disability)inclusion)and) accessibility)attemple)university) · learning(and(development(“temple...

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

“Temple University is committed to providing students, faculty and staff with access to its facilities

and the technology and information they need to succeed in and out of the classroom.”

Temple University Accessibility Statement

Disability Inclusion and Accessibility at Temple University

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY HUMAN RESOURCES

We are pleased to be back!


And, we brought a friend!

Andrea Caporale Seiss Temple University Title IX Coordinator


Outcomes from 2014

Our visit in 2014… – First Jme Rome faculty had been trained on university policies and procedures

– ClarificaJon of US discriminaJon and harassment issues and policies

–  ConnecJon made to both Italian and EU Law

As a direct outgrowth of that training, –  Temple University Rome Campus faculty

handbook


Temple University Rome Campus Faculty Handbook

•  Designed to provide essenJal informaJon to faculty

•  Not exhausJve source of informaJon but covers: – Paychecks to Technology Policies and Procedures – Safety/Security – Grading and Grade Disputes – Syllabi Policy – Class Excursions – Disability Resources and Services


Temple University Rome Campus Faculty Handbook

•  Policies Website –  Non-‐DiscriminaJon –  AnJ-‐Harassment –  Faculty/Student RelaJonships –  RepresenJng Temple as a Faculty Member –  Contact informaJon

•  ResponsibiliJes – Outlined in your Contracts

Will be available online


“Colleges and universiJes have specific legal obligaJons to provide students, faculty, and staff with disabiliJes the same benefits, programs, and services.”

Russlynn Ali Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights U.S. Department of EducaJon


Higher EducaJon and Disability

•  Roughly 11 percent of college students have a disability, according to EducaJon Department figures: – about two-‐thirds of that group suffer from one or more so-‐called invisible disabiliIes, such as learning disabiliIes, ADHD (a^enJon-‐deficit hyperacJvity disorder), and mental-‐health and emoIonal disabiliIes.

• 


AccommodaJng Students

•  Programs have a responsibility to meet the reasonable needs of students with disabiliJes through accommodaJons and modificaJons in recruitment, orientaJons, pre-‐enrollment inquiry, enrollment, placement, and instrucJon.

•  Through these accommodaJons we can ensure full and equal access to acJviJes and services.


Student Support

•  Students who need help don’t always ask for it •  Only 17 percent of college students with learning disabiliJes receive accommodaJons, according to the NaJonal Center for Learning DisabiliJes.

•  Student’s needs are assessed on a case by case basis


What would you do if?

•  A student informs you that they have A^enJon Deficit Disorder and will need more Jme when tesJng……


Learning ObjecJves

•  Review Temple University’s obligaJons under the ADA

•  Define “Accessibility” •  List Temple resources that support accessible technology

•  Outline faculty obligaJons •  Provide examples of appropriate responses to student requests for accommodaJon


Our Compliance ObligaJon •  We have always been under a legal obligaJon to

accommodate students, faculty and staff due to federal statutes such as: –  The Americans with DisabiliIes Amendments Act (ADAAA) –  The RehabilitaIon Act

•  Sec$on 504 of the Rehabilita$on Act of 1973 states that … "No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States … shall, solely by reason of … disability, be denied the benefits of, be excluded from the parJcipaJon in, or be subjected to discriminaJon under any program or acJvity receiving federal financial assistance."

As well as guidance from court decisions, accessibility guidelines and seQlements and consent decrees.


ADAAA

•  In 2015 marked the 25th anniversary of the Americans with DisabiliJes Act.

•  The ADA and its Amendments Act (ADAAA) are federal disability non-‐discriminaJon laws


RehabilitaJon Act of 1973

•  SecJon 504 states that "no qualified individual with a disability in the United States shall be excluded from, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discriminaIon under" any program or acJvity that receives Federal financial assistance.

•  Requirements common to these regulaJons include reasonable accommodaIon for employees with disabiliJes; program accessibility; effecJve communicaJon with people who have hearing or vision disabiliJes; and accessible new construcJon and alteraJons.


