1 00:00:01,048 --> 00:00:05,071 (Michael K. Young) We are committed to the notion that everyone should have an opportunity to 2 00:00:05,071 --> 00:00:10,030 participate in higher education, whether it be from the learning perspective or the research perspective 3 00:00:10,045 --> 00:00:13,550 or an opportunity to work here at this institution. 4 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, 5 00:00:20,373 --> 00:00:25,639 and also their perspective, which in many cases will be different from the perspective of others on campus. 6 00:00:25,639 --> 00:00:29,095 So accessibility becomes a very important value at the university. 7 00:00:44,430 --> 00:00:48,536 (Tracy Mitrano) We're a leading university globally. We want the best talent in the world 8 00:00:48,536 --> 00:00:51,886 for our students, our staff, and our faculty. 9 00:00:51,886 --> 00:00:55,635 And we want to be sure if that talent has a disability 10 00:00:55,635 --> 00:00:58,663 that they know that we are a welcoming community. 11 00:00:58,663 --> 00:01:04,029 (Pablo Molino) We're competing with other prestigious and highly accomplished institutions. 12 00:01:04,060 --> 00:01:09,544 We want to make sure that we can target the right candidates to join our community 13 00:01:09,544 --> 00:01:13,075 regardless of their disability status. 14 00:01:13,075 --> 00:01:17,747 (Pete Siegel) We want to do everything we can to ensure that they have the same access 15 00:01:17,779 --> 00:01:22,747 to smart faculty, to fellow students, and to the resources at UC Davis. 16 00:01:22,747 --> 00:01:28,693 (Edward Ray) In fact, we genuinely believe that excellence is achieved through diversity 17 00:01:28,693 --> 00:01:34,837 and that a commitment to equity and inclusion really enriches each of our lives. 18 00:01:34,837 --> 00:01:41,757 (Linda Cahill) It would be inconceivable not to have a social conscience at least, 19 00:01:41,757 --> 00:01:49,994 and be completely committed to making our resources at Barry University accessible to all students. 20 00:01:50,055 --> 00:01:55,075 (Edward Ray) We believe that the use of technology can be very powerful. 21 00:01:55,075 --> 00:02:00,716 It connects people to each other, but it also enhances their learning capabilities; 22 00:02:00,716 --> 00:02:06,509 it increases what they can do through their research and creative work; 23 00:02:06,509 --> 00:02:10,540 it really makes it possible for them to have a more powerful impact 24 00:02:10,612 --> 00:02:15,171 in the world and that's basically what we're all about. 25 00:02:15,171 --> 00:02:18,022 And we want that to be true for every member of our community, 26 00:02:18,022 --> 00:02:26,520 regardless of limitations, of physical, spacial, time or other dimension. 27 00:02:26,526 --> 00:02:28,279 (Hernan Londono) As an IT professional, 28 00:02:28,279 --> 00:02:34,978 sometimes some of us concentrate in the technical side of the house only 29 00:02:34,978 --> 00:02:39,295 and we forget that finally the technology is to serve the people. 30 00:02:39,295 --> 00:02:43,728 (Michael K. Young) What the university offers and makes available has to be offered to everybody. 31 00:02:43,728 --> 00:02:48,712 We can't afford to waste the talents or the brilliance or the minds of anybody 32 00:02:48,712 --> 00:02:54,045 and making things accessible allows everybody to engage in the university. 33 00:02:54,045 --> 00:02:59,972 Equal opportunity is a part of our value system, but it's also required by law. 34 00:02:59,988 --> 00:03:03,234 (Pete Siegel) Compliance is extremely important. Compliance is the law. 35 00:03:03,296 --> 00:03:06,855 But that isn't the motivator for most of us at universities. 36 00:03:06,917 --> 00:03:12,860 Our motivation has always been to provide easily accessible tools, 37 00:03:12,860 --> 00:03:15,760 excellent experiences for our students, 38 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,255 and really to give them the sense that this is a place they want to be, 39 00:03:19,255 --> 00:03:22,519 a place they want to learn, a place where they can thrive. 40 00:03:31,010 --> 00:03:34,455 (Michael K. Young) Universal design is a very powerful concept because what it means is 41 00:03:34,470 --> 00:03:38,331 we look at the issue of accessibility at the outset rather than 42 00:03:38,331 --> 00:03:43,087 buying something or engaging something or developing something that we have to retrofit 43 00:03:43,087 --> 00:03:48,064 which not only makes it cheaper and more efficient, it likely makes it much better 44 00:03:48,064 --> 00:03:51,735 in terms of both the quality of the product and the accessibility to those... 