WEBVTT 00:00:01.048 --> 00:00:05.026 (Michael Young) We are committed to the notion that everyone should have an opportunity to 00:00:05.026 --> 00:00:09.959 participate in higher education, whether it be from the learning perspective, or the research 00:00:09.959 --> 00:00:14.082 perspective, or an opportunity to work here at this institution. We benefit from that 00:00:14.082 --> 00:00:20.519 because we get to enjoy the talents and the skills of those people who come in, and also 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:24.599 their perspective, which in many cases will be different from the perspective of others 00:00:24.599 --> 00:00:31.056 on campus. So accessibility becomes a very important value at the university. 00:00:31.056 --> 00:00:48.093 (Tracy Mitrano) We're a leading university globally. We want the best talent in the world 00:00:48.093 --> 00:00:54.008 for our students, our staff, and our faculty. And we want to be sure if that talent has 00:00:54.008 --> 00:00:57.879 a disability that they know that we are a welcoming community. 00:00:57.879 --> 00:01:03.076 (Pablo Molino) We're competing with other prestigious and highly accomplished institutions. 00:01:03.076 --> 00:01:10.091 We want to make sure that we can target the right candidates to join our community regardless 00:01:10.091 --> 00:01:13.075 of their disability status. (Pete Siegel) We want to do everything we 00:01:13.075 --> 00:01:21.009 can to insure that they have the same access to smart faculty, to fellow students, and 00:01:21.009 --> 00:01:25.063 to the resources at UC Davis. (Ed Ray) In fact, we genuinely believe that 00:01:25.063 --> 00:01:32.007 excellence is achieved through diversity and that a commitment to equity and inclusion 00:01:32.007 --> 00:01:38.004 really enriches each of our lives. (Linda Cahill) It would be inconceivable not 00:01:38.004 --> 00:01:45.088 to have a social conscience, at least, and be completely committed to making our resources 00:01:45.088 --> 00:01:49.025 at Barry University accessible to all students. 00:01:49.025 --> 00:01:55.075 (Ed Ray) We believe that the use of technology can be very powerful. It connects people to 00:01:55.075 --> 00:02:02.017 each other, but it also enhances their learning capabilities; it increases what they can do 00:02:02.017 --> 00:02:08.879 through their research and creative work; it really makes it possible for them to have 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:15.043 a more powerful impact in the world and that's basically what we're all about. And we want 00:02:15.043 --> 00:02:23.489 that to be true for every member of our community regardless of limitations, of physical, spacial, 00:02:23.489 --> 00:02:30.659 time or other dimension. (Hernan Londono) As an IT professional, sometimes 00:02:30.659 --> 00:02:37.239 some of us concentrate in the technical side of the house only and we forget that finally 00:02:37.239 --> 00:02:41.159 the technology is to serve the people. (Michael Young) What the university offers 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:46.039 and makes available has to be offered to everybody. We can't afford to waste the talents or 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:52.014 the brilliance or the minds of anybody and making things accessible allows everybody 00:02:52.014 --> 00:02:57.219 to engage in the university. Equal opportunity is a part of our value system, but it's 00:02:57.219 --> 00:03:00.889 also required by law. (Pete Siegel) Compliance is extremely important. 00:03:00.889 --> 00:03:06.959 And compliance is the law. But that isn't the motivator for most of us at universities. 00:03:06.959 --> 00:03:14.499 Our motivation has always been to provide easily accessible tools, excellent experiences 00:03:14.499 --> 00:03:19.189 for our students and really to give them the sense that this is a place they want to be, 00:03:19.189 --> 00:03:24.659 a place they want to learn, a place where they can thrive. 