Greetings from DSS

It is a busy start of the academic year. As the Director of Disability Support Services, my days are focused on facilitating accommodation. Our team at DSS helps students, faculty, and staff. We all work together to remove barriers that would otherwise prevent full participation of qualified UAA students. You could say that DSS is in the barrier removal business. The thing is that we would much rather prevent  barriers at the design stage than have to accommodate our way around them while the clock is ticking and people are waiting for equal access.


Accessibility Quick Tips
The first thing to know is that Accessibility starts at the source. We have a campus-wide commitment   which means that everyone needs to do their part. The second thing to know is that Accessibility benefits everyone. It’s often called Universal Design, and it is an approach that can be understood through the classic curb  cut example: while they are absolutely essential for people who use wheelchairs or scooters for mobility, they are also really helpful for people on bikes, or folks with wheeled bags or with strollers. A good design decision offers a more usable offering that benefits everybody.

There are lots of areas in which good choices at the front end will result in better experiences for end users down the line. UAA has a whole Accessibility Site focused on things we can do proactively.

Here are some top tips for all of us to keep in mind:

• Planning inclusive events
  Make sure to think about your advertising, if placing graphic posters, also include text based descriptions on the campus calendar, and/or event descriptions through social media. Remember that all campus events need to be accessible and include a notice that ASL Interpreters are available upon request.  Think about wheelchair access when laying out seat plans, choosing table heights, and setting up displays.

• Maintaining websites
  The UAA Web Publishing Standards and Design Project provides both the guidance that is needed, and the training that UAA content authors need. In addition, there are Accessibility Interns who can help with site evaluations and necessary changes.

• Creating accessible documents
  From handouts to flyers to uploads and more, we are almost all responsible for the design of documents of one sort or another. There are resources to learn how to create structured documents  that are easier to navigate and more flexible for different needs.

• Sharing video
  If searching out videos on YouTube the best thing to do is to search for captioned content. This can be done by entering the search term then a comma and the letters “cc” in the search box.  This will execute a search for the term entered, but will filter for only those results that are captioned. If you want to learn how to create accessible videos, there are tutorials and resources, or for a more thorough introduction there are academic courses to learn technical skills, and because these courses are also service learning opportunities, there is the potential for university and community partners to get their videos captioned for free by the students who are learning.

The last thing I wanted to mention is the new online community of practice called Alaska Accessibility Matters that is being designed now. We need students, staff, faculty and community members to give feedback and help us make this the best offering possible.