going beyond basic ada and s508 compliance with universal design for learning

Engleman, M. & Jeffs, T. Educause, 2007

Going Beyond Basic ADA and S508 Compliance with Universal

Design for Learning

Dr. Melissa EnglemanDr. Tara JeffsEast Carolina University

Greenville, NC


Overview of Today’s Session

8-8:30 Welcome

8:30-9:00 The Future is Now: Rationale & Legal Requirements

9:00-9:15 Universal Design

9:15-9:30 University Compliance and Universal Design

Simple Steps to Designing for “All”

9:30-10:00 Going Beyond Compliance to Excellence

What’s Your Learning Style?

10:00-10:30 Morning Break

10:30-11:00 Personality Preferences & Universal Design for Learning

11:00-11:30 Universal Design for Learning in University Online Courses

11:30- noon Bringing it All Together…Some Final Thoughts


Why Worry About Those People? Those People are You and Me.

Most people will have a disability or experience a limitation that will temporarily or permanently alter

their lives.

Many companies will no longer do business with companies whose products are inaccessible to

people with disabilities. (IBM Report, 2005)


Why Worry About Those People? Those People are You and Me.

With our aging population, the "mature” customer is the fastest growing group.

Changes in vision & hearing, dexterity & memory are results of aging that create accessibility

issues

Few organizations can afford to deliberately miss this market sector. (Access-IT)


•750 million people worldwide have disabilities, and they control about $175 billion

•This number is increasing with the aging of the “baby boomers”.

•Number of adults with a severe disability has increased by 70% since 1966.

•37 million Americans have disabling arthritis

Why Universal Design on the World Wide Web? Fiscal Considerations

(World Health Organization, 2005; Arthritis Foundation, 2005)


15%

36%

49%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ages 22-44 Age 55-64 Over 65

Current Percentages of Individuals with Disabilities by Age Groups


The Web is displacing traditional sources of information

and interaction The internet is used increasingly by individuals of all

ages.An accessible Web has the potential for

unprecedented access to information and resources for people with disabilities. (Access-IT)


Why is Accessibility Important?

1 out of every 5 Americans over the age of 5 have a disability (2000 Census)

Barriers to accessibility affect the 8.5% of the population that has at least one disability that would impact internet use:

Visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities


Why is Accessibility Important?

If accessible, the Web could offer unprecedented independence to people with disabilities.

Web accessibility has benefits for other users.

The Law: See first 3 pp. in notebook (from “Speak-out” website)


Legislation, Regulations and Standards

• Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 2000: Electronic and information technology MUST be accessible to federal employees and and the members of the public with disabilities who use that service.

• Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires “manufacturers of telecommunications equipment…to ensure that the equipment is designed, developed, and fabricated to be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if readily achievable."


Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, as

amended in 1998

• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments require:– Federally funded websites are accessible– Any organization receiving federal funding

have an accessible website – Enforcement provisions of section 508 are

effective as of June 21, 2001 .


The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990): ADA Regulation for Title III

• Appendix A to Part 38 - Standards for Accessible Design established by the “access board”

• prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in “places of public accommodation" (businesses and non-profit agencies that serve the public) and "commercial facilities” [websites are considered “places” & “facilities”]

(See Gumson Vs. Southwest Airlines, 2004)

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/reg3a.html


What the ADA Requires, According to the Office of Civil Rights

NOT enough for public entities NOT enough for public entities to wait to respond to individual to wait to respond to individual

[accessibility] complaints. " [accessibility] complaints. " p. 1, 1997p. 1, 1997

••Provision should be in a manner and medium appropriate to the Provision should be in a manner and medium appropriate to the significance of the message and the abilities of the individual.significance of the message and the abilities of the individual.

••There must be a comprehensive policy in advance of any request for There must be a comprehensive policy in advance of any request for auxiliary aids or services. Inclusion of persons with disabilities is required auxiliary aids or services. Inclusion of persons with disabilities is required in developing such policy.in developing such policy.


Recent Litigation - 2004• 2004-present

– Banking - Legally binding agreements New York State Settlements of 2004

– Priceline.com, Ramada.com were required to pay costs of the investigation and redesign

– Access Now, Inc. vs. Southwest Airlines

– Target vs. NFB


Litigation: Case Law

• The Toyota Case (2001)

• Barnes and Noble and Claire's Stores (settled)

• Wynne v. Tufts University School of Medicine (1992)

• Tyler v. City of Manhattan (1994)

• National Federation of the Blind vs. AOL (1999)

• Gumson v. Southwest Airlines(2004)

• Ninth Circuit in Wong v. Regents (2004)

• Tennessee v. Lane (2004)• Rush v. National Board of

Medical Examiners, (2003)• Stern v. University of

Osteopathic Medicine and Health Services (2000)


Key Language in the Laws

• Must “effectively communicate” (Office of Civil Rights)

– 1. Timeliness– 2. Accuracy– 3. Appropriate Medium

• Department of Justice, Disability Rights Division

– “accessible features”

– Equal degree of access


So, how do we do it?

