[nfbcs] need help with using blackboard

Sun Jan 12 22:10:38 UTC 2014

>From what I understand this is one of the issues we have been having with our TEACH Bill that we will once again, be discussing with our Senators and Congress in Washington DC January 27-30. I will be in attendance. Make sure your state affiliate has representatives going to DC this year, and let them know you are having issues with this.
All information on this is here 
Technology has fundamentally changed the education system. The scope of instructional materials used to facilitate the teaching and learning process at institutions of higher education has expanded. Curricular content comes in the form of digital books, PDFs, webpages, etc.; and most of this content is delivered through digital databases, learning management systems, and applications. Traditional print materials are inherently inaccessible to disabled students, but technology creates opportunities to expand the circle of participation. These opportunities are missed when the majority of these materials are inaccessible to students with disabilities.  The use of inaccessible technology by institutions of higher education is a violation of law. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability, but these laws were written before technology permeated the classroom. In 2010, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education issued guidance to institutions of higher education clarifying that the use of inaccessible technology is a form of discrimination. In the four years since, several of the country’s leading institutions have faced legal action for continuing to use inaccessible technology.  Accessibility solutions are widely available, but schools and manufacturers are resisting. A 2009 Congressionally-authorized study found that, despite innovations in text-to-speech, refreshable Braille, and other accessibility features that create promise for equal access, there is still persistent unmet need. Developers claim there is not enough demand to justify making accessible products, and schools claim to have limited options and a lack of knowledge about accessibility to properly guide procurement. Because of this blame-game, developers are moving too slowly and schools are openly violating the law. Guidelines are sorely needed to guide the market and lift burdens off of disabled students. While schools and manufacturers are waiting for the other to take action, blind students are facing insurmountable barriers to their education. No student can be expected to succeed in college if he or she is denied access to course material, and yet the solutions available to remedy this discrimination are ignored! Universally-accepted accessibility guidelines will give direction to manufacturers, clarity to schools about how to meet their legal obligations regarding technology, and long-overdue equal access for disabled students.Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act:  Develops accessibility guidelines for instructional materials and related information technology. The Access Board will consult experts and stakeholders to develop functional performance criteria for electronic instructional materials and related information technologies so that those materials are usable by individuals with disabilities. The guidelines will serve as a flexible prescription for accessibility for both developers and institutions of higher education. Provides incentive for institutions of higher education to follow the guidelines. Institutions of higher education that use technology that conforms with the guidelines will be deemed in compliance with the provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act that pertain to schools’ use of technology. Establishes a minimum usability standard for all technology in the classroom. Institutions of higher education may only use materials that do not conform to the guidelines if that material allows disabled students to enjoy the same educational benefits in an equally integrated and equally effective manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use as nondisabled students.  PROTECT EQUALITY IN THE CLASSROOM. Cosponsor the Technology, Education, and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act (TEACH Act) HR 3505. For more information contact:Lauren McLarney, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the BlindPhone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2207. Email: lmclarney at nfb.org To cosponsor contact:Kevin James, Legislative Assistant, Congressman Tom Petri (R-WI)Phone: (202) 225-2476. Email: kevin.james at mail.house.gov
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> Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2014 16:04:09 -0600
> From: parashah23 at gmail.com
> To: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nfbcs] need help with using blackboard
> 
> Hi,
> I am a student and  need help using blackboard discussions.
> Spicifically when posting a thread on blackboard how do you do a spell check.
> When I hit enter on the spell check button jaws does not do anything
> and I do not see any dialog.
> I am running jaws 15 and blackboard 9.1 on a windows 8.1 computer. I
> tried this with IE 11 and latest version of firefox.
> Please help or tell me where I can contact somebody at blackboard accessibility.
> Thanks
> 
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