To Care and Comply: Approaching Accessibility in Online Courses

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1 To Care and Comply: Approaching Accessibility in Online Courses

2 Who We Are Distance Learning Department Director, Loraine Schmitt, Media Production Manager in DL, Sue Quast, Accessibility Advocate for Online Courses, Karen Sorensen,

3 Academic and Student Affairs, Distance Learning and Disability Services are district offices that serve 4 main campuses. Portland Community College Academic and Student Affairs, Distance Learning and Disability Services are district offices that serve four main campuses: Rock Creek Campus, Cascade Campus, Southeast Campus and Sylvania Campus

4 Agenda/Overview Legal Issues Accessibility Guidelines Awareness Campaign Training Course Reviews/Analysis Discipline Specific Collaboration Resources Shared

5 Legal Push Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability by public entities

6 What Do These Laws say about Online Course Accessibility? Well, nothing just yet.

7 June 29, 2010 Dear Colleague, Requiring use of an emerging technology in a classroom environment when the technology is inaccessible to an entire population of individuals with disabilities is discrimination prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

8 Lawsuits & Civil Rights Complaints Filed for: Inaccessible college/university websites Inaccessible hardware and software Inaccessible LMS s Inaccessible online content Inaccessible enterprise tools ( , calendar, etc.)

9 Bottom Line: All Online Courses Need to Be Accessible to Students with Disabilities

10 Isn t that Disability Services responsibility?

11 The Feds say No All faculty and staff must comply with the nondiscrimination requirements of Section 504 and the ADA in their professional interactions with students, because these interactions are part of the operations of the school. Dear Colleague follow-up Q & A, May 2011

12 So, what s Web Accessibility? 1. Web Accessibility Standards do exist, even if a legal definition doesn t: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Accommodations accommodations or modifications that permit them [students with disabilities] to receive all the educational benefits provided by the technology in an equally effective and equally integrated manner.

13 That s A Lot!

14 Before 2011 We didn t have clarity We didn t have Standards We had uncoordinated efforts We had multiple part-timers doing the work

15 Getting Started in Hire an Accessibility Advocate for Online Courses 2. What about a Policy? 3. Chose a Standard 4. Get Buy-In from Above 5. Organized the Guiding Team

16 Guiding Team Representatives from: Faculty Deans Disability Services Library Web Team Distance Learning Academic Affairs

17 Guiding Team outcomes Develop Communication Guidelines Determine Clear, Faculty Expectations Develop and Execute a Plan to Ensure Online Course Content is Accessible

18 Approaching Accessibility Last minute accommodations Build awareness Spring 2012: All new online courses are accessible Assess existing content Refine best practices for web page and media development Advanced instructor trainings Fall 2013: All online courses are accessible! Fall 2014: All hybrid & web enhanced courses are accessible! All instructional content is accessible!

19 Adjustment in Message Directive Mandate Aspirational Goal Collective Effort Shared Responsibility

20 The Awareness Campaign, 2011 Fall In-service launch Subject Area Committee Chairs Meeting Part-time Faculty Institutes at each campus New Faculty Institute Faculty Department Chairs Meeting Informational Tables Department meetings On-going Outreach Video: To Care and Comply Website: Trainings

21 Year 1 Trained over 150 faculty in Document Accessibility & Video Captioning Plus accessibility included in new online instructor orientations Reviewed 58 new courses for accessibility. Captioned (in-house) 416 titles/104 hours

22 Online Instructor Orientation Introduction to Online Learning Basic Technical Development Skills Online Design Skills Accessibility Copyright

23 Year 2 Revise Plan Math accessibility study Outsourced captioning accommodations Economic study on how much time and money it takes to make an online course accessible

24 What s it all Cost? Project Analyzing the Cost of Making Online Courses Accessible 4 reviewers reviewed 6 total classes (each class reviewed by 2 people) Simple: no media or interactive widgets, $ to $ Moderately Complex: media but no interactive widgets $ to $ Complex: media and interactive widgets $ to $ More time-consuming to retrofit than to design upfront to be accessible

25 Future Plans Replicate the math accessibility model with other subjects areas: Chemistry Computer Science Art Enact revised Plan to get all online course content accessible

26 Lessons Learned Outsource Captioning Shared Responsibility Don t wait to have all the answers A plan helps protect you

27 What are others doing?

28 Who We Are Distance Learning Department Director, Loraine Schmitt, Media Production Manager in DL, Sue Quast, Accessibility Advocate for Online Courses, Karen Sorensen,

29 Slides & Resources