WEBVTT 00:00:01.717 --> 00:00:03.753 (Michael Young) We are committed to the notion that everyone 00:00:03.753 --> 00:00:06.349 should have an opportunity to participate in higher education 00:00:06.399 --> 00:00:08.966 whether it be from the learning perspective, 00:00:08.986 --> 00:00:10.396 or the research perspective, 00:00:10.416 --> 00:00:12.856 or an opportunity to work here at this institution. 00:00:13.636 --> 00:00:18.736 We benefit from that because we get to enjoy the talents and the skills 00:00:18.786 --> 00:00:21.176 of those people who come in, and also their perspective, 00:00:21.235 --> 00:00:25.495 which in many cases will be different from the perspective of others on campus. 00:00:25.565 --> 00:00:28.835 So accessibility becomes a very important value at the university. 00:00:44.611 --> 00:00:46.825 (Tracy Mitrano) We're a leading university globally. 00:00:46.855 --> 00:00:50.579 We want the best talent in the world for our students, our staff, 00:00:50.609 --> 00:00:55.674 and our faculty. And we want to be sure if that talent has a disability 00:00:55.708 --> 00:00:58.218 that they know that we are a welcoming community. 00:00:58.427 --> 00:01:00.039 (Pablo Molino) We're competing with other prestigious 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:06.441 and highly accomplished institutions. We want to make sure that we can target 00:01:06.461 --> 00:01:12.874 the right candidates to join our community regardless of their disability status. 00:01:12.884 --> 00:01:15.467 (Pete Siegel) We want to do everything we can to ensure that they have 00:01:15.467 --> 00:01:21.089 the same access to smart faculty, to fellow students, 00:01:21.117 --> 00:01:23.039 and to the resources at UC Davis. 00:01:23.039 --> 00:01:25.601 (Edward Ray) In fact, we genuinely believe that 00:01:25.601 --> 00:01:27.963 excellence is achieved through diversity 00:01:28.743 --> 00:01:31.847 and that a commitment to equity and inclusion 00:01:31.867 --> 00:01:34.658 really enriches each of our lives. 00:01:35.258 --> 00:01:41.070 (Linda Cahill) It would be inconceivable not to have a social conscience, at least, 00:01:41.372 --> 00:01:47.062 and be completely committed to making our resources at Barry University 00:01:47.062 --> 00:01:49.132 accessible to all students. 00:01:49.778 --> 00:01:54.360 (Edward Ray) We believe that the use of technology can be very powerful. 00:01:54.630 --> 00:01:56.222 It connects people to each other, 00:01:56.232 --> 00:01:59.846 but it also enhances their learning capabilities; 00:02:00.056 --> 00:02:06.010 it increases what they can do through their research and creative work; 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:11.426 it really makes it possible for them to have a more powerful impact in the world 00:02:11.466 --> 00:02:14.551 and that's basically what we're all about. 00:02:14.666 --> 00:02:17.856 And we want that to be true for every member of our community 00:02:17.915 --> 00:02:25.985 regardless of limitations, of physical, spacial, time or other dimension. 00:02:26.767 --> 00:02:27.987 (Hernan Londono) As an IT professional, 00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:34.880 sometimes some of us concentrate in the technical side of the house only 00:02:34.902 --> 00:02:39.022 and we forget that finally the technology is to serve the people. 00:02:39.090 --> 00:02:42.312 (Michael Young) What the university offers and makes available 00:02:42.312 --> 00:02:43.894 has to be offered to everybody. 00:02:43.914 --> 00:02:48.646 We can't afford to waste the talents or the brilliance or the minds of anybody 00:02:48.664 --> 00:02:53.474 and making things accessible allows everybody to engage in the university. 00:02:53.645 --> 00:02:58.545 Equal opportunity is a part of our value system, but it's also required by law. 00:02:58.596 --> 00:03:02.336 (Pete Siegel) Compliance is extremely important. Compliance is the law. