David BanesAbilityNet October 2009Accessible Procurement

Accessibility in AssessmentAccessible CoursewareAlternative formatsUniversal designFacilitated LearningAccessible AssessmentMultiple Formats Universal DesignSupported Assessment

Why Accessibility ?Business Case for Accessibility Social PoliticalEconomicLegal Technological

Legal BackgroundWhat is meant by “reasonable adjustments”?Steps that should be taken to make reasonable adjustments include:acquiring or modifying equipment, eg the provision of specialist access technology to allow an individual to carry out his or her job using a computer modifying instructions or reference manuals, eg offering alternative formats conducting a proper assessment of what reasonable adjustments may be required.While "reasonable" is not defined in the Act, the Code of Practice does give some guidance on this, and indicates that it will depend upon:the type of service provided the type of organisation you are and resources available the impact on the disabled person.

Interrogating suppliersWe can ask “Is your IT solution accessible to people with disabilities?” but even in this case the question is too ambiguous. It would be reasonable for the supplier to answer yes based on “our software package has been extensively tested with people in wheelchairs and they had no problem using it. Therefore it is accessible to people with disabilities.”Instead we want to ask questions that provide a meaningful evidence base and which can be tested and measured. In this case a question such as “What accessibility standards does your IT solution meet?” is more specific and open and hence more likely to provide us with usable responses.

StandardsUseful Standards to refer toWebsites World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)RNIB “See it right”Irish NDA Accessibility Guidelines SoftwareIBM Software Accessibility GuidelinesISO 16071 Guidance On Software AccessibilitySection 508 VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template)

Problem with StatementsVPAT Statement

Probing ResponsesTo overcome this lack of hard evidence we can ask further questions to give us information upon which to base a decision. Has their solution been tested by people with a range of physical, sensory and language disabilities and what were the results?How will they involve these disabled people in the development of the solution?Do they have reference sites?Will they let you test the solution yourself?

Probing ResponsesWe cannot expect all suppliers to provide us with positive responses to all of these questions, as a result we will need to consider how we will deal with issues of Non Compliance. As part of the discussion with a supplier it is reasonable to ask further questions such as What plans do they have to meet accessibility standards?Will they commit to improvements and timeframe in the contract?Is there an acceptable interim workaround or mitigation?And in making a decision the purchaser will themselves have to decide the priority that they ascribe to accessibility compliance in the Invitation to Tender.

Suppliers may tell you “No one else is asking for it”To this we would simply state that this is a condition of this tender, and moreover you cannot ignore the legal framework. “We’re an international company and we can’t comply with every national law” In this case, the value of standards is apparent. We are not asking for compliance to a single set of laws, instead we are referring to the international standards upon which most law is based

“We have made a corporate decision to apply to a single international standard”In this case, it is reasonable to ask which standards and to ask for a compliance report against those standards“We’ll do it, but it’s going to cost you”One can choose to accept the additional costs, but this will need to be factored into the total cost of procurement within the competitive dialogue with all those offering a tender.

You should not be surprised if during this process, other interests within your organisation press forward issues. For instance“We don’t have any disabled learners or members of staff”This is not the issue, we need to plan for those who could become disabled and anticipate the reasonable adjustments we might need to make“Disabled people aren’t capable of doing this job anyway”Based on what evidence, again the issue of reasonable adjustment and the law would be relevant

“Disabled learners have never complained before”Again unless you have been proactive in seeking opinions from disabled learners then this would not be a useful piece of evidence, it makes assumptions that the learner is willing to complain and in fact believes that a complaint would be listened to, or even that they know how to complain.“It does what we want at a price we’re happy with but it isn’t accessible. We’ll take the risk.”Ultimately this a decision that can be taken, in this case it is important that this decision is signed off by the appropriate level of authority and that they have been informed of the potential consequences and are willing to accept responsibility for those risks.

User Testing – Understanding Interface Solutions for pupils with VI Supernova – Dolphin SoftwareJaws - Freedom Scientific Windows Accessibility – Magnifier and NarratorClaroview – ClaroSoftCCTV/Hand held magnifiersSolutions for pupils with Physical NeedsClicker 5 - Crick SoftwareGrid 2 – Sensory software Windows on screen keyboardDragon Naturally Speaking - Nuance Vista Voice recognitionAlternative access devices including Switches, touch screen, joystick, eye tracker, head pointer, variety of keyboards and pointing devicesSolutions for pupils with communication needsSymwriter – Widgit SoftwareCommunicate in Print – Widgit Software Clicker 5 Solutions for pupils with DyslexiaText Help Read and Write – TextHelp SystemsScreen Tinter – Thomson SoftwareClaroRead – ClarosoftClicker 5 Dragon Naturally Speaking, Digital voice recorder,

Symwriter – Widgit Software

Communicate in Print – Widgit Software

Clicker 5

Text Help Read and Write – TextHelp Systems

Screen Tinter – Thomson Software

ClaroRead – Clarosoft

Clicker 5

Dragon Naturally Speaking,

Digital voice recorder,

Checklists

Procurement Flowchart

Many Thanks and Questions David BanesDirector of Development AbilityNet david.banes@abilitynet.org.uk07989 409287Twitter @abilitynetSkype david_banes_abilitynet