Many resources exist for finding guidelines: Some simpler than

others.


Compliance is Perceived as More Difficult than it Actually is

• Legalese and “tech talk”• Piecemeal information - no condensed versions• Unknown needs


Web Accessibility Standards

• WCAG – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

– Recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

– 14 guidelines, over 60 checkpoints

– Three priority levels

• Section 508 Standards

– Developed by the United States Access Board

– Provides 16 measurable standards

– All standards are required for compliance


General Considerations

• Consistent navigation on every page• Good color contrast• Can the user understand the page without

color?• “Chunk” large amounts of information

(content as well as links)• Use descriptive links• Use real-text rather than text imbedded in a

graphic?


• Use alt tags for all non-text elements

• Use header tags where appropriate

• If tables are used, identify row and column headings

• If frames are used, include descriptive labels

• If videos are used on the site, use captioning, and for audio, a text transcript

Other Considerations


General Recommendations• Avoid flashing animations or flashes

between 2 and 55 hertz (Prevent seizure triggers and distraction. Also they are generally annoying.)

• Use relative rather than absolute unit (percentages vs. pixels) This ensures that content fits well no matter the scale.

• In hypertext links, text should be specific to In hypertext links, text should be specific to context, and “less is more”context, and “less is more”


Accessibility is a Cross-Disability Issue

visual disabilities hearing disabilities physical disabilities cognitive or neurological

disabilitiesEinstein’s Elevator…


STARS!

• Substance vs. Style• Text Considerations• Alternative

Representation• Routing• Standards

(See p. 4 of notebook)


People who are Blind or Visually Impaired

• Access Methods– Screen readers– Refreshable Braille Displays– Screen Enlarging Software

• Issues– Reading

Images.webaim.org/simulations/screenreader-sim.htm

– Text layout does not make sense – Pixilation of text that is embedded in an

image therefore can not be read

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.digitale-chancen.de/iob/grafisch/netscape/service_anbieter/images/braille.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.digitale-chancen.de/iob/grafisch/netscape/service_anbieter/&hl=en&h=309&w=210&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbraille%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8


Color blindness

Issue

• Using color alone to convey meaning


Another Example


Color Contrast

• Avoid use of color to convey essential information.

This wouldn’t be legible.

Neither would thisNeither would this..

This wouldn’t be legible.


Hearing Impairment or Deafness

• Captioning– Synchronized Captions for auditory

content is most beneficial

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/images/deaf.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/adifferentworld.shtml&hl=en&h=150&w=241&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddeaf%26start%3D120%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DN


Motor or Physical Impairments

• Access Methods – Voice Recognition– HeadMouse– Head wand– Expanded keyboards– Switch Access

• Issues– Keyboard access– Timed Response– Target Areas


Cognitive Impairments

Issues

• Text only pages

• Animated GIFS

• Tob eornot t obe

Benefit from illustrations and graphics, as well as from properly-organized content with headings, lists, and visual cues in the navigation.

http://www.animationfactory.com/free/computer/parts_variant_page_floppy_disk_walking.html

http://www.animationfactory.com/free/school/books_variant_page_book_page_flip.html

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.macalester.edu/~sisk/mind/shakespeare.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.macalester.edu/~sisk/mind/&hl=en&h=484&w=401&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshakespeare%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8


Image Dependency: A Problem Image Dependency: A Problem for Low-Visionfor Low-Vision


1. This page is designed with exact font sizes set.

Then each element on the page (paragraph, image,

etc.) is placed at exact x/y coordinates that depend on

that font size.

2. When the text is zoomed, the carefully placed

elements do not change their positions accordingly, so they now overlap. The

content is more unreadable than it was before.

From Homestead.com

What’s wrong with these?1.

2.


Traditionally, what we have done in education is to accommodate individual needs without changing courses. For examples, we have told deaf students to arrange for sign language interpreters; blind students to secure a Brailled or tape –recorded version of printed materials.

(Bowie, 1999)


“the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.”

What is Universal Design?What is Universal Design?

Ron MaceRon Mace(NC State, 1997)(NC State, 1997)


Captioning and alternate text make indexing Captioning and alternate text make indexing easier and more efficient for search engineseasier and more efficient for search engines

More consistent user interfaces make surfing More consistent user interfaces make surfing easier for anyoneeasier for anyone

On the Web, Universal Design Benefits All Users.


