1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,100 We're on a worldwide search to see what inclusive education looks like. 2 00:00:04,100 --> 00:00:07,365 So Blackboard Ally is going on tour for 2019, 3 00:00:07,365 --> 00:00:10,050 visiting campuses around the globe to learn how they're 4 00:00:10,050 --> 00:00:12,885 tackling their toughest accessibility challenges 5 00:00:12,885 --> 00:00:16,720 and improving the learning experience for all their students. 6 00:00:17,330 --> 00:00:23,500 All right. We're back with another episode of the BB Ally Tour Podcast series. 7 00:00:23,500 --> 00:00:26,940 After a trek across the country from Berkeley, California 8 00:00:26,940 --> 00:00:28,855 to Charlotte, North Carolina, 9 00:00:28,855 --> 00:00:31,415 I've arrived here at Gaston College 10 00:00:31,415 --> 00:00:35,090 where I'm sitting down with Kim Gelsinger and Karen Duncan 11 00:00:35,090 --> 00:00:39,620 to learn about how they've been using Blackboard Ally over the past year 12 00:00:39,620 --> 00:00:42,470 to make their learning content more accessible. 13 00:00:42,470 --> 00:00:46,160 They've been really keen on leveraging the institutional report 14 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:51,220 to design their strategy, identify high impact courses, 15 00:00:51,220 --> 00:00:53,760 and put processes in place to make a difference. 16 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,930 So let's hear about what their strategies have been, 17 00:00:56,930 --> 00:01:01,355 how they're taking the next steps to becoming a more inclusive campus. 18 00:01:01,355 --> 00:01:03,380 On the Ally Road Tour, 19 00:01:03,380 --> 00:01:06,860 I have arrived at Gaston College in North Carolina. 20 00:01:06,860 --> 00:01:09,860 I'm sitting down with two members of the team 21 00:01:09,860 --> 00:01:13,535 that's been leading their charge for inclusive learning 22 00:01:13,535 --> 00:01:14,900 and their Ally rollout. 23 00:01:14,900 --> 00:01:17,220 So I'm going to let you two introduce yourselves. 24 00:01:17,220 --> 00:01:19,380 I'm going to start on my left here with Karen. 25 00:01:19,380 --> 00:01:22,460 Karen Duncan, and I am the instructional technology specialist, 26 00:01:22,460 --> 00:01:26,095 and I am also the e-learning accessibility liaison. 27 00:01:26,095 --> 00:01:27,380 I'm Kim Gelsinger. 28 00:01:27,380 --> 00:01:30,710 I'm the director of distance education here at Gaston College, 29 00:01:30,710 --> 00:01:35,525 and I pretty much oversee the day-to-day operations on the learning management system. 30 00:01:35,525 --> 00:01:37,355 I wanted to start with this story. 31 00:01:37,355 --> 00:01:38,990 This is a famous story now. 32 00:01:38,990 --> 00:01:41,030 We have to get it on on camera. 33 00:01:41,030 --> 00:01:42,940 Tell me how you discovered Ally. 34 00:01:42,940 --> 00:01:46,550 John, I love sharing the story about Ally. 35 00:01:46,550 --> 00:01:48,140 A couple of years ago, 36 00:01:48,140 --> 00:01:55,485 a colleague and myself snuck away to Competitors LMS conference. 37 00:01:55,485 --> 00:01:58,005 It was being held in Colorado. 38 00:01:58,005 --> 00:02:03,260 As we were there, we happened to notice one of the exhibitors was Blackboard, 39 00:02:03,260 --> 00:02:07,160 and we tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, 40 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:12,180 but of course, we had to go by the booth and see what they were promoting, 41 00:02:12,180 --> 00:02:15,365 and Blackboard Ally was a new product that was being promoted. 42 00:02:15,365 --> 00:02:19,685 So we were so excited about Blackboard Ally that we came back to campus, 43 00:02:19,685 --> 00:02:23,070 and immediately got Karen on board with the product, 44 00:02:23,070 --> 00:02:27,230 and I think within an hour of us returning that following Monday, 45 00:02:27,230 --> 00:02:29,854 I had a call from our Blackboard account executive, 46 00:02:29,854 --> 00:02:35,630 wanting to know what I was doing at the Competitors LMS conference the week before. 47 00:02:35,630 --> 00:02:39,230 So I would say be careful where you go 48 00:02:39,230 --> 00:02:42,460 because you never know when somebody is going to see you, 49 00:02:42,460 --> 00:02:45,125 but you also never know what great products you're going to find. 50 00:02:45,125 --> 00:02:47,240 So it's a great story, 51 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,360 and we are so glad that we were able to implement Ally 52 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,970 in a very quick timeframe once we discovered it. 53 00:02:53,970 --> 00:02:57,650 Tell me, just what got you excited when you first saw Ally? 54 00:02:57,650 --> 00:03:00,410 What got you excited about the product? 55 00:03:00,410 --> 00:03:02,480 I think because in North Carolina, 56 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,950 all of the educational institutions were tasked 57 00:03:06,950 --> 00:03:10,460 with defining a five-year accessibility plan, 58 00:03:10,460 --> 00:03:13,760 and we had started that endeavor, 59 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:20,690 and we came to realize that it was going to take a lot of resources to remediate, 60 00:03:20,690 --> 00:03:23,225 to get us to where we needed to be. 61 00:03:23,225 --> 00:03:29,540 When we saw Ally, it was like the answer to all of our prayers. 62 00:03:29,540 --> 00:03:36,170 We wouldn't have to spend $30,000 to an outside vendor trying to remediate documents, 63 00:03:36,170 --> 00:03:38,120 or to find out even where to start. 