenced in procurement or litigation.
This is the second of a three-part series about WCAG 2.1. Previously, we covered WCAG 2.1 in AMP (Accessibility Management Platform). Coming up: How the WCAG 2.1 changes will apply to you.

WCAG 2.1 is now the official recommendation of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

WCAG 2.1 builds on and extends WCAG 2.0, but does not supersede or replace 2.0.

All WCAG 2.0 success criteria are in WCAG 2.1 with their same numbers.

If content is WCAG 2.1 conformant at a given level (e.g., AA) the content is also WCAG 2.0 conformant at the same level.

WCAG 2.1 adds 17 new success criteria:

5 level A criteria

7 level AA criteria

5 level AAA criteria

The success criteria primarily address items related to mobile (small screens and touch screens) that accommodate users with motor and dexterity disabilities, users with low vision, and users with cognitive disabilities. In addition, there are success criteria that benefit users of voice input, users with vestibular disabilities, and users of screen readers.

WCAG 2.1 also adds a new guideline (input modalities) and a new conformance requirement note (added to the Full Page Conformance Requirement).

AMP (Accessibility Management Platform) supports WCAG 2.1 success criteria should our clients wish to use them.

Now that we've reviewed the basics, let's dig in.

I've arranged the new success criteria by the user groups that they (most) accommodate. All of the success criteria related to motor and dexterity disabilities are also beneficial for use of mobile devices (those with touch screens or small screens). Most of the mobile related success criteria have benefits for users beyond the mobile environment. Keep in mind that and success criteria may benefit multiple user groups and have benefits for all users.

Cognitive and Learning Disabilities

Summary: For content created with markup languages, the purpose of specific input fields indicated in WCAG 2.1 needs to be communicated programmatically such as via the autocomplete attribute in HTML. The purpose can then be transformed by personalization tools to communicate this in different ways such as via icons or symbols to assist users with cognitive and learning disabilities.

Summary: This builds on SC 1.3.5 and includes communicating purpose for icons, regions, links, buttons, and other user interface elements, to support personalization for people with cognitive and learning disabilities.

Summary: When a timeout is used, advise users of the duration of inactivity that will cause the timeout and result in loss of data. Users with cognitive disabilities or other focus/memory related disabilities may require more time to read content or to complete interactions, such as completing an order form. The use of timed events can present barriers for people who need to take breaks. Providing the duration of inactivity before a timeout occurs will help users plan for breaks.

Low Vision

Summary: Text and other content on a page should reflow without requiring scrolling in two dimensions when the horizontal width is 320 CSS pixels and vertical height is 256 CSS pixels. The reflow must not cause loss of content or functionality, although content and functionality may be presented in different ways, such as via a pop-up menu rather than a navigation bar.

Users with low vision use the browser zoom function to increase the size of content. When zoom causes the page to require scrolling in multiple directions, a much greater effort is required to read the content. This particular criterion is aimed to support users with zoom on the desktop and is not so much about mobile.

Summary: Visual details needed to identify graphics and active user interface controls and their states need to have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 contrast with adjacent colors. This includes, but is not limited to: buttons, form fields, focus indicators, and selected state indicators. This requirement is necessary to ensure that identifying features of controls and states (non-text) are distinguishable by people with low vision. Low contrast controls are more difficult to perceive and may be completely missed by people with a visual impairment.

Any identifying parts of the control need to have sufficient contrast with the adjacent background. In practice, this means that not all parts of a control must have sufficient contrast. For example, if an input has a shaded background and a bottom border line, it may only be necessary to ensure that the bottom line has sufficient contrast.

In addition, the indicators of states (hover, focused, checked, selected, current item, etc.) need to also provide the minimum 3:1 contrast with the colors adjacent to the control.

Summary: People with low vision or dyslexia may override text spacing to enable readability or increased reading speed. Ensure that when users override text spacing via style sheet or another browser setting, there is no loss of content or functionality - text must not be cut off or missing. When the content cannot adapt to user settings, users may not be able to use their preferred text spacing or may not be able to access content that is cut off or overlaps.

Only specific spacing settings are required to meet this standard and languages or technologies that do not support a particular setting only have to meet the settings that apply to that circumstance.

This standard may also have benefits for users with cognitive and learning disabilities.

Summary: If content appears on focus/hover (and disappears when focus/hover is removed), three things must occur to make sure this content is accessible to users with low vision.

1. The additional content must be dismissible with the keyboard without moving focus/hover. This is generally implemented via the escape key and allows users to dismiss content that blocks other content in a zoomed area.

2. The additional content itself must be hoverable, so users that are zoomed in can inspect the additional content.

3. The content must be persistent to give users time to read the content without it disappearing until focus/hover is removed or the user dismisses it.

This does not apply to standard tooltips created by the user agent such as those created with the title attribute.

Speech Input

Summary: When a page has shortcuts that can be activated using a single key, such as a letter, number, punctuation, or symbol key without a modifier key, the user should have the option to reconfigure (remap to use a modifier) or deactivate (turn off) the shortcut. This standard is not applicable when the control that has the shortcut is focused. This standard does not apply to access keys, as those shortcuts require a modifier key.

Impact: When key shortcuts without modifiers are used, speech users may accidentally activate shortcuts while navigating a page or dictating. Users with mobility issues may accidentally hit keys and unintentionally activate shortcuts.

Summary: The accessible name for a control needs to include the text of its visual text label. Speech input users often navigate by speaking text from a control's visible label. When the accessible name does not match the visible text label or includes the text from the visible label, users will not be able to easily access that interface control.

Vestibular

Summary: Motion animation can cause negative side effects for people with vestibular disorders, including nausea, migraines, or other symptoms. Examples of motion animation include moving, growing, or shrinking content or parallax scrolling that is triggered by user interaction. When an option is not available to turn off this user-generated motion animation, some users may not be able to use the content and may have negative health effects.

Motion animation that is essential or not presented based on user interaction is not covered by this criterion.

This requirement may also have benefits for users with cognitive and learning disabilities that may be distracted by motion.

Motor and Dexterity

Summary: Functionality on a page needs to be operated using a single pointer, such as a single-click/tap, click/tap-and-hold, or double-click/tap. Content requiring complex multi-point or path-based gestures, such as swiping, dragging, pinching, or drawing should have equivalent single-point activation methods unless the gesture is essential, such as signing your name, or part of the user agent, such as scrolling the screen.

This requirement is beneficial for users who lack the accuracy, dexterity, or tools to perform complex gestures in a precise manner.

Summary: People with motor disabilities can accidentally trigger touch or mouse events with unwanted results. Activation can occur when someone touches a screen (down-event) or when they remove their finger (up-event). In mouse interaction, activation can occur when pressing (down-event) or when releasing the mouse button (up-event).

When activation occurs only when the pointer is down, users may trigger the wrong item when they put their finger down, but then move it to the correct target. There are several ways this requirement can be met such as by only responding on the up-event, providing alternative means, or allowing the up-event to cancel a response from the down-event, or by allowing undo or cancel actions that are completed on the up-event, such as drag and drop. Essential use exceptions apply.

Summary: When device motion or user motion (e.g., shaking, tilting, or gestures picked up by the device's camera) are used for interaction or functionality, an alternative input method should be provided to perform an equivalent action unless the action is essential. When alternatives are not provided, users with motor impairments or users who are unable to perform gestures or actuate sensors on the device will not be able to access the functionality on the page.

Summary: The target size for pointer input needs to be at least 44×44 CSS pixels. When a target is too small, users with hand tremors, limited dexterity or other limitations may have trouble activating coarse targets, such as when users touch a smartphone or mobile device with a small touchscreen.

A target may have less than 44×44 CSS pixels when one of the following applies:

1. There is an equivalent link or control on the same page that is at least 44×44 CSS pixels.

2. The target (link, button, interactive icons, etc.) is in-line in a sentence or block of text.

3. The target size is controlled by the user agent and not the author. That is, if the size of the target is not modified by the author through CSS or other size properties, then the target does not need to meet the target size of 44×44 CSS pixels.

4. The target size is essential to use of the target. For example, the target has to be a certain size.

Summary: Users may employ a variety of input mechanisms when interacting with web content. These may be a combination of mechanisms, such as a keyboard or keyboard-like interfaces and pointer devices like a mouse, stylus or touchscreen, or speech input. The user may prefer using one input device for certain tasks or interactions and other input devices for different interactions. When a page does not allow users to switch input mechanisms, some users with disabilities may have difficulty interacting with a page.

This also has benefits for users with low vision who may use a pointer or touch in some situations and the keyboard in others.

Summary: Web content should not prevent the user from changing the display orientation to either portrait or landscape. Content must be operable in either orientation, but equivalent functionality is not covered by this criterion. This criterion addresses restrictions imposed by the content and does not address settings enforced by the platform or device.

Impact: When content requires a particular orientation, users who have a mounted device, such as those with devices mounted to wheelchairs or those who are otherwise unable to change the orientation of the device, will be unable to interact with or access content in a particular orientation. Changes of orientation may also be beneficial to users with low vision who may change the orientation of a device to increase the width of the reading area when enlarged content is used or may use different orientations to increase the size of content.

Blind (and other users of screen readers)

Summary: When new status content is added to the screen without changing the user's context, users should be made aware of the important changes in content that are not given focus in a way that doesn't unnecessarily interrupt their work. The messages to the users should be programmatically determinable through a role or properties.

This is especially beneficial for users who are blind, have low vision, or users with cognitive or learning disabilities that use assistive technology with screen reading capabilities.

Status messages include, but are not limited to:

brief messages about the completion or status of the search,

system busy or system available announcements,

form error or completion messages, or

information on the progress of a process.

When status messages are not programmatically indicated, users of assistive technology, such as screen readers, may be unaware of the status change.

This may also have benefits to users with cognitive disabilities that use assistive technology that can use information communicated by aria-live regions.

A new conformance requirement note was also added to the Full Page Conformance Requirement of WCAG. It indicates that the term "full page includes each variation of the page that is automatically presented by the page for various screen sizes". What that means is that each variation created by a responsive breakpoint or other automatic trigger such as user agent detection needs to conform in order for the page to conform. This means that each variation of a page needs to be tested for all of the success criteria. In practical reality this means that portions of the page that changed can be retested while unchanged portions should have the same findings.

Interested parties can provide feedback on WCAG 2.1 and related documents via the WCAG github issues page.

More work still remains to increase access to a wider range of content for more people with disabilities. There will be future updates that may come first in a WCAG 2.2 that builds on WCAG 2.1 or next as a whole new and renamed version of WCAG that may address broader issues such as user agent and authoring tool accessibility requirements, broaden the technology scope, and consider measures of conformance that include user testing. For more information on future plans for WCAG see the Silver Task force wiki page. The effort is called Silver because the periodic table symbol for Silver is AG - AG being the initialism for Accessibility Guidelines.

There are several informative documents that help users understand and test the WCAG success criteria. My favorite is the understanding WCAG 2.1 (editors draft) document. There is also the How to Meet WCAG document, which has been updated for WCAG 2.1.

What's New in WCAG 2.1 from the W3C's WAI provides some useful information including personas that help you understand how each success criteria applies to people with disabilities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WCAG 2.1: Exploring the New Success Criteria - Level Access

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
0 0 The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) has been a part of digital accessibility since 1999.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Implementing the principles of universal design in online learning means anticipating the diversity of students that may enroll in your course and planning accordingly. Designing a course with principles of universal design in mind is an ongoing and creative process. One does not achieve the level of usability aspired to with a simple checklist, but with an open mind and a commitment to making design and inclusion a priority.

There are a few elements, though, that if taken into consideration, can enhance access and usability greatly. Knowing and incorporating these elements on the front end of the design process can save hours down the line.

1. Include a welcoming access statement.

2. Provide simple, consistent navigation.

3. Choose tools carefully.

4. Model and teach good discussion board etiquette.

5. Use color with care.

6. Make sure text is readable.

7. Provide accessible document formats.

8. Describe graphics and visual elements.

9. Caption videos and transcribe audio clips.

10. Rethink, redesign PowerPoint presentations.

1. Include a welcoming access statement.
A well-crafted access statement communicates your level of commitment to designing the course in a way that is inclusive and welcoming to all students-including those with disabilities-and provides guidance for students who encounter barriers.

Include contact information for the campus disability resource office.

Avoid the use of wording that inadvertently communicates that the primary reason for providing access is to be in compliance with the law.

Avoid using language that places all of the responsibility for access on the student.

Your college may have a statement that you are required to use. If not, below are some samples you may use or modify to suit your needs.

Sample Access and Accommodation Syllabus Statements

University of Arizona

Accessibility and Accommodations: It is the University's goal that learning experiences be as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability or pregnancy, please let me know immediately so that we can discuss options. You are also welcome to contact Disability Resources (phone) to establish accommodations.

University of Central Florida

It is my goal that this class be an accessible and welcoming experience for all students, including those with disabilities that may impact learning in this class. If anyone believes the design of this course poses barriers to effectively participating and/or demonstrating learning in this course, please meet with me (with or without a Student Disability Services (SDS) accommodation letter) to discuss reasonable options or adjustments. During our discussion, I may suggest the possibility/necessity of your contacting SDS (building, phone, email) to talk about academic accommodations. You are welcome to talk to me at any point in the semester about course design concerns, but it is always best if we can talk at least one week prior to the need for any modifications.

Another Sample

Usability, disability and design: I am committed to creating a course that is inclusive in its design. If you encounter barriers, please let me know immediately so that we can determine if there is a design adjustment that can be made or if an accommodation might be needed to overcome the limitations of the design. I am always happy to consider creative solutions as long as they do not compromise the intent of the assessment or learning activity. You are also welcome to contact the disability resource office to begin this conversation or to establish accommodations for this or other courses. I welcome feedback that will assist me in improving the usability and experience for all students.

2. Provide simple, consistent navigation.

Be consistent throughout your course.

Use concise, meaningful text for links.

To the extent possible, avoid requiring students to drill down multiple times to reach your content.

Provide a table of contents for easy navigation to all components of your course.

Make sure all links can be controlled by keyboard-only navigation.

3. Choose tools carefully

While many of the tools that are a part of most popular course management systems support helpful instructional strategies, they may present barriers for some students. An awareness of the potential barriers may help you determine when to use, when to avoid, and when to provide alternatives to these tools.

Testing and Quiz Tools

Students who use adaptive technology - Currently, some of the testing tools have compatibility problems with some screen reader technologies. This occasionally results in the screen reader program crashing during an exam. A good practice would be to have a mock exam available for students to try so that they will know ahead of time if their adaptive technology will work with your exam. If it does not, an alternate version of the exam will need to be provided.

Students receiving the accommodation of extended time - Because students with disabilities are often allowed the accommodation of "extended time on exams," it is important to be able to provide this accommodation in an online setting as well. In most course management systems, it is possible to adjust an individual student's exam length, but it is not always simple to do this. In some cases it is necessary to set up a different exam for the student who needs extended time. Consult with your IT staff on how to set this up when you have a student who is eligible for this accommodation.

