Desire2Pod Cast 3: Web Accessibility

This is the third podcast in this series. The focus this time is on web accessibility issues, although much of the discussion is general in nature and not just related to accessibility within D2L. 

  • Why worry about web accessibility?
  • D2L wish list for accessibility (approx. 6:45)
  • Tips for course designers (approx. 11:15)
  • MnSCU system accessibility concerns (approx. 21:30)
This is a 33-minute recording with James Falkofske of Metropolitan State University in St. Paul. 

Some of the resources referred to include: 

Once again I need to apologize for somewhat less than wonderful sound quality. This time I recorded a Skype call using Pretty May, which appears to do something funky with the incoming call occupying only the right-track (at a low volume) and the outgoing call occupying only the left-track. After much editing in Audacity (but not nearly enough), I finally have something not too painful to listen to (a bit of a hum when James is speaking), but I'm still going to have to find a better method for recording these telephone interviews. I'm posting this a little ahead of schedule since I leave for China in about 5 hours and then all bets are off.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I enjoyed the interview, Barry, thank you. This should not come as a surprise, but I support the idea of hiring someone to work on web accessibility throughout the system -- especially for e-learning. Most of the "webmasters" responsible for the public sites are familiar with accessibility concerns and address them with varying degrees of success, but online courses are a different story and may be far more critical, with direct impact on student success. We haven't done nearly enough.
October 09, 2006 9:39 PM
Barry Dahl said…
Hi Sam,
Do you have any idea whether the $80 million increased I.T. spending contains anything related to web accessibility? Okay, I retract the question on the grounds that it just makes me look silly.
October 10, 2006 6:41 PM
Anonymous said…
I haven't heard anything, but all I've looked at is very high-level overviews of draft proposals. I'd be surprised to find web accessibility in immediate plans, but considering that the point of the increased funding is to make it possible for ITS to play a constant game of never quite being able to catch up, it's at least more likely than I would have thought it before. And sometimes I am pleasantly surprised. It's well worth bringing up to Al Essa.
October 16, 2006 12:02 AM
Anonymous said…
Er, that should be "make it possible for ITS to do more than play a constant game of never quite being able to catch up
October 20, 2006 12:50 AM
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