IT Accessibility Constituent Group Meeting Notes

Minutes of the IT Accessibility Constituent Group Meeting
EDUCAUSE Annual Conference 2008

Thursday, October 30th, 2008 4:50-6:15 PM

• Convener: Jon Gunderson, Ph.D, University of Illinois
• Note taker: Lida Larsen, EDUCAUSE
• Posted by: Terrill Thompson, University of Washington

Minutes from Last Years Meeting (in PDF)

Introductions (5 minutes)

• Jon Gunderson, University of Illinois
• Peter Shoudy, Widener University
• Steve Ake, University of Central Missouri
• Kathy Farrell, SUNY Empire State College
• Marc Oehlman, CSU Monterey Bay
• Peter Shoudy, Widener University
• Anne Manning, Wellesley College
• Chris Bouthillier, Chapman University
• Mike Holliday, Saginaw Valley State University
• Joe Conte, Purdue University
• Jason Craft, University of Texas at Austin
• Chris Scheetz, University of Missouri St. Louis
• Barbara Torney, Teachers College, NYC
• Kevin Shalla, University Chicago
• Tom Knab, Case Western Reserve University
• Lida Larsen, Educause
• Andrew Marcer, UNC Greensboro
• Milt Nielsen, Texas State University
• Cindy-Ann Alexander, St. George’s University

Potential Goals of the Group

• Policies on IT accessibility in Higher Education
• Collaboration on improving accessibility of vendor products
• VPAT – compliance templates and verification
• Legal/law enforcement of existing laws
• Best practices – provide stories/examples of success
• Publicity and raising awareness within Educause

Discussion

• EDUCAUSE wants to do more but it has to come from us – staff can support member initiatives, but the content and leadership must come from members.
• Constituent group needs to develop goals for the group, potential goals listed above
• VPAT – compliance templates and verification are an important part of the accessibility process
• We need to create awareness within EDUCAUSE community about disabilities access issues in information technologies
• Could lobby congress to create additional legislation to require colleges and universities to acknowledge compliance before certification of their educational programs
  • 508 currently for federal agencies – may be extended
  • As we move toward distance learning, accessibility issues will be harder to ignore, since on campus surrogate accommodations will not be available in distance learning situations
  • If what you say in VPAT not true and institution gets sued, can they pass it on to the vendors
• Access to educational experiences and to materials. The current model is to think about accessibility last and most likely refer it to the Disabilities Services Office to adapt content to what they need or find a way to get around using the technology. Need to promote thinking about accessibility in the design and authoring stages. Better to address now rather than to retrofit – use success stories.
• Best practices – EDUCAUSE has wiki for web accessibility but no one submits content
• Do things for accessibility but realize that it’s better web design – an investment that can make the institution more efficient in the long run.

Discussion of Publicity Ideas

• Best practices – how to be cool and accessible in a cost effective manner
• At conferences, hook into the PR effort – provide input on slogans
• Define the scope of disability – software, hardware, facilities
• Accessible purchasing and verification:
  • web may be accessible but other tools aren’t (ex. Banner)
  • RFP process – negotiating with vendors, accessible purchasing, verification that what is in the VPAT is accurate. Could we write an article about how to determine – provide collection of vendor VPATs.
  • Cal State is trying to quantify all of this – vendor must prove the reliability of the VPAT. Right now, no vetting organization or standards.
  • Risk management often drives this work.
  • What if you’re dealing with products that are older?
  • EDUCAUSE article would be helpful – CSU may be able to work on this. (Marc, Kathy, Barbara)
  • State systems – can all work together to get one VPAT. Could you extend that to other institutions in other areas?
• What about other countries? Some may be ahead and can provide examples. Banner in Canada working on solutions.
• CIO – raise the macro level issue that could lead to other articles about other micro issues. This is an area that doesn’t get a lot of attention even though there is a lot of state and federal legislation. CIO pays more attention to GLBA and PCI. Develop a framework that allows you to move toward compliance- start a journey. Article would target managerial level – something else you need to be thinking about. Get buy-in at the highest level – not simply about meeting needs. Here’s how you can make education broader and deeper for your whole institution. Invite members from the program committee to get involved – this will also increase awareness. (Tom, Peter)
• Publish information about products that are doing more than others to comply. This could be risky as there is no standard. Web standards are even more ambiguous in current standard. Could say that we worked with Product X to insure accessibility – don’t mention other players. You can also define a set of product features. You could also do it more generically – here is something to look out for when selecting products.
• VPAT symbol - A special symbol vendors earn at EDUCAUSE by displaying they’ve done certain things to comply. Someone still has to determine the standard and test the products.
• On Wiki, put links to vendor VPATs.
• EDUCAUSE Strategic Plan – try to tie these initiatives to it. Also Internet2 Advisory Committee (Tom).
• Award to a vendor that does excellent work

Plans for the Next Year

1. Coordinate publications related to accessibility
   1. CIO Editorial (Tom, Peter)
   2. Article on Accessible Purchasing Best Practices (Jon Marc, Kathy, Barbara)
      1. VPAT
      2. Working with vendors
      3. Success stories in working with vendors
   3. Article on Web Accessibility Best Practices (Jon,???)
2. Encourage Vendors at next year conference to make VPAT information available and include accessibility features in at leastone of their demos
   1. Group could work with Educause staff to create a vendor logo to put on their booth indicating they have VPAT information available
   2. Create a directory of companies that are willing to provide VPAT information that conference participants
   3. Provide handout for the Educause booth on how to interpret and verify VPAT information
   4. Have a special booth on accessibility with group members manning to allow people to ask questions about accessibility.
   5. Encourage vendors to have an accessibility demo as part of their demonstrations and the group could promote these sessions in handouts