You Can’t Buy Love

1. You Can’t Buy Love …but you CAN Buy Accessibility Presented February 29, 2012 for the CSUN Conference by Jan McSorley Sharron Rush Austin ISD Knowbility.org

2. You can’t buy love but you can buy accessibility • Brief intro of accessibility drivers • Overview of standards • Procurement – where rubber meets the road • Case studies • Tools and rubrics • Wrap-up

3. Why advocate… for accessible technology purchases? The power of the purse is strong and gets attention! • Humanitarian reasons • Market forces • Legal obligations

4. Because we can! Image of 9-year old girl in home made super girl costume, arms crossed, goggles on, looking determined!

5. The Market • Disability is age related • Numbers of customers, employees, citizens, and students with disabilities is on the rise.

7. Disability Market is Growing • Fortune: “$1 trillion annual market” • $200 B in discretionary spending • 55 million Americans • 750 million worldwide • More as population ages

8. The Legal Mandate Legal obligations under civil rights laws, Section 508, state laws, local statutes, ADA, IDEA, No Child Left Behind…many more

9. Legal scrutiny increasing • Series of legal actions by National Federation of the Blind and other disability advocates • Courts are ruling in their favor • Higher Ed decisions in Pennsylvania, California, Texas, others • Civil rights decisions that have impact on retailers – Target, Priceline, Amazon, Major League Baseball, others • K-12 parents and advocacy groups considering legal obligation to ensure “access to the curriculum” • ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) is being extended

10. But how to meet these obligations? • Commitment to a standard • Section 508 • WCAG2 from the Web Accessibility Initiative of the W3C • State and local laws • Internal standards • Explicit Policy • Strategy

11. Develop clear policy • Default policy may be Section 508 • Customize as needed • Ensure highest level of support • Provide training all along chain of command

12. Strategic support • Accessibility awareness • Communication to decision makers • Skills training • Process creation • Development of appropriate procurement language (RFPs) • Evaluation methodologies (Tools and Rubrics) • Integration into processes

13. Procurement – the buck stops here!

14. Four case studies • Public Utility Company • Statewide University System • Independent School District • Online ticket sales

15. Public Utility Company • Losing customers due to inaccessible web site • Public needed “Power to Choose” services • Web based applications from 3rd parties

16. Public Utility Company • Losing customers due to inaccessible web site • Public needed “Power to Choose” services • Web based applications from 3rd parties • Hired outside consulting services to audit and train for web site improvements • Purchased enterprise level auto-testing tool to maintain accessibility • Put contract language in place for 3rd party vendors. • Use consulting services and auto tests to validate

17. Statewide University System • Legal action brought on behalf of students with disabilities statewide. • Claimed that new technologies were creating two-tiered system and many were being left out • Courts ruled in favor of the students, University System had to respond

18. Result: Accessible Technology Initiative • Huge incentive for vendors to meet requirements • All RFPs, all technology purchases put through the lens of accessibility • VPATs were required and verified • Defined by explicit policy • Vendors who did not comply were given time to modify • ATI Procurement Resources

19. Independent School District • Grant funded program to serve underperforming students with disabilities • Needed credit recovery features of online curriculum products

20. Pedagogical Incentive • Differentiated Instruction • Universal Design for Learning • Computer based curricula • Need for accessibility…but how to identify? Illustration of delighted young boy at the computer

21. Alphabet Fire hose: Image of fire hose shooting out initials of regulations, including ADA, NCLB, 504, 508, etc.

22. The defining document: RFP • Along with adherence to academic standards, security requirements and bi-lingual needs, the RFP stated: “The district is seeking computer-based curriculum products that fully meet state and federal mandates for accessibility…” and went on to ask for description of how vendor would meet absolute requirements. • Of the 6 respondents, two were eliminated for failure to meet absolute requirements. • Read the RFP at http://wiki/knowbility.org/ Under the “procurement” tab.

23. Phase One 10 evaluators used to score the company responses • Network Systems and Support • Tech Ed Department • Twilight Program for Credit Recovery • Middle school teacher with computer based curriculum (CBC) experience • 6 high school teachers with CBC experience Members of AT Team looked at absolute requirements. Phase One Rubric

24. Phase Two Three rubrics used as four remaining companies made live presentations: • Instructional Specifications Nine instructional evaluators completed rubric • Technical Specifications Two tech evaluators (one from NSS, one from AT) • Accessibility Specifications One external accessibility expert contracted

25. Phase Three Three rubrics were created for Phase 3 evaluation:  • Instructional Specifications • Administrative Specifications • Accessibility Specifications

26. Phase Three included trial use of products • Two companies were chosen and provided trial access to students. • Both given same information about trial length and expectations. • Student trial access to product provided. • AISD provided vendors with access to instructional, administrative and technical support. • Teachers completed rubric based on student feedback. • Summary meeting reviewed trial outcomes.

27. Neither met accessibility requirements • Based on scores in other categories, negotiations began with Compass Learning Systems • Negotiations were difficult and came close to break down because of fear and misunderstanding • Finally reached agreement for three year remediation plan. • Contract is renewable annually based on successful achievement of milestones • Compass was part of ATIA presentation in Orlando and Florida

28. Thought experiment: Online ticket sales • New ADA regulations went into effect March 15th 2011 requiring equal access to ticket sales • Most performance venues use 3rd party vendors • None meet minimum accessibility standards

29. Additional tools • VPAT • BuyAccessible.gov • Wiki/knowbility.org has detail of the Austin ISD documents, including RFP and rubrics • VPAT Validator – series of questions to validate VPAT responses • Samples of procurement language from the National Center on Disability and Education. • Free web accessibility checking tools include: • Web Accessibility Toolbar for IE • Web Accessibility Extension for Firefox • FireEyes Extension from Deque Systems • The WAVE from WebAIM

30. Wrap-up • Your questions • Materials available on the Knowbility wiki • Stay in touch! • Accessibility_SIG Google Group Thank- you – you make all the difference! Jan McSorley Sharron Rush mcsorleyjan@gmail.comsrush@knowbility.org 512 305-0310