What Did I Sign Up For?
Technology Accessibility for New
Professionals
A little audience participation…
• What is your role?
A little audience participation…
• How long have you been in your current role?
A little audience participation…
• How did you inherit the responsibilities of
technology accessibility?
Our Stories
• Steve Salter, Director of Student Access and
Wellness at Ashford University
Our Stories
• Beth Lund, Technology Accessibility Specialist
at Ashford University
Ashford University at a Glance
• Approximately 50,000 students enrolled in the
online environment
Ashford University at a Glance
• 3,000 + unduplicated students per quarter
accessing accommodations
Ashford University at a Glance
• Approximately 7% of students accessing
accommodations experience some type of
sensory impairment
What we are working with
• LMS – eCollege (a Pearson product)
What we are working with
• Over 600 unique course offerings
What we are working with
• Greater than 50% of courses utilize Course
Digital Materials (CDM) on a homegrown
platform
What we are working with
• Approximately 300 full-time faculty and close
to 2,000 adjunct instructors
What we are working with
• Countless outside vendors and content providers
leveraged to build an engaging student
experience
If you are feeling overwhelmed,
that’s ok!
Don’t think about how much you don’t
know, focus on the areas you can learn.
How do you know where to begin?
• The hardest part about knowing where to
begin is not knowing what you don’t know
How do you know where to begin?
• It’s helpful to start small and to focus on the
situation at hand – if there isn’t an issue
presenting itself, begin with some light
reading
Understanding your Responsibilities
• What does your role entail?
Understanding your Responsibilities
• What does your role entail?
• Alt. Text Formatting?
Understanding your Responsibilities
• What does your role entail?
• Alt. Text Formatting?
• Maintaining and promoting compliance?
Understanding your Responsibilities
• What does your role entail?
• Alt. Text Formatting?
• Maintaining and promoting compliance?
• Web Accessibility?
Understanding your Responsibilities
• What does your role entail?
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Alt. Text Formatting?
Maintaining and promoting compliance?
Web Accessibility?
Disability Support and Advising?
Understanding your Responsibilities
• What does your role entail?
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Alt. Text Formatting?
Maintaining and promoting compliance?
Web Accessibility?
Disability Support and Advising?
Staff support and professional development?
Alt. Text Formatting
• Acquiring Text Materials
Alt. Text Formatting
• Student Alternate Media Agreement Request
Process
Alt. Text Formatting
• Student Alternate Media Agreement Request
Process
• The University is responsible for verifying a print
disability
Alt. Text Formatting
• Student Alternate Media Agreement Request
Process
• Student agreement to purchase requested works
and provide verification
Alt. Text Formatting
• Student Alternate Media Agreement Request
Process
• Opportunity to introduce other resources like
Bookshare.org
Alt. Text Formatting
• Student Alternate Media Agreement Request
Alt. Text Formatting
• Access Text Network
https://accesstext.org
Alt. Text Formatting
• Amazon – Great Source for Publisher/ISBN
Information
Alt. Text Formatting
• Publisher Look-Up Service
www.publisherlookup.org
Alt. Text Formatting
• Look for information on the Publisher’s
Website
Alt. Text Formatting
• Call the Publisher Directly
Alt. Text Formatting
• Consider a Third Party Vendor for Scanning
Alt. Text Formatting
• Formatting Text Materials
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Perform OCR
Tag Document
Check Tagging Order
Remove Hidden Content
Crop the Document
Add Page Numbers
Designate a Default Language
Crop the Document
Split Text Books by Chapters
Alt. Text Formatting
• Tip! Learn Keyboard Shortcuts
Maintaining and Promoting Compliance
• Understand Current Climate
Maintaining and Promoting Compliance
• Understand Current Climate
– 3 Play White Papers
http://www.3playmedia.com/how-it- works/whitepapers/
Maintaining and Promoting Compliance
• Understand Current Climate
– Disability Compliance for Higher Education
http://www.disabilitycomplianceforhighereducati
on.com/
Maintaining and Promoting Compliance
• Gain Historical Perspective
ADA.Gov http://www.ada.gov/
Maintaining and Promoting Compliance
• Accessibility is a shared responsibility - work
to build a culture of compliance across your
campus
Maintaining and Promoting Compliance
• Consider creating forums for sharing best
practices in ensuring compliance
Maintaining and Promoting Compliance
• Consider Developing and Adopting a
Technology Accessibility Policy
Other Resources
• Case Law Review
• http://lflegal.com/category/settlements/webaccessibility-settlements/
• http://www.karlgroves.com/2011/11/15/list-ofweb-accessibility-related-litigation-andsettlements/
Web Accessibility
• Look for Accessibility Statement
Web Accessibility
• Check that images have Alt. Text
WebAIM.org
Web Accessibility
• Keyboard Test
• Can You Tab through the website without the use
of a mouse?
Web Accessibility
• Check Color Contrast
• WebAIM Contrast Checker
http://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
Web Accessibility
• JavaScript Test
• Can you highlight content on a page with your
mouse?
