Accessible Technology Initiative at
UTC
Everyone Achieves at UTC
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Dr. Bryon Kluesner, Disability Resource Center
Nearly 20% of Americans have some kind
of disability.
~ 56.9 million people
 Visual – blind, low vision, color-blind
 Hearing – deafness
 Motor – inability to use a mouse, slow
response time, limited fine motor
 Cognitive – includes learning disabilities,
unable to focus
The disability group is the only minority group that anyone
can join at anytime…
http://www.missouristate.edu/assets/equity/disability.jpg
And most people will…
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Federal Government Requirements
• Title II of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA)
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 (as amended in 1998)
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 (as amended in 2000)
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Federal Government Requirements
Title II & Section 504 have essentially the same
requirements:
Institutions must be responsive to the needs of
individual students and make programs and
services accessible to them on request.
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Federal Government Requirements
Section 508 is more proactive.
• Rapidly becoming the requirement adopted
by many institutions.
• All educational technology purchased must
be accessible whether it is initially
intended for use by a disabled client or
not.
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Federal Government Enforcement
Regulations prohibiting
discrimination in
education are enforced
by the Office of Civil
Rights at the U.S.
Department of Education.
http://www.leadingage.org/uploadedImages/Images/Government_Agency_Logos/HHS_Office_Civil_Ri
ghts.jpg?n=4392
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Federal Government Enforcement
Settlements have required
institutions to make systemwide, proactive changes in
their procurement and use
of instructional materials to
ensure that textbooks and
educational technology are
accessible
http://www.utsa.edu/today/images/graphics/textbooks.jpg
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Lawsuits
 2009 Multiple Universities, e-readers need to be accessible.
 2009 Law School Admissions Council, web content, services, & test prep materials
need to be accessible.
 2010 DCL FAQ clarifies institutional obligations and responsibilities
 2010 Penn State, all EIT needs to be accessible.
 2011 NY Univ, Google Apps need to be accessible.
 2011 Northwestern Univ, Google Apps need to be accessible.
 2012 Fla State Univ, make online courses accessible.
 2012 Univ Montana, make websites and online content/services accessible.
 2013 S Carolina Tech College Sys, make websites accessible.
 2013 Louisiana Tech, make course materials and websites accessible.
 2013 Univ California Berkeley, make course materials and library materials
accessible in a timely manner.
 2014 Youngstown State Univ, make websites and online content accessible
 2015 Harvard & M.I.T., provide closed captioning in: online lectures, courses,
podcasts & other educational material.
2014 Youngstown State U, had policies and procedures but no education or
enforcement.
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Technology, Equality and
Accessibility in College and Higher
Education Act
“The TEACH Act”
11/15/2013 – Introduced to the House of
Representatives
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The Teach Act
The Access Board shall develop guidelines for the accessibility of
electronic instructional materials and related information
technologies in institutions of higher education. The guidelines shall
 Include performance criteria to ensure that such materials and
technologies are accessible to blind individuals and individuals with
disabilities.
 Be consistent with the standards for technical and functional
performance criteria issued pursuant to section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
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The Teach Act
Harbor Protections
 Institutions of higher education that use electronic instructional
materials and technologies that comply with the guidelines shall be
deemed to be in compliance with section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 and Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990.
 Nothing in the TEACH Act shall require an institution to use
electronic instructional materials or information technologies that
conform to the guidelines if the institution provides such materials
or technologies, or an accommodation or modification that would
allow an individual with a disability to access the material or
information.
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The Teach Act
In an equally effective and equally integrated
manner as non-disabled or non-blind students; and
 With substantially equivalent ease of use of such
materials or technologies

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The Teach Act
 Electronic Instructional Materials
 Digital curricular content including course-assigned
books, journals, articles, and web pages used by
students, faculty, or administration to facilitate the
teaching and learning process, including technologies
used in distance education
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Tennessee’s Response
 Spring 2014 (TN Chapter) National Federation for the
Blind contacted Senator Becky Duncan Massey about
sponsoring the “Teach Tennessee Act”
 Would require Higher Education Institutions to make all
electronic course materials completely accessible to people
with disabilities.
 Great movement in theory, but would be difficult to meet
the heightened requirements. immediately
Adapted from “Accessible Tennessee” – Philip Voorhees & Michelle Rigler
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Tennessee’s Response
 TBR and UT System Office of Government Relations were able to get the
legislation withdrawn and replaced with Public Chapter 712.
 THEC developed an Accessibility Task Force to develop minimum criteria
for accessibility & develop a set of recommendations to send to the
Tennessee General Assembly by December, 2014.
 Made up of 4 representatives from Higher Education and 4 individuals
representing disability advocacy groups
 From these recommendations, the UT System developed their own
responses to these recommendations
 It is the expectation that each campus/entity develop a guideline for
insuring access
 UTC was working on the development of these guidelines prior to the
expectation being delivered
Adapted from “Accessible Tennessee” – Philip Voorhees & Michelle Rigler
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UTC’s Response
 Accessible Technology Initiative Policy approved in
2014.
