Presented at 8:00am in Penrose 2 on Thursday, November 9, 2023.
#38168Speaker(s)
- Jeff Singleton, Principal, Converge Accessibility
- Leon McNaught, ATI Program Manager, California State University, Los Angeles
- Cheryl Pruitt, Consultant, Pruitt Consulting
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Lecture
- Expertise Level: All Levels
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
Acquiring accessible IT products is one of the biggest challenges facing institutions. Campuses are required to acquire accessible products, yet not all vendors are prepared to provide information about the accessibility of their products and services. This presentation will discuss how educational organizations can integrate accessibility requirements into their procurement processes and provide vendors with options for demonstrating accessibility.
Abstract
Acquiring accessible IT products is one of the biggest challenges facing a university, school system, or other large institution when implementing an accessible technology program. To meet this challenge, institutions need to integrate accessibility requirements into campus business and procurement processes and rely on vendors to demonstrate the accessibility of their products and services.
Not all vendors are prepared to provide information about the accessibility of their products and services. This presentation will highlight a process that educational organizations can integrate accessibility requirements into their procurement processes and provide vendors with options for demonstrating accessibility. Learn new strategies for securing accurate accessibility documentation from vendors, driving for accessibility improvements to the vendor products, and ensuring vendors provide crucial user information for end users. Accurate documentation allows campuses to create Equally Effective Alternative Access Plans. Students that encounter barriers can be quickly served with workarounds or accommodation.
This session will review strategies learned from recent case studies, and decades of experience, that can be leveraged by any medium- to large-sized organization that wants to work with vendors to improve accessibility in this critical, but often overlooked, area.
Keypoints
- Understand how to engage the vendor in an accessible critical review process for IT product acquisitions.
- Learn the appropriate use of various levels of accessibility evaluations, from Accessibility Conformance Report reviews to full accessibility testing.
- Leverage strategies for engaging vendors to improve the accessibility of their products.
Disability Areas
All Areas
Topic Areas
Procurement, Uncategorized
Speaker Bio(s)
Jeff Singleton
Jeff Singleton is one of the nation's leading authorities on web accessibility and testing. He is a former member of Microsoft's Accessible Technology Group (ATG) and led the quality assurance team for Windows Narrator. An expert user of most assistive technologies, Jeff has a keen understanding of accessibility standards (such as WCAG and Section 508) as well as the practical impact of accessibility issues on people with disabilities.
Jeff has led important projects with leading companies such as HP and Microsoft. And he has helped government agencies like the Veteran's Health Administration make their technology accessible. For the last several years, NASA has also trusted Jeff to perform accessibility reviews of the technologies (including web sites) used by its grantees.
One of Jeff's strongest talents and passions is educating others about accessibility. For the last twelve years, he has led training sessions at important international accessibility conferences, such as the California State University, Northridge Center on Disabilities CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, and the National ADA Symposium. Jeff also holds an ADA Coordinator Title III Business Certificate and is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).
Leon McNaught
Leon McNaught is the Director of Digital Accessibility at Cal State LA. His work at the Los Angeles campus includes implementing the CSU system-wide Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI), a Capability Maturity Model framework, to improve digital accessibility among higher education stakeholders. ATI focuses on three priority areas: web, instructional materials, and procurement. Leon’s other work includes accessibility consulting, and he is the Vice Chairperson on the board of Blindness Support Services in Riverside, CA. Leon has worked in the field of assistive technology and accessibility in higher education for 29 years, which provides a breadth of experience in an ever-changing field.
Cheryl Pruitt
Cheryl is the former Director of the Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) for the California State University (CSU) System. She led the ATI implementation across the CSU 23 campus system. Cheryl was involved with the ATI since its start in 2007, first at the campus level, then at the systemwide level. Under her leadership the system made significant progress towards implementing ATI process improvement in the areas of web accessibility, accessible procurement, and accessible instructional materials. She has managed several projects that helped move the initiative forward, including implementation of a CSU Accessible Procurement Process, ATI reporting processes to measure the systemwide progress towards the ATI goals, creation of synergy projects resulting in systemwide shared services that are delivering cost savings, and a high level of cross-campus collaboration through the ATI Communities of Practice. Cheryl is now an independent consultant working with various organizations and helping them with their accessibility journey.