WEBVTT 00:00:01.048 --> 00:00:05.071 (Michael K. Young) We are committed to the notion that everyone should have an opportunity to 00:00:05.071 --> 00:00:10.030 participate in higher education, whether it be from the learning perspective or the research perspective 00:00:10.045 --> 00:00:13.550 or an opportunity to work here at this institution. 00:00:13.565 --> 00:00:20.356 We benefit from that because we get to enjoy the talents and the skills of those people who come in, 00:00:20.373 --> 00:00:26.582 and also their perspective, which in many cases will be different from the perspective of others on campus. 00:00:26.890 --> 00:00:26.890 So accessibility becomes a very important value at the university. 00:00:26.890 --> 00:00:27.828 (Tracy Mitrano) We're a leading university globally. We want the best talent in the world 00:00:27.828 --> 00:00:54.008 for our students, our staff, and our faculty. 00:00:54.008 --> 00:00:55.943 And we want to be sure if that talent has a disability 00:00:55.943 --> 00:00:57.879 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 00:01:10.091 --> 00:01:13.075 regardless of their disability status. 00:01:13.075 --> 00:01:17.042 (Pete Siegel) We want to do everything we can to ensure that they have the same access 00:01:17.042 --> 00:01:21.009 to smart faculty, to fellow students, and to the resources at UC Davis. 00:01:21.009 --> 00:01:25.063 (Edward Ray) In fact, we genuinely believe that excellence is achieved through diversity 00:01:25.063 --> 00:01:32.007 and that a commitment to equity and inclusion really enriches each of our lives. 00:01:32.007 --> 00:01:38.004 (Linda Cahill) It would be inconceivable not to have a social conscience at least, 00:01:38.004 --> 00:01:45.088 and be completely committed to making our resources at Barry University accessible to all students. 00:01:49.025 --> 00:01:55.075 (Edward Ray) We believe that the use of technology can be very powerful. 00:01:55.075 --> 00:02:02.017 It connects people to each other, but it also enhances their learning capabilities; 00:02:02.017 --> 00:02:05.448 it increases what they can do through their research and creative work; 00:02:05.448 --> 00:02:08.879 it really makes it possible for them to have a more powerful impact in the world and that's basically what we're all about. 00:02:15.043 --> 00:02:23.489 And we want that to be true for every member of our community, 00:02:23.489 --> 00:02:30.659 regardless of limitations, of physical, spacial, time or other dimension. 00:02:30.659 --> 00:02:37.239 (Hernan Londono) As an IT professional, sometimes some of us concentrate in the technical side of the house only 00:02:37.239 --> 00:02:41.159 and we forget that finally the technology is to serve the people. 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:46.039 (Michael K. Young) What the university offers and makes available has to be offered to everybody. 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:52.014 We can't afford to waste the talents or the brilliance or the minds of anybody 00:02:52.014 --> 00:02:54.616 and making things accessible allows everybody to engage in the university. 00:02:54.616 --> 00:02:57.219 Equal opportunity is a part of our value system, but it's also required by law. 00:02:57.219 --> 00:03:00.889 (Pete Siegel) Compliance is extremely important. Compliance is the law. 00:03:00.889 --> 00:03:06.959 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 for our students 00:03:14.499 --> 00:03:19.189 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 K. 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 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:43.087 buying something or engaging something or developing something that we have to retrofit 00:03:43.087 --> 00:03:49.639 which not only makes it cheaper and more efficient, it likely makes it much better 00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:53.579 in terms of both the quality of the product and the accessibility to those -- all the people that we want to be able to use it. 00:03:53.579 --> 00:03:56.299 (Tracy Mitrano) I think the other direction that colleges and universities could and should take 00:03:56.299 --> 00:04:02.999 is to think about accommodation as really the beginning of the conversation about disability. 00:04:08.359 --> 00:04:13.939 It was the appropriate measure that was taken in the Americans with Disabilities Act that was passed in 1990 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:20.084 and that's well over a generation ago. 00:04:20.084 --> 00:04:23.546 I think now we really have to think less about how we're going to measure 00:04:23.546 --> 00:04:27.009 specifically this accommodation or that accommodation 00:04:27.009 --> 00:04:29.508 and recognize that we can make accessibility open and available 00:04:29.508 --> 00:04:32.007 so that individual staff, faculty or students do not have to go to get an accommodation. 