@ONE Course Creating Accessible Online Courses Week 3

This was another very technical week, with the assignments of writing a report on college accessibility resources and creating and captioning a video.  My video is listed at the end of this post, and my report is included as well.


Captioning and Multimedia Accessibility

Captioning is the process of converting the audio content of a television broadcast, webcast, film, video, CD-ROM, DVD, live event, or other productions into text and displaying the text on a screen or monitor. Captions not only display words as the textual equivalent of spoken dialogue or narration, but they also include speaker identification, sound effects, and music description.

It is important that the captions are (1) synchronized and appear at approximately the same time as the audio is delivered; (2) equivalent and equal in content to that of the audio, including speaker identification and sound effects; and (3) accessible and readily available to those who need or want them.

For an exhaustive overview of how to format your captions, please refer to the Described and Captioned Media Program's "Captioning Key" at http://www.dcmp.org/captioningkey/.

Captions vs Subtitles

Visually, captions are different from subtitles because captions always have a dark background, while subtitles are just white text with no background.

There is a more important difference between captions and subtitles than the way they appear onscreen: subtitles are usually a translation of the spoken dialogue, while captions are always in the native dialogue being spoken onscreen, and captions also include other sound events besides dialogue.

Today you can find examples of captions being used as subtitles and vice versa, but whether they be subtitles or captions is ultimately moot, as long as they are providing an equivalent experience for those individuals who are unable to hear the content.

Basic Formatting Concerns

In general, it is advised that you format captions according to the following principles:

·        Use two lines

·        Left-align the two lines

·        Try to keep less than 32 characters per line

·        Use a sans serif font such as Helvetica, Arial, etc.

·        Use both upper- and lower-case letters

·        Transcribe dialogue word for word, but avoid nonsense syllables such as “uh” and “err.”

Line Division

It is also important to pay attention to how your lines break. You should always try to stick to the following principles:

·        Keep modifiers with the word they modify

·        Keep prepositional phrases together

·        Keep a person’s name and title together

·        Break lines before a conjunction

·        Keep auxiliary verbs with the word it modifies

·        Break captions at the end of a sentence

Line Division

When a sentence is broken into two or more lines of captions, it should be broken at a logical point where speech normally pauses unless it would exceed the 32-characters-per-line requirement.

1. Do not break a modifier from the word it modifies. Example

INAPPROPRIATE Mark pushed his black truck.

APPROPRIATE Mark pushed his black truck.

 

2. Do not break a prepositional phrase. Example:

INAPPROPRIATE Mary scampered under the table.

APPROPRIATE Mary scampered under the table.

 

3. Do not break a person’s name nor a title from the name with which it is associated. Examples:

INAPPROPRIATE Bob and Susan Smythe are at the movies. Suzy and Professor Barker are here.

APPROPRIATE Bob and Susan Smythe are at the movies. Suzy and Professor Barker are here.

 

4. Do not break a line after a conjunction. Example:

INAPPROPRIATE In seconds she arrived, and he ordered a drink.

APPROPRIATE In seconds she arrived, and he ordered a drink.

 

5. Do not break an auxiliary verb from the word it modifies. Example:

INAPPROPRIATE Mom said I could have gone to the movies.

APPROPRIATE Mom said I could have gone to the movies.

 

6. Never end a sentence and begin a new sentence on the same line unless they are short, related sentences containing one or two words. Example:

INAPPROPRIATE He suspected that his face turned pale. He knew he wouldn’t be able to speak if spoken to. Running toward the void, he halted…

APPROPRIATE He suspected that his face turned pale. He knew he wouldn’t be able to speak if spoken to. Running toward the void, he halted…

Presentation Rate

The timing of captions will depend somewhat on the speaker who is onscreen, but in general, the following principles should be observed:

·        Allow for a minimum of 1.5 seconds duration for each 32 characters of text.

