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U.S. Department of Ed: New digital accessibility reviews
Department of Ed is cracking down on inaccessible online learning applications, websites and platforms.
How many times has your student’s class used an online resource that is not accessible for your student who is blind or low vision? For TSVIs, our typical question is more along the lines of which resource, app, online textbook, educational website, or assessment is accessible or has some accessible pieces? Unfortunately, the majority of the educational digital resources are not fully accessible for BLV students and TSVIs are expected to create similar materials or assignments in a different format.
Under the U.S. Department of Education, the Office for Civil Rights is ramping up compliance reviews for online learning, school websites, and platforms used to communicate with parents. For details, read DisabilityScoop’s article, Ed Department Ramps Up Disability Related Compliance Reviews.
Access for Everyone videos
As part of their compliance effort, the Office of Civil Rights has created a video series on digital access in education. These quick videos are designed to bring awareness to how people with disabilities use technology, federal regulations, how to make educational websites and materials more accessible. Below are the video topics.
- Intro: An Introduction to Digital Accessibility
- Topic 1: Digital Accessibility: Three Points About the Law
- Topic 2: How Some People with Disabilities Use Technology
- Topic 3: Recommended Practices & Tips for Digital Accessibility
- Topic 4: Vendors and Partnerships
- Topic 5: Creating an Organizational Culture that Embraces Accessibility
- Topic 6: The Importance of Manual Testing for Digital Accessibility
- Topic 7: Keyboard Access and Visual Focus Indicators
- Topic 8: Testing When the Screen is Magnified
- Topic 9: Logical Reading Order
- Topic 10: Alternative Text
- Topic 11: Fillable Forms
- Topic 12: Buttons and Forms
- Topic 13: Use of Color Alone to Convey Information
- Topic 14: Color Contrast
- Topic 15: Links
- Topic 16: Tables
- Topic 17: heading Structure
- Topic 18: Video Captioning
- Topic 19: Reporting & Responding to Digital Barriers for People with Disabilities
By Diane Brauner