64 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,300 So I think for the cost, for the implementation, 65 00:03:42,300 --> 00:03:47,120 I just saw it as an answer to our prayers of what we needed to get done. 66 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,360 Then of course, Karen took that ball and ran with it, 67 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:56,750 and what she's done over the last two years has just been amazing for Gaston College. 68 00:03:56,750 --> 00:03:59,450 Karen, were you involved in that initial- 69 00:03:59,450 --> 00:04:01,745 like, establishing that five-year plan in accessibility? 70 00:04:01,745 --> 00:04:02,375 Yes. 71 00:04:02,375 --> 00:04:06,530 I want to talk just a little bit what was mandated in that plan from the state, 72 00:04:06,530 --> 00:04:09,625 how you-all approached that five-year plan. 73 00:04:09,625 --> 00:04:12,230 Unfortunately, there was no models out there for us 74 00:04:12,230 --> 00:04:14,390 so we all had to develop our plans. 75 00:04:14,390 --> 00:04:19,355 And we did some collaboration with other institutions of what they were doing, 76 00:04:19,355 --> 00:04:23,560 and got an idea that we wanted to introduce universal design in our first year 77 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,105 because we had to let people be aware of why we were doing what we were doing. 78 00:04:28,105 --> 00:04:32,900 Then we broke it down into focusing on documents our second year, 79 00:04:32,900 --> 00:04:36,680 multimedia our third year, with also BPATS, 80 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,215 and then PowerPoints our fourth year, 81 00:04:39,215 --> 00:04:42,770 and then just rolling it all up in that last year. 82 00:04:42,770 --> 00:04:47,230 We have an online quality initiative that we've been doing since 2007, 83 00:04:47,230 --> 00:04:48,760 of some sort on our campus, 84 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,800 and then our QEP in 2012 and 2017, 85 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,040 was focusing on online quality standards, 86 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:56,530 and accessibility was a part of that. 87 00:04:56,530 --> 00:05:01,310 So we have been doing remediation with documents for a long long time. 88 00:05:01,310 --> 00:05:04,405 We just didn't have a way to find out how good we were doing. 89 00:05:04,405 --> 00:05:07,140 When we turned Blackboard Ally on, 90 00:05:07,140 --> 00:05:10,130 it was just that aha moment and excitement 91 00:05:10,130 --> 00:05:13,925 because we were seeing so much green in our gear shifts. 92 00:05:13,925 --> 00:05:17,010 So it really said, "You're on the right track," 93 00:05:17,010 --> 00:05:20,160 and now we had a way to track what we were wanting to do. 94 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:21,825 Initially, we were saying, 95 00:05:21,825 --> 00:05:23,160 "Our first year documents, 96 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:25,450 we're going to be 50 percent accessible with our documents." 97 00:05:25,450 --> 00:05:29,590 Well, that's very difficult to do when you don't know how many documents you have. 98 00:05:29,590 --> 00:05:33,140 Our statistics are showing us that that number changes daily. 99 00:05:33,140 --> 00:05:36,650 So you can't catch that 100 percent ever, but you can say, 100 00:05:36,650 --> 00:05:39,500 well, we're going to do 25 percent better than what we did, 101 00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:41,180 or 50 percent better. 102 00:05:41,180 --> 00:05:43,595 So now we have a realistic goal in sight, 103 00:05:43,595 --> 00:05:47,885 and instead of trying to break it down just by documents, 104 00:05:47,885 --> 00:05:49,640 and images, and powerpoints, 105 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,230 we're doing it all together now 106 00:05:51,230 --> 00:05:55,370 because we have the ability to do that with Ally, 107 00:05:55,370 --> 00:05:59,450 with additional software, with staff helping us remediate this. 108 00:05:59,450 --> 00:06:02,270 So the fact that we don't have to do that all by ourselves as well. 109 00:06:02,270 --> 00:06:06,935 How has Ally fit into the broader distance education piece? 110 00:06:06,935 --> 00:06:10,849 I think it's just one more piece of the all-inclusive access 111 00:06:10,849 --> 00:06:14,435 that is needed in our learning management system. 112 00:06:14,435 --> 00:06:20,005 Every one of our courses every semester has a Blackboard presence. 113 00:06:20,005 --> 00:06:22,120 Whether it's a completely online class 114 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:24,860 or whether it's a traditional class that meets in the classroom, 115 00:06:24,860 --> 00:06:27,635 but every single course has a Blackboard presence. 116 00:06:27,635 --> 00:06:33,725 So we're not only impacting those students that we typically defined as online 117 00:06:33,725 --> 00:06:38,165 but we're also being able to reach those students in the classroom 118 00:06:38,165 --> 00:06:41,930 that may have some of those accessibility issues with the content. 119 00:06:41,930 --> 00:06:44,690 Just the alternative formats in itself, 120 00:06:44,690 --> 00:06:51,730 I think lends so much to all users in the LMS that it was so seamless. 121 00:06:51,730 --> 00:06:54,250 Now, it's just like it's supposed to be there. 122 00:06:54,250 --> 00:06:57,290 It's not supposed to be a separate entity. 123 00:06:57,290 --> 00:07:01,330 So it's really melded with other things that we do within the LMS. 124 00:07:01,330 --> 00:07:04,350 You rolled out Ally pretty quickly to the whole campus. 125 00:07:04,350 --> 00:07:07,780 Did you start with a pilot? Or what was the process? 126 00:07:08,540 --> 00:07:11,770 When we started the process of presenting 127 00:07:11,770 --> 00:07:14,230 to our campus and our executive council to purchase this, 128 00:07:14,230 --> 00:07:16,150 that we moved through this in a month time frame. 129 00:07:16,150 --> 00:07:17,110 We pushed this through. 130 00:07:17,110 --> 00:07:21,250 So we went from October to November a year-and-a-half ago 131 00:07:21,250 --> 00:07:23,775 to purchase Ally and include it. 132 00:07:23,775 --> 00:07:28,905 In the spring, we did initial training with Randy Johnson, 133 00:07:28,905 --> 00:07:34,885 and then we also ran a small pilot with about 20 faculty members, 134 00:07:34,885 --> 00:07:39,485 where they came into some of the training that was conducted by Blackboard, 135 00:07:39,485 --> 00:07:42,280 and in their courses, and they started working on it. 136 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,685 Then we had it on selected courses in the fall, 137 00:07:45,685 --> 00:07:47,425 that we were working on some things, 138 00:07:47,425 --> 00:07:49,315 and then this past fall, 139 00:07:49,315 --> 00:07:51,860 attending the access and higher ground conference, 140 00:07:51,860 --> 00:07:55,720 it all came together of how we need to turn this on and implement it, 141 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,390 and start a plan for remediation of content. 142 00:07:59,390 --> 00:08:02,335 So January, we turned it on campus-wide, 143 00:08:02,335 --> 00:08:07,215 but we also cleaned up old courses and old course files, 144 00:08:07,215 --> 00:08:09,050 and got rid of a lot of duplicates, 145 00:08:09,050 --> 00:08:12,190 and then conducted training with 50 faculty members, 146 00:08:12,190 --> 00:08:14,605 and chose 68 courses that we want to focus on. 147 00:08:14,605 --> 00:08:17,180 So we're kind of doing a pilot this spring 148 00:08:17,180 --> 00:08:19,855 and we we'll continue this probably through the summer, 149 00:08:19,855 --> 00:08:22,150 and work on these specific courses, 150 00:08:22,150 --> 00:08:25,825 letting them have a master course that they're going to copy from in the future, 151 00:08:25,825 --> 00:08:28,240 and that way we know that the content is correct in it, 152 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:29,950 And then in the fall, 153 00:08:29,950 --> 00:08:33,510 we'll probably bring the training more campus-wide. 154 00:08:33,510 --> 00:08:36,270 Campus is aware of it. Some of them are using it. 155 00:08:36,270 --> 00:08:39,160 We're not focusing so much campus-wide right now. 156 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:40,270 We're focusing on that pilot. 157 00:08:40,270 --> 00:08:43,780 So we've done like two initial pilots since we've turned this on, 158 00:08:43,780 --> 00:08:47,970 but the pilot that's currently going, I'm tracking data. 159 00:08:47,970 --> 00:08:50,075 I know what their score was, 160 00:08:50,075 --> 00:08:54,330 I gathered baseline data to see what their score was before we ever did anything, 161 00:08:54,330 --> 00:08:56,235 and gave them that number. 162 00:08:56,235 --> 00:08:58,410 Then conducted initial training with them, 163 00:08:58,410 --> 00:08:59,730 so that they could start remediating, 164 00:08:59,730 --> 00:09:01,695 then they saw that number increase. 165 00:09:01,695 --> 00:09:04,630 Now, we're completing that remediation in those courses 166 00:09:04,630 --> 00:09:07,490 and then reviewing that with the faculty members. 167 00:09:07,490 --> 00:09:09,580 Some of the data that you're tracking there, 168 00:09:09,580 --> 00:09:12,720 and you just showed me some crazy spreadsheets 169 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,400 that you're doing all of this data collection and tracking, 170 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,985 what other data points are you tracking to help you 171 00:09:18,985 --> 00:09:23,790 understand the time that it takes to go through these courses and all of that? 172 00:09:23,790 --> 00:09:26,085 So on the spreadsheets that we have, 173 00:09:26,085 --> 00:09:29,105 the students actually start out with a day and a time, 174 00:09:29,105 --> 00:09:32,755 and then they also tell me on the document what they did to remediate. 175 00:09:32,755 --> 00:09:34,510 We're tracking what type of document. 176 00:09:34,510 --> 00:09:37,260 Was it a word document? A PowerPoint? A PDF? 177 00:09:37,260 --> 00:09:38,675 Sometimes they may do images, 178 00:09:38,675 --> 00:09:42,040 but we are asking our faculty members to remediate images 179 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:44,355 because they know what that up tech should be. 180 00:09:44,355 --> 00:09:45,490 When you say students, 181 00:09:45,490 --> 00:09:47,530 this is your student remediation team? 182 00:09:47,530 --> 00:09:49,840 Exactly. I call them students, 183 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,420 they're actually part time employees of the college, 184 00:09:52,420 --> 00:09:55,480 but they were all students at one time, 185 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:56,680 and some of them were students 186 00:09:56,680 --> 00:09:59,425 that I had in courses that I teach as an adjunct, 187 00:09:59,425 --> 00:10:02,210 and they were good students and so I hand-picked them, 188 00:10:02,210 --> 00:10:03,750 and that's how they came to me. 189 00:10:03,750 --> 00:10:07,150 Then Angus, who is blind, came as a work study 190 00:10:07,150 --> 00:10:08,440 because he was enrolled 191 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,110 and the instructor requested some assistance 192 00:10:11,110 --> 00:10:14,080 to make sure that his content was accessible to Angus. 