Going Beyond Basic ADA and S508 Compliance with Universal Design for Learning

1. Going Beyond Basic ADA and S508 Compliance with Universal Design for Learning Dr. Melissa Engleman Dr. Tara Jeffs East Carolina University Greenville, NC

2. Overview of Today’s Session

3. Why Worry About Those People?Those People are You and Me. Most people will have a disability or experience a limitation that will temporarily or permanently alter their lives. Many companies will no longer do business with companies whose products are inaccessible to people with disabilities. (IBM Report, 2005)

4. Why Worry About Those People?Those People are You and Me. With our aging population, the "mature” customer is the fastest growing group. Changes in vision & hearing, dexterity & memory are results of aging that create accessibility issues Few organizations can afford to deliberately miss this market sector. (Access-IT)

5. Why Universal Design on the World Wide Web? Fiscal Considerations • 750 million people worldwide have disabilities, and they control about $175 billion • This number is increasing with the aging of the “baby boomers”. • Number of adults with a severe disability has increased by 70% since 1966. • 37 million Americans have disabling arthritis (World Health Organization, 2005; Arthritis Foundation, 2005)

7. The Web is displacing traditional sources of information and interaction • The internet is used increasingly by individuals of all ages. • An accessible Web has the potentialfor unprecedented access to information and resources for people with disabilities. (Access-IT)

8. Why is Accessibility Important? • 1 out of every 5 Americans over the age of 5 have a disability (2000 Census) • Barriers to accessibility affect the 8.5% of the population that has at least one disability that would impact internet use: • Visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities

9. Why is Accessibility Important? • If accessible, the Web could offer unprecedented independence to people with disabilities. • Web accessibility has benefits for other users. • The Law: See first 3 pp. in notebook (from “Speak-out” website)

10. Legislation, Regulations and Standards • Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 2000: Electronic and information technology MUST be accessible to federal employees and and the members of the public with disabilities who use that service. • Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996requires “manufacturers of telecommunications equipment…to ensure that the equipment is designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable."

11. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended in 1998 • Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments require: • Federally funded websites are accessible • Any organization receiving federal funding have an accessible website • Enforcement provisions of section 508 are effective as of June 21, 2001 .

12. The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990): ADA Regulation for Title III • Appendix A to Part 38 - Standards for Accessible Design established by the “access board” • prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in “places of public accommodation" (businesses and non-profit agencies that serve the public) and "commercial facilities” [websites are considered “places” & “facilities”] (See Gumson Vs. Southwest Airlines, 2004)

13. What the ADA Requires, According to the Office of Civil Rights • NOT enough for public entities to wait to respond to individual [accessibility] complaints. " p. 1, 1997 •Provision should be in a manner and medium appropriate to the significance of the message and the abilities of the individual. •There must be a comprehensive policy in advance of any request for auxiliary aids or services. Inclusion of persons with disabilities is required in developing such policy.

14. Recent Litigation - 2004 • 2004-present • Banking - Legally binding agreements New York State Settlements of 2004 • Priceline.com, Ramada.com were required to pay costs of the investigation and redesign • Access Now, Inc. vs. Southwest Airlines • Target vs. NFB

15. The Toyota Case (2001) Barnes and Noble and Claire's Stores (settled) Wynne v. Tufts University School of Medicine (1992) Tyler v. City of Manhattan (1994) National Federation of the Blind vs. AOL (1999) Gumson v. Southwest Airlines(2004) Ninth Circuit in Wong v. Regents (2004) Tennessee v. Lane (2004) Rush v. National Board of Medical Examiners, (2003) Stern v. University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Services (2000) Litigation: Case Law

16. Must “effectively communicate” (Office of Civil Rights) 1. Timeliness 2. Accuracy 3. Appropriate Medium Department of Justice, Disability Rights Division “accessible features” Equal degree of access Key Language in the Laws

17. So, how do we do it? Many resources exist for finding guidelines: Some simpler than others.

18. Legalese and “tech talk” Piecemeal information - no condensed versions Unknown needs Compliance is Perceived as More Difficult than it Actually is

19. WCAG – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) 14 guidelines, over 60 checkpoints Three priority levels Section 508 Standards Developed by the United States Access Board Provides 16 measurable standards All standards are required for compliance Web Accessibility Standards

20. General Considerations • Consistent navigation on every page • Good color contrast • Can the user understand the page without color? • “Chunk” large amounts of information (content as well as links) • Use descriptive links • Use real-text rather than text imbedded in a graphic?