 Chancellor appointed a campus ATI committee in
2014.
 http://www.utc.edu/academic-affairs/accessibletechnology-initiative/
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UTC’s Accessible Technology Initiative - timeline
Target Date
Category
Goal
Responsible Party
Status
Initiative (ATI)
developed and approved
Committee
February 2014 by Executive
Team; posted on Policies and
Procedures webpage
Task Force members:
DLAC, NFB of TN, Center for
Dyslexia – MTSU, TBR, UT
System, THEC
Task Force created 9
recommendations
UTC’s Planning
Accessible
Initiative
- timeline
Accessible Technology
Technology
Associate Provost,
ATI
Completed,
approved
Spring 2014
June 17, August
5, September 30,
2014
TN Higher
Education
Accessibility
Task Force
meetings
Discuss & develop
recommendations
regarding accessibility
of digital curricula for
students with
disabilities at state
institutions of higher
education
September 17 &
18, 2014
Accessible
Instructional
Materials
Summit
Continue to move
forward with developing
recommendations to the
TN General Assembly
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Target Date Category
Goal
Responsible Party
Status
Fall 2014
Communication
Announce ATI
Chancellor
Completed
Fall 2014
Implementation
*Join National Center on
Disability and Access
Education
Associate Vice Chancellor
and Chief Information
Officer
Completed
*Gaining Online
Accessible Learning
through Self-Study
(GOALS) Benchmarking
ATI Audit sub-committee
In progress
Begin departmental/program
audit
Fall 2014
Training
Develop faculty tips for
Disability Resource Center
compliance in instructional (DRC), Walker Center for
materials
Teaching and Learning
(WCTL)
Completed
Tips sheets posted on DRC and
WCTL web pages
Fall 2014
Roll-out
Develop logo, slogan
Slogan “Everyone Achieves”
mark selected in December
2014; approved by Chancellor
January 2015
University Relations
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Target
Date
Category
Goal
Responsible Party
Status
Spring 2015
Communication
Communicate ATI
standards to campus
ATI Committee, Provost,
Chancellor
Completed
Spring 2015
Roll-out
ATI Technology Fair
Loop the ATI PSA
ATI Committee
Communication Dept.
Tech Fair –
February 22, 2015
Spring 2015
Training
Introduce accessible
syllabus template
Syllabus
workshops/roadshows
WCTL
In progress
Spring 2015
Implementation
Policies in place for
posting required resources
in LMS in accessible
format
Provost, WCTL
In progress
Spring 2015
Implementation
Policies in place to ensure
that accessibility review is
included in curricular
review process
Undergraduate curriculum
committee, Graduate Council,
College curriculum
committees
In progress
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Target
Date
Category
Goal
Responsible Party
Status
Spring 2015
Implementation
Policies & procedures in
place to support faculty in
selecting, authorizing, and
delivering accessible
instructional materials
DRC, WCTL, Center for
Academic and Innovative
Technologies (CAIT)
In progress
Spring 2015
Training
Develop ATI modules for
professional development
opportunities
Human Resources, WCTL
In progress
Spring 2015
Procurement
Develop Electronic and
Information (EIT)
procurement plan
Communicate to campus
new purchasing procedure
ATI Committee, Purchasing
In progress
June 2015
Policies and Procedures
Incorporate accessibility
requirement into
purchasing procedure;
determine role of ATI
committee; what will the
review process look like?
Purchasing
In progress
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Target Date
Category
Goal
Responsible
Party
Status
Spring 2015
Monitoring and Evaluation
ATI Committee will
provide periodic
reports (quarterly) to
the Executive Team
ATI Committee
In progress
Summer 2015
Training
Include ATI in new
faculty and adjunct
orientation,
department head
training
Provost, WCTL
In progress
Fall 2015
Monitoring and Evaluation
Units across campus
routinely/periodically
monitor accessibility
Administrator of each
unity
In progress
Fall 2015
Monitoring and Evaluation
Verify that new
websites, content, and
instructional materials
are accessible going
forward
IT. Academic
department heads
In progress
July 2016
Monitoring and evaluation
Create new position –
Accessibility
Coordinator /Analyst
Provost
Allocate permanent
funding for the position,
administrative support,
and an operating budget
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ATI Committee Collaborations
 Cheryl Pruitt, Director, Accessible Technology
Initiative, California State University Office of the
Chancellor
 Korey Singleton, ATI Manager, Accessible Technology
Initiative, George Mason University
 Mr. Christian Vinten-Johansen, Penn State’s
Accessibility Team
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 Accessibility Policy – Effective October 16, 2015
http://policy.tennessee.edu/it_policy/it0126/
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UTC ATI Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfcC_
e3yrUM Everyone Achieves
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