[Athen] Fwd: FYI -- Access to Course Materials

[Brian Richwine]

When I did a survey of big ten libraries for what accommodations they
offered, I didn't find any that would let a student with disabilities pick
any book from the libraries collections and have it accommodated into a
fully accessible (edited, described images,etc.). Maybe if it was a
required reading that was on reserve the library would copy the assigned
pages and send it to the universities document conversion function. Many
universities document conversion units would only do the required readings
and went as far as to state that in the policies they post.


On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 2:43 PM, Pratik Patel <pratikp1 at gmail.com> wrote:


> When I worked at the City University of New York, these types of

> accommodations were a standard part of most of our campus libraries. When I

> left in 2010, most of our libraries had scanning stations, assistance

> retrieving books, etc. We were working on E-Reserve systems when I left.**

> **

>

> ** **

>

> ** **

>

> Pratik Patel****

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> Founder and CEO, EZFire <http://www.ezfire.net/> ****

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> *From:* athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:

> athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] *On Behalf Of *Brian

> Richwine

> *Sent:* Friday, May 10, 2013 11:41 AM

>

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network

> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] Fwd: FYI -- Access to Course Materials****

>

> ** **

>

> I think the landmark piece of this is the responsibility place on the

> library system to make any book or print media in its holdings accessible.

> This includes providing self scan systems, ability to get access to reserve

> items, even help getting books from stacks, or at last resort having a

> reader assigned to read the materials. ****

>

> ** **

>

> Being able to get the university library to accommodate any print media

> within 5 days is landmark, in my view.****

>

> ** **

>

> On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 9:30 AM, Gunderson, Jon R <jongund at illinois.edu>

> wrote:****

>

> I think the students need to be commended  for speaking up (e.g. maybe

> that is the landmark here) and demanding  improved access.****

>

>  ****

>

> Without students raising their voices it is easy for campuses to ignore or

> discount the text conversion problems and the looming problems of online

> course accessibility.****

>

>  ****

>

> There are undocumented and most likely huge accessibility problems as the

> universities include more online learning as a part of the general

> curriculum in courses.****

>

>  ****

>

> Text conversion and alternative media problems will look easy, compared to

> the inaccessibility of online collaboration and discussion board systems

> students with disabilities will need to use to participate and compete in

> higher education.****

>

>  ****

>

> Jon Gunderson****

>

> University of Illinois****

>

>  ****

>

>  ****

>

> *From:* athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:

> athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] *On Behalf Of *Kathleen

> Cahill

> *Sent:* Friday, May 10, 2013 6:11 AM

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network

> *Subject:* RE: [Athen] Fwd: FYI -- Access to Course Materials****

>

>  ****

>

> With all due respect, why is this agreement described as “landmark”?  It

> seems as though there were not enough resources to get alternative format

> materials to the students in a timely way, and according to the agreement,

> more staff, technology and resources will be devoted to that.  And aren’t

> universities already required by federal law to provide information about

> textbooks well ahead of the beginning of a term?  ****

>

>

> Thanks

> Kathy****

>

>  ****

>

>  ****

>

> Kathleen Cahill****

>

> Assistive Technology Specialist****

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> MIT ATIC (Assistive Tech. Info. Center)****

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> 77 Mass. Ave. 7-143****

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> Cambridge MA 02139****

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> (617) 253-5111****

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> kcahill at mit.edu****

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>  ****

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>  ****

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>  ****

>

> *From:* athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [

> mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu<athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu>]

> *On Behalf Of *Laurie Vasquez

> *Sent:* Thursday, May 09, 2013 6:13 PM

> *To:* ATHEN

> *Subject:* [Athen] Fwd: FYI -- Access to Course Materials****

>

>  ****

>

>

> In Settlement With Disabilities Group, Berkeley Will Improve Access to

> Course Materials****

>

> May 8, 2013, 3:52 pm****

>

> By Jake New <http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/author/jnew>****