Suggested Practice
Make a practice exam available for students to try to make sure your testing format is compatible with their technology.

Real-Time Chat

Students who are blind - The chat features associated with some course management systems are incompatible with screen reader technology.

Students with learning disabilities - Because of the fast pace of chats, students with learning disabilities that affect reading are at a decided disadvantage when it comes to participating in real-time chats. These students may also be reluctant to provide input into the chat due to concerns about their reading and writing skills.

Students for whom English is a second language - The barriers described above also apply to these students. This category includes some students who are deaf who use American Sign Language as their primary language.

All students - Finally, chat also presents a problem for the many students who take online courses because of their complex schedules. One of the advantages of online courses lies in their asynchronous nature. When students are required to be at their computer at specific times to participate in class discussions, the convenience of online learning is reduced.

Suggested Practice
Because of the many barriers that the chat tool presents, it is often recommended that it be used as an optional tool only. Acceptable uses might be using chat as a way for students to access a professor during office hours or as a method for students to work together on a project-as long as alternatives are available such as phone, discussion board, or email.

4. Model and teach good discussion board etiquette.

Encourage use of good discussion topics.

Like this: Question about Assignment #2

Not like this: Question

Take advantage of threaded discussion
Many students are in the habit of creating a new topic heading rather than replying to the previous one. Teach students the advantage of keeping the discussion board organized so that they can scan by topic. Good use of threaded discussions greatly reduces the need for students to open messages in order to determine their relevance.

Suggested Practice
Provide students with tips for posting to the discussion board. You are welcome to take these and modify them for your use.
Discussion Board Guidelines
5. Use color with care.

Provide good color contrast.

Black text on a white or light background is the most readable.

Patterns and images behind text make it more difficult to read.

If you are creating an HTML document to post in your course, consider using CSS to assign colors. This allows the user to change the way colors are viewed if desired.

Do not use color alone to convey meaning.

The use of color to convey meaning may result in your images or information not being accessible to students who are color blind.

Some students may choose to print materials using a black and white printer. The images would not be meaningful once printed.

Here is an example of a map where color alone was used to convey meaning and another showing how it was improved to increase usability. In the first one, only red and blue squares are used in the legend. In the improved one, red stars and blue squares are used to more clearly differentiate.

Another way that color is sometimes used to convey meaning is to differentiate items in a list. For example, a professor may write the following: "All assignments in red must be completed in APA style." This poses a problem for students who are blind and students who are color blind. The use of color is not discouraged altogether. There are definite advantages for other students. It is possible to meet the needs of all of these students, by including another indication in addition to the color. In the example above, simply adding "APA" after the item will achieve that goal. Another example of design that works for everyone is illustrated in this sample assignment list. Note the use of both color and asterisks.

6. Make sure text is readable.

Choose a sans serif font such as Arial or Helvetica for your text. These fonts are easier to read for most people but especially for those with low vision.

Make sure font sizes are large enough to read comfortably.

Avoid capitalizing or italicizing large blocks of text.

As mentioned above, make sure you have good contrast between text color and background color.

Limit the amount of text provided in graphics. Images may not magnify gracefully enough to be readable by students using magnification software.
For example, this graphic is difficult to read as it is.

Look what happens when you enlarge the graphic to read the text. (Enlarged section of graphic showing pixelated letters)

Resource Highlight
The American Printing House for the Blind has conducted research on the elements of a font make it most readable by people with low vision. They have incorporated their findings in the development of a font called APHont.You can download this font from their website: American Printing House for the Blind

Back to Top
7. Provide accessible document formats.

It is common to upload content in MS Word, Rich Text and PDF documents. Providing content in this way can be a great way to provide access for students because it makes content portable to other devices. The design of these documents can improve access or create a barrier for students. Below are a few tips for creating documents with greater usability. The resource highlights provide detailed tutorials on creating accessible documents.

MS Word™

Use headings to provide structure. People often make the mistake of creating headings by simply applying sizes, color, bold or italics. While this makes the document appear to have structure, there is not structure when someone reads the document using a screen reader.

Provide alternative text for images.

Create lists by using the actual ordered and unordered list tools.

Avoid the use of Word Art and text box tools.

View the tutorials below for more details on this topic.

Adobe Acrobat™ PDF Documents

PDF files are only as accessible as the document from which they were created. Following the instructions above and creating an accessible MS Word document is the best place to begin.

PDF files created before Acrobat 4.0 are totally inaccessible as they are simply images of the original document.

Some PDF files created more recently are also only images because they have been created by scanning the original document as an image.

The tutorials provided below will guide you through the process of creating an accessible PDF from your MS. Word Document.

Back to Top
8. Describe graphics and visual elements.

When used effectively, images can greatly improve the experience of students in an online course. Images help tell the story you want to tell and may help messages stick with the learner longer. For a person who does not see the images, though, it is important to provide the information th0se students are missing.

In MS Word, some course management system and most HTML editors, the user has the option of adding an image description or alternate text. Make sure to add the text description by simply describing what the user who does not see the object is missing.
Example: Pop-up window in Moodle illustrating the prompt for an image description

Descriptions are not necessary for any images that are purely aesthetic.

Sometimes charts and graphs will require longer explanations to be meaningful. In HTML, there is an element called "long description" that can be used for this. If you are not using HTML you will need to find another way to provide that description. An excellent approach is simply to describe the chart as you would if you were talking about it and include that description in the text of the document. You may want to consult with the disability resource office on your campus for these longer descriptions. See also the resources below.

Besides still images, instructors often use videos to enhance learning. There are often visual elements in a video that are crucial to understanding the content. This may include names and titles of speakers in the video, demonstrations of processes, text on the screen that is not spoken, or portions of the story line that are not revealed by the dialogue. These elements which are missing for someone who does not see them, will need to be described.

When you are creating a video, keep this in mind as you create it. A well-designed video can provide descriptions of most if not all of the visual elements naturally without requiring a later "add-on" audio description. Consult with the disability resource office on your campus for more information about audio description services.

Back to Top
9. Caption videos and transcribe audio clips.

Captioning videos used to be a highly technical process out of the reach of anyone who was not a extremely technology savvy. That has all changed. If you can upload a video to YouTube or Vimeo, you can also learn to caption your videos. The process requires just a few simple steps.

1. Create a transcript of your video.

2. Add information about audio that is not dialog such as music or background noise.

3. Add names of speakers if appropriate.

4. Add timings (great tools below for doing this).

Upload caption file.

It's that simple.

A word of warning. Do not rely on automatic captioning in YouTube. It is not accurate enough to provide equal access.

What if the video you are showing is not your own? There is a solution for that as well. It is called Overstream, It allows you to create captions for any online video and the service will stream your captions over that video.

If you are using audio files with no video, you can simply create a transcript of the audio file and post it below the audio file.
Back to Top
10. Rethink, redesign PowerPoint presentations.

Presentation software applications, like PowerPoint, are designed to provide visual information to augment a live presentation. Often instructors use the same PowerPoint presentations they have developed for a face-to-face course and drop it into the online course. This is often ineffective because much of the information is missing. In order for a PowerPoint presentation to be effective as a stand alone elearning resource, it has to be designed differently. It is worth reconsidering whether this format is the best way to deliver our content in an online course.

The tutorials below provide tips on creating accessible PowerPoint presentations. Depending on the design of your PowerPoint, the best way to provide equal access may vary, but these tutorials will help you make a traditional PowerPoint more accessible to a non-visual user.

Some of the tips to keep in mind are:

Avoid starting with a blank slide and adding a custom text box.

Instead, choose the layout that fits your slide design.

Look at the "outline view" of the slide to see if the text on your slide is visible there.

Describe images, charts and graphs with alternative text.
Back to Top Original content source: Project PACE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ten Steps Toward Universal Design of Online Courses - Disability Resource Center

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Implementing the principles of universal design in online learning means anticipating the diversity of students that may enroll in your course and planning accordingly. Designing a course with principles of universal design in mind is an ongoing and creative process.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
UDL and digital accessibility's perceived tensions can be reduced when institutions create and follow an implementation plan.

Credit: garagestock / EDUCAUSE © 2018

Universal design for learning (UDL) and digital accessibility both seek to increase learning access and reduce barriers for students. As such, their primary goals are compatible and are widely acknowledged as crucial to ensuring equity in education. Indeed, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) recognized their importance, ranking UDL and accessibility together as the No. 2 Key Issue in Teaching and Learning for 2018. However, while the intent of the two frameworks is the same, their scope and methods often vary considerably, which-when coupled with external influences-creates challenges and conflicts in their otherwise compatible aims.

UDL is a teaching and course-development framework that gives all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL emphasizes flexible approaches to instruction and content presentation, which make it easier for students to customize and adjust content to suit their individual learning needs. While UDL aims at a broad range of learners, digital accessibility focuses on learners who have particular needs related to sensory, physical, and/or cognitive impairments. This often involves coupling content presentations with accommodations to make them accessible to all users-for example, providing text versions of image-based content, which allows a screen reader to interpret that content for students with visual impairments.

Conflicts arise, however, because accessibility accommodations can sometimes complicate efforts to quickly disseminate flexible learning options to a broad student population. In some cases, institutions are responding to such conflicts in extreme ways. For example, one institution simply took down large volumes of online content that had been provided in the spirit of UDL but that did not meet accessibility standards; in other instances, colleges and universities that feel overwhelmed by a conflict have done nothing at all to address it.

To further the aims of both UDL and accessibility, we provide specific recommendations for institutions and faculty to help them follow accessibility guidelines while continuing to ensure that UDL content is available to the broadest possible student population. To succeed in these efforts, it is essential to first gauge your institution's cultural climate, deliberate all options, encourage whole campus involvement, and use the accessibility effort as an opportunity to improve-rather than reduce-UDL practices.

The Union of UDL and Digital Accessibility

Although UDL practices promote accessibility standards, a lack of resources for and knowledge about how to make UDL practices accessible can create conflict in these practices-such as prohibiting the UDL practice of lecture capture recordings when they do not include the accessibility practice of accurate captions. To find our way forward, it is crucial to understand the regulatory context as well as the compatibilities and conflicts in the UDL and accessibility relationship.

The Context: Accessibility Regulation and Response

Section 508, added in 1998 to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, mandates digital accessibility-that is, federal agencies, contractors, and fund recipients must make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Higher education institutions have increased their attention to Section 508 compliance in light of a recent wave of complaints filed with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). While a few institutions have been required to dedicate staff and services to completely overhaul their websites and instructional content, most have come to an agreement with OCR to comply with Section 508.

Compatible Partners?

UDL and digital accessibility standards have similar goals. Some proponents view UDL as a social justice model that enhances student success opportunities for all learners. While UDL practices may not eliminate the need for individual accessibility accommodations, they may reduce that need. UDL also shows promise for increasing persistence and retention for a broad range of students, including underrepresented minorities, non-proficient readers, English language learners, nontraditional students, working students, parents, and commuters. UDL achieves this by encouraging proactive and intentional course design that focuses on providing multiple ways to motivate students (engagement), present concepts (representation), and allow students to demonstrate their learning (action and expression).

Further, an accessibility mindset often leads to a universal design, resulting in benefits for people beyond those in need of a specific accommodation. For example, the ramps and wheelchair access installed to comply with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were created for individuals with limited mobility, yet anyone who has pulled luggage, pushed a stroller, or juggled an armful of books has benefited from this advancement. The same universal benefits are possible in the digital world with UDL and accessibility acting as partners, proactively designing learning environments that meet the needs of diverse learners.

Conflicted Marriage?

While similar goals make UDL and accessibility efforts compatible, technological limitations can pit them against one another in the short term. Technology tools-such as presentation software that lets you add graphics, video, and audio to text files-are often integral to UDL practices but may fail to meet accessibility standards.

For now, one of the main sources of conflict for UDL and digital accessibility is the relationship between image- and text-based instructional content. Digital accessibility standards require a text alternative to image-based media: captions and transcripts for videos, and "alt text" (that is, text descriptions) for images in slides and documents. This conflict can become particularly intense for institutions that are short on the time, resources, and knowledge required to meet accessibility standards or for those that simply react hastily to impose the standards and abandon UDL in the process.

Further, many of the faculty members who readily embrace UDL-friendly tools and technologies are concerned about web accessibility issues in relation to the materials they have already created. These issues include concern over the time and resources involved in updating their existing content, as well as the learning curve required to execute those updates. Also, given the continuing lack of compliance for many tools, this conflict can act as a strong deterrent for instructors considering UDL before they ever create any UDL content and see its value for students.

Key Compatibility Challenges and Recommendations

Instructional videos and image-based media, such as photos and graphs, are two UDL practices that can meet digital accessibility challenges.

Instructional Video

Lecture-capture recordings are a staple UDL strategy. These video and audio recordings of instructors and what they display on the screen (such as slides and demonstrations) let students review instructional content at their own time and pace; this helps students who

are English language learners,

have difficulty taking notes while listening to lectures,

cannot attend class due to illness or work demands, or

are having difficulty understanding an instructor's accent.

It also helps all students prepare for tests and assignments, particularly those involving complex terminology and concepts.

Research shows that students who review lecture recordings better retain and understand the material; such reviews might be especially beneficial for low-achieving students. Using videos, including short instructional videos, is an effective pedagogical approach for online or hybrid teaching that not only improves the lecture experience but also allows more class time for active learning and engagement.

While many students benefit from video instruction, videos that do not include captions and transcripts can be a significant barrier for students with disabilities. For example, blind students cannot see the math equation being explained and deaf students cannot hear the lecture content. For these students to participate in the course, prerecorded video content must at least include captions and transcripts-and, ideally, audio descriptions of any visual elements not described.

UDL supports the use of captions and transcripts, as all students reap benefits from their use, including the benefits of

language reinforcement,

concept review, and

improved understanding when watching videos in loud or otherwise chaotic environments.

Practically, however, creating captions and transcripts entails significant resource challenges, especially for existing video content. For short, simple instructional videos, resource needs might be manageable, but in any case, faculty must contend with the "triple constraint"-that is, good, cheap, fast-pick two. YouTube, for example, offers a cheap and fast option for captions, but the transcriptions are far from perfect. In particular, difficult terminology and words from speakers with accents are often incorrectly transcribed. The need for captions and transcripts is also particularly challenging for recordings of long lecture sessions. Although many vendors offer captioning and transcription services, using them can be expensive (that is, good and fast, but not cheap), and many institutions simply cannot afford them.

Further, many vendors have yet to update their products with accessibility features that meet the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and other standards. Vendors of these tools often offer Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs), along with plans to increase accessibility, although some have yet to offer solutions to their product's accessibility shortcomings. This situation is similar to what the auto industry faced when fuel-efficiency laws were passed that outpaced industry capability. Such conflicts between accessibility standards and tech-based UDL strategies can render otherwise compatible educational practices temporarily incongruent.