193 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,060 And so we stumbled on Angus and grabbed him, 194 00:10:16,060 --> 00:10:17,660 and he's now part time. 195 00:10:17,660 --> 00:10:19,810 So I call them my students because they were students 196 00:10:19,810 --> 00:10:20,670 here at some point, 197 00:10:20,670 --> 00:10:24,075 but they've all, other than Angus, have graduated, 198 00:10:24,075 --> 00:10:25,685 and they continue to work with me, 199 00:10:25,685 --> 00:10:28,950 and then also a work study student that does transcripts for us, 200 00:10:28,950 --> 00:10:30,420 she will remediate that. 201 00:10:30,420 --> 00:10:32,495 But even with her doing transcripts, 202 00:10:32,495 --> 00:10:35,260 everything is date and time stamped, 203 00:10:35,260 --> 00:10:38,755 and then also a little description of what they do in there. 204 00:10:38,755 --> 00:10:41,130 So we track the document type, 205 00:10:41,130 --> 00:10:43,065 how many pages the document was, 206 00:10:43,065 --> 00:10:45,570 I'm taking averages of pages, 207 00:10:45,570 --> 00:10:48,209 I'm taking averages of time spent, 208 00:10:48,209 --> 00:10:51,295 and able to follow all of that. 209 00:10:51,295 --> 00:10:53,635 I never know when I'm going to meet that, 210 00:10:53,635 --> 00:10:57,025 and people don't realize how long it takes to remediate a document. 211 00:10:57,025 --> 00:11:00,310 A PowerPoint can take five hours to remediate 212 00:11:00,310 --> 00:11:04,225 depending on the length of it in the issues that they're finding. 213 00:11:04,225 --> 00:11:08,455 So we want to know exactly that our time is valuable, 214 00:11:08,455 --> 00:11:11,305 and that it's worth what we're doing here, 215 00:11:11,305 --> 00:11:15,175 to also support, continuing to keep them employed here. 216 00:11:15,175 --> 00:11:16,930 So the process then. 217 00:11:16,930 --> 00:11:20,060 So you've picked 68 courses you said? 218 00:11:20,060 --> 00:11:20,565 Yes. 219 00:11:20,565 --> 00:11:22,050 Sixty eight courses. 220 00:11:22,050 --> 00:11:24,495 So just beginning to end, 221 00:11:24,495 --> 00:11:26,130 what's that process look like? 222 00:11:26,130 --> 00:11:28,035 You pick up a course, 223 00:11:28,035 --> 00:11:30,460 you start off by looking at the file content? 224 00:11:30,460 --> 00:11:33,520 Or were just walk through the process and the key word that's involved, 225 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,175 and also the roles that the students play in that process? 226 00:11:36,175 --> 00:11:36,925 Okay. 227 00:11:36,925 --> 00:11:41,380 So our deans chose high enrollment courses. 228 00:11:41,380 --> 00:11:44,485 So I met with each of the divisional deans, 229 00:11:44,485 --> 00:11:47,680 and our Arts and Sciences have a little more robust, 230 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:50,290 they've chose 25 courses that we're looking at, 231 00:11:50,290 --> 00:11:52,030 and then our Business division has 13, 232 00:11:52,030 --> 00:11:54,235 our Health has 10 or 13. 233 00:11:54,235 --> 00:11:56,170 We have an EMS fire area, 234 00:11:56,170 --> 00:11:58,120 that's through our workforce development, 235 00:11:58,120 --> 00:11:59,590 they've chosen maybe six or seven, 236 00:11:59,590 --> 00:12:01,135 and then our engineering programs. 237 00:12:01,135 --> 00:12:02,710 They don't have as many online classes, 238 00:12:02,710 --> 00:12:04,390 but we're even looking at seated classes 239 00:12:04,390 --> 00:12:06,430 because they put a lot of content in Blackboard 240 00:12:06,430 --> 00:12:09,070 for those seated in web-assisted classes. 241 00:12:09,070 --> 00:12:15,160 So the initial process is we focus on some high enrollment courses. 242 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:20,020 Then in December, I pulled all of the statistics for those courses, 243 00:12:20,020 --> 00:12:22,150 what they're Blackboard Ally score was, 244 00:12:22,150 --> 00:12:25,330 and then pulled the sheet of what was the images, 245 00:12:25,330 --> 00:12:26,950 was it missing headings, 246 00:12:26,950 --> 00:12:28,240 the report that you pulled, 247 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,120 the institution report that you can see that and printed that out. 248 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:38,094 Then in January of this past year, scheduled 30 trainings, 249 00:12:38,094 --> 00:12:41,005 15 on image remediation online, 250 00:12:41,005 --> 00:12:44,590 and then 15 on course file management. 251 00:12:44,590 --> 00:12:46,630 How to make folders in their course files, 252 00:12:46,630 --> 00:12:48,970 how to organize that chunk their stuff together 253 00:12:48,970 --> 00:12:50,980 because if they wanted to download all the PowerPoints, 254 00:12:50,980 --> 00:12:53,785 they could download it in a zip file if it was in a folder, 255 00:12:53,785 --> 00:12:55,750 removing duplicate files, 256 00:12:55,750 --> 00:12:59,440 showing them how to replace a file on a course 257 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,190 instead of removing it from an attached item and then reattaching it, 258 00:13:03,190 --> 00:13:05,425 and now it has a number in the course files. 259 00:13:05,425 --> 00:13:08,500 So explaining that and given the management on that. 260 00:13:08,500 --> 00:13:13,045 So that was the initial training that was conducted in January with 50 faculty members. 261 00:13:13,045 --> 00:13:17,770 We did them in small groups that was the maximum that they could come in training. 262 00:13:17,770 --> 00:13:19,030 So we had more hands on. 263 00:13:19,030 --> 00:13:23,200 They were doing the image remediation in the courses 264 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,500 that we showed them how to do it with the Blackboard image which is very easy, 265 00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:30,130 click on the red gear shift, add all text, click Add 266 00:13:30,130 --> 00:13:33,115 and they would see the gear shift change and they were all excited. 267 00:13:33,115 --> 00:13:36,040 Showed them how to download a word document or PowerPoint 268 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:37,300 and run it through accessibility and 269 00:13:37,300 --> 00:13:41,710 just fix the issues with images and not to make it overwhelming to them, 270 00:13:41,710 --> 00:13:43,120 I don't know how do the heading, 271 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:48,700 and my student workers can take care of that type of remediation. 272 00:13:48,700 --> 00:13:49,960 So that was our first step. 273 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,885 We spent January doing training. 274 00:13:52,885 --> 00:13:57,460 Then we've also purchased a software called Common Book. 275 00:13:57,460 --> 00:14:02,155 That helps us with our remediation as well as using Adobe Professional. 276 00:14:02,155 --> 00:14:07,105 Then we started breaking up the courses, 277 00:14:07,105 --> 00:14:11,545 adding my student workers as course builders. 278 00:14:11,545 --> 00:14:15,880 So they had access to the course files and we're now able to see great courses. 279 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:20,560 So they didn't have to worry about the integrity of the student grades being compromised. 280 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,440 So then we created a Spreadsheet, 281 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,820 and this took a couple tries to figure out the best way to do all of this. 282 00:14:27,820 --> 00:14:30,325 We used Dropbox, shared folders, 283 00:14:30,325 --> 00:14:33,610 so I create an initial Spreadsheet with all the information form, 284 00:14:33,610 --> 00:14:36,100 I enrolled them in as a course builder in the course, 285 00:14:36,100 --> 00:14:38,230 we numbered the folders in their Dropbox, 286 00:14:38,230 --> 00:14:40,915 so they know how they're supposed to work through them, 287 00:14:40,915 --> 00:14:45,145 and then they go into the course files and they'll download the course file, 288 00:14:45,145 --> 00:14:48,445 and then they'll remediate it and put it in their Dropbox folder. 289 00:14:48,445 --> 00:14:51,970 Once they complete the initial remediation, 290 00:14:51,970 --> 00:14:54,820 Sarah and Shauna are the two that go through that. 291 00:14:54,820 --> 00:14:56,980 Then it gets ready for Screen Reader testing, 292 00:14:56,980 --> 00:14:58,900 which is our quality control. 293 00:14:58,900 --> 00:15:03,250 So they take that folder and they move it over to Angus so that he 294 00:15:03,250 --> 00:15:08,470 now can take those same files and go ahead and listen to those, 295 00:15:08,470 --> 00:15:09,730 run them through the Screen Reader, 296 00:15:09,730 --> 00:15:12,670 and then he keeps a Spreadsheet of all the data that he's going through, 297 00:15:12,670 --> 00:15:15,505 and any comments if there's things to get done. 298 00:15:15,505 --> 00:15:18,670 As Shauna and Sarah are remediating documents, 299 00:15:18,670 --> 00:15:20,905 they're replacing the files in the course files. 300 00:15:20,905 --> 00:15:24,520 So they're using the gear shift and then they will go upload 301 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:28,810 that file so that the current in the correct file is in there. 302 00:15:28,810 --> 00:15:30,970 If Angus has any issues with it, 303 00:15:30,970 --> 00:15:34,090 then I pull the file from where they left it with him 304 00:15:34,090 --> 00:15:37,240 and then I will continue with any additional remediation, 305 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,420 some things that they may not have the skills to remediate. 306 00:15:40,420 --> 00:15:42,910 Then if Angus needs to listen to it again, 307 00:15:42,910 --> 00:15:47,215 we'll send it back to him or I will upload and replace the file in there, 308 00:15:47,215 --> 00:15:51,460 and we're keeping up with time of everybody that spends in the remediation. 309 00:15:51,460 --> 00:15:55,030 So initial remediation, Screen Reader remediation, 310 00:15:55,030 --> 00:15:58,045 and then my final remediation of the document. 311 00:15:58,045 --> 00:16:02,470 I also look at the HTML report that comes through Blackboard Ally, 312 00:16:02,470 --> 00:16:06,115 and then I'll go in and remediate anything that we can do there. 313 00:16:06,115 --> 00:16:08,335 So when I'm done, 314 00:16:08,335 --> 00:16:13,285 the lowest score I've had so far is a 97 percent with Blackboard Ally, 315 00:16:13,285 --> 00:16:15,775 and a number of 100 percent. 316 00:16:15,775 --> 00:16:18,445 So it's very exciting. 317 00:16:18,445 --> 00:16:24,010 Are those lingering percentages usually some issues that are difficult to fix? 318 00:16:24,010 --> 00:16:27,475 Is it some kinnd of quirky file or something like that? 319 00:16:27,475 --> 00:16:28,450 Pardon. 