In 2003, the California State Legislature amended Government Code 11135 to require CSU to implement Section 508 of the American Disabilities Act and to apply federal accessibility standards to the electronic and information technology (EIT) products and services that CSU buys, creates, uses and maintains.

CMS is committed to meeting Federal Section 508 guidelines, and has established the CMS Accessible Technology Operating Principles, which include a commitment to:

• Promote Awareness, Training and Communication
• Define Baseline Development Standards  
• Provide Development Assessment Tools
• Deliver Accessible Web Pages and Documentation
• Implement Procedures for Interim Accommodation

CMS Campus ATI Group

CMS has established an ATI Representative group with members from each campus to work together to report and resolve issues with the CMS applications. Please visit the link to obtain a roster of members.

ATI Updates

• March 2009 ATI Activities Update (.pdf)
• Reporting Accessibility Issues to CMS

 

Accessibility Resources

CSUCO Accessible Technology Initiative

The Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) reflects the California State University's (CSU) ongoing commitment to provide access to information resources and technologies to individuals with disabilities.

Watch Video (.wmv): ATI Director, Deborah Kaplan talks about the CSU ATI Initiative.

CMS works closely with the central team to discover effective approaches for supporting accessibility standards. Numerous resources are posted to the CSU ATI Website, including links to Federal guidelines, systemwide initiatives, and training opportunities. Links to the Campus ATI Websites are also provided.

Oracle Accessibility Program

CMS works closely with Oracle, the provider of our Financials, Human Resources, and Campus Solutions products to ensure that the delivered product software meets accessibility standards, and to apply their published development standards to the CMS Baseline.

• Oracle Accessibility Program
  Link to the Oracle website accessibility program information
• Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPAT)
  Lists the Oracle Product Accessibility Status for each bullet of the Section 508 requirements.
  

 

Tools

The following tools are those currently under implementation within CMS for testing accessibility.

AccVerify

AccVerify is classified as a "code crawler" and can check html coding for omissions that work against subsets of acccessibility standards (i.e. untagged images, unlabeled data columns, etc.) The CSU has purchased a systemwide license for AccVerify, and a representative has been established as primary contact for each campus.

• Campus AccVerify Contacts (.xls)
• AccVerify Demo (.wmv)

Testing Toolbars

Free toolbars can be downloaded to work with Internet Explorer and/or Firefox that simulate how accessibility tools "see" web pages. Multiple free products are available; the ones listed below are those commonly utilized by the CSU Accessibility Initiative team.

• Firefox Web Browser with Accessibility Add On (Illinois ToolBar)
• Click Speak
• Zoom Text - Trial Version
• Jaws - Demonstration Version

 

 

Training

The following links are resources that can be utilized to obtain training. This list will continue to be updated as additional assistive technologies and approaches are identified and refined.

General Awareness

• Assistive Technologies for Physical Disabilities
  General introduction to the issues surrounding technologies for persons with physical disabilities.
• From Where I Sit
  A powerful video series of eight CSU students with disabilities who share their experiences in the college classroom.

Procurement

Training resources for those responsible for writing RFPs and contracts for the procurement of technology and techology-based services.

• CSU Accessible Electronic and Information Technology (E&IT) Procurement

Accessible Development Standards

CMS Developer Training demonstrates common accessibility issues and provides practical tips on exactly what steps can be taken on the current Application Designer toolset to apply accessibility standards. The training differentiates between what can be done in App Designer, versus what should be reported to Oracle for fixing directly in the delivered templates / application structure.

• CMS Developer Training

 

Additional resources for creating accessible products can be found at the following links.

• Developing for Performance and Accessibility (.pdf)
  Application Developer People Books: Chapter 8

• Oracle White Paper on Accessibility (.pdf)
  Includes instructions to turn on accessibility features within the Campus Solutions, Finance, and Human Resources applications.

• 508 In Depth
• Web Aim Section 508 Checklist
• Software Accessibility Guidelines

 

Accessible Documentation Training

The following document can be used as a training guide for using CMS templates to develop and deliver accessible documentation.

• CMS Guidelines for Creating Accessible Documentation (.pdf)
• Obtain the CMS templates

 

The following websites provide additional tips for converting documents to .pdf, and for creating acessible powerpoint presentations.

• Creating Adobe Acrobat .pdf files
• Creating Powerpoint Presentations