WEBVTT 00:00:01.717 --> 00:00:05.167 (Michael Young) We are committed to the notion that everyone should have an opportunity to 00:00:05.186 --> 00:00:09.506 participate in higher education, whether it be from the learning perspective, or the research 00:00:09.506 --> 00:00:14.866 perspective, or an opportunity to work here at this institution. We benefit from that 00:00:14.866 --> 00:00:20.486 because we get to enjoy the talents and the skills of those people who come in, and also 00:00:20.535 --> 00:00:24.815 their perspective, which in many cases will be different from the perspective of others 00:00:24.835 --> 00:00:28.835 on campus. So accessibility becomes a very important value at the university. 00:00:44.941 --> 00:00:48.661 (Tracy Mitrano) We're a leading university globally. We want the best talent in the world 00:00:48.704 --> 00:00:54.914 for our students, our staff, and our faculty. And we want to be sure if that talent has 00:00:54.918 --> 00:00:57.958 a disability that they know that we are a welcoming community. 00:00:58.427 --> 00:01:02.977 (Pablo Molino) We're competing with other prestigious and highly accomplished institutions. 00:01:03.034 --> 00:01:10.674 We want to make sure that we can target the right candidates to join our community regardless 00:01:10.812 --> 00:01:12.822 of their disability status. 00:01:12.837 --> 00:01:17.637 (Pete Siegel) We want to do everything we can to ensure that they have the same access 00:01:17.695 --> 00:01:22.855 to smart faculty, to fellow students, and to the resources at UC Davis. 00:01:23.045 --> 00:01:28.501 (Edward Ray) In fact, we genuinely believe that excellence is achieved through diversity 00:01:28.726 --> 00:01:34.466 and that a commitment to equity and inclusion really enriches each of our lives. 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:41.210 (Linda Cahill) It would be inconceivable not to have a social conscience, at least, 00:01:41.372 --> 00:01:45.982 and be completely committed to making our resources 00:01:46.089 --> 00:01:49.189 at Barry University accessible to all students. 00:01:49.778 --> 00:01:55.688 (Edward Ray) We believe that the use of technology can be very powerful. It connects people to 00:01:55.706 --> 00:02:02.356 each other, but it also enhances their learning capabilities; it increases what they can do 00:02:02.416 --> 00:02:09.006 through their research and creative work; it really makes it possible for them to have 00:02:09.166 --> 00:02:14.551 a more powerful impact in the world 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 --> 00:02:43.570 (Michael Young) What the university offers and makes available has to be offered to everybody. 00:02:43.596 --> 00:02:48.756 We can't afford to waste the talents or the brilliance or the minds of anybody 00:02:48.794 --> 00:02:53.604 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 --> 00:03:12.659 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 --> 00:03:21.924 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 --> 00:03:40.252 we look at the issue of accessibility at the outset rather than buying something or engaging 00:03:40.273 --> 00:03:44.003 something, or developing something that we have to retrofit. Which not only makes it 00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:49.750 cheaper and more efficient, it likely makes it much better in terms of both the quality 00:03:49.781 --> 00:03:51.341 of the product and the accessibility to those... 00:03:51.375 --> 00:03:54.325 all the people that we want to be able to use it. 00:03:54.367 --> 00:03:58.907 (Tracy Mitrano) I think the other direction that colleges and universities could and should take 00:03:58.965 --> 00:04:05.955 is to think about accommodation as really the beginning of the conversation about disability. 00:04:05.984 --> 00:04:12.524 It was the appropriate measure that was taken in the Americans with Disabilities Act that was passed in 1990 00:04:12.546 --> 00:04:15.366 and that's well over a generation ago. 00:04:15.401 --> 00:04:24.091 I think now we really have to think less about how we're going to measure specifically this accommodation or that accommodation 00:04:24.114 --> 00:04:28.444 and recognize that we can make accessibility open and available 00:04:28.474 --> 00:04:33.686 so that individual staff, faculty or students do not have to go to get an accommodation. 00:04:33.714 --> 00:04:39.394 It will be automatically available in the webpage that they visit, in the device that they use. 00:04:39.435 --> 00:04:46.725 (Brady Deaton) We envision a campus that has a concept of universal design in all aspects of information technology, 00:04:47.022 --> 00:04:49.742 that a student is not impeded in any way, 00:04:49.780 --> 00:04:57.780 but in fact, that technology is utilized not only directly by those who benefit because of certain challenges they may have, 00:04:57.826 --> 00:05:04.066 but also is illustrative to the broader student body and to the faculty and to alums 00:05:04.094 --> 00:05:07.004 about what an inclusive learning environment is. 00:05:07.034 --> 00:05:11.114 (Pete Seigel) We have some things we have to learn in order to move into accessibility space, 00:05:11.155 --> 00:05:15.675 but the basic goals and the basic values are things we already know and love. 00:05:15.704 --> 00:05:18.094 Then we bring in things like universal design, 00:05:18.094 --> 00:05:24.884 the notion that if we design things well right from the start, they actually aren't more expensive. 00:05:24.956 --> 00:05:28.276 This is something that we can fit into even our very, very tight budgets. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Eileen McDonough) We make a great effort in our graduate and our undergraduate counsel 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to make sure that faculty and deans are aware that in program design, in offering a new major, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that they take into account that they might have to have specialized software available, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and they have to build that into their program development. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And then to certainly just be aware of all the different ways that students can learn, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to help faculty and deans understand the concept of universal design. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Gerry Hanley) The first step really needs to be an assessment of where we are, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so we can then inform our planning process, develop plans, implement a project, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and then really assess the results of it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Pablo Molino) Key to our approach to making sure that our campus and our technology is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 accessible to people with disabilities, is to ensure we do this by design. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is not an afterthought that we do after we have implemented a new classroom. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Instead, this is something that we do from the initial conception of a new project or idea. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The same way we do this for privacy and security, we do this for accessibility. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Bruce Maas) It is less costly, in the long run, to be thinking through the issues of accessibility comprehensively. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Therefore, having a plan for accessibility insures that from the beginning we think through our issues 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with regard to the delivery of our services. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Doing so in a strategic way means that we can hold down costs over the long haul 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and actually deliver better services in the bargain. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Brady Deaton) It is very important that a university follows a policy and a process that is a can-do kind of process. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It assumes that we are going to undertake the investments that we need, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we're going to demonstrate the values that we need, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that not only address the needs of students who may be challenged with vision or hearing or other disabilities, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but also draw on the technology that is not only exciting for those people who are developing the technology, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's intellectually exciting, it provides new jobs for that matter, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and it stimulates learning in so many parts of the university. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So that attitude of the university administration, as well as faculty and staff and students, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 becomes very, very important because everyone gains from this. It's a win-win situation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Tracy Mitrano) A policy really is an important way to go, because it will focus everyone's attention. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's also probably the way that you have to go now that there are legal pressures on higher education in this area. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The second thing I would say about policy is there are really two types in general. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 One is a policy that you have because you have a law, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for example, the Family Education Rights Privacy Act Policy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So you want to be clear and sure that you're going to have compliance on your campus. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There's another kind of policy that I would call aspirational policy and maybe accessibility fits a little bit in both 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but you most certainly can err on the aspirational side. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 An aspirational policy is something you establish for your institution as a path moving towards something, moving forward. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It does not have to have one hundred percent compliance 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because it's really a direction that you're setting strategically for your institution. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Gerry Hanley) I'd say another critical aspect around our strategy is a shared governance strategy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because education is a shared responsibility 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:09:25.980,0:09:32.980 across faculty, staff, students, venders, all of us working together have to share in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:09:34.389,0:09:41.389 that responsibility. Now, a shared governance process means if you are responsible in delivering 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:09:42.189,0:09:48.240 the service, then you have an opportunity to share in governing how we're going to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:09:48.240,0:09:52.629 manage the implementation of these services. (Brady Deaton) The administrators of the university 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:09:52.629,0:09:57.949 must reflect the values that demonstrate the importance of this to the learning environment 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:09:57.949,0:10:00.779 and it has to be built in then to every aspect of what we do. