Transcript Online Student Research - Grand Rapids Community College

November 12, 2013
TEAM MEMBERS
Dominic Dorsey, Director of Accessibility, Chair
Klass Kwant, Video Content Production Manager, Co-Chair
Kathy Keating, General Counsel
Paula Sullivan, Associate Dean, Faculty Evaluation & Hiring
MaryBeth Beighley, Director of Staff Development
Jeremy Osborn, Director of Center for Teaching Excellence
Introduction:
The campus community of Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC)
relies on administrators, faculty and staff to provide equal access to all
programs and activities for individuals with disabilities. By providing ease of
access in addition to reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals
with disabilities, GRCC remains committed to adhering to the requirements
of Sections 504 & 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended (2008).
Our Responsibility:
To ensure that members of the campus community are not excluded from
participation or denied the benefit of information, advertisement or
academic instruction. Communication mediums must be as effective for
individuals with disabilities as they are for others.
The most effective means of providing equal access to audiovisual media
(including but not limited to videos, movie clips, DVDs, and films) is through
the use of products with open/closed-captioning or subtitles for individuals
who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Why We Can’t Wait:
UC Berkley (1999), LaTrobe University (2008), Ohio State (2009), University of
Kentucky (2011), Daytona State College (2011), University of Maryland at
College Park (2013): More and more colleges and institutions of higher learning are
facing ADA class-action lawsuits brought forward by students or agencies [i.e. the
National Association for the Deaf (NAD)] arguing that the Americans With Disabilities
Act and Rehabilitation Act obligates institutions to equip its facilities with captioning
technology. This includes but is not limited to:
•
Course Content and Classroom Environments
•
Sporting Events and Entertainment
•
Safety and Emergency Announcements
•
Any other announcements
Current Processes Supporting Policy
Implementation:
Captioning Request Procedure: The GRCC Media Department has an established process and
procedure for the conversion of audiovisual materials into an accessible format. This office
already responds immediately to accommodation requests verified through DSS and as long as
audio is discernable; files can be captioned in a reasonable turn around.
Center for Teaching Excellence: Through workshop offerings in faculty professional development,
courses are offered in Camtasia Relay which shows participants how to create recordings with
editable automated captions.
Distance Learning and Instructional Technologies: In compliance with Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (WCAG) issued by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act issued in the Untied States Federal Government, we’ve instructed all faculty to
adhere to accessibility standards required under the Assistive Technology Act, Section 508 while
creating and posting Blackboard content.
Audiovisual Captioning Policy
•
In accordance with the academic principals of equity and accessibility in both the
curriculum and in the campus community; a policy on the use of audiovisual
media must be implemented by the institution.
Proposed Policy Statement
•
To support an inclusive environment geared towards universal design
concepts which removes barriers and equalizes communication access; all
audiovisual media used as part of classroom activities, instruction, distance
learning, training modules for university personnel, campus sponsored events and
co-curricular activities, should be closed, open or real time captioned.
Benefits of an Audiovisual Captioning Policy
•
This policy would specifically benefit individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing
who must have captioned media in order to access the auditory and visual media
from one location.
•
Individuals with learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, or other cognitive impairments
benefit from the open captions supplementing the audio
•
Persons on this diverse campus where English is their second language benefit
from the captions as well as persons globally who see GRCC produced media
productions
•
Enhance playback for viewers watching in noisy environments. Anyone in the
audience when variations of sound quality or surrounding noise cause distractions
would benefit greatly from captioning.
•
Individuals without disabilities have stated that captioning helps in taking notes
and improves understanding and recall.
NEXT STEPS
1.
Share with your departments.
2.
Direct all feedback to [email protected] by December 2, 2013
3.
Committee will consider recommendations and make revisions to policy.
4.
Policy will return to AGC on December 10, 2013 for feedback.
5.
Policy will return to AGC on January 14, 2014 for vote.
Feedback/Questions: