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Volume 4 Issue 2February 2000

Access CVC-Designing for a Diverse World

Carl Brown
Director, High Tech Center Training Unit California Community Colleges

The California community colleges, along with most other in stitutions of higher education in the United States, are moving ahead rapidly with the development and implementation of video and Web based distance education resources. Recently, the Office for Civil Rights has determined that the California community colleges have an obligation under Title 2 of the Americans with Disabilities Act to insure that these distance education resources are accessible to students with disabilities.

In order to provide training and support for the faculty and staff creating distance education courses, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has put in place five California Virtual College (CVC) training and resource  centers around state. It is essential that the staff of these training and support facilities have access to the specialized trainings, guidelines, technologies, and techniques used for creating accessible distance education resources for students with disabilities.

Now, Access CVC provides training, technical support and online resources associated with the creation of accessible video and Web based distance education. Using a "train the trainers" model, Access CVC offers a variety of specialized trainings both at the High Tech Center Training Unit as well as CVC, @ONE, and other California community college locations statewide. Additionally, Access CVC provides a help desk, extensive Web based resources for creation of accessible distance education, associated listservers, chat rooms and other online resources.

Access CVC is intended to help close the gap between the extensive and complex access requirements for distance education outlined in the Chancellor’s Office Distance Education Guidelines document and the current skill levels of CVC and @ONE trainers, faculty, and staff presently developing video and Web based distance education resources.

The Web site provides:

• links to Web access guidelines
• the latest papers and studies about accessible Web design
• tools for checking Web accessibility
• a schedule of available trainings
• FAQs
• the Access CVC Listserver
• chat and bulletin board services
• and more

Members of the CVC team have already been registered with the Access CVC listserve. If you do not receive notification from the listserv, you may sign up by sending an email to acvc@htclistserv.fhda.edu with "subscribe" in the body of the text.  Please feel free to use this service, and the chat/bulletin board resource, to discuss any issue related to the CVC.

Visit the Access CVC Web site at
http://www.acvc.htctu.fhda.edu