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:00.779,0:10:04.139 (Michael Young) Right now we have a number of projects and initiatives underway at the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:04.139,0:10:09.269 UW in which we're testing new technologies. Accessibility is an important consideration 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:09.269,0:10:13.079 in these evaluations. Many of the vendors we work with have completed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:13.079,0:10:18.569 Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates or VPATs, which offer a checklist of accessibility 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:18.569,0:10:23.649 criteria and vendors' self-assessment as to how well they meet those criteria. It's a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:23.649,0:10:28.269 good starting point, but we go beyond that to ask a vendor specific questions and to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:28.269,0:10:33.569 test their products with respect to accessibility. (Gerry Hanley) We begin with our vendors saying 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:33.569,0:10:40.569 (a) this is not only important, that this is required for working with the CSU. Every 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:42.309,0:10:48.990 student who comes into our institution, we have to provide equally effective access to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:48.990,0:10:55.860 those services and you are a partner in delivering those services to us. So we will tell you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:10:55.860,0:11:02.860 what we need and then we will help you inform your staff, educate your staff, provide them 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:03.930,0:11:10.699 some consultation and guidance in partnership with us, so you can deliver the successful 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:10.699,0:11:13.370 service for us. (Pat Burns) So we work with our vendors to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:13.370,0:11:19.180 try to put pressure on them to make things accessible. We actually have a purchasing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:19.180,0:11:26.180 process where we work through and ask the issues about accessibility for software and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:26.490,0:11:31.529 hardware that we buy as well. (Bruce Maas) Individual efforts really need 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:31.529,0:11:37.879 to be able to scale well. If we go about things in an ad hoc approach, one by one, we're not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:37.879,0:11:43.910 likely to get the same results as if we work together as a community in higher education, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:43.910,0:11:48.990 to work with vendors to improve accessibility for everyone with regard to the products that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:48.990,0:11:55.269 are offered. That's a much more pragmatic approach rather than institution by institution. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:11:55.269,0:12:02.269 (Gerry Hanley) Making accessibility a priority in their development roadmap is going to be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:02.300,0:12:09.300 driven by the market demand. And if an institution never says a word, the vendor isn't going 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:11.059,0:12:17.269 to do anything about it. So if we begin to communicate our demands collectively, then 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:17.269,0:12:20.490 the vendor will recognize the market value of accessibility. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:20.490,0:12:26.670 (Joel Hartman) As we acquire IT resources, we have to embed accessibility in our contracts. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:26.670,0:12:31.019 As we develop resources, we have to employ universal design in our thinking about how 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:31.019,0:12:35.930 to make these resources available and we have to continue to monitor students to see if 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:35.930,0:12:42.930 we're really delivering to them the resources in a form that they can actually use. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:43.309,0:12:50.309 (Michael Young) Accessibility requires effort on the part of everyone in the higher education 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:53.610,0:12:59.209 community - faculty, staff, technology vendors. If we all do our part, our institutions can 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:12:59.209,0:13:04.529 provide everyone with an equal opportunity to participate. And we all benefit from the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:04.529,0:13:07.709 perspectives of a diverse group. (Hernan Londonono) Having that peace of mind 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:07.709,0:13:12.959 that we are doing all we can to provide an accessible campus is -- gives us a lot of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:12.959,0:13:17.670 pride and we feel very happy about what, what we do. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:17.670,0:13:22.199 (Linda Cahill) Why wouldn't we make our campus accessible to students with disabilities and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:22.199,0:13:27.439 why wouldn't we do everything we could to see the technology is accessible to our students? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:27.439,0:13:32.490 (Tracy Mitrano) The spirit of what has made higher education the jewel in the crown of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:32.490,0:13:36.939 American society is part and parcel of the message of accessibility. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:36.939,0:13:43.139 (Ed Ray) Every way in which we touch the lives of others, whether it's in the classroom, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:43.139,0:13:50.139 the laboratory, through live performances, through events on campus, we want everyone 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:13:50.170,0:13:57.170 who comes here and creates those experiences to be as fully engaged and as fully benefited 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:14:00.290,0:14:07.290 by the activity as possible. And that simply can't be done if people have artificial challenges 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:14:08.179,0:14:09.889 or barriers to try to overcome. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:14:09.889,0:14:16.319 (Ed Ray) I would say to those out there who are just getting started or maybe struggling 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:14:16.319,0:14:23.319 to figure out how to use technology to advance accessibility on their campuses that there's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 0:14:23.629,0:14:25.549 no such thing as a bad time to start.