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NCDAE: The National Center on Disability and Access to Education

Joining together to improve the accessibility
of electronically-mediated education

March 2013 Newsletter

Featured Articles

Evaluating the Evidence- Part 2

Project GOALS is working to create materials that can help institutions use their accessibility efforts as part of their regional accreditation portfolios. This document is the second in a series to help Accreditation Review Teams to understand and evaluate institutional evidence of web accessibility work. These materials can also be used to provide additional scaffolding for institutions in reviewing and enhancing their reaffirmation materials as they are developed. This month's guidance looks at the inclusion of key personnel and the creation of a comprehensive accessibility policy.

New "Cheatsheet"- Identifying Web Accessibility Issues

While it takes a fairly technical background to detect all accessibility issues and features, there are many accessibility problems that can be quickly and easily identified without the need for a highly technical background. This handout outlines free accessibility tools and simple techniques to help you identify common web accessibility problems.

From Our Blog

All Roads Lead to Rome

We are hearing a lot from the 46 campuses involved as Participating Institutions in the GOALS benchmarking and planning process. A surprising and wonderful element we have uncovered is the different ways campuses have approached completion of their institution wide self-study. It seems fitting to share this information with others, especially those new to the process. Because these different processes have been used to achieve successful outcomes using the GOALS Tool, it appears that all roads lead to Rome in using the tool to get to intended outcomes.

In the News

New Online Assessments to Include Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is seeking comments on a draft policy that proposes accommodations for students with disabilities who need help expressing themselves in writing or typing on a computer.

Clearing Up Accessibility for Distance Education Administrators: Accommodating the New Students

An article targeted at distance education administrators, promoting the benefits of ensuring web accessibility. The article also provides some helpful ideas on ways to accommodate for students with LD and ADD in online courses.

Civil Rights Agreement Reached with South Carolina Technical College System

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it has entered into an agreement with the South Carolina Technical College System (SCTCS) that will ensure that the websites of SCTCS are accessible to persons with disabilities.

Webinar on Accessibility with WordPress

The Great Lakes ADA Center is hosting a webinar on the accessibility of WordPress. The webinar is free and will take place on May 23, 2013 from 1:00- 2:30 p.m.

Universal Accessibility: A New Conversation About Web Accessibility

An interesting look at web accessibility focused on dyslexia.

Google Announces New Accessibility Features

Google unveils several new accessibility features- demonstrated at CSUN International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference in February.