·        Allow a minimum of two seconds duration to display the last 32 characters of text before blanking or moving captions.

·        Do not display any one caption for less than one full second.

·        The maximum presentation rate should be three seconds duration for each 32 characters of text.

Italics

Italics are used in captions to indicate off-screen dialogue, such as from the following sources:

·        Voice-over reading by a narrator

·        Off-screen dialogue

·        Dreaming, thinking, etc.

·        Background audio: PA system, stereo, television, etc.

·        Foreign words

·        Emphasis

Sound Effects

Sound effects should be captioned as well when they add meaning to the content or are important for any reason. When including sounds in your captions, follow these principles:

·        Include all important sounds

·        Use description (in brackets) and onomatopoeia (the sounds an animal makes, like “Meow” or “Moo”)

·        Italicize if off-screen

·        Lowercase

·        Sustained sounds use present participle (-ing) – Example: [engine idling]

·        Be as precise as possible

Music

It is important to include music information in your captions, especially when it directly supports the visual content, or adds important information that the characters will respond to. Here are some considerations to keep in mind when dealing with music in your captions:

·        Use descriptions that indicate mood.

·        Caption lyrics verbatim, including the name of vocalist or group and song title in brackets.

·        Place musical notes around lyrics, and separate with a space.

·        When no lyrics are available, or you can’t use them, provide a description.

Laws on Video and Captioning

Section 508 on Videos

·        (c) All training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency’s mission, regardless of format, that contain speech or other audio information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be open or closed captioned. Note: Open captions always on; closed captions – viewer must turn on.

Interpretation

·        Videos must be captioned before they are shown in the classroom for the first time. It is possible to purchase videos that do not have captions, but uncaptioned videos are to be captioned before they are shown in the classroom for the first time, i.e., before they become required course materials.

·        Section 508 is a campus responsibility, so it becomes a campus expense. Many campuses are requiring that the department ordering the video also pay for the captioning.

·        Be aware that under Section 508, captioning is required whether or not deaf students will be in the class. Captions are required so that access is already in place when a disabled student expresses a need.

Captioning and Distance Ed

Exceptions to captioning requirements:

"Raw footage" is exempt.

·        Raw footage is defined as materials that are for a single, restricted use and are not archived. An example might be student videos. The students would not need to caption their work. Another example might be a longer video from which only clips will be taken. If the compendium of clips is archived and reused, then that would need to be captioned; however, the original from which the clips were taken would not need to be.

Restricted-access materials may be exempt.

·        When a video will be shown only to a restricted set of users and none of those users require captions, you do not need to caption. An example might be a password protected class in which a video specifically for that class is shown. Please note that if the video is meant to be a permanent part of the class term after term, then this exemption no longer applies as you do not know who might be taking the class in the future.

Transcripts

·        Transcripts alone are not sufficient for video. Whenever you have pictures and sound, then the captioned text and video must be synchronized. Transcripts are fine for audio-only podcasts, however, as there is no picture with which to synchronize the text.

A Word about Captions and Foreign Languages

·        Subtitles on foreign films are not the same as captions, but for classroom purposes, they are usually sufficient.

·        Captions are always done in the language spoken in the video. As an example, Spanish language videos would be captioned in Spanish, not English. You are not required to provide translations. Unless the hearing students in the class are expected to be able to understand the Spanish language with no additional support, there is no reason to have this foreign language video captioned.

·        Captions do differ from subtitles in that captions include all auditory content, not just speech. Subtitles are designed for a hearing audience, so they do not include any information about sound other than speech. Slamming doors, barking dogs, laughter, etc. are all included in the text descriptions in captions.

 

To Caption or Not To Caption

What multimedia material do you need to caption for your online course?
Do you always have to caption?
What if it’s raw footage?
What if it’s from You Tube?
What if it’s a sample of student work?
What if the instructor owns it?

Here is a simple summary of when to caption and when not.

