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Office for Civil Rights Video Series
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is proud to announce a video series covering a variety of topics on digital access in education, including how people with disabilities use technology, applicable Federal regulations, and identifying and remediating barriers to access. Whether you are in the educational field or not, these videos have wide ranging coverage for those who want to know: What makes technology accessible for individuals with disabilities? And how can I make my site or platform more accessible?
West Valley College settled with two blind students represented by TRE Legal Practice. They reach a settlement agreement using an alternative to lawsuits called structured negotiations:
The Settlement Agreement (PDF, redacted) includes the provision of Aira to the two students as an interim accommodation while the core accessibility issues are addressed. It also mandates that future procurement contracts must include provisions requiring technology vendors to deliver accessible instruction technology. This collaborative agreement also helps West Valley College and its technology vendors comply with state and federal laws and regulations:
- Chancellor’s letter about accessibility requirements (2003)
- Chancellor’s letter about amended accessibility standards (2018)
- Dear Colleague Letter regarding electronic book readers (June 29, 2010)
- Questions and Answers about the Dear Colleague Letter (June 29, 2010)
- Frequently Asked Questions about the Dear Colleague Letter (May 26, 2011)
This is “a landmark settlement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that institutes a series of new guidelines to make the university’s website and online resources accessible for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.,” (NAD press release regarding the MIT Consent Decree). See additional information about the MIT agreement at Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center. (2019)
The U.S. Department of Justice “determined that significant portions of UC Berkeley’s online content on UC BerkeleyX, its YouTube channel and its iTunes U platform are not accessible to individuals with hearing, vision or manual disabilities.” The letter sets standards for remediation, including WCAG 2.0 AA. (2016)
This “settlement represents the most comprehensive set of online accessibility requirements in higher education and ensures for the first time that Harvard will provide high-quality captioning services for online content,” (NAD press release). See additional information at Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center. (2019)
This case addresses discrimination by the college and district against students who were blind. The Federal District Court for the Central District of California Found that LACCD violated the students’ rights by failing to provide accessibility to multiple web-based programs and services, including course materials, the library databases, third party instructional materials (including MyMathLab) and administrative programs such as PeopleSoft. The level of compliance was set at WCAG 2.1, Level 2, which is significant. (2019)
This consent decree addresses the responsibility of the university to “ensure that communications with individuals with disabilities are as effective as communications with others.” Breadth of the decree is extensive and delineates all aspects of electronic communications that must be addressed. (2016)
Addresses a wide breadth of electronic and information technology accessibility issues, similar to Dudley. (2015)
University’s exclusion of a student who is blind from its course offerings through the use of MyOMLab, “an inaccessible online learning product.” (2013)
Inaccessible electronic and information technology, including clickers. (2012)