There is also the challenge of deciding who is responsible for implementing accessibility standards:

Who will create accurate closed-captioning and transcripts for all recorded lectures and videos?

Can faculty be expected to do this? If so, do they have the time, skills, and resources required?

Do we have funding available to outsource this responsibility?

How do we prioritize our time and resources to comply with these standards?

If institutions are required to caption all video content, such videos-which benefit the majority of students-could be eliminated if they are not updated immediately to meet the needs of the approximately 10 percent of the US population with disabling impairments. While most colleges and universities are in a position to avoid such drastic measures, even a few such stories, if widely publicized, could intensify the conflict between UDL and accessibility rather than focusing on how UDL and accessibility should work together.

Instructional Images

Another key UDL practice is "representing" instructional content through image-based media, such as photographs, graphs, and charts. As with video, accessibility standards require that images include a text-based equivalent. For students, pictures truly can be "worth a thousand words," as many people learn better when viewing information visually in charts, graphs, or pictures than they do from reading text alone, particularly when that text is complicated or overly detailed.

Accessibility standards do not discourage image use in educational content, but they rightly point out that, lacking a text alternative, such content is rendered invisible to students with severe visual impairments. However, instructors might find themselves paralyzed when attempting to create text alternatives for complex or abstract images: What is the text equivalent of a color-coded, multidirectional diagram of the human body? A line of music notes? A painting for texture analysis?

Accessibility proponents oppose the idea that standards will render educational content void of color, image, and creativity, but this perception persists when faculty members feel they must immediately compose a text description for every image they use. Accessibility champions are developing helpful resources and creative solutions for making image-based content accessible for all, including free tools for building accessible tables and guides for inclusive art instruction. However, such developments do not necessarily soothe the tension of faculty members who rely on visual-based instruction, as these resources require time to learn and implement.

The risk here is that, faced with the need to describe each chart or other image they use, instructors might move away from image-based instruction and rely more heavily on traditional narrative text. In some cases, such a move would disadvantage students with "limited cognitive, language, and learning abilities," who were included in the Section 508 updates in January 2018. Research has found, for example, that students with learning disabilities do better using graphic organizers and that images can help students who struggle with complicated vocabulary and language variations.

UDL best practices address this dilemma of visual versus narrative format in the principle of providing multiple means of representation -that is, offering instructional content in text and image form. Guided by this principle, instructors offer materials in multiple formats-one highlighting charts, graphs, and other visuals and another using text descriptions of these visuals. Accessibility proponents champion this approach as well. In reality, however, faculty and staff do not yet have the tools to consistently provide multiple formats. Compliance by both vendors and institutions will require time, skills, and resources.

This issue raises several questions:

How can we ensure that faculty use images and provide useful accompanying text descriptions?

How can institutional leaders support faculty members so that they accept, rather than resist, these necessary changes?

Will recommended accessibility practices be revised to prioritize the use of visuals to address the learning needs of individuals with cognitive impairments?

Table 1 offers an overview of these challenges, which we now describe in more detail.
Table 1. UDL and Digital Accessibility Practices, Conflicts, and Recommendations

Lecture-capture recordings

Encourage faculty to record lectures so that diverse learners can review lecture content.

Create closed captions and transcripts for all lecture recordings.

Post only those recordings that meet the accessibility standard, removing recordings that do not comply.

Use appropriate closed captioning/transcript vendors when possible.

Prioritize resources to pay for these vendors.

Consult Disability Support Services for resources and recommendations.

Use free or low-cost services such as YouTube and then review and correct.

Work toward compliance for future recordings and develop a plan to address older ones.

Encourage the use of video to give diverse learners multiple ways to access content.

Create closed captions and transcripts for all lecture recordings.

Post only videos that meet the accessibility standard, removing recordings that do not comply.

Use free or low-cost services such as YouTube and then review and correct.

Work toward compliance for future recordings and develop a plan to address older ones.

Image-based instructional content

Encourage the use of visuals, images, and charts.

Include text equivalents for visual media.

Include only visuals, images, or charts that have alternative text.

When possible, provide a range of formats-including ones with narrative text as well as visuals.

Use alt text and an accessibility checker when possible.

Slide presentations and documents

Use slides and handouts to display instructional and house multimodal content, as well as to guide class activities.

Use legible font (size, type), sufficient color contrast, heading styles to organize sections, and an accessibility checker to flag problematic features.

Use only material that meets all accessibility standards.

When creating new materials and resources, use formats that pass an accessibility check.

Over time, update older versions of materials to comply with accessibility.

Recommendations: Waiting Out the Waves

Initiatives launched under legal pressure can make educators feel like they must address all issues immediately, but this is often not the case. It's important to ask-particularly during moments of buzzing frenzy-when final decisions on accessibility standard implementation are needed, as well as the circumstances under which such decisions might change.

As accessibility law changes and evolves, the urgency could change from semester to semester. For now, we recommend waiting out the waves of accessibility standards implementation. Discuss implementation options with university stakeholders, but resist locking onto an approach until your institution's leadership has solidified a definite plan and enacted accountability measures. Throughout the often lengthy process of determining an accessibility action plan, your university may consider everything from requiring accurate captions for every video within the next year to encouraging best practices and collecting data on gradual standard adoption. Although it is important to hold discussions, we recommend waiting as long as necessary before locking into a specific plan; doing so avoids having to change training material and messages to faculty, such as whether accessibility implementation is "required" or "recommended." As the following recommendations show, we suggest that institutions focus not on letting legal compliance drive change but rather on implementing best practices grounded in success for all students.

Institutional Recommendations

To help ensure that your institution makes progress on both UDL and accessibility compliance, we offer the following recommendations.

1. Secure institutional leaders' support and commitment. Some institutions have an Office of Accessibility that oversees and supports the institution's transformation as it moves toward compliance; others have invested significant resources in a robust cadre of instructional designers or accessibility coaches to help faculty implement accessibility standards. Both models demonstrate a commitment to change, but even institutions that lack resources can demonstrate this commitment through support and communication from the executive leadership. For UDL and accessibility-related change initiatives to succeed, institutional leadership is critical-especially in terms of aligning initiatives with the values of inclusion.

2. Avoid the "fool's choice." Accessibility measures should have some sense of urgency, but they also need a feasible action plan. Avoid letting the fool's choice-that is, believing you have only two unfavorable approaches to a problem-creep into accessibility discussions and instead ferret out a favorable third, fourth, or fifth option. Typically, good options avoid extremes, such as sticking one's head in the sand or locking down any web content less than 100 percent compliant with standards.

3. Identify and recruit key institutional players. Regardless of the resources available, institutions that endorse UDL and accessibility must identify key players who can promote accessibility as a UDL ally. Teaching and learning centers (TLCs) and e-learning and instructional support offices can play important roles in assessing institutional climate and promoting a happy marriage between UDL and digital accessibility. Bring together distributed leaders who can make an action plan for accessibility that identifies small wins, translates accessibility for faculty needs, redirects conversation toward diversity and inclusion, and facilitates campus-wide communication and learning opportunities.

4. Include training in your initiative. With collaboration and leadership in place, TLCs and e-learning offices can work together to create an initiative to support faculty in implementing UDL and accessibility. For such initiatives to succeed, training, workshops, consultations, and resources on both UDL and accessibility should be made available for all.

5. Adopt a social justice model uniting UDL and accessibility with other student success initiatives. Create a culture that supports students with diverse learning and life needs. A social justice model supports equal opportunity for all students, especially historically disadvantaged groups. Although institutions must comply with ADA and Section 508, accessibility can go beyond the law to embrace critical values and beliefs about diversity and social justice.

6. Cultivate a supportive rather than punitive approach to accessibility improvement. Avoid threats to police or take down digital content that does not yet meet all accessibility standards. Using legal pressures may be an incentive to secure funding and resources for accessibility, but it does not enhance faculty buy-in, morale, or commitment. Rather than using the terminology of compliance, promote ongoing progress that demonstrates a commitment to continual improvement.

7. Acknowledge that conflicts stem in part from growing pains in law and industry. Legislation, interpretation of the law, and practices continue to emerge and change. Over time, vendors will develop products that comply with the laws and are more effective and efficient. Educational technology will likely improve its ability to interpret image-based media to screen readers without faculty involvement. In the meantime, effective implementation typically takes longer than passing a law. Accepting this reality can help prioritize institutional efforts and determine how vendors might help with accessibility efforts.

8. Accept that change takes time. Transformation of a culture and practice takes time. Institutions and leaders must not only learn about these issues but also find resources, train faculty and staff, and implement the practices.

9. Be mindful of limits on faculty time, knowledge, skills, and resources. Make training and resources easily available for faculty and staff, including resources offered through CAST, the UDL Center, and EDUCAUSE. Also, it's important to simplify guidelines and resources, as the actual standards themselves can be overwhelming. To support progress, provide training, consultations, learning communities, practice, and ongoing conversations.

10. Identify champions and resistors. Listen to and engage with both supporters and detractors of these changes. The champions, much like early technology adopters, can serve as mentors and role models for others. It is equally important to listen to resistors and develop a plan to address their concerns and offer support for their challenges.

Faculty Recommendations

1. Seek out training and resources to learn about UDL and accessibility. Reviewing web standards can be overwhelming, but if your own institution does not have UDL and accessibility resources, focus on those from other colleges and universities. First, focus on simple yet essential accessibility features such as text formatting, the use of color, descriptive web links, and heading styles. Next, gain an understanding of standards for text alternatives to image- and audio-based material, including video captions and image and table descriptions.

2. Focus on a social justice model to enhance student success for diverse learners. Is your course inclusive for students of varying abilities and different learning and life needs? Remove any barriers to your content so that your students can focus on learning.

3. Join a learning community. Get involved in a cohort or learning community that lets you share ideas and resources.

4. Start slowly. Rather than updating all of your old course materials, begin by setting a goal to embed accessibility and UDL into newer versions of digital work.

5. Prioritize-and know your limitations. Begin with simple changes that you feel comfortable with and build from there.

6. Collaborate to support students who need individual accommodations. If you have a student who is blind, deaf, or has limited mobility, work with Disability Support Services to translate course materials, design alternative and equivalent assessments, and ensure that the environment is conducive to the student's learning. Even simple, proactive measures-such as offering early syllabus access and textbook orders-can have a significant positive impact on this accommodation process.

7. Use available accessibility tools. Find creative and resourceful solutions, such as using free and low-cost programs or applications and providing course materials in alternative formats (a UDL approach).

8. Identify your current UDL and accessibility practices. Focus on what you are already doing, as some effective teaching practices may already embrace UDL principles. Also, it can be helpful to reflect on how accessibility standards could improve your UDL strategies.

9. Provide content in multiple formats. Rather than remove visual forms of representation from your course content, add additional formats or alt text when possible.

10. Use free captioning options. If you do not have access to lecture captioning services, try using YouTube or another free service, and then review the recording to correct mistakes.

Creating a Cultural Shift

To make an initiative last beyond any one societal movement, political era, or legal decision, a cultural shift is required. To get there in this case, institutions must focus on student success initiatives that promote both UDL and accessibility-such as a commitment to captioning most instructional videos, which helps all students. Such initiatives can guide our institutions toward making accessibility "the way we do business" rather than simply being a set of policies that we try to keep up with.

Further, because change initiatives require broad involvement, it is crucial to consider how our institutional recommendations might work in your own corner of academia and then use the second set of recommendations to bring faculty into the accessibility effort.

Every meaningful relationship requires communication, time, and effort to ensure that it stays strong and vital, and every partnership faces challenges and conflicts. However, if it is something of value and importance-such as the commitment to support inclusivity and social justice through UDL and digital accessibility-working through these challenges and conflicts is worth the effort.

Notes

1. Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, National Center on Universal Design for Learning, 2018; Susan Joan Courey, Phyllis Tappe, Jody Siker, and Pam LePage, "Improved Lesson Planning with Universal Design for Learning (UDL)," Teacher Education and Special Education 36, no. 1 (2012), 7-27; Heather W. Hackman, "Broadening the Pathway to Academic Success: The Critical Intersections of Social Justice Education, Critical Multicultural Education, and Universal Instructional Design," in Pedagogy and Student Services for Institutional Transformation: Implementing Universal Design in Higher Education, Jeanne L. Higbee and Emily Goff, eds. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008); and Kavita Venkatesh, "Universal Design for Learning as a Framework for Social Justice: A Multicase Analysis of Undergraduate Preservice Teachers" (PhD diss., Boston College, 2015). ↩

2. Because some UDL and digital accessibility standards are the same, implementing UDL guidelines could reduce the need for separate accessibility-related accommodations. The WCAG success criteria often require "alternative formats" in order for people with impairments to have multiple ways to consume content if one format doesn't work for them (an example is text alternatives, such as captions or transcripts, for video content). Similarly, Checkpoint 1 for the UDL guideline of "multiple means of representation" calls for providing "options for perception." ↩

3. Dave Edyburn, "Harnessing the Potential of Technology to Support the Academic Success of Diverse Students," New Horizons for Higher Education 2011, no. 154 (Summer 2011), 37-44; and Thomas J. Tobin, "Increase Online Student Retention with Universal Design for Learning," Quarterly Review of Distance Education 15, no. 3 (2014), 13-24. ↩

4. Philip Guo, "Optimal Video Length for Student Engagement," edX Blog, November 13, 2013. ↩

5. A.W. (Tony) Bates, "Pedagogical Roles for Video in Online Learning," blog, March 10, 2012; and Elisabeth Leonard, Great Expectations: Students and Video in Higher Education (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2015). ↩

6. The World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 offer standard guidelines used to interpret compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. For guidelines specific to video, see "Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)," Level AA, World Wide Web Consortium. ↩

7. Edyburn, "Harnessing the Potential of Technology"; Anne Meyer, David Rose, and David Gordon, Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice (Boston: CAST Professional Publishing, 2014); and Tobin, "Increase Online Student Retention." ↩

8. The number of people who have disabling visual, hearing, or mobility impairments is difficult to calculate because definitions of "disabling" vary. However, the National Federation of the Blind estimates that 2.5 percent of people have a profound visual impairment, while the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders estimates that, of US adults, 2.5-8.5 percent have "disabling hearing loss." ↩

9. Eliza Bobek and Barbara Tversky. "Creating Visual Explanations Improves Learning," Cognitive Research 1, no. 1, (2016), 27; and Ghulam Shabiralyani, Khuram Shahzad Hasan, Naqvi Hamad, and Nadeem Iqbal, "Impact of Visual Aids in Enhancing the Learning Process Case Research: District Dera Ghazi Khan," Journal of Education and Practice 6, no. 19 (2015), 226-233. ↩

10. Among these tools are Accessify's Table Builder and Art Beyond Sight. ↩

Judith Ableser is Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Oakland University.
Christina Moore is Virtual Faculty Developer in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Oakland University.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Universal Design for Learning and Digital Accessibility: Compatible Partners or a Conflicted Marriage?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
UDL and digital accessibility's perceived tensions can be reduced when institutions create and follow an implementation plan. Universal design for learning (UDL) and digital accessibility both seek to increase learning access and reduce barriers for students. As such, their primary goals are compatible and are widely acknowledged as crucial to ensuring equity in education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
April 29, 2019

In today's competitive world higher education is a necessity as it increases the chances of finding gainful employment. It is also a means to gaining independence, feeling confident and empowered. However, people with disabilities in India and in many parts of the world face barriers when it comes to higher education. Not many are even encouraged to think about pursuing this.