00:04:32.007 --> 00:04:38.004 It will be automatically available in the webpage that they visit, in the device that they use. 00:04:38.004 --> 00:04:42.039 (Brady Deaton) We envision a campus that has a concept of universal design in all aspects of information technology, 00:04:42.039 --> 00:04:48.014 that a student is not impeded in any way, 00:04:48.014 --> 00:04:52.091 but in fact, that technology is utilized not only directly by those who benefit because of certain challenges they may have, 00:04:52.091 --> 00:04:59.095 but also is illustrative to the broader student body and to the faculty and to alums 00:04:59.095 --> 00:05:05.009 about what an inclusive learning environment is. 00:05:05.009 --> 00:05:08.027 (Pete Seigel) We have some things we have to learn in order to move into accessibility space, 00:05:08.027 --> 00:05:13.074 but the basic goals and the basic values are things we already know and love. 00:05:13.074 --> 00:05:18.037 Then we bring in things like universal design, the notion that if we design things well right from the start, 00:05:18.037 --> 00:05:24.028 they actually aren't more expensive. 00:05:24.028 --> 00:05:31.093 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 major, 00:05:52.041 --> 00:05:58.059 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. 00:06:06.025 --> 00:06:13.075 And then to certainly just be aware of all the different ways that students can learn, 00:06:13.075 --> 00:06:17.072 to help faculty and deans understand the concept of universal design. 00:06:17.072 --> 00:06:26.008 (Gerry Hanley) The first step really needs to be an assessment of where we are 00:06:26.008 --> 00:06:28.513 so we can then inform our planning process, develop plans, implement a project, 00:06:28.513 --> 00:06:31.019 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. 00:06:41.074 --> 00:06:48.000 This is not an afterthought that we do after we have implemented a new classroom. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:54.002 Instead, this is something that we do from the initial conception of a new project or idea. 00:06:54.002 --> 00:06:57.004 The same way we do 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 accessibility comprehensively. 00:07:02.095 --> 00:07:09.057 Therefore, having a plan for accessibility insures that from the beginning 00:07:09.057 --> 00:07:16.048 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. 00:07:28.006 --> 00:07:36.024 (Brady Deaton) It is very important that a university follows a policy and a process 00:07:36.024 --> 00:07:40.002 that is a can-do kind of process. 00:07:40.002 --> 00:07:42.502 It assumes that we are going to undertake the investments that we need, 00:07:42.502 --> 00:07:43.752 we're going to demonstrate the value that we need, 00:07:43.752 --> 00:07:45.003 that not only address the needs of students who may be challenged with vision or hearing or other disabilities, 00:07:45.003 --> 00:07:52.036 but also draw on the technology that is not only exciting for those people who are developing the technology, 00:07:56.059 --> 00:08:01.069 it's intellectually exciting, it provides new jobs for that matter and it stimulates learning in so many parts of the university. 00:08:01.069 --> 00:08:08.037 So that attitude of the university administration, as well as faculty and staff and students, 00:08:08.037 --> 00:08:13.068 becomes very, very important because everyone gains from this. It's a win-win situation. 00:08:13.068 --> 00:08:16.041 (Tracy Mitrano) A policy really is an important way to go 00:08:16.041 --> 00:08:22.027 because it will focus everyone's attention. It's also probably the way that you have to go 00:08:22.027 --> 00:08:27.081 now that there are legal pressures on higher education in this area. 00:08:27.081 --> 00:08:33.061 The second thing I would say about policy is there are really two types in general. 00:08:33.061 --> 00:08:38.759 One is a policy that you have because you have a law, for example the Family Education Rights Privacy Act Policy, 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:45.029 so you want to be clear and sure that you're going to have compliance on your campus. 00:08:45.029 --> 00:08:49.899 There's another kind of policy that I would call aspirational policy and maybe accessibility fits a little bit in both 00:08:49.899 --> 00:08:55.689 but you most certainly can err on the aspirational side. 00:08:55.689 --> 00:09:01.329 An aspirational policy is something you establish for your institution as a path moving towards something, moving forward. 00:09:01.329 --> 00:09:06.004 It does not have to have one hundred percent compliance 00:09:06.004 --> 00:09:10.319 because it's really a direction that you're setting strategically for your institution. 