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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Evening, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>The problem is that WCAG 2.0 at the AA level does not adequately address the access needs for complex, graphically rich and highly structured curricular content. Nor do they address anything outside of a web based presentation, which many of the academic applications do. Also it is not a standard, it is a set of guidelines that are being perceived as being standards. It is a good target to shoot for, but there is a lot of curricular content that falls through the gaps in these recommendations. If we actually see the revisions to Section 508 adopt this in their final codification that may change but I am not holding my breath in that happening any time soon.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Additionally, it has never been its purpose. Yet is being looked at as the defacto standard. DS offices are required to adhere to the specifications of Section 504 of the Rehab Act and the illusion that if they meet this requirement we are okay is naive. Having done almost two decades of research in this area I have found again and again that supposedly conformant content is not functionally usable with commonly available assistive technologies. In the last series of studies prior to my leaving Oregon State Uni we found that ~85% of the sites reviewed were compliant with the 508 specifications but were at ~83% unusable with AT based interactions. It is a good starting place but does not hit the goal!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Does this help? This is a battle that I fight again and again in my work with the educational community so am very happy to continue any dialog on this topic. As a real life example my group just completed a DE course review for a major university and based on initial evaluation their content was satisfactory based on the WCAG, but there courses we functionally unusable when we looked at the actual usage of the courses with keyboard only navigation and got even worse with voice recognition interaction.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Ron Stewart<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> athen-list-bounces@mailman2.u.washington.edu [mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman2.u.washington.edu] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Karen Sorensen<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, January 08, 2014 3:15 PM<br><b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network<br><b>Subject:</b> [Athen] ALEKS and Accessibility<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Hi Ron,<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal>You say, "Without a suitable set of standards/guidelines this is very<br>difficult to do and it is very hard for a commercial provider to shoot for a<br>moving target." <o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal>What do you mean? Why isn't WCAG 2.0 a suitable set of standards? Will the ADA changes address publisher content? <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>Thanks,<br>Karen<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>Karen M. Sorensen<br>Accessibility Advocate for Online Courses</span><br><a href="http://www.pcc.edu/access" target="_blank">www.pcc.edu/access</a><span style='font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'><br>Portland Community College<br>971-722-4720</span><br><i><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'>"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”</span></i><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black'> Tim Berners-Lee</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>