21. Other Considerations • Use alt tags for all non-text elements • Use header tags where appropriate • If tables are used, identify row and column headings • If frames are used, include descriptive labels • If videos are used on the site, use captioning, and for audio, a text transcript

22. Avoid flashing animations or flashes between 2 and 55 hertz (Prevent seizure triggers and distraction. Also they are generally annoying.) Use relative rather than absolute unit (percentages vs. pixels) This ensures that content fits well no matter the scale. In hypertext links, text should be specific to context, and “less is more” General Recommendations

23. Accessibility is a Cross-Disability Issue • visual disabilities • hearing disabilities • physical disabilities • cognitive or neurological disabilities Einstein’s Elevator…

24. STARS! (See p. 4 of notebook) • Substance vs. Style • Text Considerations • Alternative Representation • Routing • Standards

25. People who are Blind or Visually Impaired • Access Methods • Screen readers • Refreshable Braille Displays • Screen Enlarging Software • Issues • Reading Images.webaim.org/simulations/screenreader-sim.htm • Text layout does not make sense • Pixilation of text that is embedded in an image therefore can not be read

26. Color blindness Issue • Using color alone to convey meaning

27. Another Example

28. Avoid use of color to convey essential information. Color Contrast This wouldn’t be legible. This wouldn’t be legible. Neither would this.

29. Hearing Impairment or Deafness • Captioning • Synchronized Captions for auditory content is most beneficial

30. Motor or Physical Impairments • Access Methods • Voice Recognition • HeadMouse • Head wand • Expanded keyboards • Switch Access • Issues • Keyboard access • Timed Response • Target Areas

31. Cognitive Impairments Issues • Text only pages • Animated GIFS • Tob eornot t obe Benefit from illustrations and graphics, as well as from properly-organized content with headings, lists, and visual cues in the navigation.

32. Image Dependency: A Problem for Low-Vision

33. What’s wrong with these? 1. 1. This page is designed with exact font sizes set. Then each element on the page (paragraph, image, etc.) is placed at exact x/y coordinates that depend on that font size. 2. When the text is zoomed, the carefully placed elements do not change their positions accordingly, so they now overlap. The content is more unreadable than it was before. 2. From Homestead.com

34. Traditionally, what we have done in education is to accommodate individual needs without changing courses. For examples, we have told deaf students to arrange for sign language interpreters; blind students to secure a Brailled or tape –recorded version of printed materials. (Bowie, 1999)

35. What is Universal Design? “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.” Ron Mace (NC State, 1997)

36. On the Web, Universal Design Benefits All Users. • Captioning and alternate text make indexing easier and more efficient for search engines • More consistent user interfaces make surfing easier for anyone

37. On the Web, Universal Design Benefits All Users. • Also, young children, nonreaders and people who are elderly • “Backward" access: slow connection speeds or older equipment and software • Reduces fatigue for all users

38. Impact on Universities E-Learning requires accessible web access and accessible learning materials

39. University Legal Requirements • Obligated to provide accessibility unless doing so would “fundamentally alter” the content (not the method) • Must not impose an “undue burden” • Choice of inaccessible software that must later be fixed is not an “undue burden” • Academic freedom is about ideas, not accessibility requirements

40. University Legal Requirements • Whether a university is obligated under S508 standards is individual, depending on their policy statements. • They are obligated under S504, ADA and the Telecommunications Act. • For a comprehensive list of links to laws and discussion of these issues: • http://www.washington.edu/accessit/webpslegal.html

41. University Legal Requirements • If the university has a policy statement concerning what students must be able to access before they can take an online course, it may get them off the hook - for now. • On request, the university must provide needed assistive technology, but not necessarily that of the student’s choice.

42. So, how are we doing so far?

43. Schmetzke, 2001 Schmetzke, (2001) found that 81% of distance education “home pages” had major accessibility errors. The most commonly found problem was failure to provide alternate text. (Picture of a man, lost in a maze)

44. Schmetzke, 2001 • General academic units/programs 25-28% • Special education programs 27% • Colleges of Communication & Schools of Journalism 21% • Schools of Library and Information Science: 23% • Online databases were also found to have numerous accessibility errors. In a related study, this researcher found major accessibility errors across higher education internet sites, as follows:

45. Blaser’s Findings at For-Profit Online Universities -confused responses -referrals to “special” offices Response from the “accessibility experts” at one for-profit online university: ”Please specify the kind of accessibility you would need and what a screen reader is." : 2001

46. Through the Looking-Glass… • ECU’s subcommittee report on S508b compliance

47. A Few “One Size Fits All” Accommodations Are Typically Offered, Regardless of Individual Needs. Typically provided accommodations for students with learning disabilities: Scribe or reader Note-taker Extra time Solitary space for testing They don’t actually fit all.

48. Other Commonly Offered Accommodations (NCES Study):

49. More Than One Barrier to Access People with disabilities do NOT tend to have the higher income, education, and employment that are usual accompaniments to computer use. For online education, one needs more than just a computer. That computer must be hooked up to the Internet, at a reasonable "speed" -- and one must stay on the computer for hours at a time. Another barrier is availability of high speed services

50. Accommodations can’t be “one size fits all” But…they can be “many sizes fit all”