Web Site Accessibility Committee

Web Accessibility Committee Minutes
September 28, 2001, 3:30-5:00

In attendance: Susan Bale (Webmaster K-State Research and Extension), Betsy Cauble (faculty, Chair Coordinating Committee for People with Disabilities), Janelle Corkill (Webmaster K-State, state training) Larry Davis (faculty), Rebecca Gould (faculty, Acting Director iTAC), Jane Rowlett (campus ADA Coordinator), and Tom Schellhardt (Chair, IRMC)

Definition
The definition of web accessibility was provided. Janelle used the definition provided by the University of Buffalo, which can be found at: http://wings.buffalo.edu/it/webaccess/

Inclusion Criteria
According to regulations, any official web site of K-State must be accessible. Personal sites do not have to be accessible. Student organizations are unofficial web sites and it is still not clear if these need to be accessible.

For classes that have been developed using K-State online, faculty will make accommodations on a course-by-course basis. Classes to be developed need to be designed based on accessibility guidelines.

Any new web sites under construction must be accessible.

Examples of Web Accessibility Issues
Many of the accessibility issues revolve around the ability of a reader to read the web site.
Blinking buttons on the screen are not accessibility
PowerPoint in its current format is not accessibility.
Pictures must have text to explain the picture
Frames are not accessible

Link text needs to be clear and able to stand on its own. For example, rather than using "click here" for the link, use "Undergraduate Catalog". (People using a screen reader can use the tab button to tab through the links. The reader then just reads the link text. If it only says, "click here" the browser will hot have enough information to click there.)

Legislation
There are three levels of compliance, which were noted in the handouts. The goal of the committee is for the University sites to meet priorities 1 and 2 of the guidelines (priority 3 is optional). Deadline for compliance: March 31, 2002.

Examples of Accessible Web Sites
Washington State University Extension
http://www.assistivetech.net/
University of Kansas Medical Center

Current Plan and Future Suggestions
Jane Rowlett sent out a memo to all department heads in July 16, 2001 describing the legislation.

Susan Bale is meeting with College of Agriculture Department Heads on October 2 to unveil her plan. She is compiling a book on accessibility. The Web Accessibility Committee would like to use this book in their educational materials.

It was suggested that we develop a plan similar to implementing the Y2K Plan for the university. Jane will provide the process that was used during the next meeting.

Members discussed developing an educational packet. Jane will provide the Y2K plan information to Janelle Corkill, who will organize the information for web accessibility and provide to the committee. The iTAC web site also will be used to provide accessibility training, however the iTAC website must first be accessible.

Another suggestion was to determine a list of groups that need training. This included the Departmental Resource People.

Monitoring and enforcement was yet another issue. Questions were raised on how to monitor and enforce this issue. This issue is of great concern considering the thousands of web pages related to university business. A check sheet with a sign off was discussed.

Future plans included Portals. Those pages that want to come in under the portal must all be accessible.

Overall it was decided that the committee would develop a university wide plan that includes electronic and face-to-face training, and a timeline and budget for implementation.

Reading Materials
http://www.webaim.org/articles/whitepaper.htm

Penalty and Deadline
Penalty for noncompliance will be loss of federal funding.
Deadline for compliance is March 31, 2002.