The UI has jumped to No. 1 in a list released by the University of Illinois–Champaign/Urbana on the accessibility of websites at universities around the country.
By Addison Martin
Seven years ago, the University of Iowa ranked No. 155 of 160 in website accessibility for persons with disabilities. Since then, it has steered its way to the top, ranking first in a recent list.
Jon Gunderson, a coordinator in the Division of Disability Resources and Education Services at the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana, compiled the list.
The UI’s poor performance in 2009 sparked then-President Sally Mason to jump into action. The efforts apparently have paid off.
“First of all, it’s important to put this list in context … the purpose of his list is really to raise awareness of the need for accessibility,” said Todd Weisenberger, an IT accessibility coordinator in the UI Information Security & Policy Office.
For Weisenberger, accessibility is more about keeping the placement than winning in the first place.
“I think it’s just been a progressive process of awareness and understanding this need to provide equitable technology,” he said. “When Dr. Gunderson at Illinois did his most recent test, we were momentarily at the top of the list, but that’s something that takes continued effort … We want to continue to evolve and grow in that way.”
Weisenberger highlighted website design as well. One main issue in website accessibility for people with disabilities is those with impaired vision or blindness use screen readers, a technology that reads aloud the text and describes images on a computer or phone screen.
“I’ve been a web designer for 20 years … it’s more of a way of doing things, a way of structuring web documents and of making interactive applications accessible to people who don’t use a mouse or people who use a screen reader,” Weisenberger said.
Michael Hoenig, a program coordinator for the University Center for Excellence and Developmental Disabilities, uses one of these screen readers on a daily basis. Without this technology, he said, he wouldn’t be able to do his job.
“I use what’s called JAWS, Job Access for Windows with speech …they continue to evolve, like right now I’m working on a project so I can work remotely when I need to work from home, and in the past that hasn’t been possible,” he said.
For him, the UI’s advancement in the list has brought with it a higher level of awareness for the daily struggles he might face as someone who is vision impaired/blind. Hoenig calls the unsatisfactory list placement in 2009 a “catalyst,” because as soon as this list came to light, the UI took action.
“From my perspective, what’s made the change is that there’s really been a commitment to access,” he said. “I’ve noticed even kind of a culture shift over time. A lot of not just interest but a lot of action.”
Sydra Smith, a UI first-year graduate student who is deaf, said she also has felt a shift in the culture and stigmas surrounding people with disabilities. Approximately four years ago, she was nervous about people noticing her hearing aids and think about her differently, but now, it doesn’t feel like such a problem.
“I feel like the year 2016 has been more accepting of just everything; people are more willing to talk about it,” she said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, they have a disability,’ it’s like, ‘Oh cool, what’s your disability?’ ” Smith said.
