1. Technology Basics for Disability Services Staff
March 20, 2006
Athens, Georgia

2. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
All public or private institutions receiving federal funding, must make programs and services accessible for individuals with disabilities.
Enforcing agency: Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
OCR has ruled …
Not whether student with disability is provided access, but extent that communication is actually as effective as that provided to others.
In favor of making information technology (IT) accessible for students with disabilities.
Explain that Section 504 was the first law passed which required that schools provide interpreters and other services, but was limited only to those schools which received federal funding of some kind, including student loans.
Under Section 508, all school and department websites, brochures, any information made available to the public must be accessible to individuals with disabilities. That could include Braille copies, captioning on videotapes.

3. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Passed 1990 before Internet.
Disability if meet one of three-part definition.
Title II “Effective communication” applies to Internet per Department of Justice.
To understand exactly what must be done to make information technology accessible to people with disabilities, it is necessary to have adequate standards and an understanding of the relevant standards and laws as well as implement an accessible policy. ADA Compliant Website = NOT!
Department of Justice letter opinion states:
“Effective communication” requirement in Title II applies to the Internet.
Covered entities using the Internet must be prepared to offer communications to people with disabilities be as effective as communication with others through accessible means

4. Information Technology Terminology

5. IT Terminology Information Technology (IT)
Any technology that stores or processes information.
Hardware and software
Internet pages, PDF files, Office documents
Copiers
Faxes
Voice mail

6. IT Terminology Assistive Technology (AT)
Assists a person with a disability in performing a task that most people can do without such technology.
For more information on AT and disability-related resources, visit the National Public Website on Assistive Technology:

7. Common AT for Computer Access
Voice Activated Software
Trackballs and Touch Pads
Example: Dragon Dictate, Dragon Speaking Naturally. Requires use of headset and extensive training to correctly recognize your voice. People with and without disabilities use this type of software; voice-enabled technology is the wave of the feature.
*Students with mobility impairments or limited used of their fingers (i.e. spinal cord injuries, paralysis, arthritis, repetitive stress syndrome) .
*Persons who use the “hunt and peck” method of typing.
*Hands-free, busy environment.
*Natural voice or synthesized speech.

8. Common AT for Computer Access
Magnification and CCTV
Braille Display/Refreshable
Screenreaders

9. IT Terminology Universal Design (UD)
Design of products, environments, and communications to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without need for adaptation or specialized design.
AKA: Design for All, Inclusive Design, Lifespan Design

10. IT Terminology Usability
Efficiency with which a user can perform required tasks with a product, for example, a website. Usability can be measured objectively via performance errors and productivity, and subjectively via user preferences and interface characteristics.

11. UD to Accessibility and Usability
Built-in design that makes the learning goals achievable by individuals with wide differences in their abilities to see, hear, speak, move, read, write, understand English, attend, organize, engage, and remember.”
Source: Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)

12. IT Terminology Accessible Information Technology
Compatible with assistive technology and may include flexible features that allow users with disabilities to use assistive technology.
In principle, accessibility means that users are able to interact with the technology in ways that best work for them.

13. Barriers to Access
Generally occur when I.T NOT designed to interact with A.T.
For example: A website is designed in such a way that a screen reader will not be able to read all of the information on a website.

14. IT Terminology W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
Group of industry professionals who set standards for Internet use

15. IT Terminology WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative)
Project of the W3C, which focuses on accessibility of websites.

16. IT Terminology
WCAG 1.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) (2.0 in Development)
Guidelines for website accessibility, developed by the W3C and WAI.
Uses “Priority One”, “Priority Two”, and “Priority Three” standards.

17. IT Terminology Section 508 Federal departments must:
Part of Vocational Rehabilitation Act
The U.S. Access Board adopted the Section 508 standards in 2001.
Federal departments must:
Accommodate employees with disabilities.
Design accessible websites.
Procure accessible information technology.

18. IT Terminology Hypertext
Most Web sites utilize hypertext, which includes text links to other pages.

19. IT Terminology HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
The language in which most web pages are written. Web browsers use this code to display pages.

20. IT Terminology Markup or Code
Other names for HTML, designed to confuse people.

21. IT Terminology
Tags
create “behind the scenes” framework and identify elements
i.e. headings, lists, links, paragraphs

22. Framework <Tags> of HTML Webpage
<head>
<title>Name for Document</title>
</head>
<body> Content goes here </body>
</html>

23. IT Terminology
Tables
How most data is displayed on an HTML page. There are two kinds of tables:
Layout tables
Data tables

24. IT Terminology
Frames
Some pages use multiple HTML documents on one page which appear as “frames”.

25. IT Terminology CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
A CSS file is a set of instructions that tell a browser how to display a given page (in terms of text fonts, colors, etc.)

26. IT Terminology URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
The URL is the address of any given page.

27. IT Terminology Alt-tag (really Alt Attribute)
Alternative text used by screen-readers.

28. IT Terminology
Skip-nav
Skip-navigation text used by screen readers.

29. IT Terminology XML, PHP, Cold Fusion
Software programs that merge databases with HTML to create web pages.

30. IT Terminology Courseware
Software products used in distance learning to provide content in a consistent manner.
Blackboard
WebCT

31. IT Terminology
Multimedia
Any website that uses sound and video.

32. IT Terminology
Applet
Any software program running within a website, such as Java or Flash.

33. IT Terminology Plug-in
Any software program a user needs to download in order to run a file, such as Flash or PDF.

34. What is the User Experience?
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearchr at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a tatol mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbeslm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh!
Benefits cognitive and learning disabilities as well as different learning styles and English as second language.