00:03:24.659 --> 00:03:34.379 (Michael Young) Universal design is a very powerful concept because what it means is 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:40.439 we look at the issue of accessibility at the outset rather than buying something or engaging 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:43.087 something, or developing something that we have to retrofit. Which not only makes it 00:03:43.087 --> 00:03:49.639 cheaper and more efficient, it likely makes it much better in terms of both the quality 00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:53.579 of the product and the accessibility to those -- all the people that we want to be able 00:03:53.579 --> 00:03:56.299 to use it. (Tracy Mitrano) I think the other direction 00:03:56.299 --> 00:04:02.999 that colleges and universities could and should take is to think about accommodation as really 00:04:02.999 --> 00:04:08.359 the beginning of the conversation about disability . It was the appropriate measure that was 00:04:08.359 --> 00:04:13.939 taken in the Americans with Disabilities Act that was passed in 1990 and that's well over 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:20.084 a generation ago. I think now we really have to think less about how we're going to measure 00:04:20.084 --> 00:04:27.009 specifically this accommodation or that accommodation and recognize that we can make accessibility 00:04:27.009 --> 00:04:32.007 open and available so that individual staff, faculty or students do not have to go to get 00:04:32.007 --> 00:04:38.004 an accommodation. It will be automatically available in the webpage that they visit, 00:04:38.004 --> 00:04:42.039 in the device that they use. (Brady Deaton) We envision a campus that has 00:04:42.039 --> 00:04:48.014 a concept of universal design in all aspects of information technology, that a student 00:04:48.014 --> 00:04:52.091 is not impeded in any way, but in fact, that technology is utilized not only directly by 00:04:52.091 --> 00:04:59.095 those who benefit because of certain challenges they may have, but also is illustrative to 00:04:59.095 --> 00:05:05.009 the broader student body and to the faculty and to alums about what an inclusive learning 00:05:05.009 --> 00:05:08.027 environment is. (Pete Seigel) We have some things we have 00:05:08.027 --> 00:05:13.074 to learn in order to move into accessibility space, but the basic goals and the basic values 00:05:13.074 --> 00:05:18.037 are things we already know and love. Then we bring in things like universal design: 00:05:18.037 --> 00:05:24.028 the notion that if we design things well right from the start, they actually aren't more 00:05:24.028 --> 00:05:31.093 expensive. This is something that we can fit into even our very, very tight budgets. 00:05:31.093 --> 00:05:43.096 (Eileen McDonough) We make a great effort in our graduate and our undergraduate counsel 00:05:43.096 --> 00:05:52.041 to make sure that faculty and deans are aware that in program design, in offering a new 00:05:52.041 --> 00:05:58.059 major, that they take into account that they might have to have specialized software available, 00:05:58.059 --> 00:06:06.025 and they have to build that into their program development. And then to certainly just be 00:06:06.025 --> 00:06:13.075 aware of all the different ways that students can learn, to help faculty and deans understand 00:06:13.075 --> 00:06:17.072 the concept of universal design. (Gerry Hanley) The first step really needs 00:06:17.072 --> 00:06:26.008 to be an assessment of where we are, so we can then inform our planning process, develop 00:06:26.008 --> 00:06:31.019 plans, implement a project, and then really assess the results of it. 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:36.041 (Pablo Molino) Key to our approach to making sure that our campus and our technology is 00:06:36.041 --> 00:06:41.074 accessible to people with disabilities, is to ensure we do this by design. This is not 00:06:41.074 --> 00:06:48.000 an afterthought that we do after we have implemented a new classroom. Instead, this is something 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:54.002 that we do from the initial conception of new project or idea. The same we would do 00:06:54.002 --> 00:06:57.004 this for privacy and security, we do this for accessibility. 00:06:57.004 --> 00:07:02.095 (Bruce Maas) It is less costly, in the long run, to be thinking through the issues of 00:07:02.095 --> 00:07:09.057 accessibility comprehensively. Therefore, having a plan for accessibility insures that 00:07:09.057 --> 00:07:16.048 from the beginning we think through our issues with regard to the delivery of our services. 00:07:16.048 --> 00:07:23.001 Doing so in a strategic way means that we can hold down costs over the long haul and 00:07:23.001 --> 00:07:28.006 actually deliver better services in the bargain. (Brady Deaton) It is very important that a 00:07:28.006 --> 00:07:36.024 university follows a policy and a process that is a can-do kind of process. It assumes 00:07:36.024 --> 00:07:40.002 that we are going to undertake the investments that we need, we're going to demonstrate the 00:07:40.002 --> 00:07:45.003 values that we need - that not only address the needs of students who may be challenged 00:07:45.003 --> 00:07:52.036 with vision or hearing or other disabilities, but also draw on the technology that is not 00:07:52.036 --> 00:07:56.059 only exciting for those people who are developing the technology, it's intellectually exciting, 00:07:56.059 --> 00:08:01.069 it provides new jobs for that matter and it stimulates learning in so many parts of the 00:08:01.069 --> 00:08:08.037 university. So that attitude of the university administration, as well as faculty and staff 00:08:08.037 --> 00:08:13.068 and students, becomes very, very important because everyone gains from this. It's a win-win 00:08:13.068 --> 00:08:16.041 situation. (Tracy Mitrano) A policy really is an important 00:08:16.041 --> 00:08:22.027 way to go, because it will focus everyone's attention. It's also probably the way that 00:08:22.027 --> 00:08:27.081 you have to go now that there are legal pressures on higher education in this area. The second 00:08:27.081 --> 00:08:33.061 thing I would say about policy is there are really two types in general. One is a policy 00:08:33.061 --> 00:08:38.759 that you have because you have a law, for example, the Family Education Rights Privacy 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:45.029 Act Policy, so you want to be clear and sure that you're going to have compliance on your 00:08:45.029 --> 00:08:49.899 campus. There's another kind of policy that I would call aspirational policy and maybe 00:08:49.899 --> 00:08:55.689 accessibility fits a little bit in both but you most certainly can err on the aspirational 00:08:55.689 --> 00:09:01.329 side. An aspirational policy is something you establish for your institution as a path 00:09:01.329 --> 00:09:06.004 moving towards something, moving forward. It does not have to have one hundred percent 00:09:06.004 --> 00:09:10.319 compliance because it's really a direction that you're setting strategically for your 00:09:10.319 --> 00:09:12.779 institution. (Gerry Hanley) I'd say another critical 00:09:12.779 --> 00:09:25.098 aspect around our strategy is a shared governance strategy. Because education is a shared responsibility 00:09:25.098 --> 00:09:34.389 across faculty, staff, students, venders, all of us working together have to share in 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:42.189 that responsibility. Now, a shared governance process means if you are responsible in delivering 00:09:42.189 --> 00:09:48.024 the service, then you have an opportunity to share in governing how we're going to 00:09:48.024 --> 00:09:52.629 manage the implementation of these services. (Brady Deaton) The administrators of the university 00:09:52.629 --> 00:09:57.949 must reflect the values that demonstrate the importance of this to the learning environment 00:09:57.949 --> 00:10:00.779 and it has to be built in then to every aspect of what we do. 00:10:00.779 --> 00:10:04.139 (Michael Young) Right now we have a number of projects and initiatives underway at the 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:09.269 UW in which we're testing new technologies. Accessibility is an important consideration 00:10:09.269 --> 00:10:13.079 in these evaluations. Many of the vendors we work with have completed 00:10:13.079 --> 00:10:18.569 Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates or VPATs, which offer a checklist of accessibility 00:10:18.569 --> 00:10:23.649 criteria and vendors' self-assessment as to how well they meet those criteria. It's a 00:10:23.649 --> 00:10:28.269 good starting point, but we go beyond that to ask a vendor specific questions and to 00:10:28.269 --> 00:10:33.569 test their products with respect to accessibility. (Gerry Hanley) We begin with our vendors saying 00:10:33.569 --> 00:10:42.309 (a) this is not only important, that this