Also, young children, nonreaders and people Also, young children, nonreaders and people who are elderlywho are elderly

““Backward" access: slow connection speeds or Backward" access: slow connection speeds or older equipment and softwareolder equipment and software

Reduces fatigue for all users

On the Web, Universal Design Benefits All Users.


Impact on Universities

E-Learning requires accessible web access and accessible learning materials

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.


University Legal Requirements

• Obligated to provide accessibility unless doing so would “fundamentally alter” the content (not the method)

• Must not impose an “undue burden”

• Choice of inaccessible software that must later be fixed is not an “undue burden”

• Academic freedom is about ideas, not accessibility requirements



• Whether a university is obligated under S508 standards is individual, depending on their policy statements.

• They are obligated under S504, ADA and the Telecommunications Act.

• For a comprehensive list of links to laws and discussion of these issues:

• http://www.washington.edu/accessit/webpslegal.html



• If the university has a policy statement concerning what students must be able to access before they can take an online course, it may get them off the hook - for now.

• On request, the university must provide needed assistive technology, but not necessarily that of the student’s choice.


So, how are we doing so far?


Schmetzke, 2001 Schmetzke, (2001) found that 81% of distance education “home pages” had

major accessibility errors.

The most commonly found problem was failure to provide

alternate text.(Picture of a man, lost in a maze)


Schmetzke, 2001

In a related study, this researcherfound major accessibility errors across

higher education

internet sites, as follows:

General academic units/programs General academic units/programs 25-28%25-28%

Special education programs 27%Special education programs 27%

Colleges of Communication & Colleges of Communication & Schools of Journalism 21%Schools of Journalism 21%

Schools of Library and Information Schools of Library and Information Science: 23%Science: 23%

Online databases were also found Online databases were also found to have numerous accessibility to have numerous accessibility errors.errors.


Blaser’s Findings at For-Profit Online Universities

-confused responses

-referrals to “special” offices

:

2001

Response from the “accessibility experts” at one for-profit online university:

”Please specify the kind of accessibility you would need and what a screen reader is."


Through the Looking-Glass…

• ECU’s subcommittee report on S508b compliance


A Few “One Size Fits All” Accommodations Are Typically Offered,

Regardless of Individual Needs.

Typically provided accommodations for students with learning disabilities:

Scribe or readerNote-takerExtra timeSolitary space for testing

They don’t actually fit all.


Other Commonly Offered Accommodations (NCES Study):

88%

77%

69%

58%

55%

45%

33%

Altered Exam

Tutors

Readers, Notetakers, or Scribe

Assistive Listening Device

Text on Tape

Course Subs. Or Waiver

"Other"


More Than One Barrier to Access

People with disabilities do NOT tend to have the higher income, education, and employment that are usual accompaniments to computer use.

For online education, one needs more than just a computer. That computer must be hooked up to the Internet, at a reasonable "speed" -- and one must stay on the computer for hours at a time.

Another barrier is availability of high speed services


Accommodations can’t be “one size fits all”

But…they can be “many sizes fit all”


Are Course Management System Tools Accessible?

According to their explanations on the Bb 6.0 website, this course management system does adhere to S508 rules,

However, there are still places in this CMS that are limited in accessibility options. Persons with disabilities are

referred to another site, and instructors are given instruction about how to vary assignments, as

necessary.

Alternative! Find options that provide flexibility in taking advantage of each student’s strengths.


The Good news and the Bad News about Course Management

Systems

• Courseware provides a consistent format

• Most products now have text and meaningful titles, alternate text, and so on.

• Many products have accessibility limits with optional parts

such as virtual chat and assessment tools


The Bottom Line…

No student is disconnected fromany part of the course due to his or her functional impairment.

Schenker, K. & Scadden, L., 2002


Pathways to Assure Student-Course Connection

See notebook section “Online Design”

• 1. Consumer evaluation should be conducted at formative stages of development

• 2. Captions of audio, or audio of visual content are provided.

• 3. Universal Design approach - takes into consideration all needs of potential users before development.

Source: Source: http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?203 (Access IT, Fact Sheet 211)(Access IT, Fact Sheet 211)

http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?203


Pathways to Assure Student-Course Connection

• 4. Steps to planning accessible video production: consult individuals with disabilities regarding content, format, and presentation.

• 5. During scripting, be sure most important content is given.

• 6. Consider captions in large font and in upper and lower-case letters, or low vision.

