Report A Barrier: Creating and Implementing a Pan-University Accessibility Reporting System

摘要

Creating an accessible environment, whether in the digital or built landscape, is a goal to which we all aspire. Getting there can be somewhat daunting and hard to envision. We certainly have guidance from the regulatory world to begin the journey towards greater inclusion and accessibility (e.g. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 [1], W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines [2], Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1972 [3]), but how to address those situations that we don't know exist? What are the pressing issues right now? Following the lead of peer institutions and the direction given in various U.S. Department of Justice and Office of Civil Rights resolution agreements, the University of Virginia has created an online reporting mechanism involving key functional areas across the campus to address and remediate accessibility issues ranging from those with immediate solutions to long-term capital projects. Based on a distributed responsibility model and built by University of Virginia (UVA) developers, "Report A Barrier" is designed to allow anyone (university community members and guests) to report what they may consider a barrier to access.