320 00:16:28,450 --> 00:16:30,940 The class that I teach as an adjunct. 321 00:16:30,940 --> 00:16:34,720 Because of the content I teach in Advanced Word processing course. 322 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:39,070 So a lot of the files that I upload as content are files that 323 00:16:39,070 --> 00:16:43,555 the student has to use to do an exercise. 324 00:16:43,555 --> 00:16:45,925 It might be applying heading styles. 325 00:16:45,925 --> 00:16:48,565 So we know that that document will not ever be 326 00:16:48,565 --> 00:16:51,445 100 percent because it's not going to have headings styles on it, 327 00:16:51,445 --> 00:16:53,065 that's part of the student's work. 328 00:16:53,065 --> 00:16:55,315 So depending on the content, 329 00:16:55,315 --> 00:16:59,950 subject matter, there may be classes that will never reach 100 percent. 330 00:16:59,950 --> 00:17:03,175 But as long as the instructor understands that, 331 00:17:03,175 --> 00:17:06,025 then that's okay, because I know it's the best that they can be. 332 00:17:06,025 --> 00:17:06,520 Yeah. 333 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,115 Then some of those are the OCR, 334 00:17:09,115 --> 00:17:10,630 which you showed me the trick today. 335 00:17:10,630 --> 00:17:15,265 So I might be coming back and fixing those and bring in those 97s to 100, 336 00:17:15,265 --> 00:17:17,485 if I can't get a little closer. 337 00:17:17,485 --> 00:17:22,360 Some of the HTML I've tried to look at I can't figure out why 338 00:17:22,360 --> 00:17:27,235 it's not given me that reading and it's few and far between there's a few in there. 339 00:17:27,235 --> 00:17:29,994 Some of the things that we're also finding 340 00:17:29,994 --> 00:17:33,865 is the faculty are putting the Publisher PowerPoints. 341 00:17:33,865 --> 00:17:38,665 So what we're also finding is that they're asking students to pay 342 00:17:38,665 --> 00:17:43,900 to access the Publisher's site and the Publisher's PowerPoint is already there. 343 00:17:43,900 --> 00:17:46,630 So why do we want to put that file in our course? 344 00:17:46,630 --> 00:17:49,480 Why don't we link to the Publisher's content? 345 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,545 And then it's not we're helping increase their scores as well. 346 00:17:53,545 --> 00:17:56,605 So we're trying to work smarter as well. 347 00:17:56,605 --> 00:17:59,380 They have to pay this course card, they're going to access, 348 00:17:59,380 --> 00:18:01,150 this is where their videos are, 349 00:18:01,150 --> 00:18:02,485 this is where their PowerPoints are. 350 00:18:02,485 --> 00:18:05,005 Well, let's link to them and tell them that's where they're going to get that, 351 00:18:05,005 --> 00:18:08,110 and then we don't have to worry about remediating that document. 352 00:18:08,110 --> 00:18:10,450 Publisher PowerPoints change every two years. 353 00:18:10,450 --> 00:18:12,220 We don't want to spend a bunch of time remediating 354 00:18:12,220 --> 00:18:15,160 a document that's not going to be good next time they use the course. 355 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,430 Then also Cengage, I'll give kudos to them. 356 00:18:18,430 --> 00:18:20,710 Their new content that they are creating, 357 00:18:20,710 --> 00:18:24,370 their PowerPoints are awesome and so many of them are 358 00:18:24,370 --> 00:18:26,380 accessible with amazing all text that they're 359 00:18:26,380 --> 00:18:28,780 putting in there for their crafts, for their images. 360 00:18:28,780 --> 00:18:32,980 So definitely, kudos to them and I have reached out to tell them that. 361 00:18:32,980 --> 00:18:35,485 So they're doing their job. 362 00:18:35,485 --> 00:18:37,495 So it sounds that one of the, 363 00:18:37,495 --> 00:18:41,830 maybe unanticipated benefits with demo file management, 364 00:18:41,830 --> 00:18:46,000 cleaning up courses has also been on the elements directly maybe. 365 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,690 Absolutely. Just getting rid of cleaning up 366 00:18:49,690 --> 00:18:54,910 those course files has made a real big impact 367 00:18:54,910 --> 00:18:59,645 on the amount of storage space that we may be utilizing in Blackboard. 368 00:18:59,645 --> 00:19:03,450 It's amazing how many multiple copies of 369 00:19:03,450 --> 00:19:09,030 the same document was being uploaded to one specific course, 370 00:19:09,030 --> 00:19:14,475 but it was all because the instructors did not have the training, 371 00:19:14,475 --> 00:19:19,005 the knowledge to be able to know how to do that efficiently. 372 00:19:19,005 --> 00:19:22,920 So just getting rid of all of those duplicate documents or 373 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:27,150 getting rid of possible documents that haven't been attached, 374 00:19:27,150 --> 00:19:30,570 they were unattached but never removed from the course. 375 00:19:30,570 --> 00:19:33,420 So it has had an impact even on them. 376 00:19:33,420 --> 00:19:36,000 Sometimes when they're copying the course from the semester, 377 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,830 the old syllabus is still lingering in the course files and they don't realize, 378 00:19:40,830 --> 00:19:42,990 oh, I need to remove this. 379 00:19:42,990 --> 00:19:47,490 So we're trying to teach them how to work smarter and utilize that, 380 00:19:47,490 --> 00:19:50,370 and teach them that course files is their course flash drive. 