University
Policy
IN-AccessIT: Access to Online Education (sent on 6/23/06):
Dear Indiana AccessIT Colleagues,
Yesterday we received information about an important audio conference that will be held this coming Tuesday, June 27th. It will provide you with information about a change in federal student aid policy that allows students to use it to pay for online coursework. It will also provide information about the implications of this change for online educators.
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How to Avoid Discrimination in Access to Online Education
A 90-minute, interactive audio conference
When: Next week! -- Tuesday, June 27
What Time: 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Where: Your office or conference room
Cost: Just $249 per listening site no matter how many people are in the room!
Starting this June, federal student aid can be used to pay tuition for online education for a great many educational entities never before eligible to accept such payments. The old requirement that 50% of the instruction be provided in a classroom environment no longer applies. This brings new opportunities, but also a new group of risks for online educators. Estimates indicate that almost $700 million dollars in federal financial aid will filter to these newly eligible recipients over the next decade, but at the same time the legal landscape will change significantly for online education programs. In exchange for accepting federal tuition dollars, educators must also comply with federal nondiscrimination laws, including guaranteeing access for students with disabilities.
What are the implications for educators? How will these for-profit institutions determine which students have disabilities, how their disabilities impact access to educational offerings, and how to support such students as required by federal law?
Dr. Jane Jarrow, PhD., President of the leading consulting firm, Disability Access Information Support (DAIS), will answer these and other key questions at the Thompson audio conference, "How to Avoid Discrimination in Access to Online Education." Dr Jarrow's firm is a leader in providing practical answers to questions relating to disability access in higher education. Dr. Jarrow has also written extensively on the topic and gives workshops throughout the country.
During this 90-minute audio conference you'll learn:
1. Legal underpinnings regarding programmatic access to higher education for persons with disabilities
2. Specific examples of how online education offerings may pose access barriers for students with various disabilities, in order to help you assess your "risk"
3. Review of the parallels between accommodations for students with disabilities in traditional, seated classrooms and accommodations in distance learning
4. Suggestions for how to assure early identification of students with disabilities who may have need of accommodation, and questions to be asked in assessing your responsibility for intervention
5. A "to do" list of steps to take in preparation for meeting your Section 504 responsibilities
6. Resources for reviewing/evaluating web-based offerings -- that is, the availability of your website and course information for persons with disabilities using assistive technology -- as well as resources to assist in shouldering the responsibility for access and compliance
Plus -- you'll get the chance to ask Dr. Jarrow your own questions prior to the audio conference as well as during the live Q&A session following the presentation!
To learn more and register today:
http://xsuite.thompson.com/SF_Module/pr_e.cfm?m=296673.3390.54902&p=1
Registration Includes:
-- Admittance to the 90-minute call for as many people as you can fit in a room with a speakerphone -- Access to the specially created presentation handouts (available 48 hours in advance)
-- Participation in the 30-minute live Q&A with the speaker following the presentation
-- Certificates of attendance for all audio conference attendees
Who Should Register:
-- Online College and University School Administrators
-- Professionals involved with Curriculum Development
-- Compliance Officers
-- Registrars at online colleges and universities
-- Anyone who must comply with federal guidelines concerning online education
To learn more and register today:
http://xsuite.thompson.com/SF_Module/pr_e.cfm?m=296673.3390.54903&p=1
If you prefer to register -- or order the CD recording or the Streaming Audio version -- by phone, then call us toll-free at 1-800-925-1878. And when you do, please be sure to mention your priority code: FSSF 85302.
Take advantage of Thompson Interactive's newest feature -- Streaming Audio. No more waiting for the CD recording -- this new feature allows instant access to the recorded audio conference. Play it back as many times as you want. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Available from any computer. Listen to it at a later date. And it's in MP3 format, so it's playable from any standard media player. Apple/Mac compatible. Same price as a registration to the live audio conference. Same price as the CD. For more information or to order the Streaming Audio using our fax-back form: link
Please feel free to forward this announcement to others who might find it useful.
IN-Access IT: An example University Accessibility Policy (sent on 5/30/06):
Several members of the Indiana AccessIT list serv mentioned they were interested in legal topics and policy creation. Just a few months ago, the Executive Officers at North Carolina State University (NCSU) unanimously approved the NCSU Web Page Accessibility Regulation, requiring that all their new pages be Section 508 compliant and providing a set of implementation guidelines for making existing pages accessible. It is an interesting case study for those of you wishing to implement something similar at your institution.
