Achieving an Accessibility Policy at the University of California, by Lucy Greco

Achieving an Accessibility
Policy at the University of
California
Lucy Greco
Web Accessibility Evangelist
University of California, Berkeley
Chair of University of California Electronic Accessibility
Leadership Team

ACCESSIBILITY POLICY | UC/EALT
Why would a University need a
policy on accessibility?
• In most cases, the law is clear and to the point for post-
secondary education
• In the case of the University of California (UC), law was unclear
and specifically vague
• Individuals working on websites wanted to do the right thing, but
were unsure of where to begin

Challenges Faced
• The UC has 10 campuses, 5 medical centers, and 3 affiliated
national laboratories
• The UC enrolls more than 238,000 students and employs more
than 190,000 faculty and staff
• Each campus has various different areas of focus. Some have
larger populations of undergrads, whereas others are research
facilities or medical centers
• The IT infrastructure of each campus varies immensely, from
campuses that have centralized IT to several different IT
infrastructures on a single campus.

The Crowd Gathers
• Some of the campuses in the UC system have begun
collaborating
• The composition of individuals from each campus was quite
different:
– Individuals from Disabled Student Services
– IT professionals
– Assistive technology experts
– Administrative and managerial
– Compliance and legal experts
– People with and without disabilities

Our First Efforts
• Representatives from almost all the campuses began to
meet monthly to begin formulating a policy
• A small subgroup drafted several versions of a policy that
the extended group reviewed
• The draft in 2007 said that the UC would meet Section
508 of the Rehabilitation Act

Sometimes We Fail
• After 1.5 years of working on this policy, the draft was
initially sent out to various different communities
throughout the UC system
• The response was extraordinarily positive about the fact
that a policy was needed, but felt it was too soon and
needed more information and support

Failure Might be Necessary for
Improvement and Success
• After hearing back from all the constituent communities,
the group evaluated the feedback and strategized to fill
the gaps indicated from the comments
– Developers could not be expected to implement accessibility
requirements in a vacuum; they require training and
guidance
– Higher-level administration needed to indicate support
– Individuals needed tools to evaluate accessibility

Creating the Electronic
Accessibility Leadership Team
• In 2007/2008, the UC IT Leadership Council formed a
committee to guide the future initiative for electronic
accessibility
• This committee was required to have one or two
representatives from every campus and other UC affiliates
• The role of these representatives was to report on
progress and ideas shared throughout the system

Giving People Structure and
Guidance
• EALT began evaluating enterprise testing tools to assist
developers in knowing if these sites were accessible or not
• Subject area experts were brought in to assist in writing a better
policy
• A subcommittee drafted guidance for campus buyers to
purchase accessible technology
• Training opportunities were provided to developers from all over
the state to learn about accessible web development

Reaching the Finish Line
• Over a period of 2.5 years, the policy went through intense
revisions, including feedback from all over the system
• Changes were added that allowed for accommodation based
on individual campus need
• When forwarding the policy to constituent groups, the
working group would engage to ensure that the feedback
would be included in future edits

Constituency Groups Included:
• Web developers from all over the UC system
• The IT Leadership Council
• Compliance and legal experts
• Staff assemblies and faculty assemblies

At Last, a Policy Achieved
• On August 27th, 2013, UC President Mark Yudof signed the
final UC Information Technology Accessibility Policy
• Link to policy:
– http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/7000611/IMT-1300

What Did the Policy say?
• UC will strive to have its websites meet the WCAG 2.0
standard
• UC will place the most emphasis on new purchases and new
development, as that will have the most lasting effect
• UC must be accessible to all members of its community and
beyond
• Each campus can devise its own strategy to implement the
policy, and create an organizational infrastructure to train,
purchase, and develop to ensure accessibility.

What’s Next?
• The work of the Electronic Accessibility Leadership Team has
only just begun
– In the past six months, we have begun work on language to be
included in purchasing documents
– We have started formalizing ways to benchmark where each of
the campuses are with accessibility, to determine what needs
improvement, and what sort of training should be provided
– We have created some draft prioritization rubrics to guide
campuses in their efforts to move forward with accessibility

Any Questions?
• For more information on EALT, visit our website:
http://www.ucop.edu/electronic-
accessibility/initiative/index.html
• Email Lucy Greco: lgreco@berkeley.edu

Achieving an Accessibility Policy at the University of California, by Lucy Greco

Achieving an Accessibility Policy at the University of California, by Lucy Greco

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