[WG: Accessibility] FW: Sakai is being recognized as "taking accessibility seriously" on the WebAIM e-mail list

[Mary Stores]

Hi Mike,

I totally wondered how to become NFB-certified. Thanks for sending 
this, I wonder who pays the thousands of dollars for this?

Still, very nifty..,

Mary

Quoting Michael S Elledge <elledge at msu.edu>:

> Hi All--
>
> Several LMS products have received certification from NFB, including
> Desire2Learn and Blackboard:
>
> http://secure.nfb.org/nfbnva/public/certifiedsites.aspx
>
> It seems like this something Sakai should look into, since not having
> certification will put it at a competitive disadvantage; NFB will do a
> free review btw.
>
> More information about testing can be found at this address:
> http://www.nfb.org/nfb/certification_criteria.asp?SnID=2043227788
>
> Mike
>
> On 12/11/2010 12:25 PM, Nate Angell wrote:
>> Brian/Mary:
>>
>> I agree with Eli: thanks for sharing!
>>
>> My takeaway from this is that whatever Sakai's actual accessibility,
>> our approach to accessibility is correct: to be open and thorough.
>> Just putting a stamp on software certifying a complex characteristic
>> like accessibility is not the same thing as having an ongoing, open
>> and deep engagement with it.
>>
>> - Nate
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 9:21 AM, Eli Cochran<eli at media.berkeley.edu>  wrote:
>>> Brian,
>>> Thanks for sharing that. I'm spreading a little wider.
>>>
>>> - Eli
>>>
>>> On Dec 9, 2010, at 9:10 AM, Richwine, Brian L wrote:
>>>
>>>> Mary found this encouraging take on the Sakai Community on a
>>>> WebAIM e-mail list:
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Stores, Mary A.
>>>> Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2010 11:55 AM
>>>> To: Richwine, Brian L; Londergan, M D; Humbert, Joseph A
>>>> Subject: Sakai is being recognized as "taking accessibility
>>>> seriously" on the WebAIM e-mail list
>>>>
>>>> Is there anything I should say to them? I'm happy to do something.
>>>>
>>>> Mary
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Forwarded message from deborah.kaplan at suberic.net -----
>>>>     Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 11:47:14 -0500 (EST)
>>>>     From: deborah.kaplan at suberic.net
>>>> Reply-To: WebAIM Discussion List<webaim-forum at list.webaim.org>
>>>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Accessible SCORM Compliant E-Learning Software
>>>>       To: WebAIM Discussion List<webaim-forum at list.webaim.org>
>>>>
>>>> Sam asked:
>>>>
>>>> "I am looking for a SCORM compliant e-learning software and
>>>> authoring tool that is accessible. Ideally, both the authoring
>>>> tools and the courses they produce should be accessible."
>>>>
>>>> And Michael Langum responded:
>>>>
>>>> "Don't forget that an accessible course is only half the issue.
>>>> You (or you client) will also need to ensure that your Learning
>>>> Management System (LMS) is also accessible."
>>>>
>>>> I will also add, the classes are only accessible as the course
>>>> designers make them. No matter how much accessibility is built
>>>> into the learning management system, if the professor/course
>>>> designer puts up videos without captions, flash without
>>>> accessibility, and images without alternative text. Training your
>>>> faculty/course designers is a huge part of making sure your
>>>> classes are accessible.
>>>>
>>>> (Also, kudos for making sure that both the authoring tools and the
>>>> courses be accessible -- many course designers have accessibility
>>>> needs as well! As do the LMS administrators, so make sure that the
>>>> administration tools are also accessible.)
>>>>
>>>> In any case, I've been very impressed with both Moodle and Sakai,
>>>> fairly unimpressed with Blackboard, and exceedingly unimpressed
>>>> with Angel. The latter two obfuscate what they mean by
>>>> accessibility and what their accessibility efforts are. Moodle and
>>>> Sakai, on the other hand, both take accessibility very seriously
>>>> and are very open about what they mean by accessibility and what
>>>> their efforts are:
>>>>
>>>> http://docs.moodle.org/en/Moodle_Accessibility_Specification
>>>> http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/2ACC/Sakai's+Current+Accessibility
>>>>
>>>> My favorite part of the Moodle accessibility specification is at
>>>> <http://docs.moodle.org/en/Moodle_Accessibility_Specification#Rationale_for_Moodle_accessibility>:
>>>> the legal, moral, and market argument for taking accessibility seriously.
>>>>
>>>> -Deborah
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> To manage your subscription, visit http://list.webaim.org/ Address
>>>> list messages to webaim-forum at list.webaim.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- End forwarded message -----
>>>>
>>>>
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>>> . . . . . . . . . . .  .  .   .    .      .         .
>>> .                     .
>>>
>>> Eli Cochran
>>> manager of user experience design
>>> user interaction developer
>>> Educational Technology Services, UC Berkeley
>>>
>>> "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is
>>> nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
>>>     - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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