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Accessible Web Sites Plan

Introduction

The myriad voices of CSULB’s online presence speak through an often-maddening diversity of channels, collectively spread far and wide across what has been described as the CSU’s most ferociously decentralized electronic landscape. Webs large and small are rooted in dozens of different campus cultures, administrative models, communication philosophies and funding priorities. When coupled with the lack of formalized web standards and accountability protocols, this has resulted in a web-development infrastructure that is ill suited to the technological, legal and communications needs of CSULB in the 21 century.

Accessible communications are the goal of the CSU’s Accessible Technology Initiative. The means by which the campus can achieve this goal in online communications—the web—has been the focus of the ATI Web Subcommittee’s 2006-07 evaluation process. The subcommittee emphasizes that accessibility does not exist in isolation from the other elements of a truly usable web site. All pieces must support the whole, and it is the professionals’ job to ensure that they do by meeting standards and by adhering to best practices.

With that holistic understanding in mind, the subcommittee’s recommendations collectively propose a restructuring of the way web sites are envisioned, developed, managed and maintained at CSULB. Trained web professionals, equipped with the appropriate resources and given appropriate latitude to apply standards and adhere to best practices, form the critical foundation of the new approach and will give the university the means by which to achieve accessible and usable web sites in a cost-effective and sustainable manner.

The Campus Plan establishes what the ATI Web Accessibility Subcommittee feels are the resources, protocols, roles and responsibilities necessary for addressing not only issues related to accessible web and online communications but also the means by which CSULB’s web-development infrastructure can respond more effectively and efficiently to the university’s evolving strategic goals.

1. The Way Forward: People, Authority and Accountability, Protocols and Resources

   The subcommittee has identified four critical areas that require restructuring in order to meet and exceed the ATI’s goals: People, Authority and Accountability, Protocols and Resources.

   1. People

      In the absence of formalized web standards and staffing models, the university’s web sites are maintained today by employees with varying degrees of training and institutional authority. At one end of the spectrum, the university has full-time professionals with competitive skills and the mandate to use them appropriately. On the other end, the campus utilizes employees with part-time assignments who have little time, training or authority to develop the skills necessary for enterprise-level web accessibility, information security and presentational consistency.

      While the subcommittee found in its evaluation phase that the level of accessibility rose sharply in sites using a university-approved template, the subcommittee also noted that templates by themselves were of far less importance than having skilled web professionals using a template as one part of a larger set of tools and skills in ensuring that CSULB web sites maintain a sustainably high level of accessibility, security and consistency.

      While nonstandardized skill level requirements and part-time assignments have functioned for campus web development in the past, the way forward demands a higher standard.

      • The subcommittee proposes that each division and each college identify, promote or hire a full-time, professionally qualified webmaster to serve as its central point of contact and accountability for its web operations. Working with the appropriate administrator, such as an associate dean or associate vice president, the webmaster will have the authority to resolve, remediate or refer problems with their respective administrative or academic web sites in a timely and documented manner.
      • The subcommittee proposes that these full-time webmasters be based in the divisions and colleges, rather than in a central services component, in recognition that each campus component has its own unique culture, language, alumni, donor base and communications needs. A webmaster must be intimately sensitive to these nuances in order to publish web sites that are both accessible and effective.
        
        As the axis of a division or college’s web presence, the webmaster must understand and address the increasingly complex demands of university web sites, whether the issue is accessibility, marketability or usability. This calls for a very sophisticated set of aesthetic, technical and people skills as well as the professional judgment for using them appropriately. In order to attract and retain such highly skilled employees, the subcommittee recommends that the redefined responsibilities and authority of these employees be incorporated into job descriptions. The subcommittee further recommends that classification reviews be conducted for all campus webmaster positions to determine appropriate job classes and compensation levels and, if deemed appropriate, to change the position titles to web managers.
      • The subcommittee recommends that operational authority and control over administrative and academic campus web sites then be put in the hands of these full-time webmasters. The webmasters would be responsible for administering the development of web site content with designated web authors.
      • Web authors will serve as subject matter experts for their respective division or college and its departments, programs, projects, etc. It is recommended that web content authors have developed grammatical skills and also have the ability to follow editorial guidelines, as well as a general understanding of how web sites work.
      • The webmaster will also have responsibility for conducting and documenting regular accessibility audits of the web sites for her/his division and its offices or college and its departments, programs, projects, etc. and informing administrators on the status of these sites on a regular basis.
   2. Authority and Accountability
      • The vice presidents and deans will have the ultimate responsibility for ensuring the accessibility of each web site under her/his administration. In support of this, the webmasters will have the option of resolving, re-mediating or referring web issues, using the appropriate technical or administrative protocols. Specifically, the webmaster will have the operational authority to ensure that her/his division or college meets accessibility standards through established protocols, keeping executive management informed on a regular and documented basis.
        