>

> §   ****

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> §   ****

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> §   ****

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> §  Comments (6)<http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/in-settlement-with-disabilities-group-berkeley-will-improve-access-to-course-materials/43727#disqus_thread>

> ****

>

> The University of California at Berkeley has reached a settlement with

> Disability Rights Advocates in what the group is calling a“landmark

> agreement”<http://www.dralegal.org/pressroom/press-releases/landmark-agreement-big-step-forward-for-students-with-print-disabilities> to

> improve access to textbooks, course readers, and library materials for

> students with print-related disabilities.****

>

> Disability Rights Advocates represented three Berkeley students who said

> they had difficulty getting access to the materials they needed for class.

> The group, which is a nonprofit disability-rights legal center, approached

> the university last year on behalf of the students, proposing settlement

> negotiations<http://dralegal.org/sites/dralegal.org/files/casefiles/settlement-ucb.pdf> that

> could resolve the issues and avoid a lawsuit. The negotiations, which took

> more than a year, led to several new accommodations, said Paul Hippolitus,

> director of the university’s Disabled Students Program, who called them

> overdue.****

>

> Over the past four years, the program struggled to keep up with a

> 115-percent increase in the number of textbooks it had to recreate in

> digital text, Braille, or audio form, Mr. Hippolitus said. Last semester

> the university created 750 such new versions.****

>

> “We had an old model that was not serving us well in this increase of

> quantity and quality,” Mr. Hippolitus said.****

>

> Under the new system, the staff that is dedicated to producing the

> alternative media will grow from three to five. Until this year, it had

> been a staff of one, Mr. Hippolitus said. The staff will also be moved to a

> larger space with new equipment. The new technology and employees will

> allow the program to offer more support for students and professors,

> helping answer students’ questions and lobbying faculty members to provide

> students with advance notice of what reading materials they will require.*

> ***

>

> The program hadn’t previously been able to offer those services, as the

> staff had been so busy just producing the materials the students needed,

> Mr. Hippolitus said.****

>

> “We didn’t have the time to attend to those niceties,” he said. “They are

> really important, but we didn’t have time while getting the books out.”***

> *

>

> Additionally, the settlement requires the university to offer alerts and

> reminders to students to submit what they need in advance of a semester.

> The students will then get alternative versions of textbooks within 10

> business days of a request and alternative course readers within 17

> business days. If the wait is too long, students will be able to use

> self-scanning stations to produce their own materials.****

>

> Mr. Hippolitus said the university was not sure how much the new services

> would cost other than the extra $120,000 in salaries for the program’s new

> staff members.****

>

> The new system will also provide greater access to books in the

> university’s library. The program will inform the library which students at

> Berkeley—there are about 70—require the alternative media, and library

> staff members will scan books for those students using a new $20,000

> scanner, Mr. Hippolitus said. The machine is different from the equipment

> used by Mr. Hippolitus’s program, as it leaves through pages, rather than

> requiring them to be cut out.****

>

> “Prior to the agreement, there was no real, defined process how to create

> alternative media for library holdings,” Mr. Hippolitus said. “It was kind

> of a black hole. Now there’s a clarity and a process to support that.”****

>

> As students and instructors have increasing access to more media at a

> quicker pace, the need for improved methods of producing alternatives also

> grows. At the same time, the number of college students with disabilities

> is increasing. According to a 2009 report by the U.S. Government

> Accountability Office, 11 percent of undergraduates<http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1033.pdf> have

> a disability, with most of those students having learning disabilities.***

> *

>

> Mr. Hippolitus said universities’ systems must expand and evolve to meet

> those new challenges for students with disabilities.****

>

> “The broad concern is that alternative media across the country is lagging

> behind, and more and better systems can be created,” he said. “If this is

> one, we’re happy to make that contribution. If it just stimulates ideas

> betters than ours, then terrific. We want to know about those ideas. But

> either way, it gets the conversation started about alternative media.”****

>

>  ****

>

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