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

Nate Angell nangell at rsmart.com
Thu Jan 6 13:24:06 PST 2011 

For what it's worth, I have been asked by potential Sakai adopters about NFB
certification, so while it may not be fully valuable, it can count for
something in some people's eyes.

Perhaps one of the best things we could do would be to come up with a good
statement about how our accessibility processes match up to the NFB's and
why we are not pursuing certification at this time.

- Nate

On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 1:17 PM, Michael S Elledge <elledge at msu.edu> wrote:

>  Sorry about that folks, my bad. I thought I'd read in their materials that
> an evaluation was free. Clearly not. Thanks for setting me straight about
> the fees.
>
> I still worry that it could become a disadvantage for Sakai, though,
> especially given NFB's high profile and activism.
>
> Mike
>
>
> On 1/6/2011 4:02 PM, Richwine, Brian L wrote:
>
>  From what I read, the NFB charges quite a bit… There fees are listed
> here:
>
> http://www.nfb.org/nfb/certification_fees.asp?SnID=2080198377
>
>
>
> -Brian
>
>
>
> *From:* accessibility-bounces at collab.sakaiproject.org [
> mailto:accessibility-bounces at collab.sakaiproject.org<accessibility-bounces at collab.sakaiproject.org>]
> *On Behalf Of *Michael S Elledge
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 06, 2011 4:00 PM
> *To:* lucia greco
> *Cc:* accessibility at collab.sakaiproject.org
> *Subject:* Re: [WG: Accessibility] FW: FW: Sakai is being recognized as
> "taking accessibility seriously" on the WebAIM e-mail list
>
>
>
> Hi Lucy--
>
> Your point is well-taken. Accessibility is certainly more than making
> software accessible for blind persons. Unless I misread the description,
> however, NFB doesn't charge for their reviews.
>
> If there are other agencies that provide similar certification for other
> disabilities, we should  explore them as well. My point is that not having
> certification (from whichever credible organizations provide them) will put
> Sakai at a disadvantage when universities choose learning management
> systems.
>
> It would also be a shame for Sakai not to get the recognition it deserves
> after all the good effort expended on making it more accessible.
>
> Mike
>
> On 1/6/2011 3:23 PM, lucia greco wrote:
>
>
>
> I have one problem with this.
>
> We should not only be looking at blindness testing there are many other
> agencies that help with access appraisals and they all look at all
> disability classes nfb evaluations are two narrow and not worth the price.
> We really need to have a wider evaluation and not pay for a bye in from each
> disability group one by one. I say this as a blind person just to give
> prospective
>
>
>
> Lucy Greco
>
> Assistive Technology Specialist
>
> Disabled Student's Program UC Berkeley
>
> (510) 643-7591
>
> http://attlc.berkeley.edu
>
> http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
>
>
>
> *From:* accessibility-bounces at collab.sakaiproject.org [
> mailto:accessibility-bounces at collab.sakaiproject.org<accessibility-bounces at collab.sakaiproject.org>]
> *On Behalf Of *Scott williams
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 06, 2011 10:44 AM
> *To:* Michael S Elledge
> *Cc:* management; accessibility at collab.sakaiproject.org WG (
> accessibility at collab.sakaiproject.org)
> *Subject:* Re: [WG: Accessibility] FW: Sakai is being recognized as
> "taking accessibility seriously" on the WebAIM e-mail list
>
>
>
> As an accessibility coordinator, I very much like the idea of having our
> Ctools/Sakai instance certified by the NFB.
>
>
>
> Scott
>
> On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 1:14 PM, Michael S Elledge <elledge at msu.edu> wrote:
>
> 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<http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/2ACC/Sakai%27s+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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> >>
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>
>
> --
> Scott Williams
> Web Accessibility Coordinator
> Office of Institutional Equity
> University of Michigan
> 734.474.0836
> swims at umich.edu
>
>
>
>
>
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