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.650 But that isn't the motivator for most of us at universities. 00:03:06.699 --> 00:03:12.449 Our motivation has always been to provide easily accessible tools, 00:03:12.712 --> 00:03:15.482 excellent experiences for our students 00:03:15.506 --> 00:03:19.366 and really to give them the sense that this is a place they want to be, 00:03:19.384 --> 00:03:22.014 a place they want to learn, a place where they can thrive. 00:03:31.122 --> 00:03:34.462 (Michael Young) Universal design is a very powerful concept because what it means is 00:03:34.492 --> 00:03:39.692 we look at the issue of accessibility at the outset rather than buying something 00:03:39.692 --> 00:03:42.852 or engaging something, or developing something that we have to retrofit. 00:03:42.870 --> 00:03:45.800 Which not only makes it cheaper and more efficient, 00:03:45.810 --> 00:03:50.340 it likely makes it much better in terms of both the quality of the product 00:03:50.350 --> 00:03:52.281 and the accessibility to those... 00:03:52.285 --> 00:03:54.375 all the people that we want to be able to use it. 00:03:54.485 --> 00:03:56.941 (Tracy Mitrano) I think the other direction that colleges 00:03:56.941 --> 00:03:59.515 and universities could and should take is 00:03:59.515 --> 00:04:02.366 to think about accommodation 00:04:02.366 --> 00:04:06.397 as really the beginning of the conversation about disability. 00:04:06.437 --> 00:04:08.738 It was the appropriate measure that was taken 00:04:08.738 --> 00:04:10.822 in the Americans with Disabilities Act 00:04:10.842 --> 00:04:12.748 that was passed in 1990 00:04:12.748 --> 00:04:15.366 and that's well over a generation ago. 00:04:15.501 --> 00:04:20.678 I think now we really have to think less about how we're going to measure 00:04:20.688 --> 00:04:23.955 specifically this accommodation or that accommodation 00:04:24.095 --> 00:04:28.444 and recognize that we can make accessibility open and available 00:04:28.474 --> 00:04:31.424 so that individual staff, faculty or students 00:04:31.424 --> 00:04:34.094 do not have to go to get an accommodation. 00:04:34.094 --> 00:04:37.631 It will be automatically available in the webpage that they visit, 00:04:37.631 --> 00:04:39.608 in the device that they use. 00:04:39.888 --> 00:04:44.732 (Brady Deaton) We envision a campus that has a concept of universal design 00:04:44.742 --> 00:04:49.816 in all aspects of information technology, that a student is not impeded in any way, 00:04:49.816 --> 00:04:54.402 but in fact, that technology is utilized not only directly by those who benefit 00:04:54.402 --> 00:04:57.664 because of certain challenges they may have, 00:04:57.694 --> 00:05:01.636 but also is illustrative to the broader student body 00:05:01.684 --> 00:05:03.934 and to the faculty and to alums . 00:05:04.004 --> 00:05:06.824 about what an inclusive learning environment is. 00:05:06.854 --> 00:05:08.994 (Pete Seigel) We have some things we have to learn 00:05:09.004 --> 00:05:11.204 in order to move into accessibility space, 00:05:11.224 --> 00:05:15.675 but the basic goals and the basic values are things we already know and love. 00:05:15.685 --> 00:05:18.075 Then we bring in things like universal design, 00:05:18.094 --> 00:05:22.378 the notion that if we design things well right from the start, 00:05:22.388 --> 00:05:24.882 they actually aren't more expensive. 00:05:24.882 --> 00:05:28.276 This is something that we can fit into even our very, very tight budgets. 00:05:39.313 --> 00:05:42.383 (Eileen McDonough) We make a great effort in our graduate 00:05:42.383 --> 00:05:48.673 and our undergraduate counsel to make sure that faculty and deans are aware that 00:05:48.703 --> 00:05:52.703 in program design, in offering a new major, 00:05:52.757 --> 00:05:54.497 that they take into account that 00:05:54.497 --> 00:05:58.227 they might have to have specialized software available, 00:05:58.252 --> 00:06:02.632 and they have to build that into their program development. 