Recognizing this, the Supreme Court in 2017 directed government institutions of higher education and other aided institutions to comply with the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which provides for reservation of not less than 5% for people with benchmark disabilities.

However, barring some exceptions like Ashoka University, Anna University and more recently Satyabama Institute of Science and Technology, not many higher institutes of learning in India have shown a commitment towards inclusion. Most of these institutes work in isolation but to make it well entrenched, a network is needed to create awareness and build an eco-system. Something akin to the role played by Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) in the United States.

Towards enabling this worldwide, AHEAD is spearheading a global network called Global University Disability & Inclusion Network (GUDIN), which aims to serve as a point of connection and communication between people and organizations around the world working in the space of inclusion in higher education.

Higher Education is one key pathway to employment as we know. We also know that increasing access to higher education increases eligibility for employment. Networks around the world are seeking to created environments where disabled youth have an equal opportunity to succeed and pursue employment as an outcome. Until now, there has not been a central organization designated to provide this connection; the GUDIN seeks to fill that void. - Stephan J Smith, Executive Director, AHEAD

Mission statement

The aim of GUDIN is:

Sharing best practices on inclusion of students, faculty, staff and administrators with disabilities in higher education settings around the world.

Initiating or promoting research on inclusion and accessibility related topics.

Facilitating exchanges, meetings and interactions between members.

Participating in data collection efforts and monitoring of the impact of the network.

Working with employers and other stakeholders to help students develop skills that will lead to success in the labor market after graduation.

The overall goal, adds Smith, is to increase equitable opportunities for disabled people when it comes to participating in higher (tertiary) education.

Among the organizations associated with GUDIN is v-shesh, the impact enterprise that prepares job seekers with opportunities and organizations with disability inclusion.

"We need to make sure that disabled people enter universities and graduate", says P Rajashekharan, Co-founder, V-shesh, who was among the key speakers at GUDIN's Paris launch. "A lot of effort needed on the part of universities in India to demonstrate their commitment towards inclusion and we need to focus on how to get disabled students into these universities. We want to drive this in India and this kind of network will help push that further."

The presence of such a network could also perhaps help direct much needed focus to filling the gaps in schooling when it comes to students with disabilities. And there are many, as Reena Gupta, Director, Office of Learning Support, Ashoka University points out.

"Students often tell us they don't have the academic rigor to take up the curriculum at Ashoka University, so we believe a lot of work needs to be done at the high school level. For instance, I know of a visually impaired student in class 9 who want to study math but is not being encouraged to by his school. That's the larger fight we have to take up so that these students are not stopped from taking up subjects of their choice. If we don't, by the time they are in class 11, they are left with subjects that don't help in building careers, which is sad."

In India, there has a rise in organizations coming together to create forums like GUDIN. Ashoka University, for instance, is collaborating with many Indian Institutes of Technologies to create an organization that will promote inclusion in higher education. Hopefully this put some focus into ensuring a level-playing field for people with disabilities in education and employment.

.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Global network brings together key stakeholders to address gaps faced by disabled youth in higher education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
April 29, 2019 In today's competitive world higher education is a necessity as it increases the chances of finding gainful employment. It is also a means to gaining independence, feeling confident and empowered. However, people with disabilities in India and in many parts of the world face barriers when it comes to higher education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hello, I'm Christian Young from Michigan and I'll be contributing a news story for The Daily Moth.

About three weeks ago, Danny McDougall who's a hearing interpreter and is the chairperson of the Sign Language Studies department at Madonna University, posted a tweet that went viral. He had a presentation where he needed to be assigned an ASL interpreter. When they were unable to find one, Danny went ahead with the presentation but using only ASL.

I interviewed him along with two deaf assistant ASL professors about their experience during the presentation.

DANNY MCDOUGALL: There were three faculty giving presentations and I was the third one of the bunch. What happened was that one week before the presentation, I accepted the invitation to present. The presentation was focused on my experience in theatre as a shadow interpreter. I'd been researching about the topic for five years. That was the topic of the presentation. As I was planning out my presentation, I started to wonder if there would be an interpreter there. I contacted the event organizer who didn't think I needed an interpreter. I already knew that deaf people would come to the presentation. They contacted the interpreter agency three days prior to the presentation trying to find someone who would interpret for the whole presentation. Our interpreter office tried to find one. The event organizer tried to find one. I tried to find an interpreter with no luck.

I decided on maybe backing out, but it was last minute so I decided not to do that because it's important to show the Deaf's stories and show my research. I decided to proceed by using ASL. Here in academics, they tend to emphasize using predominantly English but why not turn the tables? Why not make ASL the priority?

[Tweet by @TerpTheatre: "Event Organizer:

We're sorry, there won't be interpreters at the event where you are presenting about Deaf things, sign language, and interpreting.

Me: No problem, I'll present in ASL without interpretation. Hearing people will have to get by.

EO: Ummm ..."]

JENNIFER BERRIGAN: It feels good. I could see the reaction of the people in the audience and their body behavior. With hearing presenters, hearing people would just sit back and relax. Danny told everyone that there would be no interpreter provided and that he would use only ASL for the deaf people in attendance. He explained that it was hearing people's turn to experience what deaf people endure using his PowerPoint slides. Those hearing people started to really paying attention as you could see from their body language. It was their turn to figure out what was happening. The PowerPoint slides Danny was using was more focused on visuals with brief texts included. You could see these hearing people taking advantage of every visual information they could get.

It was nice how we finally switched roles where they experienced what we experience every day.

BRETAGNE FREEL WHITFORD: Having that just happened was good for them and it should happen because they need to understand the deaf experience and our perspectives. Most of them would just apologize whenever an interpreter wasn't provided, that maybe next time would be better or they would just go along with their plans.

So if they were able to see what deaf people often experience, it means they could become more "deaf friendly".

CHRISTIAN: Wow, you really turned the tables. I wonder if what would you do if an ASL interpreter wasn't provided: postpone or go ahead with your event?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hearing interpreter turns tables on Madonna University audience

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hello, I'm Christian Young from Michigan and I'll be contributing a news story for The Daily Moth. About three weeks ago, Danny McDougall who's a hearing interpreter and is the chairperson of the Sign Language Studies department at Madonna University, posted a tweet that went viral. He had a presen

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
0

0

In my last post in the Digital Accessibility Maturity Model (DAMM) Series I shared a brief introduction to each of the ten core DAMM dimensions. In this post I'll define each of the 5 levels of maturity that a dimension can be rated at.

DAMM Maturity Levels

Capability Maturity Models were used as the basis for establishing the five Digital Accessibility Maturity Model levels. These have then been extended for sake of clarity in this model, which only addresses digital accessibility and supporting processes. The levels define progress of process maturity moving from level one (a lack of defined process) to level five (a continuously improving process). Each of the ten core dimensions are measured against the following levels based on aspects and artifacts that are defined for that dimension:

Level 1 - Initial

Accessibility processes at this level are generally undocumented, and may be in a state of dynamic change. Processes, if they exist, are ad-hoc, uncontrolled, and reactive, driven by users or events. This results in a a chaotic and inconsistent accessibility environment.

Level 2 - Managed

This level contains sets of defined and documented standard processes established and subject to some degree of improvement over time. These standard accessibility processes are used to establish consistency of process performance across the organization. Primary validation at this level occurs by examining accessibility artifacts, and ensuring that these artifacts are well-defined and deployed across the organization.

Level 3 - Defined

Accessibility processes at this level are repeatable, possibly with consistent results. Process discipline is unlikely to be rigorous, but where it exists it may help to ensure that existing processes are maintained during times of stress. Primary validation at this level occurs by reviewing operational conformance with the process. This level can only be achieved with demonstrable repeated process operationalization. Unless operational conformance can be substantiated, a process will only be considered to have met the Level 2 - Managed requirements.

Level 4 - Quantitatively Managed

Management can effectively control accessibility processes at this level using process metrics. In particular at the Quantitatively Managed level, management should be able to identify methods of adjusting and adapting accessibility processes to customize for particular projects without measurable losses of quality or deviations from specifications. This level can only be achieved with demonstrable measurement and analysis of the outcomes of each accessibility process and the ability to control the organization to respond to those measurements. When management adapts or adopts a process, quality measurement levels cannot be negatively impacted, and measurement levels most retain the ability to accurately reflect the actual accessibility of produced systems and documents.

Level 5 - Optimizing

Accessibility processes at this level focus on continually improving process performance through both incremental and innovative technological changes/improvements. This level is validated by reviewing the use of metrics, feedback loops and process ownership to constantly update and extend processes. As with all levels above Level 2, the Optimizing level can only be validated with operational demonstration of ongoing process improvement.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Digital Accessibility Maturity Model - Maturity Levels - Level Access

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
0 0 In my last post in the Digital Accessibility Maturity Model (DAMM) Series I shared a brief introduction to each of the ten core DAMM dimensions. In this post I'll define each of the 5 levels of maturity that a dimension can be rated at.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Empowering lives through non-visual access to technology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Play/Pause Video

We've created the ultimate software solution to make your digital properties fully accessible. We evaluate for digital accessibility compliance, deliver accessibility statements, and provide remediation services - helping you eliminate barriers and project a disability-friendly image.

The Most Comprehensive Digital
Accessibility Solution

with essential Accessibility you can

Remain Compliant

Meet web accessibility standards and regulations as well as the WCAG 2.0 technical requirements.

Enhance Your Digital Customer Experience

Make it easy for people with disabilities to engage with you digitally.

Project a Disability Friendly Brand Presence

Connect with the largest minority in the world. More than half of consumers with purchasing power are touched by disability.

Join the world's leading brands

What your peers are saying

Discover how you can give people with disabilities an inclusive digital experience

Request a personalized demo, and one of our experts will answer all of your accessibility questions.

Phone:(416) 364-2501

Toll Free:1 (866) 333-3909

Fax:(416) 466-4452

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
eSSENTIAL Accessibility: A Web Accessibility Solution

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Play/Pause Video We've created the ultimate software solution to make your digital properties fully accessible. We evaluate for digital accessibility compliance, deliver accessibility statements, and provide remediation services - helping you eliminate barriers and project a disability-friendly image.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
National Center for College Students with Disabilities (NCCSD)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Home page of the National Center for College Students with Disabilities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
in How People with Disabilities Use the Web

The following stories of people with disabilities using the Web highlight the effect of accessibility barriers and the broader benefits of accessible websites and web tools.

Note: The following scenarios are not real people. They do not address every kind of disability.

Page Contents

Lee, online shopper with color blindness

Lee is colorblind and encounters barriers when shopping online. He has one of the most common visual disabilities that affect men: red and green color blindness. Lee frequently shops online and sometimes encounters problems on websites and with apps where the color contrast of text and images is not adequate and where color alone is used to indicate required fields and sale prices. When red and green color combinations are used, Lee cannot distinguish between the two, since both look brown to him. It is also very difficult for him to make product choices when color swatches are not labeled with the name of the color.

Lee has better experiences with online content and apps that use adequate contrast and allow him to adjust contrast settings in his browser. He is also better able to recognize when information is required when asterisks are used. Lee can more easily identify the products he would like to purchase, especially clothing, when the color label names are included in the selection options rather than color swatches alone.

For more information on implementing techniques that remove barriers for Lee, see the following resources:

Alex, reporter with repetitive stress injury

Alex has worked as a reporter for more than 20 years and has developed a repetitive strain injury that makes it painful to use a mouse and to type for extended periods of time.

Though it took considerable research, time, and commitment to learn, he is able to work with less pain using the following modifications to his work environment:

use of an ergonomic keyboard

use of keyboard commands without a mouse

voice recognition software on his computer and mobile phone

assistive touch on his mobile phone

Alex encounters problems when websites and other online content cannot be navigated by keyboard commands alone. He frequently encounters web forms that do not have keyboard equivalents. Sometimes it is also difficult to skip content and navigate to sections on a webpage without using many keyboard commands, which is very tiring and limits the time he can spend working comfortably. He also recently began to explore the use of assistive touch on his mobile phone which also helps him use fewer gestures and work for longer periods of time. As a temporary fix, Alex's employer has built several custom work arounds that provide keyboard support for his use of the company's internal Content Management System with the intention to implement improved keyboard support to benefit all users on the next release of the software.

For more information on implementing techniques that remove barriers for Alex, see the following resources:

Martine, online student who is hard of hearing

Martine is 62 years old and has been hard of hearing since birth. She can hear some sounds, but not enough to understand speech. As a child she learned sign language and during her early school years learned written language. She is currently a student again, taking online college courses.

The university she attends provides sign language interpreters and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) writers who provide written verbatim text interpreting of spoken language for her courses. However, Martine has encountered barriers when video and other media content are not captioned. The university became aware of the need and requirement to provide captioned media and transcripts for audio content and is now working with a captioning provider to caption all content posted on university websites, including all course content in learning management systems. In addition to providing access to the content for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, the university has found that the use of captions and transcripts has added benefits. Transcripts facilitate easier production of subtitles in a number of languages and also improve the indexing of online content. Improved indexing provides improved search engine optimization and improved discoverability of the university's online content. The university follows WCAG guidelines in providing the captioned content.

For more information on implementing techniques that remove barriers for Martine, see the following resources:

Ilya, senior staff member who is blind

Ilya is blind. She is the chief accountant at an insurance company that uses web-based documents and forms over a corporate intranet and like many other blind computer users, she does not read Braille.

Ilya uses a screen reader and mobile phone to access the web. Both her screen reader and her mobile phone accessibility features provide her with information regarding the device's operating system, applications, and text content in a speech output form.

When accessing web content, the screen reader indicates aloud the structural information on a webpage such as headings, column and row headers in tables, list items, links, form controls, and more that enable her to better navigate the page, complete and submit forms, and access information in an effective manner. She is able to listen to and understand speech output at a very high speed. Ilya encounters problems when websites are not properly coded and do not include alt text descriptions on images. These sites are unnavigable and require large amounts of time to read text from the top of the page to the bottom without navigation cues. Occasionally she finds herself trapped in areas on a webpage unable to move to another area and must abandon the page altogether.

As a senior member of her organization, Ilya provides training to employees in online environments through the use of video conferencing applications, document and slide sharing applications as well as chat rooms. Ilya and her staff evaluated a number of training tools before finding an effective application with accessibility features that meet the needs of a diverse staff with diverse abilities.

