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TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIERS: Moving Toward Fully Accessible Websites,
Application Materials, and Information Sharing
Kate Fox, Whitney Strickler, Christian Vinten-JohansenPenn State University
WHAT IS “IT” ACCESSIBILITY?
•Providing access to services and information and thereby complying with Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
What is it?
•Federal law is usually taken seriously
•…except regarding universal access to digital life
•…until lately
Why Should You Care?
•Students and stakeholders with disabilities
•Focus on technically challenging disabilities
•Blindness
•Deafness / hearing impaired
Who Are We Doing This For?
THE LAW AND ACCESSIBILITY
Why Hasn’t Accessibility Been Addressed?
•Ambiguous court rulings and legal interpretation
•Fear of moving first
•Unknown costs
•Design precedent
The Laws
•Rehabilitation Act of 1973
•Section 504
•Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
•ADA Amendment Act (2008)
PENN STATE & THE NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
NFB Complaint
•“Penn State subjects blind students and faculty to pervasive and ongoing discrimination in providing access to services and information and thereby violates Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.”
Timeline
•November 2010 – Press release
•October 2011 – Settlement signed
•October 2014 – Deadline to comply
THE SETTLEMENT: PSU AND THE NFB
Requirements for Compliance
•Audit
•Policy update
•Develop and post plan
•All “official” web pages
•Procurement process
•Library websites and services
•Learning Management System
•Classrooms
•Clickers
IN GOOD COMPANY
Other Institutions Under Settlements
•2014 – LSAC
•2014 – University of Colorado, Boulder
•2014 – Atlantic Cape Community College
•2014 – Miami University of Ohio
•2013 – Louisiana Tech
•2013 – University of California, Berkeley
•2013 – South Carolina Technical College System
•2012 – University of Montana
•2012 – Florida State University
•2012 – Maricopa Community College District
•2011 – Northwestern University
•2011 – New York University
•2010 – Penn State University
•2009 – Law School Admissions Council
•2009 – Arizona State, Princeton, Reed, Pace, Darden School of Business, Case Western
•2007 – California State University San Bernardino
•2005 – University of California
ACCESSIBLE VS. INACCESSIBLE
CAN YOU HEAR THE DIFFERENCE?
HOW SCREEN READERS READ WEBSITES
AND DOCUMENTS
•Text transformed into audio and braille
•Page is linear – reads top to bottom, but…
•Can be navigated by lists of:
•headings
• links
•form fields
Text
•Images need “alternative” text descriptions
•Videos may need audio descriptions
Images and Videos
•Poor or missing text alternatives for images
•Unlabeled form fields
•Unstructured data tables
•Missing page structure
•Misleading or useless link text
•Poor page design
•Missing page title
•Missing or no video captions
Blockers
CONSEQUENCES OF INACCESSIBLE WEBSITES
LESSONS LEARNED
Goal: Change Organizational Culture
•Policies and strategies
•Communities of practice
•Processes and systems
Top-down and Bottom-up Crucial to Success
•Top-down = policies, strategies and influence
•Bottom-up = develop skills in communities of practice
Processes Ensure Consistency
•Workflow for captioning videos
•Q/A testing websites and content
Common Language Facilitates Change
Do Not Rely Too Heavily on Results of Automated Tools
•Hire staff with disabilities to test websites
Create Common Goals and Language Among Communities of Practice
Policy Must Align with Federal Law
ADDRESSING ACCESSIBILITY:EDUCATION ABROAD OFFICE PERSPECTIVE
• Can all students access online study abroad information and application processes without limitation?Ask
• A student with visual impairment should not have any different of an experience navigating the study abroad process than a student with no visual impairment.
Consider
• While we can make accessibility a priority on the front-end, it is still important to have realistic conversations with a prospective student about the on-site experience and if similar accommodations could be made abroad.
Remember
PUBLIC WEBSITE INFORMATION: HEADERS
Proper Formatting of Headings
• Screen readers can be told to read only the headings of a particular page; however the headers must be properly formatted for the reader to know it is a header.
• Title of page: Heading 1
• Next level: Heading 2
• Next level: Heading 3
• Headers should not be links.
