[CATO] [EXTERNAL] - Vector Solutions and accessibility?

[Hayman, Douglass]

Michael,

I was asked to test Get Inclusive (once, and then again by another person here at Olympic).  I got in touch with someone there, probably through Monica giving me a contact person.  That guy seemed enthusiastic and even was interested in AblePlayer.

Gave him feedback about huge text taking up much of the screen that appeared to maybe be Headings and suggested using CSS instead of large fonts. Charts that were inaccessible, alt text used when not needed and no alt text used when it was needed.  Some audio played automatically and I gave feedback on how poor an experience that would be, especially for a screen reader user.  And their quiz sections with radio buttons were not acting like html radio buttons should.

It appeared that we were in a good working dialogue and then the guy went radio silent.  Assumed that maybe he'd moved on to another job.  Then, found out they'd been gobbled up by Vector Solutions.

Monica got me in touch with someone at Vector and on meeting them as just a guy from Olympic bringing up accessibility issues, they were a bit taken aback, like "Oh, you're not with the state board...ummm, go ahead and speak but we might see you as an ant crawling across a 4-lane highway."

After talking with them, I crossed the highway and returned to my ant hill.

One thing I did suggest to the guy from Get Inclusive (now with Vector) was something along the lines of:

"You all are one of the key go to companies for onboarding training materials.  It would be great if you also made some sort of basic accessibility onboarding materials as well.  But of course, you'd need to make all of your content accessible first."

Oddly enough, they didn't invite me to their next party.

Doug Hayman
IT Accessibility Coordinator
Information Technology
Olympic College
dhayman at olympic.edu<mailto:dhayman at olympic.edu>
(360) 475-7632



From: CATO <cato-bounces at lists.ctc.edu> On Behalf Of Hanscom, Michael via CATO
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2024 11:49 AM
To: Monica Olsson via CATO <cato at lists.ctc.edu>
Cc: Hanscom, Michael <mhanscom at highline.edu>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] - [CATO] Vector Solutions and accessibility?

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Hi all,

Highline (and I believe all of you as well) uses Vector Solutions (formerly Get Inclusive) for both employee and student-facing training. I know that a year ago Monica sent an update to CATO about accessibility improvements that Get Inclusive had made, but that was while the transition to Vector Solutions was just getting started.

I just got a (third- or fourth-hand) report that our VP of EDI heard through the Diversity and Equity Officers Commission (DEOC) that Vector Solutions "is completely inaccessible and the colleges shouldn't be using it" (quoting what I was told, which is likely a paraphrase of what the VP said, which is likely a paraphrase of what was said at DEOC...etc.).

Is there any good current information on the accessibility of Vector Solutions' training offerings? This is everything I know at this point, and that "completely inaccessible" judgement could cover everything from Vector Solutions itself being a problem to VS providing a platform that may or may not be okay, but the particular trainings in question haven't been built with accessibility in mind.

Thanks!

Michael Hanscom (he/him), Accessible Technology Program Manager, Highline College
mhanscom at highline.edu<mailto:mhanscom at highline.edu> | Building 25-516 | 206.592.3383
Accessible Technology Zoom Lobby: Wed. 3:30-4:15 p.m., Thu. 3-3:45 p.m. https://highline.zoom.us/my/mhanscom
Access Services: 206.592.3857 | access at highline.edu<mailto:access at highline.edu> | https://access.highline.edu

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