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Administrative Guideline 1117

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Administrative Guideline 1117

Adopted:
Approved:
Revised: August 12, 2019

ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINE TYPE: Information Technology

ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINE TITLE: Accessibility of Electronic and Information Technology Guideline

DEPARTMENT RESPONSIBLE: Academic Affairs/Student Services/Information Technology/Marketing

I. Statement of Purpose

Southeastern Community College (SCC) is committed to providing equal access to Electronic and Information Technologies (EIT) in accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, American with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the American with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008. The College is committed to providing equal access to education, information and resources for our employees, students and community. This document provides guidance for the procurement and management of equally accessible EIT for all College programs, courses and services.

II. Users Governed

This guideline applies to SCC faculty and staff.

III. Guideline Overview

SCC recognizes that Section 508 defines two key areas to support individuals with disabilities:

  1. Access to Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) – includes EIT procurement procedures, accessibility to SCC web pages and computers/software applications.
  2. Access to Programs, Courses and Services – includes accessibility to online courses (distance education), instructional digital media (video, audio, electronic text), and third party resources (publisher media, websites, resources).

IV. Section 508 – Access to Electronic and Information Technology (EIT)

SCC has established the following strategies to support individuals with disabilities with access to EIT:

  1. EIT equipment/services purchased by SCC must have the capability to use assistive hardware and software. (EIT purchasing approvals will be processed through SCC’s Information Technology Division)
  2. Accessibility to SCC Web pages (includes instructors’ Web pages) – SCC has integrated an ADA Web management tool into the College’s Content Management System (CMS). This resource completes a daily audit of the College’s Web environment and compares each page to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level I & Level II requirements. Examples of WCAG Level I and Level II requirements include: captioning of audio media, compliance with text size and color scheme as well as descriptions for all images. SCC’s ITS staff collaborates with the College’s CMS vendor to address ADA compliancy issues.
  3. Accessibility to SCC computer labs/software applications – There are two types of computer labs within the SCC district.
    1. Thin Client Labs – software applications reside on virtual servers in the data center. SCC’s Network Manager collaborates with the Office of Disability Services to ensure the thin client environment has the infrastructure to deploy assistive software applications that meet a “defined” standard for individuals with disabilities. (Example: Read/Write Gold software is an application that provides audio for text services. This is deployed to the College’s thin client environment.
    2. Traditional Computer Labs – software applications reside on physical computers located in each lab. SCC’s IT department will ensure that ten percent of the physical computers have assistive software applications for individuals with disabilities as “defined” by the Office of Disability Services.

V. Section 508 – Access to Programs, Courses and Services

SCC faculty will work with the College/ICCOC resources to ensure compliance with Section 508. SCC continuously collaborates with the ICCOC to ensure the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) has technical resources to assist with ADA compliancy regulations. SCC requires faculty to use the Canvas system to integrate ADA resources into their online/Web based content strategies.

  1. Access to online courses and web based content. Examples include:
    1. Ensure that all audio/video media is “captioned”. Please note to caption copyrighted media you need the permission of the owner.
    2. Ensure text size and color scheme meet online course ADA standards.
    3. All images must have description(s) that accurately describes visual message.
  2. Access to digital media (includes video, audio and electronic text) – for instructional purposes must meet Section 508 compliancy guidelines. Examples include captioning of DVD’s/Digital Media and descriptions of images.
  3. Access to 3rd party media (i.e. publishers, Internet resources) – faculty are responsible for ensuring that instructional resources designed/accessed outside of the SCC infrastructure meet compliancy guidelines. Examples include electronic textbooks, publisher Web pages/content, tutorial access via the Internet, etc.)
  4. SCC has fully implemented the Canvas LMS into all courses. The Canvas LMS provides the following ADA resources for faculty:
    1. Closed caption software & video system.
    2. Text to audio convertor.
    3. Software application to identify online content/resources that are not compliant with ADA regulations.

VI. Exemptions

Exemptions to the policy are permitted only when full compliance would impose an “undue burden.” In determining whether full compliance processes an undue burden, a department or unit must consider all the resources available as well as the technical difficulty involved in complying with policy standards. A department or unit can depart from the policy only when it determines and documents to the ADA Compliance Officer that an undue burden exist and precludes full compliance; however, it must provide the content through comparable alternative means of access.

VII. ADA Compliance Contact Information

VIII. External Resources