For more information on implementing techniques that remove barriers for Ilya, see the following resources:

Preety, middle school student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia

Preety is a middle school student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with dyslexia. Although she has substantial difficulty reading, she particularly enjoys her literature class.

Preety's school recently started using online digital textbooks. Preety was initially worried about using this new format, but with the use of text-to-speech software that highlights the text on the screen as it reads it aloud, she has found that she can focus on the content more easily instead of struggling over every word. The text-to-speech software is also helpful with other online text; however, Preety's experience with websites varies greatly from one site to another. Some sites use graphics and illustrations in a way that helps her to focus on the sections and content that she would like to read, while other sites have a lot of advertisements and moving content that is very distracting. She also experiences problems with online content when the navigation is not clearly evident. She finds websites and apps that provide multiple means of navigation such as a navigation bar, search box, bread-crumb trails, and a sitemap to be much easier to use.

Preety's school is also using a new online library catalog with improved accessibility. Before the new catalog was implemented Preety had to physically visit the library to receive assistance in searching and locating material. Now she can search the catalog on her own using her mobile phone, tablet, or laptop. Preety still struggles with spelling but has found that search functionality that suggest alternative spellings and provide error corrections are very helpful and greatly improve her experience.

For more information on implementing techniques that remove barriers for Preety, see the following resources:

Yun, retiree with low vision, hand tremor, and mild short-term memory loss

Yun is an 85 year-old with reduced vision, hand-tremor, and mild memory loss; common age-related impairments for someone his age. Yun regularly browses the web reading news sites. In recent years he also started using social media to stay in touch with his family and friends. He maintains his own blog where he posts articles on art history and other topics he enjoys.

Like many older individuals, Yun has difficulty reading small text and clicking on small links and form elements. His daughter showed him how to enlarge text in the web browser, which works well on many websites. He encounters problems when text does not reflow when it is enlarged and he is forced to scroll back and forth to read the enlarged content, which means he easily loses track of his place. He also has problems with CAPTCHA images found on many social media sites. The text is so distorted, even when he enlarges it, that he often cannot accurately enter the text. He has a better experience on sites that use alternative CAPTCHA options, unfortunately only a small number currently do.

Yun's daughter gave him a special mouse that is easier to control with his hand tremors. He also uses a web browser that saves thumbnail images of his frequently visited sites, which makes it easier for him to keep track of the sites he goes to most often.

For more information on implementing techniques that remove barriers for Yun, see the following resources:

Luis, supermarket assistant with Down syndrome

Luis has Down syndrome and has difficulty with abstract concepts, reading, and math calculations.

Luis works at a market, bagging groceries for customers. Typically he buys his groceries at the same market where he works, but he is sometimes confused by the large number of product choices and sometimes has problems finding his favorite items when the store layout is changed.

Recently, a friend showed him an app for online grocery purchases that has consistent, easy-to-use navigation with clear and direct instructions. Luis is able to add the list of his most frequently purchased items into the app and save it for additional purchases. He also likes the search functionality that makes suggestions for mistyped or misspelled words. The app also keeps a running total of the items in his virtual shopping cart which helps him keep up with how much he is spending.

His friend also showed him several accessibility features in his mobile phone that he finds very helpful including word prediction which provides a selection of possible word choices based on the first characters he enters and the text-to-speech functionality which allows him to listen to reviews posted by other users on the grocery app. With the use of these tools, Luis has begun posting his own reviews of items he has purchased.

Luis now uses the shopping app a couple of times a month for frequently purchased items and buys a few fresh items regularly from the store where he works.

For more information on implementing techniques that remove barriers for Luis, see the following resources:

Kaseem, teenager who is deaf and blind

Kaseem is a teenager who is deaf and recently became legally blind too, which means she can see only small portions of a screen and read text when it is significantly enlarged.

Kaseem uses:

screen magnification software to enlarge the text on websites to a suitable font size;

screen reader software that displays text on a refreshable Braille device;

large computer screen with high resolution and high luminosity (brightness).

Kaseem's portable electronic Braille notetaker includes a calendar, e-mail, web browsing, and note-taking functionality. Her mobile device includes GPS which helps her orient herself and navigate around the city. Kaseem uses the public transportation online site to plan her trips and view bus schedules, but encounters problems when she enlarges the text and it does not reflow or wrap properly, making the maps very difficult to use. She has a better experience viewing the train schedules that are properly marked up and allow text reflow. Kaseem found the web team contact information listed at the public transportation website and sent a message to the team informing them of the problems she encountered using their site. She also sent them the link to the train website and described how that site works better for her. She recently received an email message thanking her for her information and informing her that the public transportation web team plans to implement accessibility improvements in the launch of their new website.

Please share your ideas, suggestions, or comments via e-mail to the publicly-archived list wai-eo-editors@w3.org or via GitHub.

For more information on implementing techniques that remove barriers for Kaseem, see the following resources:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Personas of people with disabilities using the Web that highlight the effect of accessibility barriers and the broader benefits of accessible websites and web tools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Academic Minute | Mental Health of Latinx Youth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Latinx youth are a growing population that face tough challenges. In today's Academic Minute, part of Swarthmore College Week, Edwin Mayorga explores helping this group now and in the future. Mayorga is an assistant professor of educational studies at Swarthmore. A transcript of this podcast can be found here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Americans With Disabilities Act Multiple Perspectives On Access, Inclusion, & Disability Conference | ADA Coordinator's Office

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As a modern land grant university, an important part of Ohio State University's mission is outreach and engagement, serving the community through a variety of activities. During the tenth anniversary year of the Americans With Disabilities Act the Multiple Perspectives On Access, Inclusion And Disability conference was created to help fulfill this mission.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
AEM: Quality Indicators for the Provision of Accessible Educational Materials and Technologies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In general, "timely manner" means that learners who require accessible materials and technologies receive them at the same time that non-disabled peers receive materials and technologies. Appropriate consideration is given to factors that could delay timely delivery. Agencies have clearly defined policies and procedures to identify and address sources of delay.

# data[].attributes.headline
Digital Accessibility Law and Regulation: Current Status and What to Do About It

# data[].attributes.subject
Digital Accessibility Law and Regulation: Current Status and What to Do About It

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
To help members navigate the often confusing compliance environment for digital accessibility, EDUCAUSE asked a legal expert to review last year's major developments, explain what they mean, and identify key steps that institutions should consider in response.

Colleges and universities have often found the legal and regulatory environment for web and IT (or digital) accessibility confusing. Developments in this space-or to some extent, the lack of such developments-over the course of 2018 did little to clarify the situation. With that in mind, the EDUCAUSE Policy Office asked Teresa Jakubowski, a legal expert in the field, to provide an overview of what happened in digital accessibility law and regulation last year, what it means, and what steps institutions should consider as a result. Key takeaways include the following:

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) essentially reconfirmed its intention to avoid issuing digital accessibility regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

DOJ's unwillingness to set regulatory standards for digital accessibility has not changed its long-standing position, however, that the ADA covers digital accessibility.

In the absence of regulatory standards, various federal courts are responding to digital accessibility lawsuits in different and sometimes contradictory ways. They also continue to leave key questions unanswered-questions that one might expect regulations to cover, such as:

Since digital technologies, content, and services are constantly evolving, what is a reasonable benchmark for accessibility compliance in an organization's digital environment at any given time?

What alternate ways of achieving accessibility in a particular digital context are acceptable and under what conditions, compared to making a site, resource, or service directly accessible?

Is it necessary for an organization to make all digital content accessible, or may it make some types (e.g., archived or legacy documents) accessible on request?

DOJ's counterpart for accessibility compliance in the education space, the US Department of Education (ED) Office of Civil Rights (OCR), struggled with compliance complaints against institutions related to the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which establishes accessibility requirements for any educational institution receiving federal funds.

ED OCR at first changed its case-processing manual to eliminate mass complaint filings from a single source on the grounds that they were redundant and unduly burdensome. OCR later reversed itself in the face of a lawsuit and reinstated both the handling of mass filings and the review of the complaints it had previously dismissed.

ED OCR still lacks the resources to address mass filings in a timely manner, though, so it remains unclear whether this procedural reversal will have broad, substantive impact.

The lack of both regulatory standards and a clear legal consensus in some areas continues to hamper compliance, but relative consistency on some points provides helpful markers.

Given that most higher education institutions are public entities and/or receive federal funds, they face digital accessibility requirements under the ADA and/or Section 504.

Prior legal and regulatory settlements identify compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level AA (WCAG 2.0 AA) as providing a generally acceptable level of web accessibility.

There hasn't been enough time since the release of WCAG 2.1 for it to supplant 2.0 as the reference in relevant agreements, but institutions can anticipate that will happen moving forward and should factor it into their planning and decision-making.

Agreements and judgments have sometimes included standards for specific areas (e.g., the Web Accessibility Initiative's Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite for web content), and thus institutions should consider how those might apply to current operations or futures plans in addition to general standards like WCAG.

Implementing voluntary standards can establish an effective baseline for compliance, but it doesn't guarantee compliance at all times and in all ways; likewise, conformance to a certain standard or standards may not be necessary in all instances to ensure compliance-context matters, and institutions have to be prepared to assess and address specific issues within a given context to meet legal requirements.

With all of these factors in mind, Jakubowski identified some key steps institutions might take to mitigate risk and set themselves on a path for achieving accessibility success:

Educate senior leadership with respect to not only the legal issues but also the ongoing process that will be required to achieve and ensure compliance.

Appoint an accessibility coordinator or, alternatively, designate a responsible individual (or team) to oversee compliance in the digital realm.

Adopt a written policy regarding the accessibility of the institution's digital environment, including procurement.

Develop a compliance plan; this involves evaluating the institution's digital environment, setting a prioritized timetable for remediating inaccessible technology or content, and establishing a process for maintaining accessibility over time.

Communicate to campus stakeholders about the availability of accessibility resources, how they can get assistance with those resources if needed, and how they can offer feedback.

Provide job-appropriate training to faculty and staff.

EDUCAUSE Library resources on accessibility and web accessibility may serve as effective starting points for pursuing these steps or enhancing efforts already under way. EDUCAUSE also has a vibrant IT Accessibility Community Group that can help identify best practices, effective models, and additional resources. Likewise, members such as the California State University system, the University of Washington, and the University of Illinois provide a wide array of information and resources that other institutions may find helpful in making progress. And making progress on digital accessibility remains a must, given not just the needs of students, faculty, and staff but also the uncertain legal and regulatory environment that institutions face.

Jarret Cummings is Senior Advisor for Policy and Government Relations at EDUCAUSE.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
digital accessibility law and regulation: current status and what to do about it

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Digital Accessibility Law and Regulation: Current Status and What to Do About It

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To help members navigate the often confusing compliance environment for digital accessibility, EDUCAUSE asked a legal expert to review last year's major developments, explain what they mean, and identify key steps that institutions should consider in response. Colleges and universities have often found the legal and regulatory environment for web and IT (or digital) accessibility confusing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Accessibility Law

What Is ADA Title II?

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act is a regulation which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by public entities - state or local government and any of their departments, agencies, or other instrumentalities. The Federal Government is not considered a public entity and is covered under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Learn more about The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Learn more about the Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Regulations

What is the "508 Refresh"?

On January 18, 2017 the Access Board issued a final rule that updates accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) in the federal sector covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The rule jointly updates and reorganizes the Section 508 standards in response to market trends and innovations, such as the convergence of technologies. The refresh also harmonizes these requirements with other guidelines and standards both in the U.S. and abroad, including standards issued by the European Commission and with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a globally recognized voluntary consensus standard for web content and ICT.

Specifically, the rule references WCAG 2.0 Level AA Success Criteria and applies them not only to websites, but also to electronic documents and software.

What part of the ADA applies to K-12 Schools?
Title II
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act is a regulation which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by public entities - state or local government and any of their departments, agencies, or other instrumentalities. Title II, requires comparable access for people with disabilities, by all state and local government programs, regardless of whether the programs get federal financial assistance or not.

The Federal Government is not considered a public entity and is covered under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Learn more about ADA Title II

What is the OCR?

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education that focuses on protecting the civil rights of all Americans. The mission of the OCR is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation, through vigorous enforcement of civil rights.

The OCR serves student populations facing discrimination and the advocates and institutions promoting systemic solutions to civil rights problems.
Learn more about the OCR

Regarding an OCR Complaint, what does this mean: "the person or organization filing the complaint need not be a victim"?

This means that an individual, group or organization can file an OCR complaint, whether or not they are a direct victim of the alleged discrimination.

Basically, if someone sees that a school doesn't have a wheelchair ramp, they can file an ORC complaint because a student in a wheelchair is being denied equal access to the school.

As it relates to digital accessibility, for example: if the school's websites, public or internal facing, are not digitally accessible, a person with or without a disability, can file an OCR complaint, citing that people with disabilities, because they are being denied equal access to information as a result of the failure of the school or school district, to provide equal access to information, are being discriminated against on the basis of their disability.

This means schools and school districts have exposure beyond the 15% - 20% of the population that has a disability; anyone can file a complaint against a school for their failure to provide equal access.

What does an OCR Complaint entail?

There are different requests made by the OCR when seeking to enforce civil rights laws. The following provides an overview of the steps required to conform to stipulations outlined in demand letters sent from the OCR or comply with settlement agreements established with the OCR.

1. Procure Accessibility Specialist

2. Provide Accessibility Support Resources for End-Users

3. Establish an Audit Priority Plan

4. Audit Existing Content and Functionality

5. Train Resources and Establish Policies and Procedures for New Content and Functionality

6. Formalize a Corrective Action Plan

7. Remediate Issues and Adhere to Corrective Action Plan Schedule

For this reason, AudioEye recommends a proactive approach to remediate existing sites to a) do the right thing by granting equal access to the widest audience possible, b) comply with ADA-related digital accessibility requirements, resulting in c) risk mitigation.

What is the cost of addressing an OCR Complaint?

Addressing, resolving and/or complying with a settlement agreement is burdensome and expensive. Failing to comply with ADA-related requirements resulting in an OCR complaint can cost four or five times more than the cost of remediating an existing site.

In 2015, the Seattle Public Schools received an OCR complaint which ended in a lawsuit that culminated in a landmark settlement agreement for which costs were estimated to exceed $800,000.

Since then, there have been hundreds of OCR complaints filed against K-12 schools and institutions of higher education, including: Harvard, MIT, Maricopa Community Colleges, Arizona State University, NYU and many, many more.

Digital Accessibility

What is a disability?

The following excerpt is taken directly from the ADA National Network: Information, guidance, and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act

It is important to remember that in the context of the ADA, "disability" is a legal term rather than a medical one. Because it has a legal definition, the ADA's definition of disability is different from how disability is defined under some other laws.