00:09:10.319 --> 00:09:12.779 (Gerry Hanley) I'd say another critical aspect around our strategy is a shared governance strategy. 00:09:12.779 --> 00:09:25.098 Because education is a shared responsibility across faculty, staff, students, venders, 00:09:25.098 --> 00:09:34.389 all of us working together have to share in that responsibility. 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:42.189 Now, a shared governance process means if you are responsible in delivering the service, 00:09:42.189 --> 00:09:48.024 then you have an opportunity to share in governing how we're going to manage the implementation of these services. 00:09:48.024 --> 00:09:52.629 (Brady Deaton) The administrators of the university must reflect the values that demonstrate the importance of this 00:09:57.949 --> 00:10:00.779 to the learning environment and it has to be built in then to every aspect of what we do. 00:10:00.779 --> 00:10:04.139 (Michael K. Young) Right now we have a number of projects and initiatives underway at the UW 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:09.269 in which we're testing new technologies. 00:10:09.269 --> 00:10:13.079 Accessibility is an important consideration in these evaluations. 00:10:13.079 --> 00:10:18.569 Many of the vendors we work with have completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates or VPATs, 00:10:18.569 --> 00:10:23.649 which offer a checklist of accessibility criteria and vendors' self-assessment as to how well they meet those criteria. 00:10:23.649 --> 00:10:28.269 It's a 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. 00:10:33.569 --> 00:10:42.309 (Gerry Hanley) We begin with our vendors saying (a) this is not only important, that this is required for working with the CSU. 00:10:42.309 --> 00:10:48.099 Every student who comes into our institution, we have to provide equally effective access to those services 00:10:48.099 --> 00:10:55.086 and you are a partner in delivering those services to us. 00:10:55.086 --> 00:11:03.093 So we will tell you what we need and then we will help you inform your staff, educate your staff, 00:11:03.093 --> 00:11:10.699 provide them some consultation and guidance in partnership with us, 00:11:10.699 --> 00:11:13.037 so you can deliver the successful service for us. 00:11:13.037 --> 00:11:19.018 (Pat Burns) So we work with our vendors to try to put pressure on them to make things accessible. 00:11:19.018 --> 00:11:26.049 We actually have a purchasing process where we work through and ask the issues about accessibility 00:11:26.049 --> 00:11:31.529 for software and hardware that we buy as well. 00:11:31.529 --> 00:11:37.879 (Bruce Maas) Individual efforts really need to be able to scale well. 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:43.091 If we go about things in an ad hoc approach, one by one, we're not likely to get the same results 00:11:43.091 --> 00:11:45.595 as if we work together as a community in higher education, 00:11:45.595 --> 00:11:48.099 to work with vendors to improve accessibility for everyone with regard to the products that are offered. 00:11:48.099 --> 00:11:55.269 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 00:12:02.003 --> 00:12:11.059 is going to be driven by the market demand. 00:12:11.059 --> 00:12:14.164 And if an institution never says a word, the vendor isn't going to do anything about it. 00:12:14.164 --> 00:12:17.269 So if we begin to communicate our demands collectively, then 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 K. Young) Accessibility requires effort on the part of everyone in the higher education community... 00:12:53.061 --> 00:12:59.209 faculty, staff, technology vendors. If we all do our part, our institutions can provide everyone 00:12:59.209 --> 00:13:04.529 with an equal opportunity to participate. And we all benefit from the perspectives of a diverse group. 00:13:04.529 --> 00:13:07.709 (Hernan Londonono) Having that peace of mind that we are doing all we can to provide an accessible campus is... 00:13:07.709 --> 00:13:12.959 gives us a lot of 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 (Edward 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, 00:13:50.017 --> 00:14:00.029 we want everyone who comes here and creates those experiences to be as fully engaged and as fully benefited by the activity as possible. 00:14:00.029 --> 00:14:08.179 And that simply can't be done if people have artificial challenges or barriers to try to overcome. 00:14:09.889 --> 00:14:16.319 I would say to those out there who are just getting started or maybe struggling to figure out how to use technology 00:14:16.319 --> 00:14:23.629 to advance accessibility on their campuses that there's no such thing as a bad time to start.