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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">SensusAccess is one of many tools that can be used to create accessible content. On our campus, it is available to anyone with a campus logon – students, faculty, staff, even retirees. You upload an inaccessible
document, and get back an accessible document. It is not perfect, but it is a workable tool, and gives everyone at least some option to make a document accessible. As with any software that purports to create an accessible output from an inaccessible document,
it really does depend on the quality of the original. Garbage in, garbage out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Blackboard, like Canvas and other LMS’s, is simply a repository at its base. Instructors can upload content, students can submit content. Blackboard (or Canvas) does not alter content, make it accessible, etc.
It’s simply a giant electronic/digital notebook that you can put things into to keep them organized, and to give access to that materials to others. Blackboard Ally has some great tools that can make more of the content uploaded be accessible, but it’s not
a cure-all. And it is not a standalone, like SensusAccess. It is again, just a tool. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">TRUE alternate media (aka, accessible documents/video) comes from a dedicated process for creating alternate format. PDFs from publishers, for example, are produced using a dedicated process on the publisher’s
end, and those PDFs tend to be accessible and ready to be used by most students (not all, more on that later). These can often be used as-is. It is extremely important to remember that publishers are under NO legal requirement to produce accessible documents.
The legal requirement rests on the institution. Are we grateful for the accessible documents we DO get from publishers? I know I am – makes my job easier.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">The real problem with content in any LMS is instructor-uploaded materials that are not accessible. Faculty do not have the knowledge base to produce accessible materials like alternate media specialists do.
They may not understand that just because it is digital doesn’t mean it’s accessible. We understand the difference between “yikes, yes, I can highlight that text with my mouse but where is the last half inch of each page?” and “this is a great PDF but our
blind student really needs a Word file instead.” This is why we get paid the big bucks (hah!).
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">No ONE tool is going to do it all. Maybe someday there will be no need for remediation. But today is not someday. And while we can teach faculty and others to do better about what they upload into an LMS, the
burden still falls on the alt media provider to create completely accessible materials, using a variety of tools to get it done. We have an entire toolbox of tools that we use. I’m never more reminded of how far we have to go in the world of accessible documents
until I’m creating accessible STEM content for a student with a visual impairment. A current project is listening to video lectures and adding MathType and image descriptions to the Word transcript for a linear algebra class. Or then there is a perfectly
good PDF of a physics textbook but it must be turned it into textbook-formatted Braille for a student with blindness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Accessible documents are a spectrum…we can cover “most” students with well-formatted PDFs, but the 80/20 rule applies: we are going to spend 80% of our time remediating 20% of the materials for students with
higher needs. SensusAccess is a great tool that can take some of the burden away from us as alternate media producers. It gives students and faculty a “quick and dirty” way to make a document readable in a pinch or on the fly. It won’t replace the work
that we are doing behind the scenes, though.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Hope that helps?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">Susan Kelmer
</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">Alternate Format Production Program Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">Disability Services<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">Division of Student Affairs
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#CFB87C">T</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black">303
735 4836</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#CFB87C"><a href="http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices"><span style="color:#CFB87C">www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#CFB87C"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#CFB87C"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:black"><img border="0" width="150" height="56" style="width:1.5625in;height:.5833in" id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image003.png@01D84984.376B76D0" alt="cid:image001.png@01D598AC.79FC1C60"></span><span style="color:#0070C0"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D">Due to the nature of electronic communication, the security of this message cannot be guaranteed. If you’ve received this email in error please notify the
sender immediately and delete this message. </span></i><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> athen-list <athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Matthew Deeprose<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, April 6, 2022 1:05 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'Access Technology Higher Education Network' <athen-list@u.washington.edu><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Athen] Sensus Access - what are the use-cases?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt">Hi<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt">Numerous educational institutions have both Sensus Access and Blackboard Ally. The main difference is that with Sensus Access anyone can request an alternative format of content they upload, whereas
Blackboard Ally is about producing alternative formats of content uploaded by someone (usually an instructor) to an LMS course.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt">For those who have/use Sensus Access please could you share the use-cases and reasons for having it? I'm a little nervous it may be used as way to absolve institutional responsibility for ensuring
suppliers such as publishers provide natively accessible content. So, I would love to hear how and why other institutions are using it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt">Thanks in anticipation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt">Matt<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div style="border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">This email has been checked for accessibility.
<a href="https://generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk/digital-learning/2020/11/23/how-can-i-improve-accessibility-of-my-emails/">
Want to know how to make your email accessible?</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Matthew Deeprose<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a href="https://pronoun.is/he">He/Him/His</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Digital Learning<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">iSolutions<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">University of Southampton<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;color:#7030A0;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/digital-learning"><span style="color:#7030A0">Digital learning blog</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><img border="0" width="142" height="142" style="width:1.4791in;height:1.4791in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image002.png@01D84984.A890EB10" alt="Digital Leaning Team Logographic."><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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