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Hi everyone,</div>
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Thank you for the dynamic ETAG meeting yesterday. I want to follow up with my thoughts regarding our accessibility conversation.</div>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I do not advise that we include apps on cards for people to "shop" unless the product meets a defined set of minimum technical accessibility standards, OR, at the
very least the product has been tested for minimal compliance, and notes are available to "shoppers" explaining the degree of compliance at the time of testing. I heard your concerns about vendors sharing complaints or grievances, though I believe there is
greater risk to us when our Colleges adopt software that is inaccessible to students, staff, or the public.</span><br>
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<li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);display:inline !important">Our WA state policy,
<a href="https://ocio.wa.gov/policy/accessibility" title="https://ocio.wa.gov/policy/accessibility">
Policy 188 </a>states that all "Covered Technology" meets<a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/" title="https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/"> Level AA of WCAG 2.1.</a> This Policy reinforces regulations that already exist in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
and the ADA.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);display:inline !important">"Undue Burden" typically refers to a high financial burden creating a barrier to
ensuring access and can be tricky to prove. I do not advise we use this as an argument for not completing accessibility testing. Historically, case law has taught me that before something can be considered an "Undue Burden", the entire budget of a College
or that College's system must be considered--not just a department's budget and manpower, for example.</span></span></li></ul>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of course, we understand that at the end of the day, a College can make their own decision about what to purchase and implement. I believe though that we have a
responsibility to provide accessibility information of products appearing within the Commons beyond that of a VPAT completed by the Vendor. Again, there may be examples when a particular product required for instruction or official business is not fully accessible,
may also be considered industry standard, and an alternative cannot be identified. In that case, a College or agency may choose to move forward with a purchase knowing that they will then become responsible for providing
<u>equivalent access for disabled users.</u> (This is why a separate different project I am working on with CATO and State Board staff is developing a Procurement Policy and Procedure.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now, I understand we questions to address regarding compliance testing including:</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who has the technical expertise to complete compliance testing?</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">How much time can be allotted to this work?</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who ultimately is responsible for this testing within our system of Colleges and the agency?</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What budget, if any, do we have to pay for compliance testing.</span></li></ul>
<div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">These questions are why I look forward to talking more with Ward and others about organizing centralized Trusted Tester services for our system.</span></div>
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Below are three ideas I want to float to the group and kindly request your feedback.</b></span></div>
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<li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The W3C provides a guide on how to complete
<a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/preliminary/#title" title="https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/preliminary/#title">
"Easy Checks" for accessibility</a>. These checks do not require a high level of technical skill, do not replace comprehensive testing, but could be a good place for us start.</span></li><ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
<li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">My question is if we think we have the bandwidth among CATO, ETAG, and SBCTC to begin using this resource to get started in reviewing apps?</span></li></ol>
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<li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Has the group defined a list of initial apps, say 10 or 15, that you wish to go live with? If so, perhaps we can explore the option of using Deque or Level
Access to help us complete initial testing on a smaller number of products. SBCTC has worked with both companies before.</span></li><ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
<li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Carli and I will need to have a conversation together budget feasibility, and if this is an option on the table. </span></li></ol>
<li>A final idea we can pursue is organizing a third-party evaluation/evaluation of a product's company's VPAT as a place to start. At the very least, this will help us determine if a VPAT is making honest sense or not. 😉<span id="🙂"> Would need to discuss
how we define "third party."</span></li><ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;">
<li><span>Do people in this group think we would benefit from training on best practices for reviewing a VPAT?</span></li></ol>
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<p style="font-size:11pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; margin:0px"><img class="EmojiInsert" align="left" alt="Title: SBCTC logo - Description: Compass" style="margin:0px; width:45pt; height:84.49pt" data-outlook-trace="F:1|T:1" src="cid:4c5ebdfb-763b-4dfe-8786-b6091e80d438"><span style="margin:0px; font-size:12pt; font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; color:rgb(0,32,96)"></span></p>
<p style="font-size:11pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; margin:0px"><b><span style="margin:0px; font-size:12pt; font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; color:rgb(0,32,96)">Monica M. Olsson (she/her/hers)</span></b></p>
<p style="font-size:11pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px; font-size:12pt; font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; color:rgb(0,32,96)">Policy Associate – Accessible IT Coordinator</span></p>
<p style="font-size:11pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px; font-size:12pt; font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; color:rgb(0,32,96)">Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges</span></p>
<p style="font-size:11pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; margin:0px"><u><span style="margin:0px; font-size:12pt; font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; color:rgb(5,99,193)"><a href="mailto:molsson@sbctc.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px">molsson@sbctc.edu</span></a></span></u><span style="margin:0px; font-size:12pt; font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; color:rgb(0,32,96)"><span> </span>•
o: 360-704-3922 • c: 206-914-7187</span></p>
<p style="font-size:11pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; margin:0px"><span style="margin:0px; font-size:12pt; font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif,serif,EmojiFont; color:rgb(0,32,96)"><a href="https://www.sbctc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin:0px">sbctc.edu</a><span> </span>•
Twitter:<span> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/SBCTCWashington" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin:0px">@SBCTCWashington</a><span> </span>• Facebook:<span> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/wasbctc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="margin:0px">@WASBCTC</a></span></p>
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