The ADA defines a person with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. This includes people who have a record of such an impairment, even if they do not currently have a disability. It also includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability. The ADA also makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person based on that person's association with a person with a disability.

It is important to note that the World Health Organization, in 2016, has estimated between 15% - 20% of the world's population has some level of disability. That equates to between 1 billion and 1.4 billion people worldwide.

Common misconceptions about accessibility
People who are blind don't use the Internet.
False. The only difference between people who are sighted and those who are blind is their vision. People who are blind participate in the world in every way like everyone else - they simply require accommodations for equal access. Braille, audio cues and other modifications allow people who are blind to participate equally. The Internet is no different; they use screen readers, keyboards and other assistive technology to access information. Unfortunately, if not coded for accessibility, these screen readers don't work. It is this type of exclusion that can lead to legal action.
People with disabilities comprise a very small portion of the population.
False. According to the World Health Organization, between 15% - 20% of the world's population are disabled. It is critical that we widen our view of what "disability" means. The range of disabilities are more than blind, deaf or immobile - people with color blindness, low vision, dyslexia, those who suffer from seizures and a range of cognitive disabilities impact the ability of individuals to consume digital content.
To achieve digital accessibility, you need to redesign your website.
False! AudioEye is solving technology issues with technology, remediating issues of accessibility on existing websites without altering the form or function of a site and helping companies mitigate risk. From Day 1 the AudioEye technology identifies and fixes the most common issues of accessibility -all behind the scenes. AudioEye goes beyond accessibility to enhance usability for all site visitors, but especially aging populations with low vision, the nearly 1 in 10 people with dyslexia, and anyone who better understands information by listening rather than reading - the Ally Toolbar which is part of the AudioEye Ally Managed Services - addresses these and a range of needs.

What is Universal Design?

Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.

For example: the cut in a curb - this allows wheelchairs to access sidewalks from parking spaces, but it also allows strollers to be easily pushed on to the sidewalk, or shopping carts to be pushed off a sidewalk. A curb cut also allows someone with a walker or cane to more easily access a sidewalk.
Learn more about Universal Design

What does it take to be digitally accessible?

To be "accessible," a website, or any digital content, must be designed and/or coded with digital accessibility in mind. The generally accepted standard is the Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) 2.0. This guideline provides the path to making websites, PDFs and other digital media such as video, accessible to the range of AT.

About AudioEye

What is AudioEye, Inc.?

AudioEye is a technology company providing equal access to digital content. Through patented technology, subject matter expertise and proprietary processes, AudioEye identifies and resolves issues of accessibility on existing websites.

Our technology, team and services create the foundation for sustainable compliance with ADA-related digital accessibility requirements.

More importantly, AudioEye makes digital content more accessible and more usable for more people.

AudioEye leads with patented technology and proprietary processes that provide the ideal balance of automated and engineering-generated solutions to ensure websites are accessible for the widest audience possible.

AudioEye works in the background to continually monitor sites, identify issues of accessibility and resolve them immediately.

We don't simply identify issues and tell our clients what needs to be fixed. That would be the equivalent of going to the dentist and learning you have a broken tooth ... that's it. No fix, just the information.

What are the core values of the AudioEye company?

Our goal is to transform how the world experience digital content by providing every enterprise the technology needed to make their interfaces more usable. To achieve this, at our core are the following values:

People First: We believe that focusing on people first cultivates intellect, inspires innovation, and fosters success. Our passion for people builds a culture of trust and dedication that enriches lives.

Inclusive Design: We like to think big, and encourage our clients to do the same. We recognize human diversity as our greatest asset, and build solutions that are inclusive of the needs of all people, with a special emphasis on accessibility.

Inspired Problem-Solving: We celebrate fresh, agile thinking that opens doors to a world of possibilities. We encourage our team members to take risks, try new solutions and challenge the status quo - it's at the very core of everything we do.

Relentless Empathy: We make a deliberate effort to appreciate people. Every day we turn that insight into action...improving the user experience of digital products, the customer experience of our partners, and the work experience of our team.

Lasting Impact: Legacy is measured by outcomes that result from hard work, thoughtful application, and commitment to a cause. So, we are intentional about performance - overcoming short-term obstacles without ever losing sight of the future we seek to create.

Pervasive Leadership: We take risks and hoist our flag to lead the market towards a more usable digital world, and we will never cease in that effort. It is this commitment that will leave a lasting impact for our future generations, regardless of circumstance.

How can I contact AudioEye?

You can reach us by email at Info@audioeye.com or by calling our headquarters at 866.331.5324.

To request a Product Demonstration, visit: https://www.audioeye.com/free-accessibility-analysis/

To request a Free Accessibility Analysis, visit: https://www.audioeye.com/request-a-demo/

AudioEye Solutions

What products does AudioEye offer?

AudioEye offers a range of products and services from self-service to turnkey managed solutions. At the core of AudioEye, is the Digital Accessibility Platform (DAP), this powerful tool empowers auditors, designers, and developers to understand issues of accessibility and improve website infrastructure thorough the use of an innovative and easy-to-use interface.

The Ally Managed Service pairs our Digital Accessibility Platform with a team of subject matter experts, remediation engineers and manual testers to ensure a site is in conformance with ADA-related digital accessibility requirements. In addition, the Ally Manages Service includes the Ally Toolbar, which is cloud-based assistive technology that is embedded into our clients' websites to provide all users with an enhanced and customizable experience for better consumption of digital content.
Learn more about AudioEye solutions

What is Ally Managed Service?

Ally Managed Service, or Ally, provides a single-source for digital accessibility compliance, auditing and resolution. Through the Ally Managed Service and an ideal mix of leading-edge technology and service, AudioEye provides end-to-end digital accessibility compliance testing, resolution, validation and monitoring.

This turnkey solution simplifies the process for clients and partners with subject matter experts that decrease or eliminate the learning curve on digital accessibility, technology that provides unmatched speed-to-compliance, and a team of engineers and manual testers that ensure issues of accessibility are resolved.
Learn more about Ally Managed Services

What is the Ally Toolbar?

The AudioEye Web Personalization Tools, or Ally Toolbar, allows organizations to provide their site visitors with a fully customizable user experience that is tailored to their individual needs, regardless of their device type, language preference, or preferred method of access. This goes beyond accessibility to enhance usability and inclusivity for the largest audience possible.

Complying with Section 508 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is about fixing digital experiences for end-users leveraging their own assistive technology. While this addresses an important need, and should be the focus of any organization, a much larger demographic of users (many of whom do not self-identify - or report - themselves as having a disability or impairment) may benefit from the availability of free user-friendly tools that allow them to customize and optimize their digital experience.

The World Health Organization estimates that between 15% - 20% of the world's population is disabled. This means more than 1 billion people worldwide are impeded from equal access to digital content. The Ally Toolbar addresses the needs of people including those with low vision, dyslexia, color blindness, and a range of vision, auditory, mobility and cognitive disabilities.

How does the Ally Toolbar interact with Assistive Technology (AT)?

AT perceives the Ally Toolbar as an element of the website, which may be engaged or ignored.

Separate from the Ally Toolbar, AudioEye's Remediation Technology makes websites accessible. By its nature, an accessible site interacts seamlessly with AT allowing the user to fully engage and interact with the site, without barriers that may limit or impede full access.

AT is dependent on the specific needs of the user. For example, when a blind user accesses an accessible website using their screen reader, their AT will provide the content audibly and they will have full control over the user experience using their keyboard. As another example, if the person is low vision, their AT will magnify the site as long as the website has been made accessible.

If you are accessing an AudioEye-enabled website using AT, the website has been optimized (or is in the process of being optimized), to ensure full access and usability. In any case, an AT user can engage the Ally Toolbar through their AT, however, it would not be necessary.
Learn more about the benefits of engaging the Ally Toolbar

Does the Ally Toolbar replace a screen reader or other Assistive Technology (AT)?

No. The Ally Toolbar was designed for individuals that do not have access to their own AT, or that do not require AT for access, but may have impediments to the full access and/or consumption of digital content - such as dyslexia, learning disabilities, seizures, color-blindness, low vision or the range of cognitive, intellectual and/or mobility issues.

The Ally Toolbar allows all users to customize their experience and more fully consume digital content in the manner that is most effective for them.

What is the Digital Accessibility Platform (DAP)?

The Digital Accessibility Platform is a Software as a Service (SaaS), is an API-first technology which contains a full set of rich application programming interfaces that allow developers to integrate accessibility testing with their current, preferred testing tools and existing development processes.

The Digital Accessibility Platform offers end-to-end compliance auditing with the ability to spider, scan, and diagnose entire websites, single blocks of code, content delivered via API, and much more, all while offering flexible resources for proper identification and remediation of the detected issues.

DAP is aligned with Section 508, the Section 508 Refresh and WCAG 2.0 Level AA, meaning that evaluations are based on the most critical success criteria for public, private and federal agency compliance with respective laws, regulations and guidelines.

What are the steps to achieving and maintaining AudioEye Trusted Certification

Requirements fulfilled in order to achieve AudioEye Trusted Certification:

1. Errors identified and tracked within DAP are reduced to zero; any Errors outstanding are defined within the Source Remediation Report, a working document

2. Manual audit has been conducted, corresponding issues have been remediated, and said issues have been validated as fixed

3. The vast majority of Risks (if not all) have also been addressed; outstanding Risks that are not verified or not able to be remediated are included in the Source Remediation Report

4. Source Remediation Report delivered to Client (and maintained via DAP)

Requirements for maintaining AudioEye Trusted Certification:

1. Active AudioEye Agreement

2. Continuous testing from always-on monitoring service

3. Ad hoc hot fixing (if applicable): In the event that a large number of new Errors are identified, AudioEye will prioritize issues for Hot Fix deployments. Lower volume issue fluctuation is to be expected. In these cases, remediation and Source Remediation Reports are updated every 6 months, also coinciding with a twice-per-year manual audit.

4. Bi-annual manual audit and maintenance remediation deployment

5. Bi-annual source remediation reporting updates

6. Regular attendance to Quarterly Training presentations

7. Publication of conformance exceptions (if applicable): if conformance exceptions documented within the Source Remediation Report are not addressed in a commercially reasonable time period or if Client does not have any means of updating the source to address the conformance exceptions, maintaining AudioEye Trusted Certification may require the publication of the conformance exceptions via the AudioEye Trusted Statement.

Are there other marketing tactics you can use to connect your service with those it serves?

Companies can represent compliance by marketing their commitment to compliance for all who visit the site. This can be done through the addition of:

Partnering with AudioEye is a great way to show this commitment, to both customers and auditors. Our certification statement, which includes phrases like: "The AudioEye Certification seal represents a commitment to accessibility and inclusion. The certification process involves automatic and manual testing with the goal of meeting WCAG 2.0 Level AA Standards. By focusing on web accessibility best practices, this website has been optimized for use with 3rd party assistive technology".

When companies choose to make compliance apart of their bank, they want to highlight this pledge.

Compliance is also represented through usability - having a site that is accessible and usable means considering the use case of individuals with varying abilities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Accessibility Law What Is ADA Title II? Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act is a regulation which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by public entities - state or local government and any of their departments, agencies, or other instrumentalities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Legislación En Discapacidad

La normatividad en Colombia contempla una diversidad de leyes y decretos que estipulan la atención, protección, la inclusión, entre otras, de las personas que padecen diferentes tipos de discapacidad; o que definen lineamientos integrales de política para su atención. encontramos entre muchas , La Ley 1145 de 2007, por medio de la cual se organiza el Sistema Nacional de Discapacidad, la Convención sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad de Naciones Unidas, ratificada por Colombia mediante la Ley 1346 de 2009, la Ley 762 de 2002, en la cual se aprueba la "Convención Interamericana para la Eliminación de todas las Formas de Discriminación contra las Personas con Discapacidad", y más recientemente la Ley Estatutaria 1618 de 2013, por medio de la cual se establecen las disposiciones para garantizar el pleno ejercicio de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad, entre otras disposiciones legales, conforman el marco normativo en el cual se sustenta el manejo de la discapacidad en el país.

La Ley estatutaria 1618 de 2013, establece las disposiciones para garantizar el pleno ejercicio de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad. El objeto de esta ley es garantizar y asegurar el ejercicio efectivo de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad, mediante la adopción de medidas de inclusión, acción afirmativa y de ajustes razonables y eliminando toda forma de discriminación por razón de discapacidad.

Leer más Ley Estatutaria 1618 de 2013

¿Qué es la capacidad jurídica?

La capacidad jurídica es la aptitud de una persona para adoptar decisiones jurídicamente válidas, y entablar relaciones contractuales vinculantes. La capacidad jurídica convierte a una persona en sujeto de Derecho y titular de derechos y obligaciones. La capacidad jurídica es especialmente importante ya que afecta a todos los ámbitos vitales, desde la elección del domicilio, la decisión de contraer matrimonio o no y con quién, hasta la firma de un contrato de trabajo o la posibilidad de ejercer el derecho a voto. La CDPD hace referencia a la capacidad jurídica en su artículo 12, sobre "El igual reconocimiento como persona ante la Ley"

Las personas que se encuentran en alguna circunstancia de discapacidad tienen una protección constitucional reforzada, de conformidad con los artículos 13 y 47 de la Carta y a la luz de la Convención -entre otros instrumentos internacionales-, razón por la cual el Estado tiene el compromiso de adelantar acciones efectivas para promover el ejercicio pleno de sus derechos. SENTENCIAS EN DISCAPACIDAD

POLÍTICA PÚBLICA NACIONAL DE DISCAPACIDAD E INCLUSIÓN SOCIAL, contemplada en el documento Conpes 166 de 2013.

Leer mas. POLÍTICA PÚBLICA

La Corte Constitucional considera que ciertas expresiones utilizadas por el legislador para referirse a las personas en situación de discapacidad contienen alta carga discriminatoria.

Leer mas ..Sentencia C-458-15

Esta ley busca garantizar el acceso a las TICs, al conocimiento y al trabajo a las personas invidentes o con baja visión.

Leer mas..LEY 1680 NOV 2013

Ley 1752 de 2015 Por medio de la cual se modifica la Ley 1482 de 2011, para sancionar penalmente la discriminación contra las personas con discapacidad.

Leer mas. DISCRIMINACIÓN

LA DISCAPACIDAD Y SU ESTADO ACTUAL EN LA LEGISLACIÓN COLOMBIANA, Busca Conocer el estado actual de la legislación Colombiana frente a cinco ámbitos:

Leer mas. ESTADO ACTUAL

PRONUNCIAMIENTOS JURISPRUDENCIALES RELACIONADOS CON LAS PERSONAS CON DISCAPACIDAD

VICEMINISTERIO DE PROMOCIÓN DE LA JUSTICIA,Dirección de Justicia Formal y Jurisdiccional

Pronunciamientos de la Corte Constitucional, el Consejo de Estado, la Corte Suprema de Justicia y el Consejo Superior de la Judicatura , relacionados con las personas con Discapacidad (1991-2015), el documento es un compendio de los pronunciamientos realizados por cada una de estas instituciones en favor de las personas con discapacidad.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Legislación En Discapacidad La normatividad en Colombia contempla una diversidad de leyes y decretos que estipulan la atención, protección, la inclusión, entre otras, de las personas que padecen diferentes tipos de discapacidad; o que definen lineamientos integrales de política para su atención.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A friend who has dyslexia described to me how she experiences reading. She can read, but it takes a lot of concentration, and the letters seems to "jump around".