        Additionally, the subcommittee proposes that a campus component, the Center for Accessible Media (CAM) called for in the Resources section of this document, be established to conduct, as part of its service package, independent, campus-wide accessibility audits twice a year and provide the documented results to the campus auditor and university administration in a format specified by the campus auditor. Should accessibility issues arise, this component will work directly with the appropriate executive management and webmaster to establish remediation requirements and timelines. This component will also assist with determining alternative ways of delivering information during any period in which web sites are undergoing retrofits.
        
        Since regular, documented accessibility audits will be required immediately in order to comply with the CSU/ATI deadline of September 1 for all new web sites to be compliant, the university webmaster will immediately assume responsibility and accountability for conducting, documenting and disseminating these audits. When the CAM is established, or another entity is designated, this responsibility will be reviewed.
   3. Protocols

      Closely related to the need for specified authority and accountability is the need for established protocols that will ensure accessibility operations are congruent with, and supported by, established business practices, financial priorities and administrative processes. All parties held accountable for web accessibility must have a clear understanding of the goals, implementation options and resources available for getting the job done expeditiously.

      • It is recommended that the ATI Steering Committee work with the Campus Information Technology Committee (CITC), the Academic Senate and the Senior Management Council (SMC) to establish, promote and annually review the specific protocols.
   4. Resources

      The university is fortunate to have a wealth of talented individuals knowledgeable in the various aspects of accessible communications, web development and instructional media. However, this collective experience and knowledge is rarely leveraged and financed synergistically to benefit the university as a whole.

      In light of the Accessible Technology Initiative’s requirement that all media be accessible, regardless of its origin or ultimate purpose, the distinction between “academic” and “administrative” web sites has become irrelevant. A technological or procedural resource that facilitates the accessibility of web-based academic media, such as a video, will be of equal value in facilitating the accessibility of its web-based counterpart in Development, Enrollment Services, Alumni Relations and other administrative media channels. To the ATI, as well as to users of assistive technology, an accessibly captioned video is simply an accessibly captioned video, whether it is used on a web site or in the classroom.

      It makes no financial or operational sense to continue an academic-administrative dichotomy when providing human and technical resources to support the division and college webmasters in their efforts to ensure a sustained high level of accessible media. A centralized resource must be created and tasked with providing a broad and robust range of accessibility support services not only to web developers but also to those involved in creating and deploying accessible instructional media.

      • The committee therefore calls for the creation of a CSULB counterpart to the CSU’s Center for Accessible Media (CAM), created by the CSU as a leveraged, system-wide resource for those involved in meeting the challenges of the Accessible Technology Initiative.
        
        Administratively located in the Division of Academic Affairs to effectively facilitate the support of both accessible web development and instructional media, the CAM would be managed by a full-time director and staffed by specialists in assistive technologies and accessible media development. The CAM would work closely with such campus offices as the Faculty Center for Professional Development and academic technology groups, the Office of Equity and Diversity, and Disabled Student Services and the DSS High-Tech Lab to ensure accessibility for individuals with disabilities. As such, its services would be equally available to both the academic and administrative aspects of the university.
        
        The CAM, as mentioned earlier, would play a central role in accessibility auditing and documentation, as well as the technical development and remediation needs identified by the webmasters and the appropriate administrators.
        
        Establishing, staffing, equipping and maintaining a CAM represents a cost to the university, some of which can be offset by reassignment or sharing of existing human and technical resources. An even more cost-effective aspect of this center is the availability of the CAM to both academic and administrative efforts to advance the university’s compliance with the many federal, state and CSU accessibility mandates that exist.
2. Campus Plan: Response to the CSU ATI Report Template

   Following are specific responses, based on the concepts and principles detailed earlier in this plan, to the 11 areas of concentration specified in the CSU’s template for campus plans. Items appearing under the 11 main headings are specific action items the subcommittee proposes that the campus should take.

   1. A process for auditing, monitoring and remediation of web sites:
      • Regular web site auditing for all existing CSULB web sites, using HiSoftware’s AccMonitor tool.
      • Prelaunch auditing and certification of new web sites, using HiSoftware’s AccVerify tool.
      • Use of AccVerify and other tools during development phases.
      • Performing manual evaluations using Section 508, CSU manual web site evaluation guidelines.
      • Conduct an official web site accessibility report, which displays results from both the automatic and manual tests, by using the HiSoftware Interview Wizard. Archive and distribute the web site report to campus web accessibility administrators.
      • An overview of regular web site audits will be performed twice a year. Results of biannual audits will be submitted to the respective department’s web administrator, his/her dean or vice president and the campus web accessibility administrators.
      • If a site fails an accessibility audit, affected parties will be given 30 days to repair the web site or cite a temporary, alternative method of information that must be approved by the respective webmaster and administrator. If necessary, the CSULB Center for Accessible Media may be consulted to assist with the remediation of the issue.
      • Failure to complete remediation in a timely manner will result in a range of administrative actions, including replacement or removal of the inaccessible web page(s).
   2. A process for establishing accountability and documentation procedures:

      Accountability

      • A centralized list of all campus web administrators and their respective college deans or division vice presidents will be created and maintained.
      • Each web administrator is responsible for a maintaining a current list of his/her department web authors.