00:06:02.652 --> 00:06:08.084 And then to certainly just be aware of all the different ways 00:06:08.084 --> 00:06:10.844 that students can learn, 00:06:10.844 --> 00:06:16.124 to help faculty and deans understand the concept of universal design. 00:06:16.149 --> 00:06:19.359 (Gerry Hanley) The first step really needs to be an assessment 00:06:19.359 --> 00:06:24.859 of where we are, so we can then inform our planning process, 00:06:24.894 --> 00:06:27.804 develop plans, implement a project, 00:06:27.804 --> 00:06:31.384 and then really assess the results of it. 00:06:31.384 --> 00:06:34.294 (Pablo Molino) Key to our approach to making sure that 00:06:34.294 --> 00:06:38.274 our campus and our technology is accessible to people with disabilities, 00:06:38.274 --> 00:06:40.814 is to ensure we do this by design. 00:06:40.835 --> 00:06:46.755 This is not an afterthought that we do after we have implemented a new classroom. 00:06:46.755 --> 00:06:48.599 Instead, this is something that we do 00:06:48.599 --> 00:06:52.069 from the initial conception of a new project or idea. 00:06:52.097 --> 00:06:55.877 The same way we do this for privacy and security, 00:06:55.877 --> 00:06:58.107 we do this for accessibility. 00:06:58.124 --> 00:07:00.684 (Bruce Maas) It is less costly, in the long run, 00:07:00.702 --> 00:07:06.012 to be thinking through the issues of accessibility comprehensively. 00:07:06.050 --> 00:07:10.500 Therefore, having a plan for accessibility insures that from the beginning 00:07:10.520 --> 00:07:15.800 we think through our issues with regard to the delivery of our services. 00:07:15.831 --> 00:07:22.611 Doing so in a strategic way means that we can hold down costs over the long haul 00:07:22.625 --> 00:07:27.335 and actually deliver better services in the bargain. 00:07:27.355 --> 00:07:30.655 (Brady Deaton) It is very important that a university follows 00:07:30.655 --> 00:07:33.165 a policy and a process 00:07:33.184 --> 00:07:35.794 that is a can-do kind of process. 00:07:35.794 --> 00:07:39.234 It assumes that we are going to undertake the investments that we need, 00:07:39.248 --> 00:07:41.778 we're going to demonstrate the values that we need, 00:07:41.778 --> 00:07:45.858 that not only address the needs of students who may be challenged with vision 00:07:45.858 --> 00:07:48.298 or hearing or other disabilities, 00:07:48.298 --> 00:07:53.158 but also draw on the technology that is not only exciting 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:55.730 for those people who are developing the technology, 00:07:55.730 --> 00:07:58.520 it's intellectually exciting, it provides new jobs for that matter, 00:07:58.531 --> 00:08:02.531 and it stimulates learning in so many parts of the university. 00:08:02.607 --> 00:08:06.607 So that attitude of the university administration, 00:08:06.623 --> 00:08:10.623 as well as faculty and staff and students, becomes very, very important 00:08:10.642 --> 00:08:14.642 because everyone gains from this. It's a win-win situation. 00:08:14.660 --> 00:08:17.120 (Tracy Mitrano) A policy really is an important way to go, 00:08:17.153 --> 00:08:20.613 because it will focus everyone's attention. 00:08:20.624 --> 00:08:23.434 It's also probably the way that you have to go now 00:08:23.434 --> 00:08:26.884 that there are legal pressures on higher education in this area. 00:08:26.884 --> 00:08:32.434 The second thing I would say about policy is there are really two types in general. 00:08:32.442 --> 00:08:35.612 One is a policy that you have because you have a law, 00:08:35.612 --> 00:08:39.612 for example, the Family Education Rights Privacy Act Policy. 