Our Compliance ObligaJon

•  We also have an obligaJon not to discriminate under Temple University Policies

•  PrevenJng and Addressing DiscriminaJon and Harassment •  Accessible Technology Policy •  Course Syllabus Policy

•  Accessibility on our campus is a shared responsibility –  Each unit is responsible for making its programs and services

accessible with guidance from campus experts –  Any person can put the university out of compliance through

inaccessible design or an act of discriminaJon


What is Accessibility? Accessibility is the ability to engage with, use, parJcipate in, and belong to, the world around us.

Accessibility is the word used to describe whether a product (for example, a website, mobile site, digital TV interface or applicaJon) can be used by people of all abiliJes and disabiliJes, regardless of physical or developmental abiliJes or impairments

Accessibility Extends to: –  Built Environment – Physical Space on Campus –  Technology – purchasing/maintaining/using –  EducaJonal Environment (instrucJon) –  Programs and Services –  Altudes


Physical Accessibility

  Ensure that your workspace is fully accessible and that the programs and services you offer are as well.

 Make modificaJons to classroom or workspace for student or employee with a disability

 On Main Campus, we have to comply with access barriers on campus but that is not something we can compel you to do here in Rome.

However…


What would you do?

•  You have an assignment that requires students to walk up the steps of the Campidoglio. It is an assignment you have required students to do for many years. One of your students comes to you and says he/she is having a flare-‐up of a medical condiJon that limits their physical mobility.


Accessible Technology

The Department of JusJce and the Department of EducaJon have made it known that their major compliance and enforcement interest for the foreseeable future is access to technology.

Therefore, Colleges and UniversiJes need to expand their role in providing accessible technology to their students, staff, faculty and visitors. Which is something we can do in our campuses abroad.


Technology Access

Another way to ensure compliance with the law is to make sure the informaJon the University communicates to its students, faculty, staff, (current and prospecJve) and visitors is accessible to all.


Technology -‐ Digital Accessibility

•  Digital accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is made available to as many people as possible. This includes but is not limited to websites, mobile applicaJons, online systems, and desktop applicaJons.

•  When sites and applicaJons are correctly designed and developed to be accessible, all users can have equal access to the informaJon.


Accessible Technology

•  As technology becomes more complex, compliance is becoming criJcal, as is evidenced by a proliferaJon of liJgaJon in higher educaJon

•  Over 37 lawsuits have been brought by a variety of PlainJffs including but not limited to; –  The NaJonal FederaJon of the Blind –  Dept. of EducaJon/Dept. of JusJce –  Students/Employees

•  Regarding issues with: –  E-‐readers/GoogleApps/Physical spaces/AccommodaJons

as well as a variety of other issues


Accessible Technology •  Through a self-‐imposed audit, Temple University found it

needed to address: –  Overall accessibility policy for informaIon and technology

–  Computer labs (128 computer labs & 3,648 workstaIons) –  InstrucIonal materials –  Learning spaces/classrooms (~700 including labs/studios) –  Library –  Procurement of technology – Web based content – Web based systems


Accessible Technology •  In response, Temple University formed an Accessibility

Technology Compliance CommiQee (ATCC) in 2013 to look at current policies and procedures in order to assess what it could do be^er.

•  The ATCC developed the following policies to ensure that Temple students, faculty, staff and visitors were able to parJcipate fully in all campus acJviJes: –  Accessibility of InformaIon and Technology Policy –  Guide to Accessible Purchasing –  Guidelines for MulImedia Accessibility –  Word and PowerPoint accessibility checklists –  Computer Lab Accessibility Guidelines –  Learning Spaces Accessibility Guidelines –  Course Syllabus Policy


Accessible Technology: Resources •  The ATCC provides: •  ConsultaJon

–  Support for design of instrucIonal materials •  Training

–  Learning opportuniIes for the enIre Temple community •  Website Audits

–  Sobware was purchased to assist in determining if a website meets our new guidelines

•  Labs and Learning Spaces Audits –  Learn about the accessibility standards for computer labs and

learning spaces

– h^p://accessibility.temple.edu


InstrucJon: Student ObligaJons

•  Students are required to self-‐iden;fy for accommoda;ons and must first register with Disability Resources and Services (DRS) in order to set up formal accommoda;ons.

•  Faculty are NOT required to provide any accommodaJons to a student unJl the student provides the faculty member with an accommodaJon le^er from DRS, or the equivalent department at their home insJtuJon, detailing the accommodaJons she or he is eligible for.


