Accessibility
With the advent of new regulations governing accessibility of electronic resources, institutions of higher education are required to provide a "comparable" experience to students, faculty and those in the public who access these resources, regardless of any disability.
As a primary point of access for students and faculty in the University of Maine System, Blackboard represents a growing resource. Faculty who use this expanding resource should be aware of the special obstacles an e-learning platform presents to their students.
For those with hearing, sight, cognitive, or physical disabilities web-based resources can present barriers. In almost all cases, however, simple adjustments to content and presentation remove these barriers and facilitate better comprehension for all users.
Many national organizations are involved in the dissemination of information under the general heading of "Universal Design-" those practices that benefit all consumers of an information resource. The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), CAST, WebAIM, and EASI are just a sampling.
Maine CITE is a statewide project designed to help make assistive and universally designed technology more available to Maine children and adults who have disabilities.
The Student Perspective
Norman Coombs, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology
CEO, EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information)
"The Web has become such a vital part of institutional information dissemination that not providing effective access to the Web for students and faculty with disabilities denies them access to countless important resources." (EDUCAUSE Quarterly #2, 2002)
Dr. Coombs took part in the 2002 annual University of Maine System Faculty Institute, and agreed to produce these video segments to help other faculty develop an awareness of the student experience with Blackboard and other web technologies.
Accessibility Segments (these segments require Quicktime)
4. The Blackboard Discussion Board [T]
6. Tips for Working in the Discussion Board [T]
8. Limitations in Teaching Mathematics [T]
9. Testing [T]
10. Limitations of HTML Tables [T]
*JAWS is a voice synthesis application used by many who are visually impaired. A complete video of all these segments is available from the Faculty Liaison, Karen Proulx at 800-245-5544
University of Maine System Non-Discriminatory Statement
In complying with the letter and spirit of applicable laws and in pursuing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System shall not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or citizenship status, age, disability or veterans status in employment, education, and all other areas of the University System. The University provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.
Questions and complaints about discrimination in any area of the University should be directed to the University Equal Opportunity Director or to the Equal Opportunity Director for the University of Maine System, currently Sally Dobres, who can be reached at 107 Maine Avenue, Bangor, ME 04401 (207) 621-3199 (voice) or (207) 973-3300 (TDD).
The Maine Office of the CIO Training Resources