[Nfbnet-students-list] 5 Important Facts about Accessibility of Technology in Higher Education: Please Help!

Tue Dec 22 00:11:51 UTC 2015

Hello,

As many of you know, the Annual NFB Washington Seminar draws near. Changing
laws is how we change the reality for blind people in America. I am writing
to ask you to help me make a difference on this critical issue. Please help
us collect 250 letters to Members of Congress!

Facts:

1.      Equal access to an education, including technology used on campus,
is a legal right today for blind students, yet failure to provide accessible
materials and utilize accessible technology is not rare, it is the norm. 

2.      Members of the House of Representatives and Senate do care what
their constituents think.

3.      Your personal story can be a powerful tool to highlight the urgent
need to pass legislation to help ensure that blind students are not left
behind due to inaccessible technology.

4.      If you right a brief letter to your Senators and Representative, we
will ensure that it is delivered to your Members of Congress in meetings in
late January.

5.      You have a bit of free time on your hands now that the semester is
over (Ok, that might be a little bit of speculation!)

Please, take 15 minutes to half an hour to write a quick letter for us
before January 10. Our goal is 250. We already have many. Thanks to those of
you who have already written! Please, Just share any stories you have
related to access buriers such as: inaccessible pdf books, inaccessible file
formats, reader hardware, web platforms, required software for coursework or
to register for classes, print transcripts, etc. Just tell a bit about how
inaccessibility negatively impacted your education in community college,
university, grad school, etc. Even if you are a relatively recent graduate,
stories about access buriers in post-secondary education would be very, very
helpful. Just write the story in a letter to your elected officials. In the
letter say dear Senator so and so, introduce yourself, say where you go to
school, tell your story about inaccessibility on campus, then ask Congress
to pass a law creating voluntary guidelines for accessibility in higher
education.

Please send letters, or any questions, to me at:

Nabs.president at gmail.com

Or Kathryn Webster at:

Kathrynwebsternfb at gmail.com

I have pasted my letter below as an example in case it is helpful. It
doesn't need to be long, or need to be the most beautiful thing ever
written. Just tell your story clearly. 

I wouldn't ask you to take the time if it didn't really make a difference.
Personal stories from constituents can make a major impact! Please, take a
little time before then end of the year to write a letter and help this
important effort.

Please be in touch with any questions.

Thank you very much!

Sean

Dear Massachusetts Congressional Delegation:

When I learned that all of the required readings for the courses in my
Master of Public Policy program were going to be posted online in electronic
format, I, as a blind student who cannot read print, was thrilled. I assumed
that my experience as a graduate student at Harvard would be much smoother
in terms of accessibility than was my time as an undergrad seven years ago
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Unfortunately, my assumption proved
premature. Despite the ease with which materials can be made accessible with
current technology, I have found many of my electronic readings to be poorly
tagged .pdf files that a text to speech screen-reading program cannot
decipher. Instead of having access equal to that of my peers to course
readings, the disability student services office has to convert the
documents into text files and I have to wait to have access to the
materials. This system is inefficient and it leaves me at a disadvantage to
my classmates. This is one of many examples of access barriers I have
encountered due to inaccessible technology. And stories like mine are all
too common among blind college and graduate students. But why are blind
students not receiving equal access to all aspects of education? It isn't
because accessibility is difficult or expensive to achieve. And it isn't
because universities are maliciously discriminating against blind students.
It is simply because schools, for the most part, don't really understand
what accessibility looks like. And, therefore, the schools do not know what
accessibility features to demand from those who create the technologies they
purchase and use. Voluntary guidelines would address this problem. Written
standards would set out clear metrics for accessibility in course management
software, electronic reading materials, and e-readers or tablets used by
students. These guidelines would not impose any new legal requirements on
schools, but rather would assist schools in meeting their obligation to
provide full and equal access to all students, regardless of disability. I
urge you to support equal access to education in order to ensure that blind
students like me don't face needless barriers in our education.

Sincerely,

Sean Whalen

President | National Association of Blind Students

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