Ensure the Accessibility of Educational Materials

Spring
2019
Resolution Number
09.04
 
Contact
Assigned to
Online Education Committee
Category
Curriculum
Status
Assigned

Whereas, All California community colleges are mandated to adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 sections 504 and 508, which require all educational printed and digital materials to be accessible;

Whereas, The California Community Colleges have Information Computer Technology Accessibility Standards including both the U.S. section 508 standards and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) that provide criteria for making information and communication technology more accessible;

Whereas, Resolution 09.10 F15 [1] directed the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) to “provide professional guidance on effective practices for the use of publisher generated materials by faculty in all modalities of courses and report to the body by Spring 2017” yet did not explicitly seek guidance with respect to ensuring that all educational materials are accessible as required by law; and

Whereas, The 2018 ASCCC paper Ensuring An Effective Online Program: A Faculty Perspective [2] recommends the following:

Colleges should have a distance or online education committee under the purview of the local academic senate to deal with academic and professional matters related to courses taught online. Responsibilities of this committee would include the development of recommendations and securing approval from appropriate faculty groups regarding instructional design standards for online courses and participation in the development of recommendations on policies regarding the distance education program, including policies for the ongoing professional development of distance education instructors, policies regarding training in the use of the course management system, and policies for ensuring that all courses and materials are accessible to all people with disabilities;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recommend that local senates work within existing committee structures and procedures to ensure dedication of resources supporting appropriate training and technical support to guarantee accessibility of course materials;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local senates to develop local policies to adopt only course materials, including supplemental or optional materials, that are accessible for all California community college students in alignment with the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); and

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges prepare and bring to the body for consideration a paper on accessible course materials that addresses best practices for faculty in selecting and using accessible educational content by spring 2021.

MSU


1.https://asccc.org/resolutions/professional-guidelines-and-effective-pra…

2. https://www.asccc.org/papers/ensuring-effective-online-program-faculty-…