45 00:03:51,735 --> 00:03:55,394 all the people that we want to be able to use it. 46 00:03:55,409 --> 00:03:59,471 (Tracy Mitrano) I think the other direction that colleges and universities could and should take 47 00:03:59,507 --> 00:04:06,342 is to think about accommodation as really the beginning of the conversation about disability. 48 00:04:06,342 --> 00:04:12,992 It was the appropriate measure that was taken in the Americans with Disabilities Act that was passed in 1990 49 00:04:12,992 --> 00:04:16,007 and that's well over a generation ago. 50 00:04:16,007 --> 00:04:20,892 I think now we really have to think less about how we're going to measure 51 00:04:20,892 --> 00:04:24,159 specifically this accommodation or that accommodation 52 00:04:24,159 --> 00:04:28,708 and recognize that we can make accessibility open and available 53 00:04:28,708 --> 00:04:34,053 so that individual staff, faculty or students do not have to go to get an accommodation. 54 00:04:34,068 --> 00:04:39,742 It will be automatically available in the webpage that they visit, in the device that they use. 55 00:04:39,757 --> 00:04:47,454 (Brady Deaton) We envision a campus that has a concept of universal design in all aspects of information technology, 56 00:04:47,469 --> 00:04:50,054 that a student is not impeded in any way, 57 00:04:50,054 --> 00:04:54,147 but in fact, that technology is utilized not only directly by those who benefit 58 00:04:54,147 --> 00:04:58,280 because of certain challenges they may have, 59 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:04,421 but also is illustrative to the broader student body and to the faculty and to alums 60 00:05:04,421 --> 00:05:07,478 about what an inclusive learning environment is. 61 00:05:07,501 --> 00:05:11,257 (Pete Seigel) We have some things we have to learn in order to move into accessibility space, 62 00:05:11,287 --> 00:05:15,549 but the basic goals and the basic values are things we already know and love. 63 00:05:15,549 --> 00:05:22,703 Then we bring in things like universal design, the notion that if we design things well right from the start, 64 00:05:22,703 --> 00:05:25,070 they actually aren't more expensive. 65 00:05:25,070 --> 00:05:29,569 This is something that we can fit into even our very, very tight budgets. 66 00:05:39,338 --> 00:05:44,249 (Eileen McDonough) We make a great effort in our graduate and our undergraduate counsel 67 00:05:44,249 --> 00:05:53,441 to make sure that faculty and deans are aware that in program design, in offering a new major, 68 00:05:53,471 --> 00:05:58,558 that they take into account that they might have to have specialized software available 69 00:05:58,558 --> 00:06:03,033 and they have to build that into their program development. 70 00:06:03,033 --> 00:06:10,650 And then to certainly just be aware of all the different ways that students can learn, 71 00:06:10,650 --> 00:06:16,400 to help faculty and deans understand the concept of universal design. 72 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:22,066 (Gerry Hanley) The first step really needs to be an assessment of where we are 73 00:06:22,066 --> 00:06:28,513 so we can then inform our planning process, develop plans, implement a project, 74 00:06:28,513 --> 00:06:32,065 and then really assess the results of it. 75 00:06:32,065 --> 00:06:37,024 (Pablo Molino) Key to our approach to making sure that our campus and our technology is 76 00:06:37,024 --> 00:06:41,074 accessible to people with disabilities, is to ensure we do this by design. 77 00:06:41,074 --> 00:06:46,752 This is not an afterthought that we do after we have implemented a new classroom. 78 00:06:46,752 --> 00:06:52,903 Instead, this is something that we do from the initial conception of a new project or idea. 79 00:06:52,903 --> 00:06:58,233 The same way we do this for privacy and security, we do this for accessibility. 80 00:06:58,233 --> 00:07:06,048 (Bruce Maas) It is less costly, in the long run, to be thinking through the issues of accessibility comprehensively. 81 00:07:06,048 --> 00:07:11,010 Therefore, having a plan for accessibility ensures that from the beginning 82 00:07:11,010 --> 00:07:16,048 we think through our issues with regard to the delivery of our services. 