·        Caption: If the material has video and audio and will be archived for a course or used repeatedly in other courses, then you need to have the material captioned. Please note: If the material has audio and video, you need to caption. A transcript is not sufficient.

·        Caption: If the video will also be shown in the classroom, regardless of whether it is instructor-owned or campus-owned, caption it.

·        Caption: If you take clips from longer works and string them together and archive the finished video, then it needs to be captioned.

·        Caption: Any video created by the campus and placed on a public Web site.

·        Transcript: If the material is audio only, no video, and is archived, then a transcript is all you need.

·        Do not caption: If the material is only for this term and the class has restricted access (i.e., it’s password protected and only students who are enrolled in the class have access), then you only need to caption (or provide a transcript) if a student requests captioning as an accommodation.

·        Do not caption: If the material is student work or other raw footage that will not be archived.

·        Do not caption: There is no need to caption longer works if you are just pulling clips from it. Wait and caption the montage that you create.

·        Do not caption: If the video already has foreign language subtitles, do not caption unless requested to do so as an accommodation.

As a simple rule of thumb: If you’re keeping it and more than a limited audience might access it, then caption or transcribe it.

 

Decoders

·        Closed captions are turned on and off with a "decoder." Televisions (since the '80s) have decoders built in; however, not all overhead projectors have decoders and not all computer software plays captions. Windows Media Player, Real Player, and QuickTime all have the capability to play captions. Just like with your television set, however, the captions must be turned on to be viewed.

VHS Tapes

·        VHS tapes may have open captions (captions that are always visible) or closed captions.

·        Subtitles are an example of a type of open captions. They do not have to be turned on. They also cannot be turned off. They are part of the video picture itself.

·        Closed captions, on the other hand, can be turned on and off. They live between the lines of the picture itself on something referred to as Line 21. In order to take the captions from where they are hiding on Line 21 and project them onto the video, a piece of equipment called a “decoder” must be present. The decoder “decodes” the hidden captioning information and puts it together into visible captions.

·        If the VHS tape has closed captions, then they just need to be turned on. Typically, this is a fairly simple matter when you are showing the tape on a television set. It is often easiest to access the captions with the TV remote, but most TVs have buttons on the front that can also be used to turn on the captions.

·        Be aware, however, that if the tape is being shown through an overhead projector, there may not be a decoder in the circuit. If there is no decoder, you will not be able to show your closed captions. Very few overhead projectors have decoders built in. When no decoder is in the projection unit, an external decoder will be required to turn on the captions.

DVD

·        DVDs may have true closed captions, coded on Line 21, and in that case, you will need a decoder to see the captions. DVDs may also have something called Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

·        These captions are called “subtitles” for two reasons:

1. They do not live on Line 21 as true closed captions do.

2. They are formatted like subtitles are on VHS tape (no dark background behind the words).

Even though these captions are called subtitles, they can be turned on and off. These subtitles are created with individuals who are deaf/HoH in mind, so they are word-for-word transcriptions and do contain all the sound-related information that standard closed captions would.

Web Media

Unlike DVDs and VHS tapes, captions on the Web exist in a separate file from the video and audio files. Multimedia on the Web is comprised of a number of separate files held together by something called a SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) file. The SMIL file is like a master controller that links all the pieces together.

The first issue with Web media is to ensure that all the pieces are together in one folder. If the files become separated, the SMIL file will not know where to look for all the pieces.

Displaying captions for Web media will depend on what program you use to view the media.

Tapes Recorded from TV

If you have recorded a VHS tape of a television program, the odds are very good that it is already captioned. As long as the original program was captioned, the tape will be captioned, as well. You do not have to have the captions turned on during the recording. Television captions live on Line 21, so when you capture the video stream, you also capture the captions. All you have to do is turn the captions on.

Captioning with YouTube

Overview

In order to caption a video on YouTube, you need to be the owner of the video, as in the person who uploaded the video to YouTube.

