Transcript Online Student Research - Grand Rapids Community College

February 11, 2014
TEAM MEMBERS
Dominic Dorsey, Director of Accessibility, Chair
Klass Kwant, Video Content Production Manager, Co-Chair
Frank Conner, Department Chair, Psychology
Lyttron Burris, Professor of English
Sarah Rose, Coordinator, Disability Support Services
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. It’s about student
success and accessibility to the community.
Legal Precedent:
UC Berkley (1999), LaTrobe University (2008), Ohio State (2009), University of
Kentucky (2011), Daytona State College (2011), University of Maryland at
College Park (2013) all faced class action lawsuits from advocacy and special
interest groups like the National Association for the Deaf for lack of accessibility in
college resources.
National Association of the Deaf (NAD) vs. Netflix -"...the court’s determination
that Netflix’s streaming video service qualifies as a “place of public accommodation”
extends the jurisdiction of the ADA to any organization that publishes video.“
U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Disability Rights Section –
Effective Communication - Covered entities must provide auxiliary aids and
services when needed to communicate effectively with people who have
communication disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires GRCC
to ensure access to equal and effective
communication for all students, staff, and
community members. This policy would:
•
Ensure compliance with federal law
•
Benefit individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing who must have captioned media
•
Support an inclusive environment geared towards universal design
•
Benefit individuals with learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, or other cognitive impairments
•
Benefit persons learning English as their second language benefit from the captions
•
Benefit persons who see GRCC produced media productions.
•
Benefit individuals without disabilities who have stated that captioning helps in taking notes
and improves understanding and recall.
•
Benefit anyone in the audience when variations of sound quality or surrounding noise cause
distractions.
Changes and Revisions:
•
Strengthened Proposed Policy Statement and Definitions
•
Changed “Best Practices” to “Guidelines” with examples under each section
including:
– Captioning Required: Purchasing New Audiovisual
Media/Instructional/DVD/Film, Creating Audiovisual Media, Continually
Utilized Audiovisual Media
– Captioning Advised: Currently Owned Non-Captioned Video/DVD/Film
Releases, Classroom Projects/Student Produced Media
– Captioning Not Required: Impromptu Classroom Materials, (Foreign
Language Exceptions)
•
Referenced Documents: U.S. DOJ – Effective Communication, Copyright
Permission Request Form
•
Addition of Remediation Process
Proposed Policy Statement
All audiovisual media used as part of classroom activities, instruction,
distance learning, training modules for institution personnel, campus
sponsored events, and co-curricular activities should include either closed,
open, real time captions, interactive transcription, or subtitles;
whichever is appropriate.
X. Guidelines (Abbreviated):
•
If it will be recorded and shown for the foreseeable future: Captioning
Required
•
If it's a previously owned video that we'll use in the future: Captioning
Required
•
If it's a previously owned video that can or will be replaced with an
accessible version: Captioning Advised
•
If it’s a student produced media for a defined audience where no one has
self-identified as needing the accommodation: Captioning Advised
•
If its shown for a limited duration, to a restricted audience where no one is
known to need the accommodation: Captioning Not Required.
•
If it's a YouTube clip shown the day after an event happened (impromptu),
no one is known to need the accommodation and attempts at a.) finding a
captioned version online, or b.) finding an equally effective alternative have
both failed?: Captioning Not Required
XII. Remediation:
If a member of the GRCC Community is found to not be in compliance with the
Audiovisual Captioning Policy, The Director of Accessibility will then contact and
work with faculty and/or any contracted media company in conjunction with the
Media Department in a timely manner to bring media into compliance.
When audiovisual media cannot be made accessible in a timely manner, the
individual(s) found to not be in compliance will be responsible for providing
alternative access to the information immediately. The Director of Accessibility
will follow up with the content owner(s) of the media to ensure understanding of
the policy and proper training is administered, so future issues of this nature do
not occur.
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.
Points to Consider
•
This policy is about compliance with a federal mandate to provide access to
equal and effective communication for all students, staff, and community
members.
•
The purpose of this policy is not to penalize faculty members. The purpose is
to make the campus community aware of our responsibility, resources
available to address shortcomings and appropriate courses of action to take
in select scenarios.
•
Policies give us the ability to advocate for necessary and additional
resources.
•
AGC policies are customarily passed with a grace period to establish
procedure before implementation. There is always a transition period.
– (i.e. Admissions Application Cut-Off policy date of decision 4/10/12,
Provost charged Student Affairs Office to develop implementation plan
by Winter 2014)
SEEKING A VOTE TODAY
1.
The Audiovisual Captioning Policy Committee is seeking a vote.
Feedback/Questions: