Project Description:
Project Context:
There are many educational institutions that have not focused on a system-wide effort to make their web content accessible. Many educational entities do not address their inaccessible web content unless forced to do so by a complaint or legal action. However, other institutions have made a commitment to web accessibility on their own. These progressive institutions see value in supporting accessible content because it is the right thing to do for their staff, students, and community members.
There are many reasons that widespread system change has failed to happen in educational institutions. One is because of a lack of administrative commitment or motivation. One motivation for administrators in education is the process of institutional accreditation. If education entities were to explore web accessibility through the process of self-study, widespread change could be made.
Including accessibility is a decision of the accreditors themselves. It is highly likely that standards and guidelines already exist within the accrediting bodies and that web accessibility could map onto those existing statements. One example of this might be a guideline around diversity, or of excellence in instruction. Assuming this to be true, accreditors and institutions could then benefit from a set of materials not currently available.
Project Focus and Goals
The goal of the Gaining Online Accessible Learning through Self-study (GOALS) Project, is to create materials to facilitate self-study by institutions and use by accreditation entities. Through Project GOALS, WebAIM, in partnership with the National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE), has begun a three-year effort to create materials useful for educational entities who wish to engage in self-study on the accessibility of their institution's web content. This project will also focus on working with regional accrediting bodies to explore the possibility to adopt these materials in their work with education.
GOALS is organized as a national consortium so that many voices can contribute to completing the goals of the project which are to develop, evaluate, and disseminate a body of materials and processes on web accessibility ready for those in education to use and accrediting bodies to incorporate into accreditation processes. The five-member Project Consortium includes individuals representing a regional accrediting body, an affiliate of a regional education collaborative, a statewide postsecondary commission, and others focusing on disability and accessibility concerns.
Project Services/Products: The GOALS project will develop a set of 6 deliverables. These are:
1. A Whitepaper to outline the rationale for, and research to support accessibility in accrediting guidelines;
2. A document of institutional 'indicators' of accessibility to provide a comprehensive outline and description of required, recommended, and best practices in electronic-accessibility in education;
3. An institutional self-study packet to offer accessibility checklists and a process for institutional assessment;
4. A process for conducting an accessibility audit trail to aid institutions or accrediting bodies as they measure continuous improvement;
5. A compendium of accessibility support materials and resources for institutional or accreditation site-teams; and
6. A document for site-teams to recommend how they might capture and properly report on institutional accessibility findings.
Core Function(s):
Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information