is required for working with the CSU. Every 00:10:42.309 --> 00:10:48.099 student who comes into our institution, we have to provide equally effective access to 00:10:48.099 --> 00:10:55.086 those services and you are a partner in delivering those services to us. So we will tell you 00:10:55.086 --> 00:11:03.093 what we need and then we will help you inform your staff, educate your staff, provide them 00:11:03.093 --> 00:11:10.699 some consultation and guidance in partnership with us, so you can deliver the successful 00:11:10.699 --> 00:11:13.037 service for us. (Pat Burns) So we work with our vendors to 00:11:13.037 --> 00:11:19.018 try to put pressure on them to make things accessible. We actually have a purchasing 00:11:19.018 --> 00:11:26.049 process where we work through and ask the issues about accessibility for software and 00:11:26.049 --> 00:11:31.529 hardware that we buy as well. (Bruce Maas) Individual efforts really need 00:11:31.529 --> 00:11:37.879 to be able to scale well. If we go about things in an ad hoc approach, one by one, we're not 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:43.091 likely to get the same results as if we work together as a community in higher education, 00:11:43.091 --> 00:11:48.099 to work with vendors to improve accessibility for everyone with regard to the products that 00:11:48.099 --> 00:11:55.269 are offered. That's a much more pragmatic approach rather than institution by institution. 00:11:55.269 --> 00:12:02.003 (Gerry Hanley) Making accessibility a priority in their development roadmap is going to be 00:12:02.003 --> 00:12:11.059 driven by the market demand. And if an institution never says a word, the vendor isn't going 00:12:11.059 --> 00:12:17.269 to do anything about it. So if we begin to communicate our demands collectively, then 00:12:17.269 --> 00:12:20.049 the vendor will recognize the market value of accessibility. 00:12:20.049 --> 00:12:26.067 (Joel Hartman) As we acquire IT resources, we have to embed accessibility in our contracts. 00:12:26.067 --> 00:12:31.019 As we develop resources, we have to employ universal design in our thinking about how 00:12:31.019 --> 00:12:35.093 to make these resources available and we have to continue to monitor students to see if 00:12:35.093 --> 00:12:43.309 we're really delivering to them the resources in a form that they can actually use. 00:12:43.309 --> 00:12:53.061 (Michael Young) Accessibility requires effort on the part of everyone in the higher education 00:12:53.061 --> 00:12:59.209 community - faculty, staff, technology vendors. If we all do our part, our institutions can 00:12:59.209 --> 00:13:04.529 provide everyone with an equal opportunity to participate. And we all benefit from the 00:13:04.529 --> 00:13:07.709 perspectives of a diverse group. (Hernan Londonono) Having that peace of mind 00:13:07.709 --> 00:13:12.959 that we are doing all we can to provide an accessible campus is -- gives us a lot of 00:13:12.959 --> 00:13:17.067 pride and we feel very happy about what, what we do. 00:13:17.067 --> 00:13:22.199 (Linda Cahill) Why wouldn't we make our campus accessible to students with disabilities and 00:13:22.199 --> 00:13:27.439 why wouldn't we do everything we could to see the technology is accessible to our students? 00:13:27.439 --> 00:13:32.049 (Tracy Mitrano) The spirit of what has made higher education the jewel in the crown of 00:13:32.049 --> 00:13:36.939 American society is part and parcel of the message of accessibility. 00:13:36.939 --> 00:13:43.139 (Ed Ray) Every way in which we touch the lives of others, whether it's in the classroom, 00:13:43.139 --> 00:13:50.017 the laboratory, through live performances, through events on campus, we want everyone 00:13:50.017 --> 00:14:00.029 who comes here and creates those experiences to be as fully engaged and as fully benefited 00:14:00.029 --> 00:14:08.179 by the activity as possible. And that simply can't be done if people have artificial challenges 00:14:08.179 --> 00:14:09.889 or barriers to try to overcome. 00:14:09.889 --> 00:14:16.319 (Ed Ray) I would say to those out there who are just getting started or maybe struggling 00:14:16.319 --> 00:14:23.629 to figure out how to use technology to advance accessibility on their campuses that there's 00:14:23.629 --> 99:59:59.999 no such thing as a bad time to start.