[Athen] Promoting greater ALEKS Accessibility

[Ron]

Howard this is similar to the approach other vendors have taken in offering
a "fixed" accessible version. But this is the first time I have seen a
vendor what would be an invalid version in that it's would not pass
validity and reliability measures required of high stakes assessments.

I would appreciate seeing your work but also would be interested in the
vendors response in providing an invalid version of their assessment.

Ron Stewart.

On Friday, March 20, 2015, Howard Kramer <hkramer at colorado.edu> wrote:


> Hello All:

>

> Picking up this topic once again. I've been conducting some accessibility

> testing and research regarding ALEKS over the last few weeks and thought I

> would give everyone an update. To boil down the current situation, there

> are 2 versions of the ALEKS exam, the "traditional" version, which seems to

> fail for accessibility, according to my testing, and the "accessible"

> version, which seems very accessible, again, according to my testing.

>

> The issue with the accessible version, however, is that it excludes about

> 100 questions deemed too visual or spatial to present in an accessible

> digital format. Without these 100 questions, the blind or screenreader user

> taking the accessible version can not achieve as high a placement as the

> student taking the "traditional" version.

>

> We'd like to encourage ALEKS/MHE to work towards adding as many of the

> excluded questions from the "accessible" version of the exam and eventually

> have one universal and accessible version. If there are any other

> institutions using ALEKS who are interested in collaborating with us on

> this effort, perhaps signing a letter of support, please let me know. If

> you'd like to have a phone conversation about this to discuss further, my

> number is below.

>

> If anyone would like a copy of my accessibility audit, I'm willing to send

> that out upon request.

>

> Thanks,

> Howard

> 303-492-8672

>

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

> jamzk7 at mail.missouri.edu

> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','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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