InstrucJon: Faculty ObligaJons •  Syllabus statement:

–  “Temple University is commi^ed to the inclusion of students with disabiliJes and provides accessible instrucJon, including accessible technology and instrucJonal materials. The process for requesJng access and accommodaJons for this course is:

–  (1) Advise faculty of the need for access or accommodaJons;

–  (2) Contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) to request accommodaJons;

–  (3) DRS will consult with faculty as needed about essenJal components of the program;

–  (4) Present faculty with a DRS accommodaJon le^er.”


InstrucJon: Faculty ObligaJons Classroom and TesJng AccommodaJons •  Disability Resource Services (DRS) understands that not all accommodaJons will be applicable to all course content.

•  If faculty have specific quesJons about how to accommodate a student in the context of a course, please contact DRS. DRS staff will work with faculty to find the most applicable accommodaJon.

•  Personal liability. An individual faculty member who fails to provide an accommodaJon to a student with a documented disability may be held personally liable.


InstrucJon: Faculty ObligaJon Accessible InstrucJonal Materials –  In accordance with the Accessible InformaJon and Technology Policy, instructors are responsible for distribuJng accessible instrucJonal materials.

– All printed and visually-‐presented materials should include a statement that the program and its acJviJes and services are in compliance with the Americans with DisabiliJes Act and, as such, are accessible and provide equal opportunity; and that reasonable accommodaJons are available upon request. Also note who to contact.

– Guidelines exist on accessibility.temple.edu –  Training and support through Center for Advancement of Teaching (CAT) and DRS.


InstrucJon: Faculty ObligaJons Classroom and TesJng AccommodaJons

  DRS staff is not able to disclose the nature of a student’s disability without wri^en permission from the student. However, they can discuss the accommodaJons and work with faculty to help figure out how to implement accommodaJons in the classroom.

  Faculty should NOT discuss a student’s disability or accommodaJons in front of others. This would be an improper disclosure of confidenJal informaJon.


Classroom and TesJng AccommodaJons: Faculty ObligaJons

•  If a student discloses a disability to you, as a faculty member, without providing an accommodaJon le^er, it is imperaJve that you both inform the student that she or he needs to register with DRS to seek formal accommodaJons AND contact DRS to inform them that you have made a referral about a parJcular student.

•  Faculty should NOT ask a student about the nature of his/her disability, but should have a conversaJon about how the accommodaJons on the student's le^er can be applied to the specific course.


DRS RepresentaJve at TU Rome

•  Francesca Cuccovillo, Student Life Coordinator [email protected]

Phone number: (39) 06-‐320-‐2808


Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

•  MulJple means of representaJon (accessible and varied instrucJonal materials)

•  MulJple means of engagement (choices among a variety of ways to learn, pracJce, and integrate skills and knowledge)

•  MulJple means of expression (opJons regarding how students demonstrate what they learned) h^p://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whaJsudl/3principles


Resources: Student AccommodaJons

Disability Resources and Services (DRS) 100 Ri^er Annex (004-‐03) 1301 Cecil B. Moore Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19122 215.204.1280 (Voice) 215.204.6794 (Fax) 214.204.1786 (TTY) [email protected]


AddiJonal Resources

•  Center for Advancement of Teaching (CAT) •  Inclusive Learning and Support •  h^ps://teaching.temple.edu

–  InstrucJonal Support Center –  InstrucJonal Materials

•  Accessibility Technology Compliance Commi^ee (ATCC)

•  Technology •  Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance

•  Complaints •  h^ps://www.temple.edu/eoc/fileacomplaint.html


What would you do if?

•  You have noJced that a student has had trouble hearing you and seems to be having difficulty hearing people during class discussions……


What not to say…

–  “All students with extended Jme for tesJng please raise your hand”

–  “Why do you need these accommodaJons? You don’t look disabled. You’re doing really well in my class.”

–  “I have anxiety, too. It’s just something you have to deal with. You won’t need extra Jme.”

–  “Most of the videos for the class are capJoned. You can just skip the ones that aren’t”

–  “I couldn’t find an accessible version of this journal arJcle. Take it to DRS and see if they can convert it for you.”


Final thoughts

•  What you will take away from this training program.

disability)inclusion)and) accessibility)attemple)university) · learning(and(development(“temple...

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