WEBVTT 00:00:00.599 --> 00:00:04.069 We are committed to the notion that everyone should have an opportunity 00:00:04.069 --> 00:00:06.809 to participate in higher education 00:00:06.940 --> 00:00:09.500 whether it be from the learning perspective or the research perspective 00:00:09.500 --> 00:00:12.200 or an opportunity to work here at this institution. 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:18.600 We benefit from that because we get to enjoy the talents and the skills 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:21.000 of those people who come in and also their perspective 00:00:21.099 --> 00:00:24.640 which in many cases will be different from the perspective of others on campus 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:29.100 so accessibility becomes a very important value at the university. 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:45.899 We're a leading university globally. 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:48.500 We want the best talent in the world 00:00:48.500 --> 00:00:51.300 for our students, our staff, and our faculty 00:00:51.300 --> 00:00:54.900 and we want to be sure if that talent has a disability 00:00:54.900 --> 00:00:57.400 that they know that we are a welcoming community. 00:00:57.400 --> 00:01:02.300 We are competing with other prestigious and highly accomplished institutions. 00:01:02.300 --> 00:01:07.400 We want to make sure that we can target the right candidates 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:12.000 to join our community regardless of their disability status. 00:01:12.009 --> 00:01:17.030 In fact we genuinely believe that excellence is achieved through diversity 00:01:17.030 --> 00:01:20.830 and that a commitment to equity and inclusion 00:01:20.830 --> 00:01:24.070 really enriches each of our lives. 00:01:24.070 --> 00:01:26.400 What the university offers and makes available 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.200 has to be offered to everybody. 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:32.200 We can't afford to waste the talents or the brilliance or the minds of anybody 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:35.000 and making things accessible 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:38.500 allows everybody to engage in the university. 00:01:38.500 --> 00:01:44.000 Think about accommodation as really the beginning of the conversation about disability. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.840 It was the appropriate measure that was taken in the Americans with Disabilities Act 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:54.200 that was passed in 1990 and that's well over a generation ago. 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:57.300 I think now we really have to think less about 00:01:57.300 --> 00:01:58.700 how we're going to measure 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:02.240 specifically this accommodation and that accommodation 00:02:02.240 --> 00:02:06.400 and recognize that we can make accessibility open and available 00:02:06.470 --> 00:02:09.450 so that individual staff, faculty, or students 00:02:09.450 --> 00:02:11.700 do not have to go to get an accommodation. 00:02:11.790 --> 00:02:14.390 It will be automatically available 00:02:14.390 --> 00:02:18.100 in the web page that they visit, in the device that they use. 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:20.280 The first step really needs to be 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:24.000 an assessment of where we are 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:26.520 so we can then inform our planning process, 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:29.700 develop plans, implement a project, 00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:32.700 and then really assess the results of it. 00:02:32.709 --> 00:02:36.589 Key to our approach to making sure that our campus 00:02:36.589 --> 00:02:39.900 and our technology is accessible to people with disabilities 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:42.700 is to ensure we do this by design. 00:02:42.700 --> 00:02:47.800 This is not an afterthought that we do after we have implemented a new classroom. 00:02:47.890 --> 00:02:53.830 Instead this is something that we do from the initial conception of a new project or idea. 00:02:53.830 --> 00:02:57.400 The same way we do this for privacy and security 00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.900 we do this for accessibility. 00:02:59.980 --> 00:03:02.100 A policy really is an important way to go 00:03:02.110 --> 00:03:05.380 because it will focus everyone's attention. 00:03:05.380 --> 00:03:09.260 It's also probably the way that you have to go now that there are legal pressures 00:03:09.260 --> 00:03:11.800 on higher education in this area. 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:15.200 The second thing I would say about policy is 00:03:15.200 --> 00:03:17.400 there really are two types in general. 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.300 One is a policy that you have because you have a law. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.610 For example, the Family Education Rights Privacy Act policy. 00:03:24.610 --> 00:03:27.850 So you want to be clear and sure 00:03:27.850 --> 00:03:30.100 that you're going to have compliance on your campus. 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:34.480 There's another kind of policy that I would call aspirational policy. 00:03:34.480 --> 00:03:37.500 And maybe accessibility fits a little bit in both. 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:42.000 But you most certainly can err on the aspirational side. 00:03:42.020 --> 00:03:45.400 An aspirational policy is something you establish for your institution 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:48.700 as a path moving toward something, moving forward. 00:03:48.700 --> 00:03:52.100 It does not have to have 100 percent compliance 00:03:52.160 --> 00:03:56.120 because it's really a direction that you're setting strategically for your institution. 00:03:56.130 --> 00:04:03.290 We begin with our vendors saying a> this is not only important, 00:04:03.290 --> 00:04:07.000 that this is required for working with the CSU. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.100 Every student who comes into our institution 00:04:11.100 --> 00:04:15.200 we have to provide equally effective access to those service 00:04:15.200 --> 00:04:19.100 and you are a partner in delivering those services to us. 00:04:19.180 --> 00:04:22.660 So we will tell you what we need 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:28.500 and then we will help you inform your staff, educate your staff, 00:04:28.580 --> 00:04:33.700 provide them some consultation and guidance in partnership with us 00:04:33.700 --> 00:04:37.100 so you can deliver the successful service for us. 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:41.200 If we go about things in an ad hoc approach, one by one, 00:04:41.200 --> 00:04:43.300 we're not likely to get the same results 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:47.700 as if we work together as a community in higher education 00:04:47.700 --> 00:04:51.400 to work with vendors to improve accessibility for everyone 00:04:51.400 --> 00:04:53.500 with regard to the products that are offered. 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:59.600 That's a much more pragmatic approach, rather than institution by institution. 00:04:59.640 --> 00:05:05.140 Making accessibility a priority in their development roadmap 00:05:05.140 --> 00:05:09.200 is going to be driven by the market demand 00:05:09.200 --> 00:05:13.000 and if an institution never says a word, 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.800 the vendor isn't gonna do anything about it. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:20.700 So if we begin to communicate our demands collectively, 00:05:20.700 --> 00:05:25.000 then the vendor will recognize the market value of accessibility. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:27.400 Accessibility requires effort on the part of everyone 00:05:27.400 --> 00:05:31.700 in the higher education community - faculty, staff, technology vendors. 00:05:31.700 --> 00:05:35.100 If we all do our part, our institutions can provide everyone 00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:37.400 with an equal opportunity to participate 00:05:37.420 --> 00:05:41.120 and we all benefit from the perspectives of a diverse group. 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:45.500 I would say to those out there who are just getting started 00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:49.400 or may be struggling to figure out how to use technology 00:05:49.400 --> 00:05:54.000 to advance accessibility on their campuses that 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.140 there's no such thing as a bad time to start.