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Re: web accessibility retrofitting service

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From: Lisa Fiedor
Date: Mar 24, 2008 1:10PM

Hi Sean,

Sean Keegan wrote:
> > Actually, I'm scoping out the development of an accessibility production
> > service for our campus, and was wondering whether anyone has done
> that somewhere else.
>
> I am not quite sure what you are looking for when you specify an
> "accessibility production service", but if you are looking for an
> example of such a service on a campus, there is the Badger
> Accessibility Services at Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
> (http://www.bas.wisc.edu/). I believe they do a lot of alternate
> media production, but may serve as just one example (there are others,
> I just cannot think of them right now).
By accessibility production service, I'm talking about a place (most
likely on campus) that faculty can "bring" their online course
materials, and a person/people will make those materials accessible
(e.g., add appropriate alt text, fix tables, caption media (or farm that
out), etc.)

Thanks for the reference to UW-Madison, I'll try to find someone to talk
to there.
>
> > Our faculty are generally not experienced web developers, and there
> is interest in
> > providing a service that will work with their online course materials
> and either redesign
> > or retrofit them to be accessible.
>
> In some respects, it sounds like you are looking at an entity to
> support faculty in the creation of online materials (that are also
> accessible). Instructional designers that also have training in
> aspects of accessibility/content usability would be ideal as the
> designers could direct faculty during the content creation process.
> Additionally, such designers would be versed in using the various
> campus technologies in such a way that retrofitting (where possible)
> would be a simple process.
>
> If possible, I would put this entity outside of a Disabled Student
> Services program. You could certainly have dialogue between such
> program groups, but I would suggest keeping them separate.
As it stands now, that's what I do in my current role. I work with
faculty to design and develop online course materials, and, of course,
make them accessible. Also, I teach workshops, answer questions in our
help desk queue, and do individual consultations. The problem is that we
do not have staff to provide a "drop-off" service, and I need some
justification for getting that staff and establishing that service.
>
> take care,
> Sean
I appreciate your help in this endeavor.
Thanks,
Lisa
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