I remembered reading about typoglycemia. Wouldn't it be possible to do it interactively on a website with Javascript? Sure it would.

Feel like making a bookmarklet of this or something? Fork it on github.

Dyslexia is characterized by difficulty with learning to read fluently and with accurate comprehension despite normal intelligence. This includes difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, processing speed, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, language skills/verbal comprehension, and/or rapid naming.

Developmental reading disorder (DRD) is the most common learning disability. Dyslexia is the most recognized of reading disorders, however not all reading disorders are linked to dyslexia.

Some see dyslexia as distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or poor or inadequate reading instruction. There are three proposed cognitive subtypes of dyslexia (auditory, visual and attentional), although individual cases of dyslexia are better explained by specific underlying neuropsychological deficits and co-occurring learning disabilities (e.g. attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, math disability, etc.). Although it is considered to be a receptive language-based learning disability in the research literature, dyslexia also affects one's expressive language skills. Researchers at MIT found that people with dyslexia exhibited impaired voice-recognition abilities.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. blog comments powered by

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A friend who has dyslexia described to me how she experiences reading. She can read, but it takes a lot of concentration, and the letters seems to "jump around". I remembered reading about typoglycemia. Wouldn't it be possible to do it interactively on a website with Javascript? Sure it would.

# data[].attributes.headline
Opinion Piece - Accessibility and Pedagogy

# data[].attributes.subject
Opinion Piece - Accessibility and Pedagogy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If we are serious about accessible online learning, we must talk openly about disability as if it is right here, right now - because it is.

Recently, I attended a conference presentation ostensibly about accessible online learning, where I watched a man we'll call Steve fumble over gadgets at the podium. After a few assurances that we would get started right away, folks, a woman's face appeared on a large, projected screen. Catherine (not her real name) was introduced by Steve and began talking. The trouble was that nobody could understand what she was saying.

Catherine's voice was a loud, jarring hum of electronic crinkles, like a jammed Skype call. It was impossible to understand her, not because of her speech impairment, but because the presentation was inaccessible. She was the epicenter of a technical disaster and there was no transcript to support the audience. Even so, we got the message from Steve's quip: "What I love about Catherine is that she's a real go-getter!" Catherine, a disabled woman, completed an online degree program. She was an inspiration. But what was she saying? Something about discussion boards, maybe. This went on for 10 minutes. Astonishingly, at the end, people clapped.

As online learning becomes the norm across Canada, faulty conversations about making online learning accessible are cropping up in higher education conferences. These conversations fall short when they fail to uphold standards of inclusivity that are at the heart of basic, proactive Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies - that is, when they do not include gestures of access such as transcripts, live captioning, or American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. Or, when they present disabled people in stereotypical ways. In this case, Catherine was served up as a "supercrip" - a term commonly used in disability studies to describe someone who is celebrated for overcoming impairment by performing like a "normal" person.

Her story, though distorted, was the predictable, tokenistic tale of overcoming barriers to learning through her own hard work and perky resilience, rather than through any university's meaningful commitment to removing barriers. The audience's applause spoke to the room's low expectations of Catherine. I did not clap. When a supercrip story becomes the marker of accessible online learning, the bar is set too low.

As an instructor teaching online in community services, I am aware that building accessible online pedagogy means diving deep into difficult conversations about accessibility. These conversations are ones which must involve social movements and the academy. We - educators and institutions - must acknowledge that disability is more than an add-on to already established pedagogy. Rather, disability is a significant, ongoing part of our scholarship that is crucial to any conversation about accessibility.

Planning pedagogy that takes accessibility seriously means noticing how disciplinary fields that study disability invest in accessibility as a critical topic. Disability studies, deaf studies and mad studies, for example, trace the eugenic histories of universities, pointing out that disabled people have historically been unwelcome in the academy. They teach us to be critical of institutions that lean on buzzwords like "inclusion" while simultaneously refusing to acknowledge historical and contemporary failures to make programming accessible. They also caution against reinforcing negative stereotypes about disabled learners and teachers, such as supercrip tropes. These disciplines also teach us the basics of access: when there is no ASL interpretation, for example, we send the message that we are not expecting Deaf people to be here, learning and teaching alongside everyone else.

If we are serious about accessible online learning, we must talk openly about disability as if it is right here, right now - because it is. Contact North, a provincially funded online education non-profit in Ontario, estimates that Canada has 1.3 million online course registrants each semester. By Statistics Canada's count, the enrollment of disabled people in postsecondary programs is growing slightly, but the prevalence of accommodation services across Canadian campuses suggests a steady flow of disabled learners ready to hit the books. Disabled instructors are teaching and researching in the university, too. It's time to plan pedagogy that acknowledges that disability, and disabled people, are in our classrooms.

We can make pedagogy more accessible by recognizing ableism in our individual and institutional practices. Ableism is a type of discrimination that privileges non-disabled people, and accessibility is concomitant to acknowledging ableism. In much the same way that conversations about decolonizing classrooms must mention colonization, or conversations about race must speak to racism, conversations about accessible learning are conversations about ableism.

Here's how ableism creeps into online course delivery: when we think that disability is getting in the way of how online courses could run because we've only been anticipating "normal" learners, that's ableism. When students don't seem to live up to the smart, energetic, social, independent, self-starters we were expecting online, that's ableism. When we wait for students to "come out" as disabled and request reactive accommodation, that's ableism. But, when we plan for and embrace disability, we counter ableism by building content everyone can tap into (even in the event of, say, technical disasters).

We can also resist ableism by listening to what disability communities are telling us about education and by being wary of moments where disabled people's stories are co-opted for institutional gain. Disabled people's ongoing struggles for access and accommodation on campus are well documented. So, too, are tokenistic stories that "cash in" on disability as cultural capital in order to promote classes, programs and software. Alyson Patsavas explains "cashing in" as parading disabled people's stories around without sustained engagement with disability movements or with their respective scholarly fields. A supercrip story is a cash-in story, and disability movements across North America have been protesting such stories for decades. In other words: our ableism is showing and has been for some time.

Accessible online learning is a noble ambition, and it's not easy. Even with captions, transcripts, and other access features paired with a healthy dose of good intentions, we still might fail because ableism is alive in higher education, even online. However, we can work on creating more accessible practices by including access, fessing up to ableism, and consulting disability communities and scholarship. In these ways, we can move beyond supercrip stories to expect and include disability as it is right here, right now.
Chelsea Jones an instructor at Ryerson University's faculty of community services, where she has been teaching online courses in disability studies for seven years. She also co-produces and cohosts a podcast about teaching and learning called "Podagogies: A Learning and Teaching Podcast."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Accessibility must be more than an add-on to online pedagogy | University Affairs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If we are serious about accessible online learning, we must talk openly about disability as if it is right here, right now - because it is. Recently, I attended a conference presentation ostensibly about accessible online learning, where I watched a man we'll call Steve fumble over gadgets at the podium.

# data[].attributes.headline
IHE Article - Faculty Champions of Accessibility

# data[].attributes.subject
IHE Article - Faculty Champions of Accessibility

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Dan Smith was frustrated. A colleague had just told him he needed to make his online Introduction to Theater course more accessible, in compliance with federal law and a new mandate from the Michigan State University administration.

Smith immediately objected on two fronts: he didn't have time, and he didn't feel he should have to do something just because administrators demanded it.

"A lot of it is, once you've got a class that you've got the ball rolling on it ... for six years, you have this expectation that the class runs itself," Smith told "Inside Digital Learning."
More from "Inside Digital Learning"
Administrators across the country wonder whether they're ahead of, behind or on top of the accessibility curve.

Can technology tools improve accessibility? Yes and no.

The universal design for learning mind-set begins to spread.

Universities mull a consortium to share accessibility reviews of vendor products.

Smith's interaction with Kate Sonka, Michigan State's assistant director of academic technology, happened in March 2016. Two and a half years later, Smith has changed his tune. He's reluctant to describe himself as a "champion" of accessibility among faculty members, but actions may speak louder than words.

When the institution hosts meetings or advertises conferences that address accessibility, Smith attends. When he sees something that violates what he now sees as a commonsense imperative for inclusion, he points it out. When Sonka tells him his course could benefit from another multimedia option or accessible feature, he adds it.

"Now he's one of our greatest collaborators in the college," Sonka said. "I go to him any time I want to talk about accessibility."

"Inside Digital Learning" talked to several instructors who have been thinking deeply about accessibility issues. All aspire to spread the word to their colleagues, and to make experiences palatable for as many students as possible.
From 'Why?' to 'Why Not?'
When Sonka first told Smith about the course's accessibility blind spots, he was defensive -- he hadn't even designed the course originally, and he didn't have time to rewrite all of his lectures.

As it turned out, he didn't have to. The institution had enough funding to pay two assistants to help Smith add headings, break content into chunks and identify videos that needed captions.

"There can be a collaboration involved," Smith said. "It doesn't fall entirely on one individual to do this work."

Smith now thinks of accessibility as a philosophy that applies to all students, not just those with disabilities. In another one of his classes, he assigns students to design a poster. Some students fret that they won't be able to design a visually attractive piece. So Smith added an option for students to assemble a proposal that would be given to a hypothetical poster designer.

"We should ensure that students feel able to succeed," Smith said.

Previously, Smith felt confident he was adequately focused on ensuring his students' success. Now he feels more willing to admit when he doesn't know something. At a workshop last December, someone told him that "speaking into a microphone is an accessibility issue." Some professors and presenters who claim to have loud voices decide to project without the help of electronic amplification -- but sometimes a microphone is being used so transcribers and videographers can preserve the contents of a lecture for future consumption.

"It's important to be compliant with the law. Those arguments are certainly valid," Smith said. "But, 'it's going to improve your relationships with your students' -- I think that's more of an argument to make for why this is something that should get done."
What Motivates Introspection
Faculty champions can be inspired as much by individual experiences with students as by their engagement with the broad topic of inclusion. Dustin De Felice, assistant professor and director of the master's program in foreign language teaching at Michigan State, felt wounded after a student complained late in the semester that she couldn't take online quizzes because she suffered from extreme vertigo when staring at screens for more than a few minutes. The student ended up failing the class and struggling the next semester as well, De Felice said.

The student had applied for and received an accommodations waiver from Michigan State's disability office. But the options on that waiver -- taking the quiz in a location of her choice, getting more time to complete assignments -- didn't reflect the student's needs, and the student never raised her specific concerns with De Felice.

"That bothers me a lot," De Felice said. "I think there were ways that I could have met her needs."

Now De Felice encourages colleagues to invite him to discuss pathways to accessibility. He gets fewer takers than he'd like, but he always eagerly agrees when asked. He brings two different copies of the same syllabus -- one that's been run through an electronic disability checker, and another that hasn't. He lets a screen reader interpret both to show attendees the difference.

"When they see what very simple formatting things do in a screen reader, it's very impressive," De Felice said.

Context shapes instructors' perspectives on accessibility. Weber State University, in Utah, near a local military base, has a higher-than-average number of students with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Jenny Kokai, an associate professor of theater there. She spends time thinking about how students might react to videos or stories she shares in class.

For various reasons, many of Kokai's students struggle with handwriting, so she offers take-home essay exams that can be typed at a student's chosen pace. Everybody wins: the students have more flexibility, and Kokai doesn't have to deal with proctoring.
Further Reading
Michigan State put together an accessibility guide for instructors and teaching assistants. It could be a model for efforts on your campus.

The institution's limited resources also dictate Kokai's approach to improving accessibility. Because Weber State doesn't have the money to undertake a massive captioning project, Kokai gravitates to videos that come with captions.

Kokai laments that she hasn't had more structured training on these issues, particularly when she knows she should be paying attention but doesn't have time or resources. Being a faculty champion doesn't mean having all the answers.

"Everything I know about accessibility was self-taught, I sought out or I learned through necessity," Kokai said. "While I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and striving to educate myself and to improve things for students, it has been an ongoing process and I am by no means an expert or a model."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Faculty champions of accessibility shed doubts about investing time, money

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dan Smith was frustrated. A colleague had just told him he needed to make his online Introduction to Theater course more accessible, in compliance with federal law and a new mandate from the Michigan State University administration. Smith immediately objected on two fronts: he didn't have time, and he didn't feel he should have to do something just because administrators demanded it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
WASHINGTON - The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has begun dismissing hundreds of civil rights complaints under a new protocol that allows investigators to disregard cases that are part of serial filings or that they consider burdensome to the office.

Department officials said the new policy targeted advocates who flooded the office with thousands of complaints for similar violations, jamming its investigation pipeline with cases that could be resolved without exhausting staff and resources. But civil rights advocates worry that the office's rejection of legitimate claims is the most obvious example to date of its diminishing role in enforcing civil rights laws in the nation's schools.

Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said the new provision was part of the office's revision of its manual that lays out procedures for processing civil rights cases.

The goal of the new manual, which took effect last month, is to help the office better manage its docket, investigations and resolutions, she said.

Among the changes implemented immediately is a provision that allows the Office for Civil Rights to dismiss cases that reflect "a pattern of complaints previously filed with O.C.R. by an individual or a group against multiple recipients," or complaints "filed for the first time against multiple recipients that" place "an unreasonable burden on O.C.R.'s resources."

So far, the provision has resulted in the dismissal of more than 500 disability rights complaints.

Catherine E. Lhamon, who led the Office for Civil Rights under the Obama administration, said the new provision undermined the mission of the office. Unlike the Justice Department, the Education Department cannot pick and choose the cases it pursues. If the office has evidence that the law has been violated, it must open a case.

"The thing that scares me is when they get to say 'we won't open some cases because it's too much for us,' or 'we don't like the complainant,' or 'it's not our week to work on that,' you start to change the character of the office," Ms. Lhamon said.

But Debora L. Osgood, a lawyer who worked for 25 years at the Office for Civil Rights and now consults with and represents schools on civil rights matters, praised the change.

She said the provision showed that the agency was "essentially taking the reins back for control of its complaint docket."

Ms. Osgood said that in her experience, one person could clog the pipeline in each of the agency's 12 regional offices, limiting investigators' ability to respond to other complaints. It often frustrated investigators who prided themselves on being able to resolve complaints promptly, she said.

"In effect, it turned over the decision-making about how the agency would use many of its resources to a single individual, rather than to agency officials and staff charged with the responsibility for implementing the agency's stated mission," she said.

