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Accessible Technology Initiative at UTC

Everyone Achieves at UTC

Dr. Bryon Kluesner, Disability Resource Center

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Nearly 20% of Americans have some kind of disability.~ 56.9 million people

Visual – blind, low vision, color-blindHearing – deafness Motor – inability to use a mouse, slow

response time, limited fine motorCognitive – includes learning disabilities,

unable to focus

The disability group is the only minority group that anyone can join at anytime…

And most people will…

http://www.missouristate.edu/assets/equity/disability.jpg

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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_Rights.jpg?n=4392

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Federal Government Enforcement

Settlements have required institutions to make system-wide, 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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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.

Lawsuits

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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 MaterialsDigital 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/accessible-technology-initiative/

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UTC’s Accessible Technology Initiative - timelineTarget Date

Category Goal Responsible Party Status

Spring 2014 Planning Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) developed and approved

Associate Provost, ATI Committee

Completed, approved February 2014 by Executive Team; posted on Policies and Procedures webpage

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

Task Force members: DLAC, NFB of TN, Center for Dyslexia – MTSU, TBR, UT System, THEC

Task Force created 9 recommendations

September 17 & 18, 2014

Accessible Instructional Materials Summit

Continue to move forward with developing recommendations to the TN General Assembly

UTC’s Accessible Technology Initiative - timeline

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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

*Gaining Online Accessible Learning through Self-Study(GOALS) Benchmarking

Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer

ATI Audit sub-committee

Completed

In progress

Begin departmental/program audit

Fall 2014 Training Develop faculty tips for compliance in instructional materials

Disability Resource Center (DRC), Walker Center for Teaching and Learning (WCTL)

CompletedTips sheets posted on DRC and WCTL web pages

Fall 2014 Roll-out Develop logo, slogan University Relations Slogan “Everyone Achieves” mark selected in December 2014; approved by Chancellor January 2015

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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 FairLoop the ATI PSA

ATI CommitteeCommunication Dept.

Tech Fair – February 22, 2015

Spring 2015 Training Introduce accessible syllabus templateSyllabus 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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UT System Accessibility Policy Implementation

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