381 00:19:50,370 --> 00:19:55,230 Make folders, organize, delete, replace that way. 382 00:19:55,230 --> 00:19:59,445 If you can give them that concept they'll understand that a little bit better. 383 00:19:59,445 --> 00:20:04,785 Karen had mentioned linking out to the Publisher's content. 384 00:20:04,785 --> 00:20:10,770 That in itself if everybody would link out to where that content is, 385 00:20:10,770 --> 00:20:14,730 that would free up so much more of our storage capacity 386 00:20:14,730 --> 00:20:17,850 within the elements and we wouldn't be paying 387 00:20:17,850 --> 00:20:21,390 an additional fee for that additional storage that we need. 388 00:20:21,390 --> 00:20:26,295 What's been maybe the biggest challenge in remediating these courses? 389 00:20:26,295 --> 00:20:31,920 Are there any particular file types or you mentioned that the scans... 390 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:33,420 The scans for sure. 391 00:20:33,420 --> 00:20:36,795 We need a little more knowledge with remediating if it's the PDF, 392 00:20:36,795 --> 00:20:40,245 because those are so difficult if we don't have that source document. 393 00:20:40,245 --> 00:20:44,910 A lot of faculty are also trying to link them to where those PDFs are located, 394 00:20:44,910 --> 00:20:47,175 instead of downloading the PDF on a website, 395 00:20:47,175 --> 00:20:49,110 make a web link to the URL, 396 00:20:49,110 --> 00:20:54,585 and then hopefully the Publisher updates or whoever on their website, 397 00:20:54,585 --> 00:20:58,065 then that document would be updated there as well with it. 398 00:20:58,065 --> 00:21:00,615 But if I don't have that original document, 399 00:21:00,615 --> 00:21:05,760 that I'm trying to convert it or I'm trying to remediate it 400 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:11,235 in the text structure and I know enough to be dangerous sometimes. 401 00:21:11,235 --> 00:21:15,510 We need more training and more knowledge on actually 402 00:21:15,510 --> 00:21:19,290 remediating that PDF and those who bears with it. 403 00:21:19,290 --> 00:21:21,165 Sometimes with the PowerPoints, 404 00:21:21,165 --> 00:21:23,715 just we're having some contrast issues but 405 00:21:23,715 --> 00:21:27,180 we're not focusing on fixing those so much right now. 406 00:21:27,180 --> 00:21:30,420 PowerPoints have missing titles and people just they don't use 407 00:21:30,420 --> 00:21:33,390 the built in layouts when they're creating PowerPoint, 408 00:21:33,390 --> 00:21:36,420 and they don't understand that because they were never taught. 409 00:21:36,420 --> 00:21:39,660 They weren't taught how to add structure to Word documents. 410 00:21:39,660 --> 00:21:43,620 We're trying to make that common now here at the college 411 00:21:43,620 --> 00:21:46,275 with our syllabus template that we've created, 412 00:21:46,275 --> 00:21:50,505 and train all of the full-time faculty on how to use that. 413 00:21:50,505 --> 00:21:53,220 So it's just that that's not their area of expertise, 414 00:21:53,220 --> 00:21:55,470 and so that's the struggle that they don't understand and 415 00:21:55,470 --> 00:21:57,945 realize how to do it and why they have to do it. 416 00:21:57,945 --> 00:22:00,510 But earlier you were talking about HTML content, 417 00:22:00,510 --> 00:22:04,470 and so you're talking about looking at the institutional report and 418 00:22:04,470 --> 00:22:08,970 checking what each HTML pages that they've created in the course. 419 00:22:08,970 --> 00:22:10,650 Correct, correct. 420 00:22:10,650 --> 00:22:14,880 We have one that I created, it's our technical information 421 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:18,315 and it lists where our labs are located on our class. 422 00:22:18,315 --> 00:22:23,040 Because it was copied and pasted, sometimes it's got a malformed list, 423 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:24,540 and it looks right. 424 00:22:24,540 --> 00:22:25,680 It's got indented bullets, 425 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,115 it's got bullets but when I clear and strip the formatting in it, 426 00:22:29,115 --> 00:22:30,450 it loses the bullets. 427 00:22:30,450 --> 00:22:32,850 So now I realize that's the malformed list, 428 00:22:32,850 --> 00:22:34,380 so I fixed it in our course template. 429 00:22:34,380 --> 00:22:36,570 So whenever Kim and Beverly create courses, 430 00:22:36,570 --> 00:22:38,700 now it's created, copied correctly. 431 00:22:38,700 --> 00:22:40,770 But we've got so many old courses that are using that, 432 00:22:40,770 --> 00:22:44,220 now I'm trying to go back in and fix it when I'm doing some of these things. 433 00:22:44,220 --> 00:22:47,490 So those are things that the faculty don't have access to. 434 00:22:47,490 --> 00:22:52,755 Sometimes are easy fix or sometimes it tells me we've used the Blackboard styles, 435 00:22:52,755 --> 00:22:56,145 so we're trying to apply the heading one in the subheadings, 436 00:22:56,145 --> 00:22:59,115 but then it may be missing a heading. 437 00:22:59,115 --> 00:23:02,130 So I have to go into the HTML and search for the heading code, 438 00:23:02,130 --> 00:23:04,020 and then delete if there's a blank heading. 439 00:23:04,020 --> 00:23:05,520 Because sometimes, blank headings show up 440 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,960 and so those are things as well that we spend time remediating. 441 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:15,990 Ally soon will provide feedback at the instructor level on that HTML content. 442 00:23:15,990 --> 00:23:17,880 So hopefully that will help that course. 