00:08:39.649 --> 00:08:42.839 So you want to be clear and sure that 00:08:42.839 --> 00:08:45.109 you're going to have compliance on your campus. 00:08:45.109 --> 00:08:49.009 There's another kind of policy that I would call aspirational policy 00:08:49.009 --> 00:08:52.289 and maybe accessibility fits a little bit in both 00:08:52.289 --> 00:08:56.539 but you most certainly can err on the aspirational side. 00:08:56.555 --> 00:09:00.735 An aspirational policy is something you establish for your institution 00:09:00.735 --> 00:09:03.645 as a path moving towards something, moving forward. 00:09:04.094 --> 00:09:06.794 It does not have to have one hundred percent compliance 00:09:06.820 --> 00:09:10.390 because it's really a direction that you're setting strategically 00:09:10.390 --> 00:09:11.520 for your institution. 00:09:11.526 --> 00:09:16.296 (Gerry Hanley) I'd say another critical aspect around our strategy is 00:09:16.296 --> 00:09:19.002 a shared governance strategy. 00:09:20.189 --> 00:09:25.699 Because education is a shared responsibility 00:09:25.703 --> 00:09:30.533 across faculty, staff, students, vendors, 00:09:30.537 --> 00:09:35.907 all of us working together have to share in that responsibility. 00:09:35.952 --> 00:09:42.312 Now, a shared governance process means if you are responsible in delivering 00:09:42.312 --> 00:09:48.552 the service, then you have an opportunity to share in governing how we're going to 00:09:48.552 --> 00:09:51.142 manage the implementation of these services. 00:09:51.142 --> 00:09:54.082 (Brady Deaton) The administrators of the university must reflect the values 00:09:54.082 --> 00:09:57.492 that demonstrate the importance of this to the learning environment 00:09:57.513 --> 00:10:00.583 and it has to be built in then to every aspect of what we do. 00:10:00.583 --> 00:10:03.623 (Michael Young) Right now we have a number of projects and initiatives 00:10:03.623 --> 00:10:06.813 underway at the UW in which we're testing new technologies. 00:10:06.835 --> 00:10:10.305 Accessibility is an important consideration in these evaluations. 00:10:10.868 --> 00:10:13.208 Many of the vendors we work with have completed 00:10:13.208 --> 00:10:16.788 Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates or VPATs, 00:10:16.798 --> 00:10:19.578 which offer a checklist of accessibility criteria and vendors' self-assessment 00:10:19.579 --> 00:10:23.099 as to how well they meet those criteria. 00:10:23.157 --> 00:10:24.827 It's a good starting point, 00:10:24.827 --> 00:10:27.827 but we go beyond that to ask a vendor specific questions 00:10:27.849 --> 00:10:30.959 and to test their products with respect to accessibility. 00:10:30.979 --> 00:10:37.669 (Gerry Hanley) We begin with our vendors saying "hey this is not only important 00:10:37.687 --> 00:10:41.527 that this is required for working with the CSU. 00:10:41.577 --> 00:10:45.147 Every student who comes into our institution, 00:10:46.234 --> 00:10:50.024 we have to provide equally effective access to those services 00:10:50.042 --> 00:10:54.342 and you are a partner in delivering those services to us." 00:10:54.382 --> 00:11:01.742 So we will tell you what we need and then we will help you inform your staff, 00:11:01.770 --> 00:11:05.640 educate your staff, provide them some consultation and guidance 00:11:05.640 --> 00:11:10.870 in partnership with us, so you can deliver the successful 00:11:10.870 --> 00:11:11.990 service for us. 00:11:11.990 --> 00:11:15.390 (Pat Burns) So we work with our vendors to try to put pressure on them 00:11:15.419 --> 00:11:19.319 to make things accessible. We actually have a purchasing 00:11:19.319 --> 00:11:26.499 process where we work through and ask the issues about accessibility for software 00:11:26.499 --> 00:11:29.489 and hardware that we buy as well. 00:11:29.489 --> 00:11:33.269 (Bruce Maas) Individual efforts really need to be able to scale well. 00:11:33.841 --> 00:11:37.611 If we go about things in an ad hoc approach, one by one, 00:11:37.633 --> 00:11:41.633 we're not likely to get the same results as if we work together as a community 00:11:41.847 --> 00:11:43.507 in higher education, 00:11:43.522 --> 00:11:47.522 to work with vendors to improve accessibility for everyone 00:11:47.589 --> 00:11:49.869 with regard to the products that are offered. 