Administrative Issues: Information Technology Accessibility
Q1_32. Does your institution currently have a Section 508 plan or similar plan that addresses the accessibility of electronic and information technology, beyond web accessibility?
(44 responses)
| Response | Count | % |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 17 | 38.6 |
| No | 27 | 61.4 |
Q1_33. At what level within the organizational hierarchy is the policy sanctioned?
(14 responses)
- Middle Management
- At the highest IT level
- VP IT
- Director level
- President
- Very high.
- it's still being developed by a technology committee. It will eventually be adopted by our board of trustees.
- At the IT level
- Board & President
- At the top
- Director of Computer Services
- top
- Vice president
- Board of Trustees level
Q1_34. What standards or guidelines, if any, is your policy based upon? (check all that apply)
(17 responses)
| Response | Count | % |
|---|---|---|
| Section 508 standards | 14 | 82.4 |
| State guidelines | 9 | 52.9 |
| We developed our own guidelines | 7 | 41.2 |
Q1_35. Does the policy have an enforcement mechanism? If so, describe.
(13 responses)
Four participants responded "No", and one responded "Not yet". The following are the remaining responses:
- We have a National Policy based on e-envoy government guidelines for the Disability Discrimination Act
- No real enforcement is available outside of the IT department.
- If a student complains that he was not given reasonable assistants then the college's lawyer investigates the complaint.
- Not really other than peer pressure.
- mostly through the procurement process
- yes, all requests for A T come before the ADA committee and HR
- yes if a webpage is not accessible computer services contact the individual offers assistance with making changes. If there is non-compliance the page is taken down.
- if faculty do not take the course on distance learning accessibility, and their course is not accessible, they risk not getting paid for their course
Q1_36. When did the policy go into effect?
(16 responses)
| Response | Count | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1 | 6.3 |
| 1999 | 1 | 6.3 |
| 2000 | 4 | 25.0 |
| 2001 | 5 | 31.3 |
| 2002 | 2 | 12.5 |
| 2003 | 1 | 6.3 |
| It hasn't yet | 1 | 6.3 |
| with the law | 1 | 6.3 |
Q1_37. Do you feel the policy has been effective?
(18 responses)
| Response | Count | % |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 4 | 22.2 |
| No | 1 | 5.6 |
| Somewhat | 13 | 72.2 |
Q1_38. Does your institution have a project, system or strategy in place to assess the accessibility of its information technology resources? If yes, please describe.
(39 responses)
22 participants responded either "No", "Not yet", or "Not really". The following are the remaining responses:
- informal ongoing review by ATL manager
- Yes. Campus-wide working group which reports to Provost and CIO
- Our University web design group has an accessibility evaluation team
- As students start school they must see a school councilor, the councilor will ask if the student has any disabilities that need special technology assistance. The student will be also told about some current technology being used i.e. voice recognition, text reading, magnification of text, etc.
- Involvement in current state-wide ad-hoc initiative
- Strategy is by-request only. Still in accessibility awareness/marketing phases.
- The only strategy is me and my boss banging the drum in meetings. Most of our IT people are on board and understand. It's the non IT bean counters who balk at any costs.
- We have an Information Technology Committee that meets every other week.
- Its not as responsive as it should be-still often is afterthought until we get involved
- We complete audits to make sure we are in compliance of all federal and state laws
- In the process of developing.
- yes disablity and computer services assess this issue
- I don't know. I can't speak for the institution regarding policy or strategy, however I do know that when a student wishes to access a PC in one of the Computing labs, they are directed to our office first.
- Yes, the alternate media specialist reviews the AT computers each year and upgrades the software. The hardware remains the same. The website is reviewed each year also.
- through surveying students who use AT; their feedback throughout the year.
- yes, I do it when students cannot access IT