TO:

Professor Lauren Danner

FROM:

Jonathan Clark
Corey Frantz
Vy Geibel
Kevin Jackey
Jennifer Madara
Rebecca Malleck
Daniel Mcbride

DATE:

2/28/2016

SUBJECT:

Maximizing Accessibility of the SPSCC Website for the Visually Impaired

INTRODUCTION
While a college website is meant to make the learning experience easier for students, for a
person with a visual impairment this could be one of the largest challenges in their educational
career. Current technology requires users to rely heavily, if not completely, on visual output in
order to effectively and efficiently operate computer hardware and navigate websites. Numerous
technological advancements and resources aimed at assisting visually impaired persons to
interface with computer hardware and websites are available. Despite their availability, these
resources are rendered useless without a compatible website. The lack of compatibility of the
South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) website is the primary concern of this team.
Our purpose is to ensure that accessibility for the visually impaired is maximized on the SPSCC
website.
In a recent interview with SPSCC Assistant Director of Diversity and Equity, John Rajcich, a
noteworthy fact was brought to our attention - that there may be students or potential students
who are having trouble accessing information on the website and simply do not ask for help. Mr.
Rajcich further expressed that SPSCC is committed to having an accessible website and indeed
the desire is to identify challenges and solve the problems before additional accommodation is
even necessary (J. Rajcich, personal communication, February 12, 2016).
Public agencies, including institutions of higher education, which receive federal funding are
mandated to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 508 specifically
applies to developing, procuring, maintaining, or use of electronic and information technology.
South Puget Sound Community College, as a public institution, is subject to this regulation.
A set of technical criteria standards that encompass software applications, operating systems,
computer and telecommunication products, and web-based information and applications aimed at
assisting technological accessibility by disabled individuals was published in the Federal
Register in December, 2000. In a study published in 2013, thirty community college websites
were tested for usability by those with visual impairments, and not one passed the Section 508
standards (Erickson, et al., 2013).

Given that U.S. Federal Law requires websites be accessible to those with disabilities, to the
extent that they are compliant with 508 standards, and the fact that SPSCC has a strong desire to
provide accessibility to as many students as possible, we feel our project will complement the
ultimate goals of SPSCC as well as assist with obtaining legal compliance. Once this evaluation
is complete, recommendations for practical and financially feasible solutions will be given for
deficiencies of the SPSCC website regarding accessibility for those with visual impairment.
Preliminary evaluation of the South Puget Sound Community College website shows that there is
some work to be done. Our team would like to focus the assessment of the following areas within
the website: enrollment, registration, financial aid application, services available, and general
information gathering such as contact information. We plan to explore the compatibility between
these SPSCC website areas and the resources typically used by visually impaired persons such as
screen reader software, magnification tools, and specialized web browsers. Our assessment will
consider accessibility issues for those with diminished vision, color blindness and full blindness.
Through research from many different sources including the American Foundation for the Blind,
the Web Accessibility Initiative and Vision Aware, we have created a plan of work and task
schedule to help us complete this momentous task. Please continue reading for an expanded
description of this plan, a schedule of work tasks, and a summary of the qualifications and
experience of our team.

PLAN OF WORK
Results and information extracted from our research will be utilized to develop and propose
potential solutions to remedy the inaccessibility of the South Puget Sound Community College
(SPSCC) website for persons with visual impairments. Our final report will be presented in the
form of a website for your review consisting of eight to eleven pages. This website will serve as
an arena to define the obstacle of the visual inaccessibility of the SPSCC website, present the
products of our research, the proposed solutions, and the prose of our teams background and
diversity statement. We will also include a glossary of relevant terms and sources.
Moving forward with this project our team will adhere to the current work pattern as follows:
prior to the delegation of tasks, team member Vy Geibel assesses individual skills and abilities of
team members to ensure positive results and maximize efficiency; individual tasks are assigned
to team members on Sunday and are expected to be completed before midnight on either the
upcoming Wednesday or Friday. This structured work pattern allows each individual member
ample opportunity to conduct necessary research, and produce and contribute quality segments
for each task. Throughout the week, team members are encouraged to request help or notify of
inability to complete assignment so others may step forward (or be assigned) to get the task
done.
Work is separated as evenly as possible and every member participates in an individual task.
Some of our team members have been identified as having specific skills which we utilize to
efficiently complete projects. For instance, Vy Geibel takes on the mission of delegating tasks
amongst the group every Sunday (and as needed), checking assignment completion, as well as

