Accessibility Tips and Tools

Why?  It's the law!"It's the law"

In the past, the concern of accessibility in an online course fell on the student and the Disabled Student Services department. Today, however, the responsibility to ensure that all or most (85%) of the course content is accessible to ALL students is now on the instructor.

• American's with Disabilities Act (ADA):

  The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications.
  
  

• Title II: 

  Public entities are not required to take actions that would result in undue financial and administrative burdens.  They are required to make reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures where necessary to avoid discrimination, unless they can demonstrate that doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity being provided.
  
  

•  Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act:

  "'No qualified individual with a disability in the United States shall be excluded from, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under' any program or activity that receives Federal financial assistance"
  
  

• Section 508:

  Establishes requirements for electronic and information technology developed, maintained, procured, or used by the Federal government. Furthermore, Section 508 states that "Federal electronic and information technology to be accessible to people with disabilities"