eAccessibility Academy

BELOW IS PREVIOUS WORK

Disability Defined

An individual with a disability is defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a person who has:

• a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,
• a person who has a history or record of such an impairment,
• or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.

Accessible Defined

"Accessible" means a person with a disability is:

• afforded the opportunity
• to acquire the same information,
• engage in the same interactions, &
• enjoy the same services as a person without a disability
• in an equally effective & equally integrated manner,
• with substantially equivalent ease of use.
• At the same time as a person without a disability

The person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally & independently as a person without a disability. ~ Settlement Agreement, US Dept. of Education

Types of disabilities

Insert Seth's images here.

It is important to recognize that all disabilities are on a continuum, hence we talk about visual impairment, rather than blindness and hearing impairment rather than deafness.

Physical

Physical disabilities restrict movement or impair control of voluntary movement.

Examples include:

• Quadriplegia and paraplegia
• Use of a wheelchair
• The use of a walking stick, cane, crutches, or walker
• Effects of spinal injuries
• Muscular Dystrophy

Hearing

Hearing disabilities affect a person's ability to hear in the same way that most people do.

Examples include:

• Hearing loss
• Inability to hear certain sounds
• Complete deafness

Individuals with cochlear implants may have some of their hearing restored, but often still need accommodations and accessible material to be able to fully get the benefit of information typically conveyed through sound.

Sight

People with disabilities affecting their sight may not be completely blind. They may need glasses or contacts, they may have trouble distinguishing color. They may have tunnel vision or need large text or a way to magnify text. Some may have difficulty reading text when the contrast ratio between the background and the text color is not great enough.

Speech

Individuals with speech disabilities experience challenges in forming words and sounds that are understandable by most people.

Cognitive

Cognitive disabilities include a wide range of mental disabilities.

Examples include:

• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Dyslexia
• The Autism spectrum
• Reading Disorders
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Social Anxiety
• Epilepsy

Why do we focus on accessibility?

1. It’s the right thing to do.
2. It's a smart thing to do.
3. It is the law?
   • Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (amended in 1998)
     This law is currently being refreshed with an implementation date of January 18, 2018
   • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

Policy, Guidelines, and Timeline

Policy

Auburn University has had a policy governing the accessibility of electronic information technology (EITA) since 2011. In October of 2016 that policy was updated to encompass procurement of information technology resources and instructional materials. This site as an explanation of the policy to help answer common questions.

Guidelines

Auburn has opted to follow the Web Accessibility Initiative's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WGAG) at the AA level. Currently, the 2.0 version is the most recent although version 2.1 is being drafted and commented on.

Timeline

With the revisions of the university EITA policy, the university followed recommendations to take a "from this point forward" approach to addressing the accessibility of electronic information technology. This means that as we create new websites, web pages, or mobile/computer/web applications (or update existing websites, web pages, or mobile/computer/web applications); develop new (or update) mass emails, documents (Word, PDF, etc.), slideshows (PowerPoint, Keynote etc.), recordings (video and audio); or purchase new solutions: we will assess their accessibility prior to purchase or launch to assess their adherence to the industry standards and guidelines such as WCAG. If found lacking the steps to improve accessibility to the point that it meets the minimum requirements will be taken before the product is launched and made publicly available.

By January 18, 2018, all resources created since the beginning of 2011, will be remediated to be meet the adopted accessibility standards outlined in WCAG 2.0.

Any information created before 2011 will be evaluated for accuracy and a decision to archive it (take it completely off-line) will be considered. If it remains online, it too will be remediated.

Universal Design and Accessibility

Universal Design Defined

Universal Design

“the design of products & environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.” ~ The Center for Universal Design

Benefits of accessibility work and universal design

Just as the UPS delivery person and parents with strollers benefit from curb cuts and accessibility ramps (that were originally installed for wheelchair users), transcripts/captioning helps when English is not the presenter or viewer's first language. It also helps in situations where listening to sound is not an option.

People learn in different ways. Some learn by reading, others learn by hearing. If we present course materials in both forms then students can consume the content in the way that they best learn while strengthening their weaker learning techniques. An example would be reading a book along with an audio version.

Because Google is effectively blind and deaf, transcripts and alternative text help with search results (search engine optimization [SEO])

How do people with disabilities us electronic resources?

• People with visual disabilities often use screen readers such as JAWS and NVDA on Windows, or VoiceOver on Macs to help them use computers, computer programs, and consume text on web pages. This technology allows them to navigate around the screen as well as list all the links or headings on a page so that they can get an overview of the page and know what action items they can use.
• Some users may be able to see, but they need text read to them. Text to speech applications, such as Natural Reader, help with this need.
• A large number of users with disabilities make use of a keyboard instead of a mouse to navigate the websites and programs they use. This often consists of tabbing (or Shift + Tab to go backwards) through links on a webpage or using the Enter or Spacebar to 'click'. Arrow keys can also be used to move the mouse.
• Individuals with cognitive disabilities, as well as those that navigate with a keyboard or use a screen reader, need to be able to stop movement on webpages. This can be because the movement is a distraction, is prone to cause seizures, or needs to stop to allow time to navigate to the element before it disappears.