If you need to get captions on a YouTube video that belongs to someone else, you will need to contact the owner of the video and ask them to perform the steps described in this resource.

You will also need a caption file or a transcript. A transcript is simply a text version of all the dialog and significant audio information included within the video. A caption file is a transcript that is formatted for optimal display on the screen and also includes timing information for when the text should be displayed on the screen.

If you do not have a transcript or caption file, YouTube can attempt to create one for you automatically as long as the spoken language of the video is English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian or Dutch.

Transcript Considerations

A transcript file must be saved as a plain text file without any special characters like smartquotes or emdashes. Here's what a transcript might look like:
 

>> FISHER: All right. So, let's begin. This session is: Going Social

with the YouTube APIs. I am Jeff Fisher,

and this is Johann Hartmann, we're presenting today.

[pause]

YouTube uses experimental speech recognition technology to provide automatic timing for your English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian or Dutch transcript. Automatic timing creates a caption file that you can download. Short videos with good sound quality and clear spoken English synchronize best.

Here are some other things you can do to help get the best automatic timing results for your transcripts:

·        Identify long pauses (3 seconds or longer) or music in the transcript with a double line break.

·        Use double line breaks anytime you want to force a caption break.

Here are some common captioning practice that help readability:

·        Descriptions inside square brackets like [music] or [laughter] can help people with hearing disabilities to understand what is happening in your video.

·        You can also add tags like >> at the beginning of a new line to identify speakers or change of speaker.

Caption File

Although you can upload your captions/subtitles in any format, only supported formats will be displayed properly on the playback page.

Here's what a (*.SBV) caption file might look like:

0:00:03.490,0:00:07.430
>> FISHER: All right. So, let's begin.
This session is: Going Social

0:00:07.430,0:00:11.600
with the YouTube APIs. I am
Jeff Fisher,

0:00:11.600,0:00:14.009
and this is Johann Hartmann,
we're presenting today.

0:00:14.009,0:00:15.889
[pause]

Here is a list of some well-known formats that YouTube supports:

·        .srt - SubRip - only the basic version is supported.

·        .sbv - SubViewer

·        .scc - Scenarist Closed Caption. For any premium content that has broadcast-quality captions (movies, TV shows, etc) we highly recommend this format.

·        .dfxp - Distribution Format Exchange Profile.

·        .smi - Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange

·        .sub - MPlayer Subtitle (and other similar formats)

·        .lrc - For lyrics

·        .rt - RealText

·        .stl - EBU-STL. Widely used in Europe for broadcast content.

YouTube also supports many formats used for CEA-608 (Line-21) information.

YouTube does not support the following formats:

·        .ssa/.ass - Sub Station Alpha

Here are some common captioning practices that help readability:

·        Descriptions inside square brackets like [music] or [laughter] can help people with hearing disabilities to understand what is happening in your video.

·        You can also add tags like >> at the beginning of a new line to identify speakers or change of speaker.

Editing Captions in YouTube

You can edit auto-captions or your own captions directly online. Just follow these steps:

1.     Sign into your account

2.     Go to your Creators Studio

3.     Locate the video with the captions you wish to edit.

4.     Pull down the EDIT menu and select Subtitles and CC.

5.     Select the caption track you want to edit. This can be the Machine Transcript track or your own.

6.     Click inside any line in the caption track panel. You can edit the text, but not the timing.

7.     Click outside the caption line and YouTube will update the caption line.

8.     Click PUBLISH EDITS to save the entire caption track.

Uploading and Downloading Caption Files and Transcripts

Once you've created your transcript or caption file, you can upload them to YouTube to attach them to your video.

1.     Mouse over your username located in the upper right corner of every page and click once. A menu should appear.

2.     Click on CREATOR STUDIO. You will then be directed to a page showing your uploaded videos.

3.     Find the video to which you'd like to add captions/subtitles and click the down arrow located to the right of the Edit and Insight buttons. Select the SUBTITLES AND CC button from the drop down menu.