Source: http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?203 (Access IT, Fact Sheet 211)

http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?203


Lissner, (1995)

About 10-15% of the Total Student Population on Any Given Campus

Acknowledge a Disability

Students Reporting

Disabilities15%


Student Needs Inside and Outside Courses: Bb Survey Results (2001)

Use of the Internet Percentage of Institutions Who Use Regularly or Require Use

Email 54%

Web page as part of course 42%

Course Web Sites 30%

Instructor Home Pages 23%

Courses offered 100% on the Web

>50%


In a Nationally Representative Sample of 21,000 Undergraduates:

Hearing Imp. Or Deaf15%

Speech3%

"All Other Health Related"19%

Visual Imp or Blind15%

Learning Disability27%

Orthopedic21%

(NPSAS, 2000)(NPSAS, 2000)


About 30% of Students with Disabilities Report Learning Disabilities

Learning Disabilities

29%

All OtherDisabilities

71%

(Horn, Berktold, & (Horn, Berktold, & Bobbitt,1999; Lewis & Bobbitt,1999; Lewis & Farris, 1999; NCES, Farris, 1999; NCES,

2005)2005)

Total students of students who disclose a disability

Learning Disabilities

All other disabilities combined


The group of students with learning disabilities continues to be the

fastest growing group of persons with disabilities in colleges


Question:

If students with Learning Disabilities are the most prevalent in our universities and the

most rapidly increasing group, why is most accessibility focus for the WWW on physical and sensory accessibility, with little attention

to learning needs?


Learning Styles…

Do your students ask profound questions such as

“How long should the paper be?”

or

“Why do I have to take this class?”


Are you bewildered and frustrated with your students

because they seem hopelessly under prepared?


Chipmunks?


Learning Styles Inventory

• Activity!


What’s Your Learning Style?(See section in notebook)

• Yellow– A. visual B. verbal

• Blue– A. sequential B. global

• Green– A. active B. reflective

• Pink– A. sensory B. intuitive


Break!


Understanding the Learner

•Past 15 years studied new students.

•4000 students administered Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test

•By understanding how students learn can help us meet the needs of new students that sit in our classrooms


•They have difficulty with complex concepts and low tolerance for ambiguity. Less independent in thought and judgment and more dependent on ideas of those of authority•Also more dependent on immediate gratification and exhibit more difficulty with basic academics such as reading and writing

Sensing Learners


Sensing vs. Intuition”

60% “sensing” learning style prefers direct, concrete experiences; moderate to high degrees of structure, linear sequential learning, and often need to know why before doing something.

In general, students who prefer sensing learning patterns prefer the concrete, the practical, and the immediate.


Many Paths to Learning

Schroeder suggests that this research indicates that “there are many paths to excellence and perhaps the greatest contributions we can make to student learning is recognizing and affirming paths that are different from our own”.


Personality Preferences Activity


What’s Your Sign?

• Yellow – A. extrovert (E) B. introvert (I)

• Blue– A. sensing (S) B. intuitive (N)

• Green– A. thinking (T) B. feeling (F)

• Orange– A. judging (J) B. perceiving (P)

The Online Course Design Study at ECU:

•College of Education Graduate MAEd Students

•282 responses over 3 years

•Sampled from SPED 6002 Addressing Differences in Human Learning in Schools

How did the students compare in their personality

preferences?

• They were very different from faculty!

• They differed in many different ways.


Faculty Types: Mostly INFJs and ENFJs

INTP8%

INFJ22%

ISTP3%

INFP13%ENFJ

21%

ISFJ8%

ENTJ5%

INTJ10%

ENFP5%

ESFJ5%

Students: Mostly ISFJs and ESFJs

ESFJ25%

ISFJ24%ENFJ

15%

ISTJ10%

INFJ9%

ESTJ5%

INTJ5%

ENTJ1%

ESTP

ESFP3%

INFP

INTP1%


Faculty: Mostly NFPs &NFJsNTP8%

NFJ43%

NFP18%

NTJ15%

SFP0%

SFJ13%

STP3%

Students: Mostly SFJs - some NFJs


Faculty Types: Mostly NFs, with some NTs

NT23%

NF61%

SP3%

SJ13%

Students: Mostly SJ s, with some NFs


FACULTY STUDENTS

INFJ 22% 9%

ENFJ 21%15%

%INFP 13% <1%INTJ 10% 5%ISFJ 8% 24%INTP 8% <1%ENFP 5% <1%

ESFJ 5% 26%

ENTJ 5% 1%

ISTP 3% 0

ISTJ 0 10%

ESTJ 0 5%

ESFP 0 3%

ESTP 0 1%


More Type Comparisons

• Students were primarily:

• Sensory (S)• Judging (J)

•Faculty were primarily:

•Intuitive (N)•Feeling (F)

• Sensing-Judging (SJ): May be called traditionalist, stabilizer, or consolidator. They value caution, carefulness, and accuracy• Like clear, sequential steps, see “the trees”, teacher-pleasing, like

things to be right

• Intuitive-Feeling (NF): A spokesperson and energizer, they value harmony and self-determination. • Likes the big picture (what box?), see “the forest”, searching for

meaning, like things to be intriguing and fulfilling

These preferences imply very different styles for teaching and learning online - or face-to-face - but online learning can either be rigid or flexible, according to instructor design...


