(Excerpt from DAIS Newsletter, Volume II, No. 3)

The February edition of the DAIS Newsletter saw the first in a series of articles regarding access to technology ("URGENT!!! ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY IS CRITICAL"). In the last month I have spent a great deal of time examining the issues that surround access to technology on campus for students with disabilities. Every conversation, every article read, every presentation attended reinforces the same conclusion -- the speed at which institutions are spending money to acquire new technology and the pace at which internet-based education is being incorporated into higher education poses the most critical threat to programmatic access for students with disabilities since the passage and implementation of Section 504. The Grove City decision (1984) may have halted progress for a while, ADA backlash and misperceptions of the ADA as affirmative action legislation may create problems in ascertaining rights, and the tight money situation in higher education may threaten quality of services -- but none of these compare with the magnitude of the problem we are creating every day on our campuses by letting technology and technology applications proliferate without regard to access. The following excerpt is taken from a 1997 Letter of Finding from the Region IX Office for Civil Rights in regard to a complaint received from blind students at a state institution who maintained they did not have equal access to technology:

"The magnitude of the task public entities now face in developing systems for becoming accessible to individuals with disabilities, especially with respect to making printed materials accessible to persons with visual impairments, is comparable to the task previously undertaken in developing a process by which buildings were to be brought up to specific architectural standards for access. Buildings in existence at the time the new architectural standards were promulgated are governed by "program access" standards. However, buildings erected after the enactment of the new architectural standards are strictly held to the new standards on the premise that the builder is on- notice that such standards apply. One who builds in disregard of those standards is ordinarily liable for the subsequent high cost of retrofitting."

This not-so-subtle warning bell must be sounded throughout our campuses now, today -- no, yesterday! Ironically, it seems history is repeating itself. Just as people focused on the ramps and elevators (and the pricetags attached!) and ignored the issues of programmatic access in the early days of Section 504 implementation, so today those who are listening to the cautions regarding access to technology seem to be focusing on the physical access issues (in this case, the availability of hardware/technology that is useable by people with disabilities) and ignoring the very real threat to programmatic access engendered in the race to make the most of the opportunities created by such new technology. We are doing it again, folks!

It is logical to begin by surveying the available hardware and technology to ascertain its availability to people with disabilities. After all, the reason we worried about the ramps and the elevators first was because if the students couldn't get to the classroom, they certainly couldn't take advantage of the educational opportunities presented there. In that same way, if the appropriate technology and/or adaptations aren't available, then students with disabilities will not be able to get to the Internet to take advantage of the educational opportunities presented there.

But after we got the ramps and elevators installed, we could think about how to make the teaching that had always gone on in those classrooms fully available to all students. The parallel ends here. While we are scrambling to get the technological "ramps and elevators" in place, we are actively creating new barriers to access on a regular basis. At the risk of stretching the analogy a little too thin, if we don't be careful we will find that when those technological ramps and elevators we installed are finally in place, they only allow for a better view of the opportunities passing by us. We cannot wait to get the technology in place before we start trying to impact on the application of that technology.

Here is an assignment for readers of the DAIS Newsletter. I challenge you to put together a listing of the web pages (with all associated screens) that are available through your institution. This list should include everything from the web page that provides general information about the institution, application procedures, and so on, to the web page for your Philosophy (Chemistry? Art History?) department that lists the faculty members and gives their credentials and their office hours. It includes the content information for courses now being offered by your institution exclusively through the Internet under the heading of "distance learning." It includes the web page that gives information about the policies and procedures regarding access to students with disabilities -- and the web page that gives information about how and when to apply for tickets to next year's football games. And, of course, included in this listing for each of these web pages should be an indication as to whether or not the pages are available to people with disabilities using adaptive equipment to access the Internet. If the task seems daunting in its inceptions because of its scope, good! You have just had your first lesson in how far behind you are in getting control of the situation. For those of you who decide to take the challenge in some way and survey the institution's Internet accessibility, hang on to the information you gather and we will discuss the next step in the April edition of the Newsletter. To be continued...