The findings in this study conclude that self-advocacy is an absolute necessity to receive accommodations in a post-secondary institution on behalf of the individuals and/or their family. Finding a college, creating an educational plan and partaking in the admissions process to receive accommodations are all examples of responsibilities the student and/or their parent or legal guardian are kept accountable for.
Accessible tools and resources that combat legal and institutional ambiguity about providing assistive technology may aid in providing a buffer for the difficult transition between secondary and post-secondary institutions. A website proposal was subsequently created to help visualize how these tools and resources may be designed ethically by implementing results from a survey similar to the one conducted in this study. The website would satisfy the WCAG 2.0 web accessibility standards and dynamically display the survey results, qualifying as an accessible, cohesive and refined search engine of accommodations by college for prospective students with disabilities.
To initially create an accessible design for the website, a ”Web Accessibility Tutorial” was used to implement best practice solutions for meeting WCAG 2.0 requirements. Additionally, a quick reference page similar to the tutorial was used for standard WCAG 2.0 guidelines. These guidelines include implementations like labeling sections, headers, and object types clearly along with providing alternative text for images and other multimedia accessories. Other interesting aspects of accessible design are user navigation, keyboard accessibility, timed content, and even the readability of the language on the page. The perspective of using devices such as screen readers and alternative keyboards played a significant role on the design and implementation of the website. WAI-ARIA (Web Accessibility Initiative - Accessible Rich Internet Applications) is a web accessibility specification which was used to ”increase the accessibility of dynamic content and user interface components”. Bootstrap was used along with it’s accessibility plug-in, which was meant to assist with keyboard navigation (increasing accessibility of widgets like carousels and drop-down menus), compatibility with screen readers (using ARIA roles and states) and the color contrast of the web page.
Due to the lack of federal funding backing the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is not possible for all post-secondary institutions to fund and procure the hardware and software required by all students. However, in order to progress towards compliance, colleges must put concerted effort into meeting legal and industry guidelines for AT services in post-secondary education. Outlined below is a phased plan for implementing an AT Lab. The first phase is designed for colleges that are building their first AT lab, and have limitations such as funding or space. The second phase is designed to help colleges identify key AT computer hardware and software that address a wide variety of needs. The final phase is designed to encourage colleges to approach AT services proactively, seeking the best devices and systems for students, rather than waiting for students to address inaccessibility. At each step, devices will identified which can serve a variety of needs.
Dedicated, quiet space with strong lighting
At least one support staff during open hours available to assist students
At least 2 computer stations, each with:
Ergonomic chairs
Large monitors
Large-print keyboards
Headphones with built-in microphone
Basic assistive software (speech-to-text, screen reader, screen magnifier)
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanning software for alternate format requests
Braille labels
Digital sound recorders
Separate room for private study or exam accommodations
At least two support staff during open hours available to assist students
Create roaming user profiles for students with disabilities so they can access AT software anywhere on campus
At least 6 computer stations
Educational support software for the computer stations
Adjustable height desk for at least one of the computer stations
Braille embosser
Braille keyboards
Left-hand/right-hand keyboards
Alternate computer mice
Digital talking book readers
Smart pens
At least four support staff during open hours available to assist students
Separate room for private study
Separate room for exam accommodations
Push AT software to all student computing stations on campus
At least 10 computer stations
Math/science support software for the computer stations
Adjustable height desks for the computer stations
Support for math content in braille
Refreshable braille display
Graphical embosser
Laptops and/or tablets
Custom keyboards
Assistive science equipment
This research has areas of improvement. Due to the lack of random sampling and the limited sample size, virtually no generalizations can be made. Increasing the sample size and extending the scope beyond Washington state would improve data relevancy. A website was created according to the website proposal in section 5.1. Powered by a SQL database, the raw data from all the schools that were surveyed was displayed. Extending this work leads to greater oversight of post-secondary education and their AT service departments.
Additions to the website could include user query functions to display schools by location or available accommodations. This type of resource could be developed and maintained by a non-profit organization dedicated to transparent solutions to post-secondary AT services. Ideally, creating a funded mandate guaranteeing students with disabilities an accessible post-secondary education would provide federal funding for schools to proactively provide AT services. This type of research could be used to audit college adherence to the mandate, and provide recommendations to the college for compliance or improvement.