Technology adapted for persons with disabilities

Accessibility is the key word as Ohio State takes big steps toward making the full spectrum of educational opportunities available to people with disabilities.

It's not just about making buildings accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Computers, Web pages and online courses are being modified to make the latest technology available to those with disabilities. Conferences are being scheduled to boost awareness of building and technology access as it relates to ADA. And the Office for Disability Services (ODS) and the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator's office are spreading the word that their staffs are there to help.

"Part of our job is to make OSU a more welcoming environment for people with disabilities,"said Scott Lissner, ADA coordinator.

Often, he said, it is the little changes that add up to a change in climate, such as offering ample Teletypes (TTYs) on campus so people who are deaf can use the telephone and building counters low enough for wheelchair users. All public computer labs now have voice output for blind users, and users in department labs can download the required software from the Office of Information Technology's Software To Go Web page (www.osu.edu/units/uts/publications/upgrades/).

By Jo McCulty Reggie Anglen relies on adaptive technology to perform his public relations duties at Ohio State's African American and African Studies Community Extension Center. A power Braille strip underneath his keyboard converts words on his computer screen to either Braille or voice output. His office also is equipped with a Braille printer and a flatbed scanner that converts documents into Braille or voice.

Lissner is also pushing for notice statements -- an invitation to discuss accommodations based on a disability -- to become a regular part of all course syllabi, Web pages and event fliers.

"It lets people with disabilities know that we're willing to make accommodations," Lissner said. "If done well, it can be inviting to the public. On the other hand, it gives you more lead time if you need to make special arrangements."

Lissner estimates that roughly 1,200 students with a wide array of disabilities attend Ohio State; there are more than 150 faculty and staff with disabilities, including two new faculty members who are blind.

A big step toward making technology accessible to all has been the procurement of a $1 million three-year Partnership Grant from the U.S. Department of Education to improve the quality of higher education for students with disabilities. Project co-directors are the grant's author, Margo Izzo, director of the Nisonger Center University Affiliated Program, and Ann Yurcisin, director of ODS.

Ohio State was one of 21 universities receiving the grant out of more than 80 schools nationwide that applied, Yurcisin said. "We're required to develop our own Web site so we can really share information and build on what the other universities have done,"she said.

Through a collaboration between Faculty and TA Development, the Nisonger Center, ODS and Technology Enhanced Learning and Research (TELR), the departments of Chemistry and Psychology and the colleges of Social Work and Human Ecology each received $5,000 in the first year to fund activities that improve the teaching-learning process within their department. In the second year of the grant, the Department of Mathematics, Columbus State Community College, the Agricultural Technology Institute and another OSU academic department will receive funds.

In addition, the Partnership Grant has resulted in an annual Faculty Innovator Grant on Disabilities (FIGD) competition, to fund projects designed to increase the attendance and retention rates of students with disabilities. Applications will be available Oct. 18, with a Dec. 1 deadline. For details, visit the Partnership Grant Web site at www.osu.edu/grants/dpg, or call Izzo, 292-9218 or Yurcisin, 292-3307.

Harvey Shulman, associate professor of psychology, used a $5,000 FIGD grant to redesign Psychology 312 -- "Learning Memory and Cognition"-- taken by nearly 300 students each year. Working with a TELR intern and using WebCT, an online course management tool, he redesigned Web segments of the course to make them more accessible, and created chat rooms for course material discussion and self-paced online quizzes for students with disabilities. He said he may use what he learned to make other courses he teaches more accessible. "It changes the way you design course materials once you learn how to do it,"Shulman said.

The Partnership Grant also helped establish the Web Accessibility Center, created by Sean O'Briant, director of the center, and Joe Wheaton, associate professor of rehabilitation services (see related story below). It is a clearinghouse for training and research to help faculty create Web pages that are more accessible to those with disabilities.

Yurcisin said that by embracing a universal design for learning, the grant has benefited all students. Although geared toward those with disabilities, it focuses on a wide variety of learning strengths and learning styles.

"It makes learning so much more effective in the classroom,"she said.

Center is improving Web accessibility

As director of the Web Accessibility Center (WAC) at Ohio State, Sean O'Briant says his goal is to someday put the center out of business.

"The goal is to train people who create Web pages, and someday make accessibility a standard operating procedure,"he said.

Housed in the Office for Disability Services (ODS), the WAC opened shop during spring quarter. A clearinghouse for training and research to help faculty create Web pages that are more accessible to those with disabilities, the WAC was established via collaboration between ODS, the College of Education, and Technology Enhanced Learning and Research (TELR). It was initially funded by a grant from the OSU Partnership Grant (see accompanying story).

The WAC has trained TELR interns and assisted faculty with their online distance education courses and offers an ongoing series of free workshops for faculty interested in creating their own Web pages (see www.wac.ohio-state.edu for details).

"We're trying to create a core group of Web creators that have the basic knowledge of Web accessibility,"O'Briant said.

The staff also analyzes Web pages for their accessibility to people with disabilities. When a faculty member or department enters a course into the Web site registry, a database of courses that use the Web at the University, it is automatically sent to the WAC for review, said Steve Acker, director of TELR. If the site is constructed in such a way that adaptive technologies can present the information for the visually or aurally impaired, it earns the WAC seal of approval.

O'Briant, also adaptive technology specialist and webmaster for ODS, trains students with disabilities to use computers to become more independent. It was in that role a couple of years ago that he noticed a lack of an adaptive technology infrastructure on campus. An ongoing partnership between O'Briant and Joe Wheaton, associate professor of rehabilitation services, eventually resulted in the creation of the WAC.

Wheaton, also WAC co-director, said distance education is a growing trend, but rarely is disability accessibility mentioned.

"There are legal mandates that education has to be offered to people with disabilities. If education is offered on the Web, the Web has to be accessible, also,"he said.

Wheaton noted that people do, however, seem to be more than willing to make changes to Web pages once they become aware of the problem.

O'Briant said the WAC ties in well with President William E. Kirwan's commitment to diversity, as well as Ohio State's overall goal to become a top-tier teaching and research institution.

"As we enter into new arenas, everything needs to be done well so that students with disabilities aren't left out,"he said.

Since opening, O'Briant said WAC has worked closely with TELR, the College of Education and the Office of Information Technology.

"We hope to move out into other departments and invite any departments interested to get involved,"O'Briant said. Assistance from WAC is free, including the workshops. For details, contact 292-1760, webac@osu.edu or visit the Web at www.wac.ohio-state.edu.

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