According to the Education Department, 41 percent of the 16,720 complaints filed in the 2016 fiscal year came from three people. The next year, of the 12,837 total cases, 23 percent of them did.

The department calls the complainants "frequent fliers."

Marcie Lipsitt is proud to be one of them.

In the last two years, Ms. Lipsitt, a disability rights advocate in Michigan, has filed more than 2,400 complaints with the office against schools, departments of education, colleges and universities, libraries and other educational institutions across the country that have websites that people who are deaf or blind or who struggle with fine motor skills cannot navigate.

"No one even knew about this issue until I started filing," Ms. Lipsitt said. "I didn't want to get anybody in trouble. I just wanted to raise awareness."

She has secured more than 1,000 agreements with institutions that committed to bringing their websites into compliance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and requires that electronic and information technologies be accessible to them.

In recent weeks, Ms. Lipsitt said, she has received notice that more than 500 cases, including active and open investigations, were dismissed. Each letter cited the new provision as the reason. The department will instead work with colleges on complying with web accessibility laws.

"But I won't stop," Ms. Lipsitt vowed, "because if I do, the story goes away."

The new manual also eliminates an appeals process for Office for Civil Rights decisions - department officials said it usually resulted in the same outcome - and says complaints can no longer be filed on the basis of journal articles and news media reports.

The manual also drops all mention of investigators' looking into "systemic issues." However, the department said that the new provision would not apply to class-action-like complaints filed by groups.

The changes worry civil rights groups, which point out that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has already rescinded guidances meant to protect students against sexual assaults on campuses and black and transgender students against bias.

Neena Chaudhry, associate general counsel and senior adviser of education at the National Women's Law Center, said that by filing dozens of complaints in recent decades, the group has been able to secure equal scholarship money and increased sports opportunities for female athletes. Now, as the organization shifts its focus to sexual assault, the department may prove less responsive.

Rachel M. Kleinman, senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said that the new manual was "yet another avenue for O.C.R. to not seriously investigate systemic race discrimination."

The group has filed complaints on behalf of large groups of black students it believes were being disproportionately affected by law enforcement policies. Already, one case has been closed by the DeVos administration, and the department declined to conduct a broader analysis.

"They seem to be closing all of the pathways for students to have their rights enforced by the federal government," Ms. Kleinman said.

Ms. DeVos's Office for Civil Rights has maintained that it wants to be more efficient and effective than it was under the Obama administration, which was known for its aggressive enforcement and broad investigations but was also accused of being overzealous and leaving cases languishing for years.

Ms. Osgood said such changes would be welcomed by the colleges and universities that she assists with federal civil rights investigations.

She said the changes showed that the department was willing to work with schools in a "more reasonable, more nimble and more expeditious manner."

The department did not say how its investigators would determine that a case would place an "unreasonable burden" on its resources. However, just weeks after the new manual took effect, Congress allocated $8.5 million more in funding to the Office for Civil Rights, which Ms. DeVos had sought to cut, in order for the office to manage its caseload.

Ms. Lhamon said that, in her time in the office, she sought out ways to manage large volumes of cases that stemmed from one complainant, and she acknowledged that her office struggled with timely responses. But she said she could not come up with any measure that would not shortchange an investigation.

"There's not a limitation on justice, and there's not a limitation on how we perceive injustice," Ms. Lhamon said. "To say you've reached your quota is to say that there's somehow a cap on the number of children who might be harmed."

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Education Dept. Aims for Efficiency by Dismissing Rights Cases. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
DeVos Education Dept. Begins Dismissing Civil Rights Cases in Name of Efficiency

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
WASHINGTON - The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has begun dismissing hundreds of civil rights complaints under a new protocol that allows investigators to disregard cases that are part of serial filings or that they consider burdensome to the office.

# data[].attributes.headline
What It's Like for People Who Are Deaf to Go to the Movies

# data[].attributes.subject
What It's Like for People Who Are Deaf to Go to the Movies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Model Nyle DiMarco explains what it's like for people who are deaf to go to the movies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On June 5, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced a major update to its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the world's most widely accepted technical standard for digital accessibility ¹. The new version, WCAG 2.1, expands the guidance provided in the previous iteration, WCAG 2.0, to include more coverage of mobile accessibility and provisions for people with low vision and cognitive and learning disabilities. With these updates, WCAG 2.1 helps organizations to improve inclusion and better serve a wider audience.

What is WCAG?

WCAG provides technical specifications to improve the accessibility of web content, websites and web applications on desktop computers, laptops, tablets and mobile devices for people with a wide range of disabilities, including auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech and visual disabilities.

W3C is a global community of accessibility experts who are striving to make the internet as inclusive as possible. Its Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops WCAG and related resources with input from individuals and organizations around the world.

The guidelines are mainly for the use of web content developers, web authoring tool developers and related professions; they aren't intended to be an introduction to accessibility. However, it is helpful for companies and organizations, especially employees who contribute to their digital properties, to have a general understanding of WCAG, its purpose and how it benefits not only people with disabilities, but all users.

What's Different About WCAG 2.1?

WCAG 2.0, released nearly 10 years ago, contains 12 guidelines for digital accessibility, divided among four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. Each guideline has a list of "success criteria," or requirements (63 in total), for making content - including text, images, sounds, code and markup - more accessible. In addition, WCAG 2.0 has three levels of conformance: A (minimum accessibility), AA (addresses the major, most common accessibility issues) and AAA (the highest standard). Learn more about the basics of web accessibility here.

The success criteria of WCAG 2.0 are included in WCAG 2.1 - the wording of those criteria has not changed. That means that WCAG 2.1 is "backwards compatible" or, as W3C puts it, "Content that conforms to WCAG 2.1 also conforms to WCAG 2.0." ²

What's new about WCAG 2.1 is that it includes 17 new success criteria ³ related to mobile accessibility, as well as provisions that will benefit more people ⁴. The new success criteria are:

1.3.4 Orientation (AA)
1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (AA)
1.3.6 Identify Purpose (AAA)
1.4.10 Reflow (AA)
1.4.11 Non-Text Contrast (AA)
1.4.12 Text Spacing (AA)
1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (AA)
2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts (A)
2.2.6 Timeouts (AAA)
2.3.3 Animation from Interactions (AAA)
2.5.1 Pointer Gestures (A)
2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation (A)
2.5.3 Label in Name (A)
2.5.4 Motion Actuation (A)
2.5.5 Target Size (AAA)
2.5.6 Concurrent Input Mechanisms (AAA)
4.1.3 Status Messages (AA)

Should You Follow WCAG 2.0 or 2.1?

WCAG 2.1 doesn't supersede or cancel out WCAG 2.0 - they are both "existing standards" - but W3C encourages organizations to use the most recent version of WCAG when developing or updating their content or digital accessibility policies.

Authorities that enforce major accessibility laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), continue to require that organizations comply with WCAG 2.0, conformance level AA. However, this could change in the future.

If your company or organization is in the process of making its website and other digital tools and technologies accessible and conform to WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA, it's a good idea to implement the additional 12 success criteria now to ensure maximum accessibility.

If you need assistance to make your digital properties compliant with WCAG 2.0 or 2.1 and meet your organization's obligations under accessibility laws, contact a reputable accessibility consulting company. They will conduct a thorough accessibility evaluation and a range of tests (including automated, functional and manual testing by people with disabilities). They will work with you and your team to achieve accessibility efficiently and at minimal cost.

An Innovative Solution

eSSENTIAL ACCESSIBILITY has developed a comprehensive accessibility solution to help organizations follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and achieve and maintain compliance with standards and regulations. This includes integrating web compliance evaluation and remediation services with assistive technology to deliver a transformative experience for people with disabilities. Learn more about eSSENTIAL ACCESSIBILITY's innovative solution.

References

1. W3C Issues Improved Accessibility Guidance for Websites and Applications W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, 2018

2. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview W3C, 2018

3. What's New in WCAG 2.1 W3C, 2018

4. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 W3C, 2018

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
W3C Makes It Official: WCAG 2.1 is Ready - eSSENTIAL Accessibility

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On June 5, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced a major update to its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the world's most widely accepted technical standard for digital accessibility 1. The new version, WCAG 2.1, expands the guidance provided in the previous iteration, WCAG 2.0, to include more coverage of mobile accessibility and provisions for people with low vision and cognitive and learning disabilities.

# data[].attributes.headline
Building a Culture of Accessibility in Higher Education (2018)

# data[].attributes.subject
Building a Culture of Accessibility in Higher Education (2018)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
To meet the needs of all users, colleges and universities must weave a mind-set of accessibility into institutional culture, using a process that includes all parts of a campus.

In spring 2017, nearly all campuses of the SUNY system were served with complaints from the U.S. Department of Civil Rights about the inaccessibility of their web sites. The experience of SUNY isn't different from what many other colleges or systems have experienced. Between January 2014 and November 2017, more than 1,800 complaints were filed by one individual against institutions of higher education.

Most people in education understand that the accessibility of electronic resources is essential, not only because it is mandated by law but also because it is the right thing to do. ELI listed Accessibility and Universal Design as the #2 issue in its 2018 Key Issues in Teaching and Learning. In an unpublished report to the provost, Nazely Kurkjian, SUNY Coordinator of Disability, Diversity & Nontraditional Student Services, stated, "Our community recognizes that accessibility is essential to ensuring equity and inclusion, and while we have a strong commitment to accessibility for all, it is increasingly evident that more needs to be accomplished to truly engrain accessibility within the fabric of the University. Today, digital accessibility touches nearly every aspect of campus life, from applications to websites, to courses, and myriad tools used in curricular and co-curricular programs, services, and activities."

The challenge for each institution, for each system, and for higher education in general is to instill accessibility into the culture and make it a component of implementing technology on our campuses. To achieve this goal, accessibility will need to be a core component of our next generation enterprise IT strategy and be a budgeting priority. These dimensions of guaranteeing accessibility will also affect our sourcing strategies.

Successfully moving to this accessible culture is possible, particularly because we have a number of factors in our favor:

Faculty, staff, and administrators want to implement accessible technology, even if they currently lack the knowledge and skills to accomplish this. Getting these people involved, educating them, and involving them in the issues is the best way to being resolving the issues on a large scale.

Numerous colleges and systems are blazing a trail to follow. Examining the work of leaders can help institutions that are just starting to leapfrog from their current situation and develop a continuous improvement methodology for moving forward.

As more institutions in higher education make accessibility a priority, we can use our collective weight and leverage actions together to accelerate the growth of accessible IT.

It Takes a Village

At SUNY Oswego, as we have implemented our IT strategic plan, " The Digital Campus: Technology for an Enhanced Tomorrow," we have learned that it takes a village to create this digital campus. We feel our best chance to thrive virtually is when the entire community takes an active role in contributing to the infusion of technology. To achieve this, collaboration, cooperation, and communication are keys to all technology initiatives. To deliver value to our community, stakeholders and Campus Technology Services (CTS) must contribute as equal partners to planning, projects, and service delivery.

When we looked at how we were approaching accessibility, we saw that we were reactive; remediation projects were done in isolation, and we did not make systemic changes to eliminate making the same mistakes repeatedly. In the end, we were not involving the community enough to avoid and resolve the issues.

The campus brought together multiple units to leverage and coordinate our effort to develop the culture we desire. Representation came from the president's office, IT, Marketing and Communications, Extended Learning, Procurement, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and Accessibility Services. Assistance was enlisted from faculty who are experts in web accessibility and universal design. We also hired graduate student interns trained in accessible web design to update web pages and develop training modules. Procurement rewrote wording in RFPs for software and in contracts. All web designers have been trained in their responsibilities around accessible web and social media content. As more people have become involved in the project, we have seen the spirit of creating an accessible digital culture grow.

Following the Trailblazers

As we began our project to create an accessible culture, we looked at who the leaders were in these areas and examined what they were doing. Our desire was to leverage their work and accomplishments, create a process of continuous improvement, and, if possible, leapfrog from where we were to where we wanted to be.

A starting point for us was the EDUCAUSE Accessibility resources. It is a wide collection of resources contained in the EDUCAUSE library with a wealth of information. We are grateful to a number of institutions for the work they have done and the spirit of sharing they showed in publishing their work. While many institutions are doing great work, these are the resources that SUNY Oswego used:

Growing the SUNY Village and Higher Education Community

As SUNY schools started to work toward web compliance, SUNY administration decided that a coordinated effort would assist the System to move more quickly towards compliance. Kurkjian became the chair of the SUNY EIT Accessibility Committee, which was established to develop a systematic approach to developing and maintaining accessible electronic environments for campus community members with disabilities. The committee was charged with the following:

1. Devise a SUNY-wide policy

2. Provide guidance for SUNY campuses

3. Coordinate necessary support activities

The committee membership comprises broad representation across SUNY, representing all sectors, including knowledge experts from IT, Library Services, Center for Professional Development, Open SUNY, Disability/Accessibility Resources, Educational Technologies, Centers for Learning and Teaching, University-wide Procurement, Office of General Counsel, Office of University Life, Marketing Office, and Diversity Office. About 15 different universities and colleges were represented and contributed.

Over the past year, the committee has developed policy and recommendations to assist SUNY institutions to move more quickly toward accessibility, including these recommendations:

Assist each campus to move accessibility forward by requiring a Campus Accessibility Officer.

Develop a Campus Accessibility Access Plan to promote ongoing, inclusive access for individuals with disabilities.

To the extent feasible, develop, purchase, host, and/or acquire web pages, websites, hardware and software products, and services that are accessible to persons with disabilities.

This final recommendation, procuring accessible IT products, is an area that will take considerable work and commitment. The reality is that accessibility initiatives have led to pervasive innovation in the implementation of technology, including in speech recognition and driverless cars. Accessible technology is truly next generation IT. But the implementation of accessibility into products institutions procure is uneven and does not always meet voluntary standards that software producers should follow. Evaluating and testing software for accessibility is a time-intensive procedure that requires specialized skill and knowledge.

To push accessibility forward and reap the benefits that it will bring, we are going to have to answer these challenges. A number of systems and colleges have set examples of what must be done. Among the leaders is California State University, which has extensive documentation on procurement and the procurement process. Very shortly, SUNY intends to implement a policy that will provide similar guidelines and guidance on obtaining IT products that support accessibility. SUNY's hope is that once we get some momentum, we will be able to join with other systems to reduce the time and effort required in testing and, more importantly, have more accessible software. As we grow the higher education village committed to accessibility, we can move beyond meeting the minimum requirements for accessibility standards and provide a truly equitable digital experience for all.

Sean Moriarty is Chief Technology Officer at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego and Chair of the SUNY Council of CIOs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
building a culture of accessibility in higher education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Building a Culture of Accessibility in Higher Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To meet the needs of all users, colleges and universities must weave a mind-set of accessibility into institutional culture, using a process that includes all parts of a campus. In spring 2017, nearly all campuses of the SUNY system were served with complaints from the U.S.