What About Learning Styles?

First, the students...

• Students Preferred...

• Active• Sensory• Visual • Sequential

Learning Styles: Only One in Common

•Faculty Preferred...•Reflective•Intuitive•Visual •Global


Implications

• One-size does NOT fit all

• Instructors who primarily design online courses the way they like learning will fail to use the best strategies for most of their audience

• This is why we drive each other crazy!

• and most importantly....


Providing simultaneous options for how to access learning will provide the best experience for everyone.

(See notebook section “Faculty Information and UDL” for evaluations of common teaching methods)


Universal Design for Learning

• 1990’s challenged us to think about who should be responsible for accessibility.

– The Intersection of educational initiatives. For example, integrated units, multi-sensory teaching, multiple intelligences, differentiated instruction, use of computers in schools, and performance-based assessment to name a few.


• The task for educators is to understand how students learn and use the technology available in this digital age to provide selected supports where they are needed and position the challenge appropriately for each learner.


Learning Networks

Learning is distributed across three interconnected networks:

1. the recognition networks ……what

2. the strategic networks …….how

3. the affective networks ……..why


Recognition Network

Exercise your recognition networks' processing by quickly listing the individual objects you recognize in this picture


Strategic Network

Exercise your strategic networks by examining this image for a few different purposes. Notice how you look at the image differently depending on your purpose.

1. How old are the people in this picture?

2. What time historical time period or geographical location might it represent?

3. How might the people be feeling in this picture?


Affective Network

Exercise your affective networks' processing by looking at the picture once again .

What strikes you about the picture?

Note something about your self that may have led you to this conclusion.


Comparison of UD and UDL: Benefits and Pitfalls

“Typical” Design Universal design Universal Design & UDL

*many accommodation requests or potential lawsuits

*dramatically reduces number of accommodation requests

*virtually no accommodation requests

*may lose students who have disabilities

*attracts students with sensory and physical disabilities

*attracts more students

with learning disabilities

*not in strict compliance with the law.

compliance: to the “letter” of the law

*beyond compliance to best practice


Comparison of 3 Designs: “typical”, using UD and using UDL

“Typical” Design Universal Design Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning

Initial costs, training & design time are low

Later costs may be very high

Initial costs for training, and design time a little higher

Later costs will be lower

Higher initial costs for training and design time

Virtually no costs later


Universal Design Framework• Universal Design for Learning calls for ...• Multiple means of representation, to give

learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge,

• Multiple means of expression, to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know,

• Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners' interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase motivation.


Multiple means of representation

• Present information in multiple ways. Anything written or otherwise offered visually is also spoken aloud or vice versa.


Multiple means of expression

• Offer multiple ways for students to interact with and respond to curricula and materials. (Talking, writing, typing, videoing, etc)


Multiple means of engagement,

• Provide multiple ways for students to find meaning in the material and thus motivate themselves. Students may work independently, or in teams. They may show that they master principles by applying their favorite activities.


Universal Design for Learning

• Various means of

– Representation– Engagement – Expression

• addresses individual learning needs and preferences by designing for all potential users

By designing learning experiences for many possible learners with

various characteristics, ALL

learners benefit

Example:

The spelling test.


Universal Design for Learning: Applications to Online Courses

• Okay, UDL is a good idea. How do we do it?


Multiple Means of Representation: Example

• View the video clip of Martin Luther King giving the “I Have a Dream” speech.

• Read Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

• Listen to audio clip of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

• Find and read at least 5 pertinent pieces of historical literature on Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech

Read the Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to a partner.

Listen to a partner reading Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Watch a documentary on Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Find at least 5 pertinent pieces of critical literature on Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.


University Examples


Example


For more information, contact:

Dr. Melissa Engleman or Dr. Tara JeffsSpecial Education

East Carolina UniversityGreenville, NC 27858-4353

[email protected] or [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

going beyond basic ada and s508 compliance with universal design for learning

Documents

disabilities act

web accessibility

accessible design

telecommunications act

accessibility important

unprecedented access

vocational rehabilitation

rehabilitation act amendments