Course accessibility is a priority in higher education, particularly in the design and delivery of digital learning experiences. Proactively addressing accessibility as part of online and blended course design meets the needs of all learners, including those in the margins. Inclusive design for online and blended courses connects the Web Content…

The purpose of the National AEM Center's Quality Indicators with Critical Components for Higher Education is to assist institutes of higher education, both at the system and campus level, with planning, implementing, and evaluating dynamic, coordinated systems for providing accessible materials and technologies for all students who need them. The…

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities are guaranteed access to all postsecondary programs and services. The purpose of this study, conducted by the Center for Excellence in Disabilities, was to evaluate the current status of a major university's web accessibility. The results indicated that in 2011 only 51% of…

The problem addressed by this study is the observed low levels of compliance with federal policy on website accessibility. The study examines the two key federal policies that promote website accessibility, using a side-by-side policy analysis technique. The analysis examines the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 508 of the…

Thirty community college websites were evaluated for compliance with federal web accessibility standards found in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). Two typical sites were tested for usability by individuals with visual impairments, individuals with reading-related learning disabilities (LD), and a control group of…

This guide is designed for use by information technology administrators, data specialists, and program staff responsible for the "content" in data reports, as well as education leaders (e.g., administrators who prioritize tasks for technical and data staff), and other stakeholders who have an interest in seeing that schools, school…

An increasing number of library patrons are hard of hearing. The U.S. Bureau of Census projected that 35 million North Americans would suffer from hearing loss by the year 2005 based on the age-population projections. These individuals would have at one time been labeled as deaf due to the lack of assistive hearing technology such as hearing aids…

Improving Web accessibility for disabled users visiting a university's Web site is explored following the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act rules for Web page designers to ensure accessibility. The literature supports the view that accessibility is sorely lacking, not only in the USA, but also…

Today, federal laws often seem like an alphabet soup with acronyms like CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act), CTEA (Copyright Term Extension Act), ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), YMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), and NC LB (No Child Left Behind). These letters stand for federal…

Examined the accessibility of two Web-based abstracting and indexing services by blind users using screen-reading programs based on guidelines from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by the WWW Consortium. Suggests Web developers need to conduct usability testing and librarians need to be aware of accessibility…

Evaluates the main Web pages of AACSB-accredited colleges and universities for compliance with the two key laws pertaining to disability-access in these institutions: the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Provides guidelines for accessible development and suggestions for remediation for inaccessible Web pages.…

An important federal statute impacting student records is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), enacted to ensure student/parent access to education records and to limit disclosures to others for unauthorized purposes. FERPA Regulations set forth the basic federal records retention and destruction requirements. The records of…

Provides an overview of the existing Web accessibility guidelines under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, reviews current laws and court cases involving Web accessibility issues, and discusses ways in which Web pages can be modified to meet the needs of all students. Includes online resources to help design accessible Web pages. (Author/LRW)

Explains federal standards that libraries can use to make Web sites accessible to users with disabilities. Describes Section 508 standards from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; types of disabilities to consider, including vision, hearing, mobility, cognitive impairments, and seizure disorders; graphics; and conflicting interpretations of the law.…

This report compares actual performance with the projected levels of performance set out in the National Council on Disability's (NCD's) annual performance plan. The findings of this report show a positive link between the allocated resources and NCD's performance. NCD's assessment review showed that it was successful in meeting its goals and…