[nabs-l] website accessibility problems at colleges

[sarah at sarahblakelarose.com]

Hi, Ashley.

I contacted my school's disability service office about these problems--they are also responsible for ADA implementation at the university. I offered to take my laptop in to the offending department and demonstrate for the person who was responsible for overseeing the web site for that department. This was a tremendous help for them, and they worked out new solutions and had me back in to test a couple of times. Then they shared their solutions across all departments and the result was much better accessibility.


Sarah Blake LaRose
http://www.sarahblakelarose.com
Accessible instruction in Biblical languages

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ashley Bramlett via NABS-L
Sent: Saturday, June 17, 2017 11:02 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
Subject: [nabs-l] website accessibility problems at colleges

Hi all,

I’ve attended our nearest community college off and on to gain further practice and knowledge in communication and business skills after my BA. It has also kept me learning and busy after college as I continue to seek employment. I have had interviews, but have not landed a job since competetion is fierce in this metro area. Anyways, still trying.

I’ve attended Northern Virginia community college which is called Nova for short.
While I recommend Nova for its academics, accomodations are quite lacking.
One challenge is access to all of the school website with a screen reader.


The website is not fully accessible. You can get to most of the main things you need with a screen reader. However problems arise on important webpages within the website. For instance, pages with tabs are a problem as you cannot always open the tabs or even know they are there.

This was a problem for me on the library webpage until I figured out how to open the tabs with jaws. Then get out of the tab area to read it.


Have any of you encountered systemic problems on your school’s site? Have any of you had success in getting the school to implement changes? I’m so frustrated and after going to the provost, I’m very tempted to go to the media or something.
I think Nova might be violating the ADA or something by failing to make its website accessible.
I am so frustrated because I made the head disability support coordinator aware of it. She promised something would be done. The latest update to the site which was about 2 years ago made the problems worse. I’ve further complained and nothing has been done except they acknowledge the problems and said they passed my concerns on to the website team. Its frustrating that  website accessibility seems to be a low priority for the school.

I’d like to write a thourough letter to the school provost.
Are there any laws that apply to websites? If so, which ones and which sections?

Thanks.

Ashley
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