UC Systemwide Electronic Accessibility Efforts

The UC System has launched an initiative for policy on Accessibility in the Electronic Environment. It is sponsored by the UC IT Leadership Council (ITLC) and is under the leadership of the Associate Vice President for Information Resources and Communications (IR&C).

The administrative source documents are available at: Web Accessibility at the University of California

The Problem

Persons with disabilities (visual, auditory or motor impairments, among others) often use adaptive hardware or software to access computers and other sources of electronic information. The way the electronic data is created, coded and presented can make it impossible for adaptive technology to interpret.

Governmental Response

In 2001, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act created standards for Federal agencies and contractors, defining 16 parameters for accessible software and Web design. The UC IT Access working group has recognized Section 508 as “a community standard within public higher education in California.”

The text of the Section 508 rules can be found under “Section 508 Law” at www.section508.gov .

Practical Implementation

The IT Access working group has created " Accessible Web Design Resources ":http://www.ucop.edu/irc/itaccessibility/resources/ to collect best practices for Web designers. For those already familiar with basic accessibility concepts, the Design Tips and Technical Topics pages will be the most immediately useful.

Work is also underway on Procurement and Product Accessibility .

Support at UCLA

For demonstrations of adaptive technologies, discussion of Web accessibility techniques, and accessibility reviews of existing sites, please contact the UCLA Disabilities and Computing Program .