4.     Click the ADD NEW SUBTITLES OR CC button on the right hand side of the page. Select ENGLISH, then UPLOAD A FILE.

5.     Select a caption/subtitle or transcript file to upload. If you are uploading a transcript (no timecodes), select Transcript file, otherwise, select SUBTITLE file.

6.     Select the appropriate language. If you wish, you can also enter a track name.

7.     Click the Upload File button.

In order to download auto-captions from a video onto your computer, you must be the video owner. If this is true:

1.     Sign into your account

2.     On the Captions pane, click on any track. Click on the ACTIONS button.

3.     YouTube will then save a file called captions.sbv to your desktop.

Note you will not necessarily be downloading the caption file in the format you uploaded it, so it is always recommended to save any captions file you make locally.

Tips for Speaking in Front of a Camera

Video is everywhere. YouTube, websites, training and product videos, corporate and marketing videos, media interviews… the list goes on. How do we get ready for our close-up? Video now gives us the ability to reach vast numbers of people in unprecedented ways. As in any public speaking event, you want to capitalize on the opportunity to communicate your thoughts and ideas with “savoir-faire” – to say it like you mean it all in a sound bite, with confidence, grace, a little panache and some universal humor thrown in for good measure – ALL THIS, without tripping over your tongue, losing your train of thought, or looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

Piece of cake? Not exactly. When done well, we make it look so facile and relaxed. But haven’t we all seen those stiff, wincingly uncomfortable, monotone excuses for a video product? Here are some necessary tips for making your video stand out that will place you rightfully in the spotlight.
7 Best Tips for Speaking in Front of a Camera

Prompting

What if the person has their script on screen while they read it to the computer's camera - so it's like a teleprompter? It helps if it's written to be spoken, rather than written to be read too. [from Michelle Brown]

Teleprompter Tips

Teleprompter Training - http://www.promptdog.com/training/

How to use a teleprompter (YouTube – check out the automatic captions) - http://youtu.be/tHSDH28sP38

Captioning Resources

This is a list of some additional resources for closed captioning.

Funding for California Community Colleges

The Distance Education Captioning and Transcription grant provides funding to California Community Colleges to support captioning of instructional content. For details, see: www.canyons.edu/captioning.

Providers of Captioning Hardware/Software

The following vendors provide encoders, captioning software, decoders and other technologies used for producing real-time and off-line captioning. We will continue adding to this list as more vendors are identified.

·        National Captioning Institute (NCI)

·        Computer Prompting and Captioning

·        Cheetah

·        Bay Area Video Coalition (Captioning Service Provider)

·        WGBH (Captioning Service Provider)

Providers of Captioning Services

The following vendors provide captioning services. Rates will vary depending upon:

·        the availability of a transcript for the tape

·        how much narration the tape contains

·        whether or not the tape contains technical jargon

·        what captioning formats are used

·        how quickly the job must be completed.

Some of these providers have established a business relationship with the Community Colleges Foundation, and offer discounts to California community colleges. Please remember to inquire of these vendors if such a discount is available. We will continue adding to this list as more vendors are identified.

·        Off-line Captioning Providers

·        Real-time Captioning Providers

·        Web Captioning Providers

Sample Permissions Letters

Video resources from third party providers are generally copyright protected. You will need a formal letter of permission in order to add close captioning to such video resources. Listed below are sample form letters requesting permission to captioning video.

Sample Permission Letter (PDF)

All the following links will open in a new window.

