OUR STUDENTS ARE (Y)OUR STUDENTS

Sharing Responsibility for

Accessibility

Disability Services--B 209

Staff:

Tomma Lee FurstDirector of DS and Student Behavioral Intervention

Kym KleinsmithAdaptive Tech/Ed. Support Specialist

Lori CorriganAcademic Support Specialist

Outcome of Recent Conferences

Most important concept from both national conferences summed up by Jeanne Kincaid at conference opening:

“The days of being a solo Disability Services office are over. If yours is a solo office, it could lead to lawsuits.”

“Jeanne Kincaid is a nationally known disability lawyer and consultant, representing public schools, colleges and universities nationwide on a host of disability and special education issues, including the physical accessibility requirements imposed by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.” She currently works for the firm Drummond/Woodsum in Portland, ME (http://www.dwmlaw.com).

Consider this…

Student with a

disability

Welcome Center

Online application

Financial Aid

Class, Assignments, Angel, etc.

I.T. Help Desk

Library Services

Bookstore

We need to work together:

Recent lawsuits indicate that it is EVERYONE’S responsibility to:

Understand the needs of students with disabilitiesProvide access to all information, processes,

procedures, and services From the time students apply through graduationOnline and in classroomOutside of the classroom, on and off campus

(events, activities, field trips, etc.)Credit and non-credit programs

Wording of recent lawsuits:

Students with disabilities should be able to “access and acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions and enjoy the same services with substantially equivalent ease of use” as their peers without disabilities.

How can we move in this direction?

We can’t wave

a magic wand…

…but we need to take

the first step on the road

to shared responsibility

for accessibility.

To begin, consider your responsibility for:

1. Sending a consistent message about accommodations and linkage to Disability Services (statement about accommodations for your syllabi)

2. Considering how technical standards of a program are met by students

3. Understanding the presence of service animals on campus

4. Thinking ahead about possible field trip issues

5. Providing online and print materials that are accessible

#1. Syllabus message about accommodations

Put on all syllabiConsider putting it near the top of your course

policies (not at the end)Say it out loud, tooDon’t rush thisExamples of wording for this message on

handout

**This is our shared responsibility**

#2. Technical standards for programs

To avoid possible lawsuits, when writing technical standards it is recommended that you:

not use exit standards as entry standards

not set criteria on the basis of not being disabled

not base standards on historical references

not base standards on what students may be required to do in the future

not apply technical standards only to those who you think will not be able to meet them

apply standards consistently to all applicants

**This is our shared responsibility**

#3. Service animals on campus (ADA)

Dogs trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities Guide blind, alert deaf, pull wheelchair, alert and protect if seizure,

calm PTSD if anxiety attack, open door, etc. Working animals, not pets Work or task must be directly related to person’s disability Animal allowed to go where student goes, including cafeteria

(exceptions for safety, e.g. labs) Must be harnessed, leashed, controlled Dogs (or other animals) whose function is to provide comfort or

emotional support are NOT service animals under ADA

**This is our shared responsibility**

#3. Service animals on campus (ADA) (continued)

If no obvious reason for dog, only two questions may be asked: Is dog required because of a disability? What work/task has dog been trained to perform? Cannot ask about disability, require medical documentation or ask for

demonstration of task Can remove dog if out of control or not housebroken If RACC had housing, must consider “assistance animal” under Fair

Housing Act Miniature horses RACC Guidelines posted soon on DS page of RACC website

**This is our shared responsibility**

#4. Field trips

Consider:Accessible transportation to event (talk with bus

company)The student’s mobility and mode of travel once at

the location (wheelchair, scooter, etc.)Accessible entrances at event siteMeals, rest rooms, etc. all need to be accessible

**This is our shared responsibility**

#5. Accessibility to print and online materials

Some students’ disabilities require that they access print and online information in a unique way. Regardless of the way they access information, they must also be able to do so independently. For example:

Visual (Blindness, low vision, color-blindness)Screen reader, Braille, refreshable electronic Braille, enlarged text,

audio textbooks, Zoomtext, adjustable colors on monitor, etc.

Hearing (Deafness, Hard-of-hearing)ASL interpreter, captioning for all videos on website, Angel,

monitor boards, FM listening system, hearing aids, note taker, etc.

**This is our shared responsibility**

#5 Accessibility to print and online materials (continued)

Some students’ disabilities require that they access print and online information in a unique way. Regardless of the way they access information, they must also be able to do so independently. For example: Motor (Inability to use mouse, slow response time, limited

motor control)Mouth stick for keyboard, adaptive keyboard, electronic texts,

etc.

Cognitive (Learning disabilities, distractibility, inability to remember or focus on large amounts of information)Audio textbook, text-to-speech software, use of recorder in

class, apps for reminders, etc.

**This is our shared responsibility**

#5 Accessibility to print and online materials (continued)

How can you help all students access print and online materials?

Start with these best practices:

Know that HTML and PDF are the most accessible file types

Use high-contrast colors and avoid colored text for emphasis

Order and use videos that are already captioned YouTube “auto caption” is NOT accurate; most are illegally or anonymously posted

You may have to write the script for a video yourself

Ryan Matz can caption in-house videos

#5 Accessibility to print and online materials (continued)

How can you help all students access print and online materials?

Start with these best practices:

Provide written scripts for all audio

Submit your textbook order early (or at least on time)

Know that DS staff may ask you for detailed, written descriptions of tables, charts, or photos in a textbook

Convert MS Word and PowerPoint documents to PDF (on Angel)

Provide a text-only version of PowerPoint presentations (on Angel)

Consider this…

Student with a

disability

Welcome Center

Online application

Financial Aid

Class & Assignments

I.T. Help Desk

Library Services

Bookstore

Feeling adventurous?

For more info about shared responsibility for accessibility, check out these links:

Texas Tech’s site:

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/students/sds/Accessibility.asp Web Accessibility in Mind:

http://webaim.org/ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines:

http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/ George Mason University’s site

http://accessibility.gmu.edu/

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