PUBLIC WEBSITE INFORMATION: CONTENT
Lists•Bulleted items
•Numbered lists
Text Formatting•Bold words and ALL CAPS cause the screen reader to shout the word at the user
•Using directional language in text
•Bad: “See below”
•Embed Links into text
•Good: Learn tips that will help keep study abroad affordable while searching for a program.
•Bad: To learn more, click here
•Very Bad: http://global.psu.edu/info/going-abroad/students/funding-study-abroad/keeping-it-affordable
Acronyms•Screen readers read acronyms as words, not as separate letters
•Example: United States written as “US” is pronounced “us”
PUBLIC WEBSITE INFORMATION: PHOTOS
Photos
•Alt tag: Description of what is actually shown in the photo
•Caption: Brief explanation or attention-grabbing phrase about content of webpage
INFORMATION SHARING (EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE, ONLINE WEBINARS, ETC.)
Email Correspondence
•Same formatting guidelines as websites
•Beware Attachments
•Attached documents should be accessible too!
Webinars and Videos
•Provide written transcript with all audio
Course Management Systems
•Caution: Online content should be accessible too
Social Media
•Caution: Most social media apps are not accessible
INFORMATION SHARING: DOCUMENTS
Microsoft Office
•Word Documents
•With proper headers and formatting Word documents can be accessible
•Create a template to work from for all new documents
•Excel
•PowerPoint
•Best to use existing templates
•Avoid bells and whistles (e.g. spinning text)
PDFs
•Possible to make them accessible, however:
•It’s time consuming
•It’s very difficult
•Better to convert into an accessible format
•OR, offer an accessible alternative next to the PDF
PDF DEMO
UTILIZING STUDIOABROAD/APPLICATION DATABASE
First, Is the Software You Use Accessible?
•Terra Dotta has available a website with a voluntary report on the accessibility of StudioAbroad’s features.
Applying Through StudioAbroad
•Questionnaires
•Instructions
•Signature Documents
•Materials (owned by your office)
•Learning Content
•Recommendations
Communicating Through Studio
•Email messages
•Reminders
CASE STUDY: PROGRAM BROCHURE PAGES
•Building a Template
•Using a Test Page
•Penn State Program Pages in StudioAbroad
•Old version: CLOSED Dept HRIM: Maastricht
•Updated Version: CIEE: Amman, Diplomacy and Policy Studies
Front-facing:
Program Pages
•Materials and instructions provided to students once they have started an application should also be accessible.
•Old Version: HRIM: Maastricht Application
•Updated Version: CIEE Application Instructions
Back-end:
Materials/Documents
•Try to match your program pages stylistically to the rest of your website.
•Use the same theme throughout the site (i.e. budget sheet notes, materials, documents, etc.)
•Team effort: Checks and Balances
Tips
ACCESSIBILITY OF INTERNATIONAL PARTNER SITES AND DOCUMENTS
Documents Owned by a Foreign Institution
• What is the responsibility of your institution?
Contacting Your Partners
• Good Faith Effort
• Create Awareness of Accessibility Issues
• Example Email to Partners
Implementing Outcome of Contact with Partner Institution
• If provided an accessible document, use it!
• If not provided an accessible document…
• Arrange suitable alternative if possible and follow up with partner if necessary.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GLOBAL PROGRAMS
Making an Office-wide Plan for Your Larger Unit
•Priority 1: Public Facing Items
•Website
•Correspondence (e.g. email, newsletters, etc.)
•PDF and online documents
•Priority 2: Back-End Items
•Application system
• Internal documents
SCENARIOS/DISCUSSION
Discussion Topics
•Identifying problem areas in your universities/offices
•Pin-point the problem areas
•Volunteers?
RESOURCES
Learn More About This Important Issue
• National Federation of the Blind (NFB) offers an accessibility toolkit.
• Mobility International USA (MIUSA)
• Penn State AccessAbility website
• W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
• Penn State World Campus training module
• Addresses accessibility of online course materials.
QUESTIONS
Kate Fox
Education Abroad Adviser
Penn State
Christian Vinten-Johansen
IT Manager
Penn State
Whitney Strickler
Education Abroad Adviser
Penn State