WebAIM Captioning Overview
http://www.webaim.org/techniques/captions/

The Captioning Key
http://www.dcmp.org/captioningkey/

Caption It Yourself Guidelines from DCMP
http://www.dcmp.org/ciy/

Video Clips of Captioning for Music and Sound Effects
http://www.dcmp.org/captioningkey/special_considerations.html

VLC Media Player will slow down audio for transcribing

Amara – linked to YouTube, can use to caption videos that aren’t yours…and don’t need permission
 

My Welcome Video (captioned)

Campus Accessibility Resources at MiraCosta College

 

The following report lists and details resources available to students and faculty at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, California.  The college has three campuses, one located in Oceanside, one located in San Elijo, and the Community Learning Center in Oceanside, where noncredit courses (ESL, Adult High School Diploma Program, GED, Basic Skills for Adults with Disabilities, and others), as well as some credit college classes, are offered.

Disability Services

Delivery of Disability Services to students

 

Through its Disabled Students Services and Programs (DSPS) office, MiraCosta Community College provides services and programs to students who have any of the following verified disabilities:

 

• Mobility Impairment
• Blind or Low Vision
• Deaf/Hearing Impairment
• Learning Disability
• Acquired Brain Injury
• Developmentally Delayed Learner
• Psychological Impairment
• Other Health Impairment

 

Students with disabilities are required to complete an application for services and submit a professional certification of disability.  The application can be found online at https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1603150/DSPS-Application-for-Eligibility.

Disability services are delivered to students at three levels of accommodation, all of which students with verified disabilities may request through Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSP&S):

·       Level 1 -- Course Accommodation

·       Level 2 – Course Substitution

·       Level 3 – Course Waiver

Each of the three types of accommodations have specific procedures, as well as appeals processes if the student is dissatisfied with the decision. 

Information about DSPS and its full range of services can be found on the college DSPS Web site at https://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/dsps/index.html.

Assistance Available to Both Instructors and Students

 

The DSPS Office offers limited adaptive testing resources as a service both to the student and to the faculty member. Faculty needing accommodations can contact Human Resources or the Risk Management Director / ADA Coordinator Joe Mazza at jmazza@miracosta.edu or by phone at (760) 795-6866.  A representative from Human Resources and the ADA Coordinator meet with faculty or staff requesting accommodations and complete the necessary paperwork.

 

Alternate Media Specialist

There is one alternate media specialist for the three campuses of the college.  At MiraCosta College, his title is “Access Specialist.”  Robert Erichsen if the college’s access specialist, and he can be reached via email at rerichsen@miracosta.edu or by phone at (760) 795-6684. His office is located on the Oceanside campus, Room 3034.

Learning Disability Specialists

The college has two learning disability specialists, Nancy Schaefer and Soraya Sandoval.  Nancy can be contacted by email at nschaefer@miracosta.edu or by phone at (760) 757-2121 extension 6311.  Her office is located in room 3008 on the Oceanside campus.  Soraya can be contacted by email at ssandoval@miracosta.edu or by phone at (760) 757-2122 extension 6271. Her office is located in building 3000 on the Oceanside campus.

 

High Tech Center Computer Lab

 

The Oceanside campus has a computer lab that trains students with disabilities in the use of assistive technologies. The DSPS Student Computer lab is located in room 3007 of Building 3000 has a wide selection of hardware and computer software for all students affiliated with DSPS, including the following:

 

• Full-Featured Student Usage Lab PCs
• Kurzweil 3000
• Dragon Naturally Speaking
• ZoomText
• JAWS
• DAISY Book Readers
• Digital Voice Recorders
• Adaptive Keyboards
• Adaptive Mice
• Clear View CCTV
• Braille Embosser
• Educational Software
• Hearing Amplification Equipment
• Print Magnifier
• Large and Talking Calculators

 

Personalized assistance and training are offered Mondays – Fridays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Clay Littrell (clittrell@miracosta.edu, 760.757.2121) is the contact person for scheduling and availability of the lab.

