Meeting Minutes: October 16, 2014

Present

  • Stephen Blosser, Chair
  • Graham Pierce, Vice Chair; Webmaster
  • Al Puzzuoli, Digital Communications Coordinator
  • Liza Reynolds, Recording Secretary
  • Dave Goodrich
  • James Jackson
  • James White
  • Jo Silsby
  • Mike Ezzo
  • Nate Evans
  • Paul Heberlein
  • Ranti Junis
  • Shirl Rowley
  • Todd Ring
  • Tyler Smeltekop
  • Vi'Nessa Webster

Minutes

  1. Blosser called meeting to order at 3:00 PM
    • Blosser discussed meeting agenda and indicated that funding requests were completed at the last minute last year
  2. Discussion of the request for new computers for Real Time Captioning team
    • Computers are used to type in live audio for students who are deaf or hard of hearing
    • The process is much easier if the machine is modern and high quality, and warranties are needed
    • Real Time Captioners are often prepare for lectures by looking ahead of time
    • The last time they received new computers was in 2010
  3. Goodrich talked about communication strategies regarding faculty and course content accessibility
    • Evans and Goodrich been meeting to put together a plan to inform faculty and staff about accessibility training and materials
    • Interested in gathering stories and videos of students explaining their difficulties with content not being accessible
    • Success stories of students can inspire staff to make their content more accessible
    • Want faculty to talk with each other about making content accessible
    • Plan to send a monthly email to faculty to inform them of tips for making content accessible
    • Included would be simulated experiences of the poor accessibility and its impacts
  4. Discussion of email sent by Mike Hudson regarding accessibility of online materials
    • Discussion of what is done for faculty delivering inaccessible digital content through D2L
    • Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting occasionally gets a call to review accessibility of content
    • For major purchases, we need a high quality evaluation of accessibility done by a professional
    • The MSU branding is being applied to sites that are not necessarily accessible, such as Google
    • Is it possible for MSU to do an evaluation of sites every 6 months to check for accessibility?
    • Puzzuoli suggests this should be sent to the CIC; evaluations of third-party sites should be shared
    • Goodrich suggests a Wiki where individual experts can provide evaluations and information
  5. Discussion of e-mail sent by Brendan Guenther regarding procurement
    • D2L now known as Brightspace
    • Companies may provide internal accessibility evaluations, but MSU needs an expert to review the evaluation to determine whether or not the product is in compliance
    • MSU has an interest in making things accessible for students; vendors interest is in selling their product
    • McGraw-Hill is unwilling to add a tab to their catalog and specifically state which textbooks are accessible
    • Discussion of MSU potentially refusing to purchase products that are not accessible
    • This may be more viable if our peer institutions took the same position
    • MSU Web Accessibility Policy only applies to content delivered online, but should be expanded to include all digital materials
    • Any inaccessible content could result in a lawsuit against MSU
    • Lack of any accessibility policy and rules for non-online content is a problem
    • ATC should recommend to the CIO that purchasing agreeements should require accessibility
  6. Summary of comments and recommendations made thus far in meeting
    • Blosser stated that digital media delivery systems may never be fully accessible
    • Pierce stated that a lawsuit against MSU would result in a change in policy and rules, and many ongoing accessibility problems would no longer be permitted to continue
    • Discussion of whether MSU's CIO can convince other CIOs to only purchase accessible books and materials, levaraging combined purchasing power to influence vendors
    • Blosser stated that we are at a point where we can start writing a recommendation to the CIO about rules and policy
    • White, Pierce and Ezzo offer to help Blosser with this task
    • Reiterate that there should be somebody who is reviewing items for their accessibility in a paid position at MSU
    • Several universities, including Penn State, Central Florida, and New Hampshire, have accessibility coordinators, but MSU does not
  7. Blosser makes motion to post the previous meeting minutes and Goodrich seconds
  8. The meeting was adjourned (Pierce) at 4:30 PM

Respectfully submitted,
Liza R. Reynolds, Recording Secretary