[Blindtlk] National Federation of the Blind Nonvisual Accessibility Web Certification Granted to Instructure Learning Management System

[Freeh, Jessica]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACT:

Chris 
Danielsen 
Cory Reid, Vice President

Director of Public 
Relations 
Instructure

National Federation of the 
Blind                                             (801) 436-8095

(410) 659-9314, extension 
2330                                            cory at instructure.com

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org






National Federation of the Blind Nonvisual Accessibility Web 
Certification Granted to Instructure Learning Management System





  System Certified as Equally Accessible
  to Blind and Sighted Users



Baltimore, Maryland (September 29, 2010): The National Federation of 
the Blind (NFB), the nation's leading advocate for Internet access by 
blind Americans, has awarded the Gold Level NFB-NVA Certification to 
Instructure for its learning management system, "Canvas."  The NFB 
applauds Instructure's commitment to ensuring equal access to its 
Web-based learning management system for blind students and commends 
the company for its leadership in Web accessibility.



Instructure's Canvas is a new learning management system (LMS) that 
takes usability to a whole new level, and saves instructors time, 
providing more freedom for curriculum development and working with 
students.  Since communication is key to the learning process, Canvas 
incorporates up-to-date multimedia and social media tools for 
reaching way beyond classroom discussions and e-mail to creating a 
collaborative learning environment.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, 
said: "The Internet has become integrated into every aspect of life, 
including education.  As more and more institutions of higher 
learning employ online learning platforms, it is crucial to ensure 
that blind students have equal access to these systems so that they 
are not placed at a serious disadvantage relative to their sighted 
peers.  We commend Instructure for making its online learning 
management system fully accessible and therefore giving blind 
students and teachers independent access to Instructure's services."



Anne Taylor, director of access technology for the National 
Federation of the Blind, said: "It has been a pleasure working with 
Instructure to make its Web site and learning management system 
accessible to all blind users.  We appreciate the Instructure team's 
hard work and congratulate them on achieving Gold Level NFB-NVA Certification."



Cory Reid, vice president of Instructure, said: "Accessibility has 
been a priority since our inception, and we are committed to 
providing all students and teachers with the same innovative 
platform.  We're honored to be working with the NFB, and are grateful 
for their pioneering work in accessibility, and their foundational 
contributions to education."



The NFB Nonvisual Accessibility Web Certification Program connects 
Web site and application developers with leading experts on blindness 
and accessibility to ensure that their Internet sites or applications 
are fully accessible to and usable by blind people employing screen 
access software.  Applicants go through a rigorous evaluation and 
testing procedure and, if they choose to, work with a web 
accessibility consultant (WAC) to address any accessibility issues 
discovered during the evaluation.  Once the site or application has 
addressed all accessibility issues, it is granted the right to 
display an NFB-NVA certification seal on its site.  Sites are 
continuously monitored to ensure that they remain compliant with 
certification criteria.  If a site remains accessible, its 
certification is renewed on an annual or a version basis.  If 
accessibility issues arise, the National Federation of the Blind and 
the WAC will work with the site developers to remedy them.



For more information on the NFB-NVA Certification, please visit 
<http://www.nfb.org/nfb/certification_intro.asp>http://www.nfb.org/nfb/certification_intro.asp. 
To learn more about the National Federation of the Blind, please 
visit <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org.





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About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind 
is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind 
people in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />United States.  The 
NFB improves blind people's lives through advocacy, education, 
research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and 
self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the blindness field 
today and the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB 
opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the 
first research and training center in the United States for the blind 
led by the blind.



About Instructure



Instructure set out to build a whole new kind of learning management 
system by carefully listening to educators, students, and 
administrators.  This user-driven approach to design produced Canvas, 
a fully-hosted web-based LMS with a level of usability never seen 
before in a collaborative learning environment.  Canvas is used at 
numerous colleges, universities, and schools across the US, with 
students in 27 countries. 
<http://www.instructure.com/>http://www.instructure.com