00:11:49.872 --> 00:11:55.282 That's a much more pragmatic approach rather than institution by institution. 00:11:55.327 --> 00:12:01.157 (Gerry Hanley) Making accessibility a priority in their development roadmap 00:12:01.177 --> 00:12:05.417 is going to be driven by the market demand. 00:12:05.451 --> 00:12:08.921 And if an institution never says a word, 00:12:08.921 --> 00:12:12.851 the vendor isn't going to do anything about it. 00:12:12.862 --> 00:12:16.722 So if we begin to communicate our demands collectively, 00:12:16.731 --> 00:12:20.731 then the vendor will recognize the market value of accessibility. 00:12:20.769 --> 00:12:23.259 (Joel Hartman) As we acquire IT resources, 00:12:23.269 --> 00:12:26.119 we have to embed accessibility in our contracts. 00:12:26.119 --> 00:12:31.256 As we develop resources, we have to employ universal design in our thinking about how 00:12:31.256 --> 00:12:35.086 to make these resources available and we have to continue to monitor students 00:12:35.091 --> 00:12:38.841 to see if we're really delivering to them the resources in a form 00:12:38.841 --> 00:12:39.931 that they can actually use. 00:12:50.144 --> 00:12:52.764 (Michael Young) Accessibility requires effort on the part of everyone 00:12:52.764 --> 00:12:56.434 in the higher education community - faculty, staff, technology vendors. 00:12:56.450 --> 00:13:00.090 If we all do our part, our institutions can provide everyone 00:13:00.090 --> 00:13:04.740 with an equal opportunity to participate. And we all benefit from the perspectives 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:06.270 of a diverse group. 00:13:06.270 --> 00:13:09.180 (Hernan Londonono) Having that peace of mind that we are doing all we can 00:13:09.180 --> 00:13:13.320 to provide an accessible campus is -- gives us a lot of pride 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:17.840 and we feel very happy about what, what we do. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:20.930 (Linda Cahill) Why wouldn't we make our campus accessible 00:13:20.930 --> 00:13:24.450 to students with disabilities and why wouldn't we do everything we could 00:13:24.450 --> 00:13:27.550 to see the technology is accessible to our students? 00:13:27.579 --> 00:13:31.339 (Tracy Mitrano) The spirit of what has made higher education 00:13:31.344 --> 00:13:33.784 the jewel in the crown of American society 00:13:33.784 --> 00:13:37.254 is part and parcel of the message of accessibility. 00:13:37.315 --> 00:13:41.115 (Ed Ray) Every way in which we touch the lives of others, 00:13:41.115 --> 00:13:46.645 whether it's in the classroom, the laboratory, through live performances, 00:13:46.645 --> 00:13:50.235 through events on campus, we want everyone 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:54.968 who comes here and creates those experiences 00:13:54.968 --> 00:14:00.418 to be as fully engaged and as fully benefited 00:14:00.420 --> 00:14:02.910 by the activity as possible. 00:14:02.910 --> 00:14:08.410 And that simply can't be done if people have artificial challenges 00:14:08.410 --> 00:14:10.600 or barriers to try to overcome. 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:14.250 (Ed Ray) I would say to those out there who are just getting started 00:14:14.268 --> 00:14:19.358 or maybe struggling to figure out how to use technology to advance 00:14:19.358 --> 00:14:22.908 accessibility on their campuses that 00:14:22.908 --> 00:14:26.908 there's no such thing as a bad time to start.