Phyllis Petteys, Accessibility Specialist, Portland Community College
Karen Sorensen, Accessibility Advocate for Online Courses, Portland Community College
Disability Area: Topic Area:
Length of Session (in hours): 1-hr
Format: Lecture
Expertise Level: All Levels
Type of session: Not provided
Summary of Session
The session will look at accessibility testing and identify and discuss possible gaps between the stated accessibility of a site by developers and the experience of end users. We will also talk about strategies for involving faculty in positive ways and how to get needed information to students with disabilities.
Abstract
At Portland Community College we started testing websites, LMS, publisher content, math content etc. with end users a few years ago. We made some surprising observations—there can be a disconnect between web standards and end user navigation. In an evolving field (with moving targets) both results should be considered, and communication between different participants (web developers, end users, publishers, and faculty) is important. In this session, we will probe into what to look for when assessing a site, and what to do with varying results. We will discuss how information about accessibility is conveyed, and talk about how we have involved faculty.
Keypoints
Understanding that end users may not be aware of navigational accessible enhancements.
Faculty understand accessibility issues better when they are able to see someone use a screen reader.
Although all accessibility elements are important, some components may be more critical to functioning than others.
Speaker Bio(s)
Phyllis Petteys
Phyllis is an Accessibility Specialist for Disability Services at Portland Community College in Portland, OR. Prior to coming to PCC in 2013, she was an Assistive Technology Specialist for 18 years, working in higher education as well as in the community.
Karen Sorensen
Karen Sorensen is the Accessibility Advocate for Online Courses at PCC. She has been in this position for 4 years since Distance Education at PCC took on the challenge to ensure online courses are accessible to students with disabilities. Before this position, she was a web developer for 5 years on the college web team. She has a Masters in Education: Policies, Foundations and Administration from Portland State University. Her passion is using technology for good.