83 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 84 00:07:23,001 --> 00:07:27,617 actually deliver better services in the bargain. 85 00:07:27,617 --> 00:07:33,585 (Brady Deaton) It is very important that a university follows a policy and a process 86 00:07:33,585 --> 00:07:36,003 that is a can-do kind of process. 87 00:07:36,003 --> 00:07:39,535 It assumes that we are going to undertake the investments that we need, 88 00:07:39,535 --> 00:07:42,018 we're going to demonstrate the value that we need, 89 00:07:42,018 --> 00:07:47,849 that not only address the needs of students who may be challenged with vision or hearing or other disabilities, 90 00:07:47,849 --> 00:07:55,280 but also draw on the technology that is not only exciting for those people who are developing the technology, 91 00:07:55,280 --> 00:08:02,622 it's intellectually exciting, it provides new jobs for that matter and it stimulates learning in so many parts of the university. 92 00:08:02,622 --> 00:08:09,929 So that attitude of the university administration, as well as faculty and staff and students, 93 00:08:09,929 --> 00:08:14,744 becomes very, very important because everyone gains from this. It's a win-win situation. 94 00:08:14,744 --> 00:08:17,661 (Tracy Mitrano) A policy really is an important way to go 95 00:08:17,661 --> 00:08:23,448 because it will focus everyone's attention. It's also probably the way that you have to go 96 00:08:23,448 --> 00:08:27,081 now that there are legal pressures on higher education in this area. 97 00:08:27,081 --> 00:08:33,061 The second thing I would say about policy is there are really two types in general. 98 00:08:33,061 --> 00:08:40,420 One is a policy that you have because you have a law, for example the Family Education Rights Privacy Act Policy, 99 00:08:40,420 --> 00:08:45,029 so you want to be clear and sure that you're going to have compliance on your campus. 100 00:08:45,029 --> 00:08:52,360 There's another kind of policy that I would call aspirational policy and maybe accessibility fits a little bit in both 101 00:08:52,375 --> 00:08:56,642 but you most certainly can err on the aspirational side. 102 00:08:56,642 --> 00:09:03,944 An aspirational policy is something you establish for your institution as a path moving towards something, moving forward. 103 00:09:03,944 --> 00:09:07,434 It does not have to have one hundred percent compliance 104 00:09:07,434 --> 00:09:11,611 because it's really a direction that you're setting strategically for your institution. 105 00:09:11,611 --> 00:09:19,746 (Gerry Hanley) I'd say another critical aspect around our strategy is a shared governance strategy. 106 00:09:19,746 --> 00:09:30,615 Because education is a shared responsibility across faculty, staff, students, venders, 107 00:09:30,615 --> 00:09:36,496 all of us working together have to share in that responsibility. 108 00:09:36,496 --> 00:09:43,619 Now, a shared governance process means if you are responsible in delivering the service, 109 00:09:43,619 --> 00:09:51,100 then you have an opportunity to share in governing how we're going to manage the implementation of these services. 110 00:09:51,100 --> 00:09:56,159 (Brady Deaton) The administrators of the university must reflect the values that demonstrate the importance of this 111 00:09:56,159 --> 00:10:01,732 to the learning environment and it has to be built in then to every aspect of what we do. 112 00:10:01,732 --> 00:10:05,446 (Michael K. Young) Right now we have a number of projects and initiatives underway at the UW 113 00:10:05,446 --> 00:10:07,393 in which we're testing new technologies. 114 00:10:07,393 --> 00:10:11,043 Accessibility is an important consideration in these evaluations. 115 00:10:11,043 --> 00:10:16,693 Many of the vendors we work with have completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates or VPATs, 116 00:10:16,693 --> 00:10:23,443 which offer a checklist of accessibility criteria and vendors' self-assessment as to how well they meet those criteria. 117 00:10:23,473 --> 00:10:28,674 It's a good starting point, but we go beyond that to ask a vendor specific questions and to 118 00:10:28,674 --> 00:10:31,028 test their products with respect to accessibility. 