Web Accessibility
• JavaScript Test
• JavaScript and Flash are not accessible with a
screen reader
Web Accessibility
• Test with a Screen Reader
• Web2Access
http://www.web2access.org.uk/disability
Web Accessibility Resources
• Download Tools
• Wave tool http://wave.webaim.org/
• Chrome
Plugin https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta
il/accessibility-developert/fpkknkljclfencbdbgkenhalefipecmb?hl=en
Web Accessibility Resources
• WebAIM Seminar
http://webaim.org/services/training/
Web Accessibility Resources
• CSUNhttp://www.csun.edu/cod/conference/2016/s
essions/
Disability Support and Advising
• Work to gain an understanding of the
student’s needs
Disability Support and Advising
• Remain solution oriented; don’t be afraid to
make recommendations or explore new
potential solutions
Disability Support and Advising
• Rely on the student’s input, your professional
expertise, and leverage your professional
community for support
Staff Support and Professional Development
• Work to build partnerships with faculty,
instructional designers and your IT team
Staff Support and Professional Development
• Provide regular opportunities to share
experiences
• What barriers exist within the community
• What solutions have worked
• What best practices are being implemented to
ensure accessibility
Our Biggest Challenge: Captioning
• Nature of online education relies heavily on
asynchronous student experience
Our Biggest Challenge: Captioning
• Videos created both in-house and through
third party content providers
Our Biggest Challenge: Captioning
• Building awareness and a strong partnership
with faculty and instructional designers is
imperative
Understanding how to meet your
Captioning Needs
Understanding how to meet your
Captioning Needs
• Third-party vendors who caption
Understanding how to meet your
Captioning Needs
• Third-party vendors who caption
• Leveraging YouTube Beta Captioning
Understanding how to meet your
Captioning Needs
• Third-party vendors who caption
• Leveraging YouTube Beta Captioning
• QIAT Webinar to learn the ‘Hows”
Understanding how to meet your
Captioning Needs
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Third-party vendors who caption
Leveraging YouTube Beta Captioning
QIAT Webinar to learn the ‘Hows”
CSUN Copyright Session
Understanding how to meet your
Captioning Needs
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Third-party vendors who caption
Leveraging YouTube Beta Captioning
QIAT Webinar to learn the ‘Hows”
CSUN Copyright Session
3 Play Media White Paper
Overcoming Other Potential Challenges
Overcoming Other Potential Challenges
• Budget Constraints
• Limited funding for professional development
• Alt-Text Requisition and support
Overcoming Other Potential Challenges
• Fostering shared-responsibility of accessibility
• Building collaborative partnerships across the
University
• Teaching others “how to fish”
Overcoming Other Potential Challenges
• Expanding Alternate Text formats
• Leveraging third party resources like Bookshare
• Trial and Error
Overcoming Other Potential Challenges
• Math Accessibility
• The Road to Understanding MATHML
• Design Science Website
• Connecting the Missing Pieces through Testing
Tips for Building Your Accessibility Toolkit
Tips for Building Your Accessibility Toolkit
• It’s a lot of information! It’s okay, stay calm
Tips for Building Your Accessibility Toolkit
• If you don’t know the answer it is a great
opportunity to learn!
Tips for Building Your Accessibility Toolkit
• Start with the areas you feel comfortable with
and move forward from there
Tips for Building Your Accessibility Toolkit
• Tackling some of the more challenging items
with help to build your confidence
Tips for Building Your Accessibility Toolkit
• Brush up on Case Law to understand the
climate of AT
Tips for Building Your Accessibility Toolkit
• Expand your professional network – Join a list
serve or twelve
Tips for Building Your Accessibility Toolkit
• Ask questions – There is a lot to learn from
this great community of practitioners and
we’ve all been in your place
Tips for Building Your Accessibility Toolkit
• Share your experiences. Others can learn
from your challenges and successes and it will
reinforce your confidence to know you are on
the right track
Other Resources
• Google - When you don’t know, Google it!
Other Resources
• HTCTU
http://www.htctu.net/divisions/altmedia/captioni
ng/cc/ccmain.htm
Other Resources
• QIAT http://qiat-ps.org/
Other Resources
• Hearing Loss Org
http://www.hearingloss.org/content/basic-factsabout-hearing-loss
Other Resources
• Bookshare https://www.bookshare.org/cms
Other Resources
• WebAim http://webaim.org/
Other Resources
• Webinars
• EASI http://easi.cc/clinic.htm
• 3 Play http://www.3playmedia.com/how-itworks/webinars/
• Accessibility Online
https://secure71.inmotionhosting.com/~access20
/ArchiveAttendance/
Other Resources
• Washington
http://www.washington.edu/doit/
Other Resources
• Ohlone College
http://www.ohlone.edu/org/webcenter/texttr
anscripts.html
Other Resources
• Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5
Other Resources
• JPED
https://www.ahead.org/publications/jped
Other Resources
• List Serves
• ATHEN Access Technology Higher Education
Network- http://www.athenpro.org/
• HTC http://htclistserv.htctu.fhda.edu/read/all_forums/
Other Resources
• Academic Impressions
https://www.academicimpressions.com/acade
mic-impressions-online-training
Other Resources
• CSUN Certificate Program
http://www.csun.edu/cod/assistivetechnology-certificate-program