WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Training Materials

for

From: Joseph Krack
Date: Oct 23, 2020 11:00AM


A  question for the group.  My Department is working with a company to
provide software training.  Because this company wants to protect their
content, it is available in class in a format that is not accessible to
assistive technology.  Basically it is locked, and non-downloadable. 
When a student who uses assistive technology asked for the information
in an accessible file format it was difficult to get one from them.  She
was not able to get an accessible version in class.  After the training
she kept asking for material she should use and they tried several times
to send file formats that were locked, or basically in a plain text
(without structure).  On the third attempt she received an accessible
PDF file, with strict instructions to not share it with anyone else.

While I understand the importance of this vendor trying to protect their
content, I also understand that accessible content needs to be readily
available to students.  In the same way that ramps to the entrance
should not be available only upon request, accessible content should be
expected without special request.

Does anyone in this forum have experience with this issue?   Has any
litigation determined the proper way of addressing this issue?  We have
a new contract for training coming up soon, and I want to address issues
such as this in the requirements of the new contract.

Thanks in advance, Joe