119 00:10:31,028 --> 00:10:37,796 (Gerry Hanley) We begin with our vendors saying (a) this is not only important, 120 00:10:37,796 --> 00:10:41,928 that this is required for working with the CSU. 121 00:10:41,928 --> 00:10:50,591 Every student who comes into our institution, we have to provide equally effective access to those services 122 00:10:50,591 --> 00:10:54,175 and you are a partner in delivering those services to us. 123 00:10:54,175 --> 00:11:03,093 So we will tell you what we need and then we will help you inform your staff, educate your staff, 124 00:11:03,093 --> 00:11:08,290 provide them some consultation and guidance in partnership with us, 125 00:11:08,290 --> 00:11:11,757 so you can deliver the successful service for us. 126 00:11:11,757 --> 00:11:17,860 (Pat Burns) So we work with our vendors to try to put pressure on them to make things accessible. 127 00:11:17,860 --> 00:11:25,157 We actually have a purchasing process where we work through and ask the issues about accessibility 128 00:11:25,157 --> 00:11:29,324 for software and hardware that we buy as well. 129 00:11:29,324 --> 00:11:33,823 (Bruce Maas) Individual efforts really need to be able to scale well. 130 00:11:33,823 --> 00:11:39,923 If we go about things in an ad hoc approach, one by one, we're not likely to get the same results 131 00:11:39,923 --> 00:11:43,858 as if we work together as a community in higher education, 132 00:11:43,858 --> 00:11:49,929 to work with vendors to improve accessibility for everyone with regard to the products that are offered. 133 00:11:49,929 --> 00:11:55,269 That's a much more pragmatic approach rather than institution by institution. 134 00:11:55,269 --> 00:12:02,003 (Gerry Hanley) Making accessibility a priority in their development roadmap 135 00:12:02,003 --> 00:12:05,609 is going to be driven by the market demand. 136 00:12:05,609 --> 00:12:13,459 And if an institution never says a word, the vendor isn't going to do anything about it. 137 00:12:13,459 --> 00:12:21,760 So if we begin to communicate our demands collectively, then the vendor will recognize the market value of accessibility. 138 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:26,897 (Joel Hartman) As we acquire IT resources, we have to embed accessibility in our contracts. 139 00:12:26,897 --> 00:12:31,590 As we develop resources, we have to employ universal design in our thinking about how 140 00:12:31,590 --> 00:12:36,831 to make these resources available and we have to continue to monitor students to see if 141 00:12:36,831 --> 00:12:41,678 we're really delivering to them the resources in a form that they can actually use. 142 00:12:50,293 --> 00:12:55,122 (Michael K. Young) Accessibility requires effort on the part of everyone in the higher education community... 143 00:12:55,122 --> 00:12:56,709 faculty, staff, technology vendors. 144 00:12:56,709 --> 00:13:00,475 If we all do our part, our institutions can provide everyone 145 00:13:00,475 --> 00:13:06,498 with an equal opportunity to participate. And we all benefit from the perspectives of a diverse group. 146 00:13:06,498 --> 00:13:11,985 (Hernan Londonono) Having that peace of mind that we are doing all we can to provide an accessible campus is... 147 00:13:11,985 --> 00:13:18,010 gives us a lot of pride and we feel very happy about what, what we do. 148 00:13:18,010 --> 00:13:23,060 (Linda Cahill) Why wouldn't we make our campus accessible to students with disabilities and 149 00:13:23,060 --> 00:13:28,315 why wouldn't we do everything we could to see the technology is accessible to our students? 150 00:13:28,315 --> 00:13:34,325 (Tracy Mitrano) The spirit of what has made higher education the jewel in the crown of American society 151 00:13:34,325 --> 00:13:38,123 is part and parcel of the message of accessibility. 152 00:13:38,123 --> 00:13:43,139 (Edward Ray) Every way in which we touch the lives of others, whether it's in the classroom, 153 00:13:43,139 --> 00:13:49,356 the laboratory, through live performances, through events on campus, 154 00:13:49,356 --> 00:13:56,279 we want everyone who comes here and creates those experiences to be as fully engaged 155 00:13:56,279 --> 00:14:02,680 and as fully benefited by the activity as possible. 156 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:10,640 And that simply can't be done if people have artificial challenges or barriers to try to overcome. 157 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:14,728 I would say to those out there who are just getting started 158 00:14:14,728 --> 00:14:22,594 or maybe struggling to figure out how to use technology to advance accessibility on their campuses 159 00:14:22,594 --> 00:14:26,592 that there's no such thing as a bad time to start.