WANAU
Web Accessibility Network for Australian Universities

Impact of Education Standards under the DDA

Brian Hardy

Accessible Information Solutions
Vision Australia

(National Information and Library Service)

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Key Benefit

"The standards greatest benefit is that they create certainty where there was none"

Productivity Commission Review of the Disability Discrimination Act, 2003

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Date of Effect

• Standards are due to come into effect on 17 August 2005

• unless Parliament intervenes

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Three Objects

• "To ensure, as far as practicable, that persons with disabilities have the same rights to equality before the law in the area of education and training as the rest of the community"

• Eliminate discrimination

• Promote recognition & acceptance

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Application of the Standards

"The Standards apply to educational providers delivering education and training through a range of modes including:

• In-class tuition

• Distance education

• Flexible delivery

• Computer-assisted learning

• On-line delivery

• Part-time study for post-compulsory students and

• The various combinations of these modes, and

• On-the-job training."

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Reasonable Adjustment

• Provider is entitled to maintain the academic requirements of the course – to continue to ensure integrity of the courses

• Adjustment is made within a reasonable time

• Reasonable time depends on the student providing, "in a timely way, any relevant information …about how the disability affects the student in relation to education and training"

• Meeting the reasonable time requirements will require proactive action – e.g for enrolment procedures.

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Reasonable Adjustment

Regard should be had to:

• The student's disability

• The views of the student

• The effect on the student's:

• Ability to achieve learning outcomes

• Ability to participate courses or programs

• Independence

• The effect on anyone else effected (other students etc.)

• The cost and benefits of making the adjustment

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Unjustifiable Hardship

• " The Standards generally require providers to make reasonable adjustments where necessary"

• However a provider can claim that a reasonable adjustment would impose unjustifiable hardship

• In my view this claim would be very difficult for a university to substantiate (cf a one-person private trainer)

So the key issue is Reasonable Adjustment

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Enrolment and Participation

• Enrolment on the same basis

• Information

• Informed choices

• Participation on the same basis

• Activities are sufficiently flexible to enable them to be successfully undertaken by person with a disability

• Additional support provided if needed

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Treatment on "the same basis"

• " opportunities and choices in admission or enrolment that are comparable with those offered to other prospective students without disabilities"

• " opportunities and choices in the courses and programs and in the use of facilities and services that are comparable with those offered to other students without disabilities"

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What could this mean in practice?

• Meet Gordon, Curtis and Kyle

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My Experience - Enrolment

• Newspaper advertisement

• Brochure

• Information session

• Enrolment form

• Offer and acceptance

• Telephone discussions

• Payment of fees

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My Experience - Participation

• Course requirements, booklists (online only – Blackboard)

• Lecture notes (PowerPoint), readings (scanned and Word), supplementary material etc. (online only – Blackboard and through Ebsco Host - library)

• Lectures: heavy emphasis on discussion, group work, exercises handed out (print), stand up and present

• Assignment: handwritten on the day – no computer access available

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Problems with Copyright

• Fair use provision does not include right to shift formats

• I can copy material from a book I bought, to make it easy to read on the plane

• I cannot record it as audio file to listen to on my iPod

• Legally require permission from copyright owner

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The "Easy" Pro-active Basics

Some reasonable adjustments have a long lead time, so need to be done proactively. I would expect:

• Public website that works for all users (Conformance to WCAG at Level Double A plus)

• LMS that works for all students (If yours doesn't, check out atutor.ca - open source from University of Toronto and fully accessible)

• Academic staff (including sessional staff) trained to produced accessible PowerPoint, Word and Excel as a matter of course

• Rooms etc. that are physically accessible and allow choice of seating

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Partnering for Long Term Solutions

• Training

• Alternative formats

• Web

• Online content

• Complex alternative formats

• Braille

• Audio

• Large print

• Fast turnaround services

• Braille, synthetic voice audio, e-text

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Accessible Information Solutions

Brian Hardy

(03) 9864 9525

Brian.Hardy @nils.org.au

Accessible Information Solutions is a business of Vision Australia (National Information and Library Service)