By Cliff Foster

How can the College better meet the needs of students with disabilities?

The committee working on the new Metro State Accessible Technology Initiative will explore that question, among others, as part of the ongoing commitment to provide access to information resources, technologies and related services to individuals with disabilities.

“There are a variety of information resources with which students interact and it’s our goal to work to make those more accessible,” says James Lyall, chief information officer and associate vice president of academic computing, who will lead the effort.

The committee will accomplish a variety of things to continue improving the overall experience for students, Lyall says, including compiling an inventory of campus resources for disabled students. Another example would be to explore whether a textbook supplement in, say, a CD format “can be utilized fully by a student with disabilities.”

Consider the example of a visually impaired student who relies on screen reader software, which reads aloud text displayed on the computer screen. “How do we as an institution ensure that that content is, in fact, compatible to the screen reader…and if it’s not, what are our options; what can we do to improve the experience of our students?”

Greg Sullivan, director of the Access Center for Disability Accommodations & Adaptive Technology and a member of the committee, said there are roughly 1,300 students who are self-identified as disabled and registered with his office.

He recommends several agenda items for the group, including drafting policies and procedures to ensure hardware and software are accessible. He cited the example of computer kiosks for the new Student Success Building.

“We need to think of accessibility…when we’re doing those purchases; is it going to be accessible to a student in a wheelchair or who has limited mobility? ’’

Another issue is the need to educate faculty members on how to create accessible material online.

“Oftentimes, when people look at purchasing equipment or designing websites or posting material online, are they thinking of accessibility…when they’re doing that? Through no fault of their own, it’s something that’s been overlooked. I feel one of the major roles of our committee is education,” Sullivan says.

Other members of the committee are listed below:

• Kenn Bisio, associate professor of journalism, Department of Communication Arts and Sciences
• Chris Mancuso, director of web communications, Communications and Community Affairs 
• Jennifer Maxwell, student
• Lloyd Moore, benefits manager, Human Resources
• Percy Morehouse; director of equal opportunity/assistant to the president, Office of the President
• Lisa Ortiz, associate professor of technical communication, Department of Technical Communication and Media Production
• Selim Ozi, adaptive technology specialist, Access Center
• Mark Potter, director, Center for Faculty Development
• Kamran Sahami, president, Faculty Senate
• Ben Zastrocky, director, Educational Technology Center, Academic Affiairs
• Joan Zerkovich, chief technology officer and associate vice president of administrative computing, Academic Affairs