 

Faculty Development

Faculty Training

The college’s DSPS Web site has a Faculty Resources page, online at  http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/dsps/faculty.html. On this page, there is a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers for faculty. The Faculty Handbook for Students with Disabilities (PDF) is also posted.  In the handbook, content includes the following topics:

·       Accommodations

·       Rehabilitation Act of 1973

·       Americans with Disabilities Act

·       Disability categories and instructional tips

·       Confidentiality

·       Faculty responsibilities

·       DSPS’s role, duties, and services at the college

Technology Resources for Creating Accessible Instructional Material

DSPS maintains the Web page, “Accessibility Training Resources,” on its Faculty Resources, located at http://www.miracosta.edu/studentservices/dsps/accessibility_training_resources.html.  There are technological resources and tips for creating accessible materials, including the following:

·       Images and graphics

·       Color

·       Document structure

·       Audio / video content

·       Tables

·       Frames

·       Forms

·       Online documents

·       PowerPoint

There are text instructions for making accessible each media type and external links to other resources.

Besides these resources, there are often workshops and trainings for faculty on offered during the fall and spring flex weeks and throughout the school year.

 

Library

Resources for Creating Accessible Instructional Material

Instructors who need to create accessible instructional material, whether from the library or elsewhere, can contact the Access Specialist, Robert Erichsen, for assistance. Textbooks can be scanned, videos captioned, and other media made accessible with reasonable advance notice.

Electronic Resources

The MiraCosta College library has a large offering of electronic resources, which include articles in databases, e-books, and media.  According to college libarian Richard Ma, the majority of the databases are accessible by screen readers including Texthelps’ Read&Write GOLD.  Some of the databases, such as the Gale Virtual Reference Library, have a feature which reads the text.  The streaming databases have captions.  In terms of Web compliance, the majority of databases follow accessibility protocols (images have alternate text, and so on).  Richard said, “Since we have so many databases, it's a bit hard to generalize, but if you focus on a few, you can do Web searches on the name of the database and their accessibility standards.  For example, EBSCOhost is the most popular and powerful one.  All of the CA community colleges have it.” Richard shared with me the EBSCOhost accessibility resource page, located at http://support.ebsco.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?id=5755​, which provides accessibility information for EBSCO Interfaces.

Conclusions

Overall, the breadth of resources available at MiraCosta College is extensive and comprehensive.  Being located at the Community Learning Center, I was not fully aware of all the resources available on the Oceanside campus. Because I often teach at the same time that the noncredit Basic Skills for Adults with Disabilities courses are offered at the Community Learning Center, I have been able to see first-hand a few of the resources that are made available to students in those classes, which include adaptive computer tools in the computer lab.

There are three resources that I learned about through the searching I did to complete this report:

 

·       The DSPS resource Clockwork, an online system for students to submit requests for exam accommodations and download or print Service Authorization letters.

·       Gratis, a group of volunteers who have expertise in various fields and are from varying backgrounds. The group’s objective is to assist MiraCosta College's disabled students in obtaining monetary support to meet their financial needs. Students with disabilities apply for funds that will help them in achieving their educational goals.

·       Adaptive Computer Empowerment Services (ACES), operated through the United Cerebral Palsy Association of San Diego, which refurbishes donated used internet-ready computers and provides them on loan for an indefinite period to low income disabled people residing in San Diego County. There is an application process, a wait list, and a processing fee for operating expenses.

 

Besides the instruction I received and the knowledge I gained through the @ONE course Creating Accessible Online Courses, the MiraCosta College resource that will be particularly helpful to me as I create and deliver an accessible online course is the Faculty Handbook for Students with Disabilities, located on the college’s DSPS Faculty Resources page.

At this point in time, I cannot predict potential access issues.  However, I am certain there will be access issues and related areas in which I will need assistance; I just do not know what those challenges will be until I further dive into online teaching.  Based on my experiences in collaborations, committee work, and interactions with one learning disability specialist and the college’s access specialist, I am confident that I will receive timely, helpful, and effective assistance when I need it.  I will also be able to refer back to all the information that has been provided through the @ONE course Creating Accessible Online Courses.