BACK ISSUES: Select One: View All --------- | -- 2002 -- | April | -- 2001 -- | Oct/Nov Aug/Sept June/July April/May March Jan/Feb | -- 2000 -- | December Oct/Nov September July/August June May April March February January | -- 1999 -- | December November October September July/August June May April March February January | -- 1998 -- | December November October September July/August June May April March February January | -- 1997 -- | December November

Volume 3 Issue 5May 1999

TIPS on Video Conferencing:

Universal Design and the Web

Laurie Vasquez
Assistive Technology Specialist, Santa Barbara City College

As California Community Colleges continue to develop its capacity for technology based instructional resources and the delivery of distance education, it must proceed with the needs of all students in mind, including the unique needs of students with disabilities.

One way of continuing the "open door" access of community colleges is through the concept of universal design. An approach to creating environments and products that recognizes the diversity of users, regardless of their ability or age. Universal design challenges designers to think beyond a specific code of compliance or set features that limit creativity. In fact, it is merely the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

With this in mind, the advent of distance education has created a new challenge for colleges because in essence they are creating a new group of designers: webmasters creating campus home pages, faculty creating instructional web sites, and department staff creating a web presence for student needs.

Legislation
As a system we have the responsibility to be aware of the existing legislation that speaks to compliance under the law and to do all we can to ensure student success. For example, there is Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 305 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office Regulations on Distance Learning with reference to "student access."

In a complaint by a student that a university had failed to provide access to the Internet, the Office of Civil Rights, United States Department of Education (OCR) discussed what was meant to provide effective communication. In a nutshell,

[T]he issue is not whether the student with the disability is merely provided access, but the issue is rather the extent to which the communication is actually as effective as that provided to others. Title II [of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990] also strongly affirms the important role that computer technology is expected to play as an auxiliary aid by which communication is made effective for persons with disabilities.
(Pages 1-2, 1996 Letter; 28 C.F.R. 35.160(a))

In further clarifying what is meant by "effective communication," OCR has held that the three basic components of effective communication are: "timeliness of delivery, accuracy of the translation, and provision in a manner and medium appropriate to the significance of the message and the abilities of the individual with the disability." (Page 1, 1997 Letter)

To emphasize our part in this national process for change, a report dated March 9, 1999 from the Chancellor’s office was sent to the Office of Civil Rights. This report updated the progress of our system regarding the statewide compliance review conducted by the Office of Civil Rights in January 1998. Of the nine OCR concerns listed and one of many being addressed by the Chancellor’s office is the development of distance education and accessibility guidelines.

It is clear we have a responsibility to train our staff and faculty in designing web pages, which reach the greatest number of users. Persons with disabilities can currently use some assistive technologies to navigate web pages, however, "electronic curbcuts" could be provided if the designer includes the basic functionality for access by utilizing web accessibility guidelines. Otherwise, the users access is limited or simply not available.

Remember, accessible web design does not mean plain vanilla pages with a simple font in 40-point type. Providing some obvious alternatives ensures that your creations reach a wider audience.

Web Accessibility Guidelines
For the designer of a web page there are many considerations to follow: content, color, images, layout, navigation bar, presentation, style, to name a few. New innovations add audio, video, animation and other interactivity. Where does one start to address the access opportunities?

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), in coordination with organizations around the world, is pursuing accessibility of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education & outreach, and research & development.

Thorough and in-depth these guidelines are a dynamic work in progress providing a starting point for web designers new to the structure of HTML pages. The guidelines are a multi-layered document meant to give detail on the many sides of web access.

Web Authoring Tool Considerations
Many colleges are choosing authoring tools such as Front Page, PageMill, Claris Home Page, Dreamweaver and many others to aid in the design of web pages. It is important to recognize that many of these tools do not yet incorporate a full feature set of accessibility options for the designer to implement. It is up to the designer to be aware of resources and implement corrections for access that these tools currently lack.

Captioning and Audio on the Web
Multimedia clips, which are becoming more and more popular on the Web, are, for the most part, inaccessible to blind, visually impaired, deaf and hard-of-hearing users.

Course Management Tools
Another area to be aware of that may affect the accessibility of distance education courses are course management tools. Companies such as Top Class, WebCT, Convene, Real Education and many others are coming to our institutions offering course solutions for faculty going online.

As advocates for all users it is important to ask these companies about the accessibility features they offer for students with disabilities. Are their pages friendly to screen readers? Do they present content in frame or table style? Is the interface of their program flexible should the user with disabilities want to change the presentation for easier navigation?

On The Web: Accessibility:

• Bobby - Web accessibility checker
  
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
  
• Applying the ADA to the Internet: A Web Accessibility Standard
  
• WAI Page Author Guidelines Curriculum
  
• Challenges for Universal Design
  
• National Center for Accessible Media