(Michael Young) we are committed to the notion
that everyone should have an opportunity
to participate in higher education
whether it be from the learning perspective
or the research perspective
or an opportunity to work here
at this institution.
We benefit from that because we get
to enjoy the talents and the skills
of those people who come in
and also their perspective
which in many cases will be different
from the perspective of others on campus
so accessibility becomes a very
important value at the university.
(Tracy Mitrano) We're a
leading university globally.
We want the best talent
in the world
for our students, our staff,
and our faculty
and we want to be sure
if that talent has a disability
that they know that we
are a welcoming community.
(Pablo Molina) We are competing with other
prestigious and highly accomplished institutions.
We want to make sure that we
can target the right candidates
to join our community regardless
of their disability status.
(Edward Ray) In fact we genuinely believe that
excellence is achieved through diversity
and that a commitment
to equity and inclusion
really enriches each of our lives.
(Michael Young) What the university
offers and makes available
has to be offered to everybody.
We can't afford to waste the talents or the brilliance
or the minds of anybody
and making things accessible
allows everybody to engage in the university.
(Tracy Mitrano) Think about accommodation as really
the beginning of the conversation about disability.
It was the appropriate measure that was
taken in the Americans with Disabilities Act
that was passed in 1990
and that's well over a generation ago.
I think now we really
have to think less about
how we're going to measure
specifically this accommodation and
that accommodation
and recognize that we can make accessibility
open and available
so that individual staff,
faculty, or students
do not have to go
to get an accommodation.
It will be automatically available
in the web page that they visit,
in the device that they use.
(Gerry Hanley) The first
step really needs to be
an assessment of where we are
so we can then inform our planning
process,
develop plans,
implement a project,
and then really assess
the results of it.
(Pablo Molinda) Key to our approach
to making sure that our campus
and our technology is accessible
to people with disabilities
is to ensure we do this by design.
This is not an afterthought that we do
after we have implemented a new classroom.
Instead this is something that we do from the
initial conception of a new project or idea.
The same way we do this for
privacy and security
we do this for accessibility.
(Tracy Mitrano) A policy
really is an important way to go
because it will focus everyone's
attention.
It's also probably the way that you have
to go now that there are legal pressures
on higher education in this area.
The second thing I would say about policy is
there really are two types in general.
One is a policy that you have
because you have a law.
For example, the Family Education Rights
Privacy Act policy.
So you want to be clear and sure
that you're going to have
compliance on your campus.
There's another kind of policy
that I would call aspirational policy.
And maybe accessibility
fits a little bit in both.
But you most certainly can err
on the aspirational side.
An aspirational policy is something
you establish for your institution
as a path moving toward something,
moving forward.
It does not have to have
100 percent compliance
because it's really a direction that you're
setting strategically for your institution.
(Gerry Hanley) We begin with our vendors saying
(a) this is not only important,
that this is required
for working with the CSU.
Every student who comes
into our institution
we have to provide equally effective
access to those service
and you are a partner
in delivering those services to us.
So we will tell you
what we need
and then we will help you
inform your staff, educate your staff,
provide them some consultation and guidance
in partnership with us
so you can deliver
the successful service for us.
(Bruce Maas) If we go about things
in an ad hoc approach, one by one,
we're not likely
to get the same results
as if we work together as a community
in higher education
to work with vendors
to improve accessibility for everyone
with regard to the products
that are offered.
That's a much more pragmatic approach,
rather than institution by institution.
(Gerry Hanley) Making accessibility a priority
in their development roadmap
is going to be driven
by the market demand
and if an institution
never says a word,
the vendor isn't gonna
do anything about it.
So if we begin to communicate
our demands collectively,
then the vendor will recognize
the market value of accessibility.
(Michael Young) Accessibility requires effort
on the part of everyone
in the higher education community
- faculty, staff, technology vendors.
If we all do our part,
our institutions can provide everyone
with an equal opportunity
to participate
and we all benefit from the
perspectives of a diverse group.
(Edward Ray) I would say to those out there
who are just getting started
or may be struggling to figure out
how to use technology
to advance accessibility
on their campuses that
there's no such thing
as a bad time to start.