      Documentation

      • Campus webmasters are responsible for conducting, distributing and archiving web accessibility reports to their respective vice presidents and/or deans, as well as to the director of the Center for Accessible Media.
      • The director of the Center for Accessible Media is responsible for conducting, distributing and archiving independent, biannual accessibility reports, including a comprehensive set to the campus auditor. Annual reports will also be sent to the respective department webmasters, the university webmaster, college deans and/or division vice presidents, the campus auditor and the CSULB executive ATI chair.
   3. A strategy to ensure that new web sites and web content incorporate accessibility in the design and authoring process:

      New Web Sites

      • Prior to launching any new web sites, webmasters must conduct a successful accessibility audit and distribute the resulting web site report certifying compliance with ATI and campus requirements to their respective administrator(s), the university webmaster and the CAM.

      New Web Content

      • If used, web content management tools must be configured to aid in the production of accessible web content.
      • Web authors must pass a web accessibility training certification. (See item VII, Training Plan)
      • Web authors must be regularly notified of web accessibility training opportunities and other related training.
   4. A process for determining exceptions and for developing, documenting and communicating the equally effective alternate form of access that will be provided
      • Critical administrative web sites will be determined by a matrix of web-traffic statistics, administrative prominence and common sense. These web sites will be identified at least once a year by a web accessibility subcommittee whose membership is assigned by the campus ATI executive sponsor.
   5. A process for providing alternative ways of delivering information during any period in which web sites are undergoing retrofit:
      • Upon notification of a failing accessibility audit that cannot be remediated within a single business week (five working days), the webmaster for the responsible campus component will create an accessible temporary web page or pages and e-mail a request to the university webmaster for a redirect URL to the main temporary web page.
      • For issues than cannot be resolved directly by or through assistance from the webmaster, the campus component responsible for the inaccessible web site and the webmaster will seek assistance from the Center for Accessible Media, the CSULB High Tech Center and Disabled Student Services.
   6. A training plan for those who develop and maintain web sites and who author web content:
      • Establish a centralized campus accessibility training resource, CSULB Center for Accessible Media (CAM). CAM would be responsible for training accessible information technology techniques to faculty, staff and administrators. It is recommended that an “Accessibility 101” class be mandatory for managers and other top-level administrators.
      • Other training could include such topics as 508 and Best Practices Training for web designers/developers and web authors/content managers; accessible Adobe Acrobat (PDF), InDesign, and Microsoft Office; Video and Audio Captioning; and How to Create Accessible Content for BeachBoard.
      • The option of online web accessibility training will be explored. Online training could be organized through the CSULB CAM.
      • Campus web certification for new and existing web authors and administrators will be required in order to obtain network privileges for web publishing. Campus web certification could also be organized through the CAM.
   7. The identification of roles and responsibilities associated with the above processes:

      Executive-level ATI representation

      • Executive Sponsor of ATI: Responsible for the oversight of the campus ATI
      • Campus Auditor: Responsible for collecting campus web site audits from campus web accessibility administrators on a yearly basis.

      Center for Accessible Media (CAM)

      • Responsible for collecting regular audits from departments on a monthly basis.
      • Responsible for annually reviewing university web site audits for overall accessibility.
      • Responsible for submitting an annual accessibility report to the respective department webmasters, the university webmaster, college deans and/or division vice presidents, the campus auditor and the CSULB executive ATI chair.

      Campus webmasters

      • Responsible for the oversight and management of a department or division web site which may contain a group of subsidiary web sites.
      • Responsible for administering site access for web authors who update the department or division web sites and for establishing and maintaining a list of these web authors.
      • Responsible for attending campus web certification training
      • Responsible for regularly auditing and certifying his/her campus web sites for web accessibility and submitting certification results to the appropriate vice president or dean.
      • Responsible for auditing and certifying new web sites for accessibility prior to launch and submitting certification results to the director of the Center for Accessible Media.

      Campus web authors

      • Responsible for writing, editing and maintaining accessible content for the web, regardless of whether the content is placed for them or they place it themselves.
      • Responsible for attending campus web certification training, particularly training in the creation of accessible content.

California State University, Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, California 90840