taking the lead with design of the team website. With their background in medical and legal
transcription and education, Jennifer Madara and Rebecca Malleck, respectively, have become
our go-to for correctly formatting documents and reports. Kevin Jackey is the communication
lead, ensuring that all assignments have been delegated and are submitted on time. The
additional members of the team include Corey Franz, Jonathan Clark, and Daniel McBride who
have proven to be reliable in completing tasks on time to provide the detail necessary to the
compilation of reports.
Production of a quality project requires effective communication. This is something our team has
accomplished during the time we have worked together in the assignments completed thus far.
We are a very open and cooperative group and we feel comfortable reaching out for help when
needed.
Communication between team members has flowed seamlessly by the use of Canvas. We have
created specific discussions and uploaded all work in progress to the Canvas website. This
allows us to keep our projects organized in a central location and easy for each team member to
access. Discussions on Canvas begin very early in the week, which allows everyone plenty of
time to gather necessary information and complete assigned tasks. Throughout the week, if we
have any questions or concerns, we have the ability to post in these discussions and receive
advice or feedback from our teammates. When certain parts of a project are divided among
multiple people, the discussions are an especially helpful atmosphere for communication
between the sub-groups.
Additionally, the results of our work have been greatly enhanced by effective planning and
delegation. Within the short time we have been working on our group project, we have
maintained a steady flow of work and met all deadlines. We aim to continue utilizing this format.

TASK SCHEDULE
ID
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Projects

Tasks Assigned

Glossary
Project Proposal
Oral Presentation Prep
Team Project Progress report
Analyze foundation/organization websites
Try demos of screen reader software
Evaluate Sections of SPSCC Website
Propose, Evaluate, Select Solutions Narrative
Oral Presentation outline
Reference List
Team Bios and Abstract
Website Information Inputted
Website Evaluation
Self-Evaluation
Peer Evaluation

2/21/2016
2/21/2016
2/28/2016
2/28/2016
In-Progress
In-Progress
In-Progress
2/28/2016
2/28/2016
3/6/2016
3/6/2016
In-Progress
3/13/2016
3/13/2016
3/13/2016

Task Complete
2/26/2016
2/26/2016
3/4/2016
3/4/2016
3/4/2016
3/4/2016
3/4/2016
3/4/2016
3/4/2016
3/11/2016
3/11/2016
3/10/2016
3/20/2016
3/20/2016
3/20/2016

Due Date
2/28/2016
2/28/2016
3/4/2016
3/6/2016
3/6/2016
3/6/2016
3/6/2016
3/6/2016
3/6/2016
3/13/2016
3/13/2016
3/19/2016
3/20/2016
3/20/2016
3/20/2016

Week of
3/20/2016

Analyze foundation/organization
websites
Evaluate Sections of SPSCC Website

3/19/2016
Glossary
3/13/2016

Oral Presentation outline

Oral Presentation Prep

3/6/2016
Peer Evaluation
3/4/2016

2/28/2016

Project Proposal
Propose, Evaluate, Select Solutions
Narrative

QUALFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE
As students of SPSCC we utilize the community college website on a regular basis. Some of the
team members have been students of the college long enough to witness the changes made to the
website which have improved or degraded the accessibility to its users. A number of our team
members actually have moderate visual impairment when not corrected by eye glasses or contact
lenses. We will be able to apply this as first-hand experience while completing our research and
evaluation specific to diminished vision. Utilizing a variety of research techniques, we have
already identified the following:

What accessibility and usability of website was and why it is important.

Section 508 standards.

Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Best techniques for websites with visually impaired clients.

Technology (software and hardware) used by web developers and individuals with visual
impairments.

Understanding of potential strengths and weaknesses of accessibility services at SPSCC for

visually impaired students.

TENTATIVE REFERENCES
American Foundation for the Blind. (n.d.) Section 508 Compliance. Retrieved from
www.afb.org/info/ programs-and-services/technology-evaluation/section-508compliance/125
Erickson , W., Trerise, S., Lee, C., VanLooy, S., Knowlton, S. & Bruyre, S. (2013) The
Accessibility and Usability of College Websites: Is your Website Presenting Barriers to
Potential Students? Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 37:11, 864876, DOI: 10.1080/10668926.2010.484772
508checker.com. (n.d.) What is 508 Compliance? Retrieved from www.508checker.com/whatis-508-compliance
Magnuson, L. (2009) Off to College: Tips for Students with Visual Impairments. Retrieved from
www.pacer.org/parent/php/php-c170.pdf
GSA Section508.gov. (n.d.) Section 508 Law and Related Laws and Policies. Retrieved from
www.section508.gov/content/learn/laws-and-policies
Vision Aware. (n.d.) Helpful Products and Technology for Living with Vision Loss. Retrieved
from www.visionaware.org/info/everyday-living/helpful-products/12.
Web Accessibility in Mind (WebAIM). (2013, August 28). Visual Disabilities. Retrieved from
www.webaim.org/articles/visual/blind