[CATO] [EXTERNAL] FW: Help - Accessibility of Synergy Sports

Fri Dec 9 14:24:00 PST 2022

Hi, Amy,

We spent some time chatting about this at our CATO planning meeting this afternoon, and we definitely all see significant issues with the approach of this vendor. As Zach indicated, he's in the process of testing this product for Clark, but in addition to that, how could we as a group best support you? Commiseration? Advice on phrasing the "no" that sounds like you anticipate issuing on renewal?

We're here to help!

Thank you,

Jeannie Henkle, MLIS<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fischool.uw.edu%2Fprograms%2Fmlis%2Fwhat-is-library-science&data=05%7C01%7CjHenkle%40wvc.edu%7C94f4a93cbafe468a354e08da7be0d506%7Cfe590da28322492da44c32a1d698a506%7C0%7C0%7C637958502824989984%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=OEz08KeCSCxXaSNSV9dJCUQ6Hc%2BzqtcUwO1dihpysAE%3D&reserved=0>
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________________________________
From: CATO <cato-bounces at lists.ctc.edu> on behalf of Lattin, Zachary via CATO <cato at lists.ctc.edu>
Sent: Friday, December 9, 2022 2:18 PM
To: cato at lists.ctc.edu <cato at lists.ctc.edu>
Subject: [EXTERNAL][CATO] FW: Help - Accessibility of Synergy Sports

From: Lattin, Zachary
Sent: Friday, December 9, 2022 2:13 PM
To: Rovner, Amy <arovner at shoreline.edu>
Subject: RE: [CATO] Help - Accessibility of Synergy Sports

Hi Amy,

By a timely coincidence, I am currently testing Synergy Sports for accessibility because it is up for renewal at Clark.  From what I’ve found so far with screen-reader and screen magnification testing, I have to say it’s likely not going to pass here at Clark based just on the UI.  I haven’t even gotten around to verifying that the vids are captioned, or if the product has the ability to provide a captioner / interpreter for live videos, but that is on my list for this product.

I also have to confess that I actually read that “with the complexities of making streaming video accessible we cannot guarantee to meet federal accessible guidelines in our product” language, and didn’t read further, so thank you for quoting it in your email.  (I’ve seen a lot of language like that, particularly around live videos which is why I look for the ability to provide an interpreter or captioner in the product.)  In my mind “at this time, our product apps are not ADA compliant and we currently do not have plans to make them ADA compliant.” Is an open invitation for the colleges of Washington state to choose another product, or for some of to engage with the vendor at the very least!

Thank you, and I can keep you posted on what I find in testing.

--Zach

From: CATO <cato-bounces at lists.ctc.edu<mailto:cato-bounces at lists.ctc.edu>> On Behalf Of Rovner, Amy via CATO
Sent: Thursday, December 8, 2022 5:16 PM
To: cato at lists.ctc.edu<mailto:cato at lists.ctc.edu>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] [CATO] Help - Accessibility of Synergy Sports

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Hi,

I don’t think CATO is necessarily the right place to ask this but I know you all will at least be interested (horrified, disheartened) by the accessibility information from Synergy Sports. This is a streaming platform plus some features for coaches and players where they can watch their film, stats, play analysis etc. for basketball. Both our men’s and women’s teams use it. Last year, due to ctcLink, I gave them one year provisional approval because I just couldn’t deal.

I’ve attached a likely inaccessible PDF (sorry!) from them with their IT FAQ. Here is the Accessibility information you will find if you scroll to the last page…

Accessibility

What has your company done to evaluate the accessibility of your product in accordance with either Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act or WCAG 2.0 accessibility guidelines?

Synergy understands the need to make software accessible but with the complexities of making streaming video accessible we cannot guarantee to meet federal accessible guidelines in our product. Thus, at this time, our product apps are not ADA compliant and we currently do not have plans to make them ADA compliant.

If our users should encounter issues with accessibility, to what extent are you willing to work with the client to improve the product’s accessibility?

We would be open to hearing suggestions on how we can make our products more accessible.

To our Athletic Director’s credit – he let them know that “we were only under a one year deal from 2021-22 season with a potential to renew after an update on the Access requirement from our TSS department.  Please send us an update of the Access requirement that we communicated to you last year, so we can determine if we can continue using this product via approval from our TSS department. ”

Their reply was classic – “I see that both programs are able to access your Synergy Sports Accounts and are using them currently, so I assume the issue has been fixed.” Access issues – ugh!

Anyway - not sure what to do this year. Clearly nothing has changed And coaches want to use it yesterday of course and Synergy wants us to pay for it.

My ultimate question is probably better for the Accessible IT folks for each campus- what platform(s) are other colleges using for this work.   I often hear, “it’s what all the colleges in the division are using.”

Thanks for listening,

Amy

Amy Rovner, M.P.H., R.D.
Acting Director eLearning Services, Classroom Support Services, Continuing Ed & Rentals
ctcLink Training Lead

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