[Athen] Accessibility & Online Higher Education Webinars

[Gaeir Dietrich]

Accessibility & Online Higher Education - About the Webinars

Online higher education is always associated with access, but what happens
when online delivery itself is a barrier?  In May 2011, the U.S. Department
of Education released additional guidance on the applicability of a prior
"Dear Colleague" letter concerning accessibility and new technology in K-12
and postsecondary education. The "Dear Colleague" responded to successful
complaints, brought by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and
others, against a number of universities and other education organizations
relating to either inaccessibility of specific devices, such as e-readers,
or inaccessibility across a host of technologies. The May 2011 guidance
emphasized that online courses and programs, and associated online services,
must be accessible to students, faculty and staff with disabilities,
consistent with the Americans With Disabilities Act (1990). This also
applies to pilot programs used to evaluate a new tool or technology, and to
schools and programs that currently do not enroll any disabled students. 

As schools seek to make online delivery more interactive and media-rich,
accessibility may be the unwitting victim. It is not clear that schools are
adequately taking into account accessibility requirements, nor that in such
a fast-moving space "good practice" is straightforward or stable. 

Two-Part Webinar Series & Our Panelists:

Part I: Understanding the Law - Online Higher Education and Accessibility 

Tuesday, April 10, 2-3:30 pm ET

*	Alex Cohen - PhD candidate at the LeBow College of Business at
Drexel University, Graduate of the online Master of Science in Hospitality
Management Program at Drexel University 
*	Daniel F. Goldstein - Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP 
*	Kelly Hermann - Director, Office of College-wide Disability
Services, Empire State College, SUNY 
*	Mark A. Riccobono - Executive Director, Jernigan Institute, National
Federation of the Blind 
*	Howard A. Rosenblum - CEO, National Association of the Deaf 

To register for this Roundtable, please click
<http://www2.eduventures.com/l/11652/2012-03-23/tvld> here

Part II: Working Towards Good Practice- Integrating Accessibility into
Mainstream and Next Generation Online Higher Education

Wednesday, April 18, 2-3:30 pm ET

*	William Welsh - Director, Office for Disability Services, The
Pennsylvania State University 
*	Cheryl Pruitt - Director, Accessible Technology Initiative,
California State University Chancellor's Office 
*	Gaeir Dietrich - Director, High Tech Center Training Unit,
California Community Colleges 
*	Kristen Betts - Director, Online & Blended Learning, Armstrong
Atlantic State University 
*	Daniel Veit - Student in the online Master of Science in Higher
Education Program at Drexel University, Transition Specialist for the Texas
School for the Deaf 

To register for this Roundtable, please click
<http://www2.eduventures.com/l/11652/2012-03-23/tw3d> here

Regards,

Richard

 Richard Garrett

Vice President & Principal Analyst

Eduventures, Inc.

101 Federal Street, 12th Floor

Boston MA 02110

Tel: 617-532-6081

eduventures.com <http://eduventures.com/>  

 

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