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After the presentation, participants will be able to:
Approximately 45-60 minutes.
Department chair, faculty, staff, teaching assistant, student, or other department member who has experience working with computer facilities and students with disabilities. The program may be co-presented with a staff member of a campus unit responsible for providing computer accommodations for students with disabilities.
For further preparation for this presentation, consult The Faculty Room at http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/Strategies/Academic/Computerlabs/.
Today we'll be discussing how to make computer labs accessible to all students, no matter what abilities or disabilities they have.
The objectives for this presentation are to... (Paraphrase objectives on visual.)
Everyone who needs to use your computer lab should be able to do so comfortably. As increasing numbers of people with disabilities pursue educational opportunities that require computer use, access to computing facilities becomes even more critical. The key is to provide equal access.
Assuring that individuals with disabilities have access to computing resources can be argued on ethical grounds. Some simply consider it to be the right thing to do. Others are more responsive to legal mandates. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 requires that people with disabilities be given the same access to public programs and services, including educational programs, that are offered to people without disabilities.
The ADA is civil rights legislation that reinforces and extends to all postsecondary institutions the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which states: "no otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities shall, solely by reason of their disabilities, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination in any program or activity of a public entity." When people think of the ADA they often think of elevators in buildings, reserved spaces in parking lots, and lifts on busses. However, the ADA accessibility requirements apply to people with all types of disabilities and to all programs and resources offered at our institutions, including those offered using computers and the Internet.
Disabilities covered by legislation include, but are not limited to spinal cord injuries, loss of limbs, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, hearing impairments, visual impairments, speech impairments, specific learning disabilities, head injuries, psychiatric disorders, Diabetes, Cancer, and AIDS. The conditions listed may limit people's abilities to perform specific tasks. Some of these conditions are readily apparent; some are invisible. Some affect computer use; some do not.
Additionally, some students who have conditions with the same label may have very different abilities when it comes to performing specific tasks. For example, one student who has Cerebral Palsy may have difficulty walking. For another student, Cerebral Palsy may result in no functional use of his hands or voice. Ultimately, a student who has a disability requires accommodations only when faced with a task that requires a skill that his disability precludes. This may include computer access.
In summary, federal legislation requires that we accept otherwise qualified students with disabilities into our academic programs. Additionally, we should work with students to identify and implement academic accommodations which will ensure that they have educational opportunities equal to those of their peers without disabilities. Ensuring access to computers and information technology is also an important step in leveling the playing field for students with disabilities in postsecondary institutions.
The rest of today's presentation will help you develop an understanding of access challenges, universal design principles, and strategies to create accessible computer labs for all students.
When it comes to using computer resources, students with some disabilities face access issues in one or more of three areas. The first is access to the computing facility itself. Students must be able to get to the facility and maneuver within it. Secondly, they must be able to access the computer. When the needed accessibility features are not built into commercial products, a wide variety of special hardware and software, "adaptive" (or "assistive") technology, provides solutions. For example, people who are blind can equip their computers with software and hardware that will read aloud all text that appears on the screen.
(If you would like your audience to gain an overview of ways individuals with disabilities access and use computer technology, show the videotape Computer Access: In Our Own Words.)
Once computer access barriers are removed, electronic resources such as applications software and World Wide Web pages may present access challenges for some people with disabilities. This problem can be avoided if software and Web page developers employ principles of universal design when they develop their products. The first challenge, computer lab access, is the topic of our presentation today.
We'll start by talking about principles of universal design. Designing a product or service involves the consideration of a myriad of factors that include aesthetics, engineering options, environmental issues, safety concerns, and cost. One issue that designers often overlook is "universal design." In general, universal design means designing products and services that can be used by people with a range of characteristics, abilities, and disabilities.
Universal design is defined by the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University as "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." At this center, a group of architects, product designers, engineers, and environmental design researchers collaborated to establish a set of principles of universal design to provide guidance in the design of environments, communications, and products.
General principles of universal design include the design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities; the design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities; the design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities; the design can be used by individuals with a wide variety of characteristics. Disability is just one of these characteristics. For example, one person could be male, tall, fifteen years old, a poor reader, and blind. All of these characteristics, including his blindness, should be considered when developing a product he might use. In the case of your computer lab, rather than design your facility for the average user, design it for people with a broad range of abilities. Keep in mind that individuals using your computing lab may have learning disabilities or visual, speech, hearing, and mobility impairments.
As you plan services in your computing facility, consider all of your potential users, including those with disabilities. Make sure lab users can:
Also, make sure that staff are trained to support people with disabilities and have a plan in place to respond to specific requests in a timely manner. With these goals in mind, you can make your lab accessible to everyone. Let's watch a videotape presentation, Equal Access: Computer Labs[video], to learn about the challenges and solutions for designing an accessible facility. Then we'll review some of the guidelines listed in your handout with the same title.
You can use the list of guidelines in the handout as a starting point for surveying your computer facility for accessibility. Designing an academic or work area that is accessible to everyone begins with the physical environment of the facility. Ask the following questions when determining how to make your facility more accessible (have participants refer to handout):
In a computer lab, it is desirable to provide options at a computer workstation that will address the needs of a variety of users. You should also have procedures in place to deal with specific needs that these general solutions cannot address. Include the students in discussions to come up with creative, simple solutions. For example, in the videotape presentation, you saw Mitch, whose health impairment required him to lay on his side for a month. Staff turned Mitch's monitor on its side and built a holder for his keyboard so that he could use it independently.
Remember, you don't have to do everything at once. Start small and add to your collection of adaptive technology as you receive requests and as computer lab staff gain skills in providing training and services. Here is a sample of the adaptive technology you might want to purchase in order to get started right now. As you review this sample list, describe the types of adaptive technology, if any, currently available in your facility. This list is also in your handout. Include:
(Encourage participants to share their ideas.)
(Discuss the following and other appropriate questions with the group.)
(Consider having participants discuss a case. Case #2 on page 69 in the Presentation Tips section of the notebook would be appropriate.)
Making your computing resources accessible to all students, including those with disabilities, is a legal requirement and the right thing to do. Employing universal design principles as you plan for users with a broad range of abilities and disabilities will reduce the need for special accommodations as people with disabilities access your facility.
Here are some resources that might be useful to you as you work to maximize effective communication with all students in your classes. (Elaborate.)
For comprehensive information on accommodations, a wide range of case studies, frequently asked questions, and general resources, visit The Faculty Room at http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/. This resource was developed at the University of Washington as part of a nationwide project to provide resources to faculty and administrators so that they can make their courses and programs accessible to all students. You can link to this resource from ____ (Arrange to make the link from your campus/departmental disabled student services home page before the presentation.). Consider linking to this Web site from your departmental Web pages for faculty.
Thank you for your time today and for your interest in finding ways to ensure that all of the students in our programs have equal opportunities to learn, explore interests, and express ideas.
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