[Athen] ALEKS Accessibility

[Kaela Parks]

Karen mentioned the VPAT and accessibility improvements, here is a link to
more context <http://webwork.maa.org/wiki/Accessibility_Guide>, and here is
a link to a brief video shared at last year's AHEAD conference
<http://youtu.be/pfY5eUYyY24>. We also presented on this at Accessing
Higher Ground and have handouts up
<http://accessinghigherground.org/wp/show1prop4grid2014.php?vpropid=1997&vday=Wednesday&vdis=grid>.


Also, we have a webinar coming up in February through the AHEAD Access to
Technology series
<http://www.ahead.org/learn/virtual-learning/at_webinars_14_15>.

To be clear though - ALEKS and WeBWorK share some functionality but not all
features are the same. We are using WeBWorK within a variety of classes,
and are using it for placement testing preparation, but are not yet using
it for placement testing directly.

Kaela

--
Kaela Parks, Director
Disability Services
Portland Community College
971-722-4868 kaela.parks at pcc.edu
www.pcc.edu/resources/disability

On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 2:07 PM, Paul E. Paire <paire at temple.edu> wrote:


>  We started digging into this a bit more based this discussion and we

> believe that either the person submitting the exception request or the

> sales rep was a bit … optimistic.  We were forwarded an email from ALEKS

> that their engineers are working in conjunction with accessibility

> departments (at other universities) to improve the accessibility of the

> product, but won’t commit to a date.

>

>

>

> -Paul

>

>

>

> *From:* athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] *On

> Behalf Of *Howard Kramer

> *Sent:* Thursday, January 15, 2015 12:17 PM

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network

> *Cc:* Brent Whiting

>

> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] ALEKS Accessibility

>

>

>

> Hi Karen,

>

>

>

> Yes, I’m very interested in talking to your faculty person. As Carmen

> Schafer mentioned in another email, I'd like to know more about how the two

> products compare - ALEKS and WebWork.

>

>

>

> Paul - be aware that in the past McGraw-Hill has addressed the

> accessibility of the questions with graphic material by providing a

> check-box to either drop the question out of the placement exam for

> students with low vision or blindness or to present a message on the

> question that "human assistance is required."

>

>

>

> -Howard

>

>

>

>

>

> On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 6:07 AM, Paul E. Paire <paire at temple.edu> wrote:

>

> Karen,

>

>

>

> Temple, at least, is very interested in learning more about WebWork. (We

> are also evaluating ALEKS. One of my colleagues has reviewed their VPAT and

> says it's very thorough and informs me that they say they will be fully

> accessible in less than a year. Alas I don't have any details beyond that.

> But an accessible alternative? Yes, we would like to know about it.)

>

>

>

> Thanks,

>

>

>

> -Paul

>

> (paire at temple.edu)

>

>

>

> -------- Original message --------

> From: Karen Sorensen <karen.sorensen at pcc.edu>

> Date:01/14/2015 10:06 PM (GMT-05:00)

> To: Howard Kramer <hkramer at colorado.edu>

> Cc: Access Technology Higher Education Network <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: Re: [Athen] ALEKS Accessibility

>

> Hi Howard,

> The alternative we use is WebWork. It's open source and we have one

> faculty member who is very active in its development. We've done a lot of

> accessibility testing and created a VPAT for it that's just about to be

> published with WebWorK's latest update (that includes many of our

> recommended accessibility updates). I would be happy to put you in touch

> with our faculty member if you want more information.

> I also would be happy to share the cursory accessibility testing we did on

> ALEKS last January. At that time they had no suggested alternatives to

> graphical problems. We suggested making the images available for us to

> print but never heard anything back on that.

> Let me know if I can help.

> Best,

> Karen

>

> On Jan 14, 2015 5:56 PM, "Howard Kramer" <hkramer at colorado.edu> wrote:

>

> Hello All:

>

>

>

> It doesn't look like anyone replied to this question on ALEKS

> accessibility updates. Does anyone have any updated information? Is there

> any work being undertaken to make the graphical elements of the placement

> exam accessible through long descriptions or tactile graphics?

>

>

>

> I'm also told there are no alternative accessible products to ALEKS. Is

> this true?

>

>

>

> I'm now working with the accessibility and remediation committees on our

> campus that were formed in response to UCB's OCR complaint, hence my

> interest.

>

>

>

> Thanks in advance for any info.

>

>

>

> Regards,

>

> Howard

>

>

>

> On Mon, Dec 1, 2014 at 8:43 AM, McGinnity, Julie A. (MU-Student) <

> jamzk7 at mail.missouri.edu> wrote:

>

> Good morning,

>

> We are investigating the current state of ALEKS accessibility.  I read up

> on ATHEN posts from last year, and they were helpful.  But now I am curious

> to know the outcome of the graphing issue.  Is the company still not

> providing tactile graphs?  Is ALEKS accessible with the latest versions of

> screen readers?  I have never used it myself but was led to believe that

> ALEKS was not fully accessible in the past.  Any information you can

> provide would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

> _______________________________________________

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>

>

>

>

>

> --

>

> Howard Kramer

> CO-PI - UDUC

> *Promoting the Integration of Universal Design into University Curricula*

> (UDUC)

> Lecturer, Cont. Ed - Evening & Cred Admin

>

> 303-492-8672

> cell: 720-351-8668

>

>

> _______________________________________________

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>

>

>

>

>

> --

>

> Howard Kramer

>

> Conference Coordinator

>

> Accessing Higher Ground

>

> 303-492-8672

>

> cell: 720-351-8668

>

>

>

> AHEAD Association of Higher Education and Disability

>

>

>

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