Equal Access: Universal Design of an Academic Department

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>> Narrator: The student population at
universities and colleges

is becoming increasingly diverse.

Both students and staff need
equal access to courses, facilities,

and all aspects of campus life.

Yet people with disabilities

still find inaccessible websites,
course materials, and facilities.

One solution is the implementation
of Universal Design.

Architect Ron Mace defined it as:

The design of products and environments
to be useable by all people,

to the greatest extent possible,

without the need for adaptation
or specialized design.

>> Nimisha Ghosh Roy: The value of universal
design is that it’s simple,

and it’s easy, and it will be able to impact
all of your students.

>> Narrator: It suggests that, rather than
designing departmental offerings

for the average user,

design them for for people
with a broad range of abilities,

disabilities, reading levels,
learning styles,

native languages,
and other characteristics.

>> Richard Ladner: Universal design is --
it's really a goal.

It's a way to approach education

so that you maximize the number of people
that are benefiting from the education.

Campus stakeholders need to think about
planning and policies.

Ask yourself if people with disabilities and
members of other underrepresented groups

are on your staff, faculty, or student body.

>> Jim Gorske: In looking at developing policy
at a university level

I think it's important to recognize,

first of all, gathering the right
collection of folks to have that discussion

and not just include, you know,
faculty representation,

but also to includes folks
that provide services,

students that are the recipient
of those services,

students that are in those classes,

people that will be a part of the design of
what's going to be then

the effect of the policy.

>> Narrator: When courses or services are
being evaluated,

be sure to include items that ask about the
experiences of those with disabilities.

>> Tony Delisle: I think if an institution,
a college and a department

is going to be friendly
to people with disabilities,

I think it's really a cultural aspect,

a social normative of attitudes and beliefs
that's prevalent and pervasive

throughout the institution and colleges and
into the departments.

>> Narrator: Campus facilities should be
accessible and welcoming.

Ensure physical access,
comfort and safety

for visitors with a variety of abilities,

racial and ethnic backgrounds,
genders and ages.

>> Jon McGough: A great place to start
assessing your accessible facilities

is in the parking lot.

You should make sure that you have a sufficient
number of accessible parking spots

and they should be well-marked.

Routes from the accessible parking
to a building

should be well-marked with
large high contrast signs.

A front door should be for all users,

whether they’re in a wheelchair or are
walking up to the front door.

A front door for one should be
a front door for all.

(Susan Gjolmesli) Students
need to know where they are.

Signage needs to be plentiful,
really accurate, high contrast.

It can't blend into the façade
of the campus, you know,

none of this lovely brushed silver/nickel
stuff that blends into the building.

It has to stand out.

>> Kayla Brown: As far as elevators go,
I think that

the most important thing for me
is having the controls

at the lower level
so that I can reach them.

>> Narrator: Restrooms should be
wheelchair-accessible

with well-marked signs.

Counters and desks in
student service areas

should be accessible
from a seated position

and aisles should be wide
and clear of obstructions.

>> Bree Callahan: So faculty who require
students to use labs on campus

to complete coursework
have to also be mindful of

if the lab itself is accessible.

So yes, can they get in the building?
Yes, can they get into the lab itself?

But within the lab, there's features
that they may not think of.

So is there an adjustable height
workstation

for someone who may need to
move the table up or down?

Are there ZoomText or screen readers
on the lab stations within it?

If there is somebody who is there to help,
help desk,

Can someone go and ask a question,
and is that an accessible desk or area?

Or other things like printers or phones
that might need to be used.

All those things still need to be accessible
to a student with a disability.

Before faculty brings technology
into a classroom

they definitely need to be aware
of what it is

and not just use it because it's the new,
hot, flashy technology on the market.

They have to really know
how to use it

and the pros and cons of
how accessible it is

or how it will impact a student’s
learning environment.

>> Narrator: It's also important
to consider computing equipment

and software, and to provide access
to assistive technology

for those who need it.

>> Kelsey Byers: And software
can range from text to speech,

voice recognition software,
screen enlargement.

It can be used in the classroom,
outside of the classroom,

and really benefits a wide
variety of users.

>> Hadi Rangin: I believe
we should have at least

a minimum accessibility
requirement checklist

so we can ask the campus
to follow that.

So, if we are going to provide a product or
develop a product,

we have to ensure those minimum
accessibility checklists are met.

>> Bree Callahan: Websites are a very interesting
place for a department to start,

because where else does a student go
to find out basic information

or maybe even their initial information
about an academic department

they are looking at.

So if a student with a disability cannot

find out how to contact you,
what you do,

how are they going to be able to get
more information

or pursue you as a program?

>> Hadi Rangin: So, I personally think it
should be the responsibility

of the respective web developers
or webmasters

to ensure that first their own
framework,

their own application
or websites, are accessible

and at the same time,
they have to provide training.

They just need to consider accessibility
as important as say, security and privacy.

>> Narrator: Faculty members
should deliver courses

that are accessible to all students

and accommodations must be provided
in a timely manner.

Make sure that video presentations
used in courses have captions,

and where appropriate,
audio descriptions.

Captions allow a wide variety of people
to understand content

and captions can often be searched
to accelerate access to information.

>> Al Souma: By doing so, we're
reaching a large number of individuals.

And those include, of course,
deaf and hard of hearing people

who would get nothing out of a video
that's not captioned,

individuals whose English is
their second language,

individuals with ADD and LD,
for example,

may help them focus more
on the words

as they see it go
across the screen.

>> Lisa Elliot: I don't think that we
totally understand

how people take in and use information,

so the more ways that we can offer it up
the better we all are.

>> Jeffrey Bigham: As an instructor in a course
you can make your material accessible.

You can make sure that
the student isn't excluded,

and so even if you can't, in a short amount
of time, change the policy in a university,

you can change the policy
in your own classroom.

>> Richard Ladner: I always feel like if I
have a student that has an accommodation,

that I as a teacher
have to give a little too.

I can't just do everything
exactly the same way.

So, we have to be a little adaptable
as professors

so that we reach the most students,
and that's what I practice.

>> Kelsey Byers: Speaking as both
a student and an instructor,

assessment really needs to be flexible.

We focus as instructors on exams

but there are many ways to assess
student learning:

problem sets, exams, projects, writing.

>> Narrator: Although applying universal design
minimizes the need for accommodations

for students, faculty, and
staff with disabilities,

it’s also important
to have a plan in place

to respond to additional
accommodation requests.

>> Stephan Smith: And so, the way that we
ensure timely and effective accommodations,

is by planning our policies
and planning our practices

that include our academic departments.

>> Jose Blackorby:
We have to do it faster;

we have to do it
with fewer resources;

and we have to do it for a broader range
of the population.

And we're all on the hook for that
and we should be.