IT Accessibility: What Campus Leaders Have to Say (6-minute Version)

(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.