The complete story can be found at: http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?190
This story is particularly interesting because of North Carolina State's diligence and well organized development process. As the article points out:
ˇ°The NCSU regulation is also distinctive in the high level of support it attained campus-wide during the approval process. In order to become an official university regulation, the policy went through 18 drafts over four years, and secured buy-in from constituents throughout the university, including the Chancellor, Executive Committee, Deans Council, and Faculty Senate.ˇ±
Other schools have been through similar processes. For a list of more examples, visit http://www.washington.edu/accessit/faqs.php?Button=PP
Finally, we would like to point you to the reform process proposed by WebAIM which gives information about each of the following steps:
1. Gather baseline information
2. Gain top-level support
3. Organize a Web accessibility committee
4. Define a standard
5. Create an implementation plan
6. Provide training and technical support
7. Monitor conformance
8. Remain flexible through the changes
The article can be found at: http://www.webaim.org/coordination/implementation/
We hope this information is valuable to those of you with policy change aspirations!
IN-AccessIT: Recruiting students via accessibility (sent on 4/07/06):
As the semester draws to a close, it is already time to start thinking about the next round of students that will come to Indiana 's various institutions to embark on their educational journey. The time to brainstorm changes that need to be made to ensure that your institution is the most attractive to potential students as it can be is right now.
Although recruiters and orientation committees are primarily responsible for guiding students to our schools, web developers, disabled student services coordinators, distance education instructors, and adaptive technology experts make a huge impact as well.
Young people with disabilities using the internet to research potential schools will be immediately disappointed to find that a school's website is not accessible. If they are not able to find disability related services, adaptive technology, and other appropriate accommodations on campus they may not feel comfortable considering such an institution.
A few years ago, a paper was submitted to EDUCAUSE on this very topic. It has several interesting insights as well as suggestions on ways to make improvements. To read the paper, go to: http://www.educause.edu/apps/eq/eqm04/eqm0446.asp Because the internet is such an important research tools for potential students, accessibility is more important than ever.
For those of you who are new to our list or who would like a refresher course on the most important points regarding accessibility, there is an excellent FREE online book available to you. It includes a 30 day plan for understanding accessibility or links to chapters that are of specific interest to you. In addition, there are many links to additional readings on every topic included. The book can be found at: http://diveintoaccessibility.org/
IN-AccessIT: Promising Practices (sent on 7/1/04):
Dear Colleagues,
This message is intended to provide you with more information about promising practices in accessibility at actual universities across the country. The content of the message is in response to the feedback we received from our members, which indicated a desire for case studies to learn from.
First we would like to inform you that there is a section on the website of the National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education (AccessIT) that describes promising practices occurring primarily at educational institutions in accessible information technology. You may find some good ideas in this section?it provides a way to learn from the struggles and successes of others.
For Promising Practices go to: http://www.washington.edu/accessit/faqs.php?Button=PP
We would also like to provide you with examples of promising practices at a couple specific postsecondary institutions.
University of Washington
(See http://www.washington.edu/computing/accessible/)
- Broad Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Web Accessibility Guidelines
- Procurement clause in contracts
- AccessibleWeb discussion group & monthly brownbag
University of Texas - Austin
(See http://www.utexas.edu/disability/)
IN-AccessIT:
Policy Implementation (sent on 5/27/04):
Dear
Colleagues,
The
purpose of this email is to provide you with explicit
support and advice for developing or improving the accessible
IT policy at your school as well as for policy implementation
and monitoring.
WebAim
has created a ˇ°blueprintˇ± for the entire process of policy
development, implementation, and maintenance. The website
provides an eight-step plan for institutions to review
their Internet accessibility policy and take steps towards
providing better access. The steps that WebAIM has identified
are:
1.
Gather baseline information
2. Gain top-level support
3. Organize a Web accessibility committee
4. Define a standard
5. Create an implementation plan
6. Provide training and technical support
7. Monitor conformance
8. Remain flexible through the changes
For
detailed explanations of what is entailed at each step
listed above please visit: http://www.webaim.org/coordination/implementation/
For
some exemplary models of accessible IT policies at postsecondary
entities go to: http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?171
For
a list of web accessibility policies in postsecondary
institutions organized by state go to: http://www.webaim.or/coordination/policies/postsec
We are forwarding the message to you in its entirety. Although it is fairly short notice, we hop some of you will be able to take advantage of this opportunity.
