Closed Captioning: Getting Your Lines Right

By Bridget McCrea

As lecture capture and distance learning take hold in higher ed, colleges pursue different approaches to the issue of closed captioning and transcription.

The rapid growth of lecture capture and distance education in higher education is raising fresh concerns about accessibility, since it’s difficult–if not impossible–for hearing-impaired students to use these tools effectively. As a result, many colleges and universities are renewing their focus on closed captioning as a viable solution.

While the impetus for closed captioning stems from a desire to accommodate students with hearing issues, schools are also discovering that closed captioning has broader appeal, particularly among students for whom English is a second language. And for the rest of the students on campus, there’s one other big benefit: It allows them to search captured content quickly, by enabling keyword searches.

Continued at: http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/08/01/closed-captioning-and-getting-your-lines-right.aspx

Improving the Accessibility of Online Course Materials

By Daniel Fusch

In a climate of increased demand for online courses and increased federal scrutiny of regulatory compliance, it is increasingly critical that colleges and universities ensure the accessibility of their online course materials for students with disabilities — and not only for online courses, but also for classes held in the physical classroom that direct students to pursue research online or access supplemental materials via a course management system.

Fortunately, significant gains in accessibility can be made with relative ease — the key is to be proactive and plan for them early rather than after an issue is noticed. To learn more about the “low-hanging fruit” for accessibility of course materials, we interviewed two leading experts on the issue from Drexel University — Dan Allen, content management specialist with Drexel’s Office of Information Resources and Technology, and Jenny Dugger, director of Drexel’s Office of Disability Services.

Allen and Dugger offer the following tips for:
1. Vetting potential vendors for accessibility
2 .Coaching your faculty in making course materials more accessible

Continued at: http://www.academicimpressions.com/news.php?i=214&q=8817n401869aS

Web Accessibility for All

By Dian Schaffhauser

When a Web designer or developer at the University of Washington in Seattle has questions about the accessibility of the school’s sites and applications, he or she can tap the expertise of a team of technology accessibility specialists such as Terrill Thompson. As a senior computer specialist, Thompson divides his time among multiple grant programs, including AccessIT (the National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education) and DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology). These federally funded research and dissemination projects focus on improving access to technology, education, and challenging careers for individuals with disabilities. Prior to his work at U Washington, Thompson served as coordinator of assistive and IT at North Carolina State University.

Campus Technology talked with Thompson about the importance of accessibility for all campus constituents and common pitfalls to avoid when creating accessible online sites.

Continued at: http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/07/07/web-accessibility-for-all.aspx

Department of Ed Expands on Accessibility Issues in Ed Tech

By Dian Schaffhauser

To follow up on a 2010 reminder to colleges, universities, and K-12 school districts that their instructional technology adhere to accessibility laws, the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has issued a new frequently-asked questions document to address ongoing concerns regarding compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

That initial June 2010 letter, issued as “dear colleague” guidance, explained that devices used for educational purposes must be accessible to students with disabilities, unless the benefits of the technology are provided equally through other means. It was sent out after the U.S. Justice Department settled complaints with a number of institutions that were running pilot programs involving the Amazon Kindle book reader, which, at that time, wasn’t fully accessible by students who were blind or had low vision. Those device limitations have since been addressed by Amazon.

Continued at: http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/05/27/department-of-ed-expands-on-accessibility-issues-in-ed-tech.aspx

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