Universal Design / Accessibility
1. Created guidelines and a curriculum for training faculty and staff web developers; planned and executed training
STG undertook a study of best practices in universal design as it relates to technological support for teaching and learning. Finally, in collaboration with the Sheridan Center and the Office of Disability Support Services, we created a comprehensive training program for Brown faculty designed to inform them of the best practices in accessible design, and to encourage adoption of those practices in curriculum design, instruction, and evaluation. It is our strong opinion that although specific disabilities must be addressed, the most broadly applicable training will be centered in the principles encompassed by the seven tenets of universal design.
Integrated research from CAST, Sheridan Center, and many other resources. Created training materials and conducted training in various formats, including face-to-face, printed, online, etc. (taking into account varied learning and teaching styles) Advocated for faculty participation.
2. Created a web-based tagged PDF for delivering the content of the curriculum
Web site to deliver training that is developed in section one above - This third site, discussed in some detail in § 1 above, is designed to disseminate the curriculum and training information to the faculty.
3. Assessed and integrated accessible computing facilities
CIS once housed a small, out-dated "accessible" computing cluster. For universal access, these facilities should be made more readily available to users, with updated software and hardware that is integrated into currently existing public facilities. We undertook a comprehensive study of the existing hardware and software, and to suggested changes to the current facilities.
4. Offered faculty grants for implementing universal design in instructional materials
While faculty generally agree that universal access is important, they often do not have the time or resources to apply to changing their existing materials, or learning how to adapt their styles in developing new materials. With the funds from these grants, we consulted with faculty and trained students those faculty designated, and paid those students for the UD work they do up to the limit of each grant ($500-$1000).
Five grants of approximately ten-twenty hours each 5. Installed a parsing proxy server
Universal access to digital information is one overarching goal of this project. While this will not happen overnight, we will put measures into place to mitigate the impact of existing inaccessible or difficult-to-access web sites. We made a parsing proxy server available, called Betsie (BBC Education Text to Speech Internet Enhancer http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/betsie/). Betsie creates text versions of web sites, helping to make them more accessible for those using non-standard text-based browsers.
| Principal Investigator(s) or Parent Project Lead(s): | Robert Shaw Associate Dean of the Faculty, Brown University |
[None] Education Department, Brown University |
| Research domains: | educational technology |
| Type: | project |
| STG involvement initiated: | October 2001 | Status: | maintenance | |
| Funding support: | US Department of Education |
| Contact: | STG_info@brown.edu |
Record last modified: 13-Sep-2005