Frequently designers of Web conference systems striving to meet technical accessibility standards have actually made the application less usable. How presenters use the system and how they interact with their audience is at least as important to its accessibility as is its design.
Abstract
Web conferencing systems are powerful and complex Web applications. They include features such as an internal browser, a whiteboard, desktop sharing, a text chat, voice chat and simultaneous captioning. Frequently a Webinar is using several of these tools simultaneously. Even able-bodied participants may find following the presentation and navigating the interface difficult, but for those with disabilities it can be daunting.
Many systems added accessibility to an existing system instead of including it in the beginning. Sometimes accessibility is achieved by providing dozens of special keystrokes. Remembering and using that many special features only compounds the user’s experience.
Each of the system’s features present different challenges for different disability groups. The presenter needs to understand these challenges and design the presentation to minimize problems and provide reasonable accommodations.
Participants need to be provided with an overview of the system in advance
Kepoints
Web conferencing software must meet accessibility guidelines and standards
The system must be easy to use and not only technically accessible
The Webinar accessibility also depends on how the presenter uses it
Speaker Bio(s)
Norm Coombs
Norman Coombs is the CEO of EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information). He received the Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin and taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology for almost 40 years. Blinded in a childhood accident at age 8, Coombs has become a dedicated user of information technology for over 30 years. In the 1980s he was a pioneer in experimenting with the use of distance learning. Coombs became an international leader in distance learning and traveled to spread the gospel across the US, Canada, Mexico, England, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria and Turkey. Recently he wrote a book, Making Online Teaching Accessible published by Jossey-Bass. Norm retired in the late 1990s and moved from Rochester to escape the cold and snow and now lives with his wife of 56 years in Laguna Hills, CA. Norm hosts Webinars on information technology accessibility aimed to support college and university staff better serve faculty and students with disabilities.
Beth Coombs
Beth Coombs is the COO of EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) and has been active in EASI operations since 1997?. Beth is the primary administrator for EASI activities including setting up its courses in the Blackboard system.
Beth has co-presented at a dozen or more EASI presentations at Accessing Higher Ground and at the annual CSUN conferences.
Besides being an editor for EASI’s Web pages and for its brochures and pamphlets, Beth provided Norman Coombs with strategic research support and editing on the book, Making Online Teaching More Accessible.