[Athen] FW: WebAssign info needed

[Wink Harner]

Thanks, Greg. This info is helpful.  I'll pass it along & keep you posted.

Wink
On Feb 18, 2015 8:06 AM, "Greg Kraus" <gdkraus at ncsu.edu> wrote:


> Here is what I know about WebAssign and accessibility.

>

> 1. In the past they have had a different interface for screen reader

> users, but this interface has to be requested through a help call.

> (Yeah, I know. I'm just reporting the facts here.) They basically have

> to rebuild the course using an older, more accessible interface. It is

> a lot of work on their part, but they have seemed willing to do it in

> the past. Note, this workflow might have changed - see #3.

>

> 2. In some of their question banks they have an accessibility flag set

> so instructors can only choose from questions that are accessible.

>

> 3. The company has had a complete change of management within the past

> 18 months, so things that may have been true in the past may not be

> true any more.

>

> 4. I have met with them a couple of times, both before and after the

> management change, to discuss how to make modern Web applications

> accessible. (They are located on our campus but they have not been

> affiliated with the university for a long time.) They have seemed very

> receptive to suggestions but I do not know if those suggested changes

> have made their way into their latest products.

>

> 5. As part of their management change they actually restructured

> themselves corporately so one of their guiding principals is to work

> for the benefit of the community, not just to make profit. It's called

> a 'Benefit Corporation'. So when I say they were receptive in #4, I

> genuinely feel they wanted to do the right thing. I just don't know if

> they have fully executed it yet.

>

> 6. Of course then you have the usual problems inherent to some STEM

> content and accessibility. They are aware of these problems but I

> don't know how they have decided to handle it.

>

> I hope this helps.

>

> Greg

> --

> Greg Kraus

> University IT Accessibility Coordinator

> NC State University

> 919.513.4087

> gdkraus at ncsu.edu

> http://go.ncsu.edu/itaccess

>

> On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 7:41 PM, Dan Comden <danc at uw.edu> wrote:

> > Wink, can they give you example content so you can verify?

> >

> > I know it's not what you asked for, however this might be useful as a

> flag

> > for others communicating with vendors.

> > My opinion: a vendor that claims screen reader accessibility without

> > mentioning anything else (like WCAG 2.0) has at best an incomplete grasp

> of

> > accessible design...

> >

> > Just my experience but it's been pretty consistent over the last few

> years.

> > It's definitely a sign for me that a closer look will be required.

> >

> > -*- Dan

> >

> > On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 4:30 PM, Wink Harner <foreigntype at gmail.com>

> wrote:

> >>

> >> Clarifying: WebAssign website “claims” screen reader accessibility in

> >> their online books. I need to know if any of you have hands-on

> experience

> >> with this site and know how much, if any accessibility there is with

> screen

> >> readers, and more specifically if any of you have tested it for

> >> accessibility recently.

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Thanks in advance.

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Wink Harner

> >>

> >> winkharner1113 at gmail.com

> >>

> >> foreigntype at gmail.com

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> (Disclaimer: this email was dictated with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

> Please

> >> forgive any quirks, mis-recognitions, or omissions.)

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> From: Wink Harner [mailto:foreigntype at gmail.com]

> >> Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2015 4:07 PM

> >> To: Access Technology Higher Education Network

> >> Subject: WebAssign info needed

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Hi All ATHEN-ites,

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Do any of you know/have any direct knowledge of whether WebAssign is

> >> screen reader compatible with JAWS or NVDA? We have a blind student

> >> potentially coming on board for spring term and while their website

> *claims*

> >> accessibility, I wanted to know from a more hands-on source whether in

> fact

> >> it is.

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> Thanks in advance.

> >>

> >> Wink Harner

> >>

> >> winkharner1113 at gmail.com

> >>

> >> foreigntype at gmail.com

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> (Disclaimer: this email was dictated with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

> Please

> >> forgive any quirks, mis-recognitions, or omissions.)

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> _______________________________________________

> >> athen-list mailing list

> >> athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu

> >> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

> >>

> >

> >

> >

> > --

> > -*- Dan Comden                       danc at uw.edu

> >     Access Technology Center   www.uw.edu/itconnect/accessibility/atl/

> >     University of Washington      UW Information Technology

> >

> >

> > _______________________________________________

> > athen-list mailing list

> > athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu

> > http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

> >

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman13.u.washington.edu

> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/pipermail/athen-list/attachments/20150218/80727d58/attachment.html>