ED262 mylineONLINE: Exceptionalities and Accessibilities

The Long Road from Reactive to Proactive: Developing an Accessibility Strategy

Implementing accessibility policies in higher education is no easy task. For many, it is easy to get caught in a cycle of reactive accommodation where larger accessibility policies are never implemented. So how do you transition from reactive policies to proactive policies?

Korey Singleton, the Assistive Technology Initiative Manager at George Mason University, will walk you through their two-year process of moving from reactive solutions to proactive accessibility policies. His own experience with how difficult it can be to shift campus climate and administrative support towards proactive accessibility is incredibly useful for other universities struggling with the same thing.

EdX, an online learning platform that Harvard co-founded with MIT in 2012, entered into a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice on Thursday and will address alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. That settlement could come to bear on a separate but similar lawsuit against Harvard that revolves around issues of accessibility online.

Namely, the edX settlement will require the platform to become accessible for people with disabilities—including those who are deaf or visually impaired.

In particular, edX is required to “provide accurate captioning for the deaf, oral navigation signals for the blind, and programming changes so those with dexterity disabilities can navigate content without struggling with a hand-operated mouse,” among other stipulations, according to a Department of Justice press release. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that public accommodations not deny disabled people its services.

 By Tamar Lewin, 2/12/15:

"Advocates for the deaf on Thursday filed a federal class action against Harvard and M.I.T., saying both universities violate antidiscrimination laws by failing to provide closed captioning in their online lectures, courses, podcasts and other educational materials.

“Much of Harvard’s online content is either not captioned or is inaccurately or unintelligibly captioned, making it inaccessible for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing,” the complaint said, echoing language used in the M.I.T. complaint. “Just as buildings without ramps bar people who use wheelchairs, online content without captions excludes individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.”