5 Major Reasons Why Your Department of Institutional Research Must Make Accessibility a Priority

As we have established, your department of institutional research and/or survey planning benefits greatly from having a truly accessible course evaluation software system such as Blue/Evaluations from Explorance. This cannot be emphasized enough since accessibility not only represents a great altruistic virtue, but also represents a far more pressing problem than most people realize.

Consider the following. More than 1 billion people worldwide live with some form of disability or impairment. Nearly 13.2% of the US population over 25 years of age has a disability or impairment, whether cognitive or physical, according to the US Disability News.  Statistics Canada claims that nearly 12.4 % of the Canadian population is similarly affected. What’s even more revealing is that there clearly is a link between having a disability and pursuing higher education. Only 14% of those with disabilities in the US will pursue post-secondary education, as compared to 30% for those that do not have a disability. The numbers are similar in Canada and in many developed countries around the world.

With this in mind, let’s consider some reasons why your institution needs to make accessibility a top priority.

1. Further your reach and response rates:

   It goes without saying that for those with physical disabilities, be they visual or motor-related, paper course evaluations or surveys can prove to be a problem. Whether it be on account of reading the questions or writing answers, either way, these serve as impediments to receiving the maximum feedback that you can.  By automating your information gathering process and by linking your survey planning system to Braille or screen reading technology, or allowing for skip navigation or alternative input devices or the use of text instead of non-text elements, you make completion of your surveys much easier.

2. Equal opportunity for all to provide strategic feedback:

   Related to the previous point, when you reach more people, you are able to gather a wider range of information, which can help you glean perspectives you may not have considered otherwise. Since those with impairments or disabilities are often not able to contribute, getting their feedback ensures a much more full range of data. Moreover, since you’re soliciting feedback from constituent groups that are often not considered, this helps you generate considerable amounts of goodwill. Which leads to our next point.

3. Reinforce your image and mission:

   By making accessibility a priority at your institution, you credibly position your college or university as one of those bastions of higher learning that truly care for the input of all of its students.

4. Benefit from usability enhancements:

   As was mentioned earlier, allowing for the integration of various technologies such as Braille, Jaws, VisionEyes, as well as the ability to convert text to non-text elements, allows one, again, to accommodate a much wider audience and receive feedback that would not otherwise be considered.

5. Comply with accessibility regulations:

   Being compliant with the stringent standards inherent within many government and intergovernmental organizations provides tremendous credibility for those who are looking to get served or dealt with in a way that suits them.  Software systems such as Blue which fully comply with the standards of various key regulatory bodies, including WCAG 2.0 (AA), Section 508, and CLF 2.0, assure that all have the right to provide feedback in any way they can regardless of the technologies they use. Systems that allow for this, ensure that accessibility is a guaranteed, fundamental right.

What steps has your institution taken to ensure that you reach the widest possible audience and gather as much feedback as possible? Let us know.