Proposal

Proposal for Campus-Wide Accessibility of FAU Computer Labs

 Florida Atlantic University (FAU) successfully addressed a technological access problem of not providing equal access to computers in all locations to students with disabilities by approving a proposal for assistive technology to be implemented in all FAU computer labs in 2009. Since this implementation, students with visual impairments, learning disabilities and processing deficiencies have greatly benefited by having equal access to all FAU labs. This has made FAU a highly accessible campus for students of all abilities and contributed to high standards for technology accessibility in the recent SAC Review.

Currently students with visual impairments, reading disabilities, and processing deficiencies are able to fully utilize the computers in the University’s computer labs. The cost of this technology proposal, which will continue to ensure an accessible computing environment, will be reduced in this funding cycle due to the lower cost of upgrading existing software from the last approved proposal. This proposal’s funding has been reduced due to the omission of funds required for the elimination of a screen reader program called JAWS, we plan to implement Window-Eyes screen reader which is a new and comparable no cost solution for completely blind computer users.

The funding of this proposal would comprise of implementing licensing verification provided from FAU server infrastructure and the deployment of the appropriate assistive technology software added to computers in computer labs. This was found to be a practical and cost effective solution during the last funding cycle. This will mean that students can continue to walk into any campus computer lab and know they will have full functionality of any computer. This will continue to enhance instructional technology and the continuation of a state-of-the-art information technology environment for all students.  The price of a licensing server model would continue to be a highly cost effective method of providing universal accessibility to FAU’s computer labs.

 The need to maintain universal accessibility on campus

 FAU has a substantial number of students with disabilities currently enrolled that will continue to benefit from this project and this number has increased every year. There are currently in excess of 900 students with disabilities registered with the OSD who benefit from universal accessibility of computer labs. In addition to this there are also many students with disabilities who choose not to register with the OSD.

The continued provision of funding benefits every one of our students by giving equal and inclusive access to campus computer labs in a uniform and consistent manner that is essential to our policy of embracing diversity.

Examples of student difficulties

 Without this assistive technology software provided, a blind user would find a typical computer in a campus computer lab unusable because there would be no verbal feedback as he or she operates the computer. A low vision user who is legally blind would also experience difficulty when using a computer. A low vision user would require considerable magnification of the screen along with other adaptations such as contrast enhancement, color inversion, color modification, and/or screen reading. This is currently provided by the Zoomtext software program. Students who have learning disabilities such as dyslexia or processing deficiencies would have difficulty with reading and processing of text, if not for the use of Kurzweil 3000 which is utilized to enable them to read text and have the use of language tools to assist in comprehension. This kind of software is essential in allowing them to access their accessible textbooks in Kurzweil format as well as giving them the ability to produce audio versions of their text to take outside of the lab.

Continued implementation of the solution

 The most cost effective and practical solution that would provide widespread availability of assistive technology software to address the issues highlighted would be an implementation of Zoomtext and Kurzweil software using a network license model. This consists of including on an FAU server (that is currently on the university network) the provision of verification for these two assistive technology programs. This would allow all the campus computer lab facilities to continue to provide assistive technology software. If there are 15 licenses for Kurzweil, this means that the total number of simultaneous users using this program must not exceed 15 at any one time. The software itself can just be added to the computer image for the campus lab computers or installed after the image has been deployed. The software then automatically looks for the validity of the license on the FAU network. Consequentially this is an economical way of providing accessibility to this population of our students. This centralized approach allows FAU to qualify as a highly accessible institution. The Office for Students with Disabilities has previously deployed this type of network model within our own department and found it to be very successful and well received by our students with disabilities.

The outcome of a licensing server model deployed on the overall FAU computer network and including assistive technology software on the computer image in each facility would achieve the goal of ensuring that all labs would continue to be fully accessible. This would mean that any student with a disability could continue to freely use any computer lab as would any other FAU student. This would support the FAU strategic goal of creating an organizational culture in which all units are dedicated to student success by fostering equality and inclusiveness.