443 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,450 Did you notice how much more HTML content you have now 444 00:23:21,450 --> 00:23:25,095 compared to two years ago in your institutional report? 445 00:23:25,095 --> 00:23:27,285 It's quite a bit more. 446 00:23:27,285 --> 00:23:30,420 It's my fault. The way we were designing and building things, 447 00:23:30,420 --> 00:23:31,995 we started using the styles. 448 00:23:31,995 --> 00:23:37,790 So instead of them adding a document that was one paragraph or 449 00:23:37,790 --> 00:23:41,120 their outcomes and the student had to open up 450 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,580 a Word document to say what the student outcomes were, 451 00:23:43,580 --> 00:23:45,230 it was a list of three things. 452 00:23:45,230 --> 00:23:47,410 So we started making that an item, 453 00:23:47,410 --> 00:23:49,950 and so that's one of the reasons there as well. 454 00:23:49,950 --> 00:23:51,960 So that why would we want to force them to open up 455 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,125 a Word document that they may not have especially mobile. 456 00:23:55,125 --> 00:23:59,370 They may not have Word on their phone to be able to open that document. 457 00:23:59,370 --> 00:24:03,585 So it was like, let's reduce our documents in our courses. 458 00:24:03,585 --> 00:24:04,920 For the short little things, 459 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:06,330 let's put it on the screen so that they can 460 00:24:06,330 --> 00:24:08,325 read it especially if they're doing a mobile view. 461 00:24:08,325 --> 00:24:11,565 So that's one of the reasons why that number has increased. 462 00:24:11,565 --> 00:24:13,200 I think it's really good. I mean, 463 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,830 it certainly contributes I think to the improvement in your score too overall, 464 00:24:16,830 --> 00:24:21,930 because that content is generally much more accessible than the Word document or the PDF. 465 00:24:21,930 --> 00:24:25,770 So I think it's a great move seeing that HTML increase 466 00:24:25,770 --> 00:24:28,395 because we know that it's going to be more accessible. 467 00:24:28,395 --> 00:24:32,700 How did you get involved in accessibility, Karen? 468 00:24:32,700 --> 00:24:35,115 This was not your original calling. 469 00:24:35,115 --> 00:24:39,855 No, it was not. It fell in my lap, 470 00:24:39,855 --> 00:24:43,290 and it's something that I enjoyed the challenge and the change of it. 471 00:24:43,290 --> 00:24:48,450 So I started searching out ways to do it more with accessibility. 472 00:24:48,450 --> 00:24:52,290 It was part of our online process when we started 473 00:24:52,290 --> 00:24:58,410 our pilot project from 2007 to 2010 with online standards, 474 00:24:58,410 --> 00:25:01,350 and there was a small piece built in there with accessibility. 475 00:25:01,350 --> 00:25:04,410 Then with our QDP in 2010, 476 00:25:04,410 --> 00:25:07,485 my position changed over to instructional technology, 477 00:25:07,485 --> 00:25:13,455 and our QDP began in 2012 and we did online quality standards, 478 00:25:13,455 --> 00:25:16,215 and one of our sections was accessibility. 479 00:25:16,215 --> 00:25:19,665 So because I was over that portion of the QDP, 480 00:25:19,665 --> 00:25:21,390 accessibility fell into my lap. 481 00:25:21,390 --> 00:25:22,920 So when we were doing course reviews, 482 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:27,570 we were checking for that basic 508 stuff that they were talking about. 483 00:25:27,570 --> 00:25:28,770 Now that you have lists, 484 00:25:28,770 --> 00:25:30,360 that you had descriptive hyperlinks, 485 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:32,280 that you had all text, 486 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:34,290 that you had captions and transcripts. 487 00:25:34,290 --> 00:25:36,615 So that little short punch list, 488 00:25:36,615 --> 00:25:38,250 we were looking at that. 489 00:25:38,250 --> 00:25:40,530 Then in 2014, 490 00:25:40,530 --> 00:25:42,780 North Carolina Community College system told us 491 00:25:42,780 --> 00:25:45,135 that we had a five year accessibility plan, 492 00:25:45,135 --> 00:25:49,890 and I was asked to oversee the e-learning content of it, 493 00:25:49,890 --> 00:25:53,265 because I was already working with this in our standards. 494 00:25:53,265 --> 00:25:56,100 So we helped develop the plan. 495 00:25:56,100 --> 00:26:00,825 So once again, I just felt I needed to know more and 496 00:26:00,825 --> 00:26:03,600 searched out my certificate program through 497 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,720 the University of Illinois that help with accessibility. 498 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,375 A lot of it is learning on your own, 499 00:26:09,375 --> 00:26:12,570 attending conferences where you can find accessibility and 500 00:26:12,570 --> 00:26:16,110 watching people present and seeing how they're remediating documents, 501 00:26:16,110 --> 00:26:18,225 and okay, that's good. Let's go try that. 502 00:26:18,225 --> 00:26:22,995 Then come back and drag Kim in and show her what I learned. 503 00:26:22,995 --> 00:26:27,075 So sometimes we know enough to be dangerous, 504 00:26:27,075 --> 00:26:30,165 but we try and figure out it's a puzzle. 505 00:26:30,165 --> 00:26:33,030 My motto is I always win. 506 00:26:33,030 --> 00:26:34,755 In one way or another, 507 00:26:34,755 --> 00:26:36,120 I'm going to make it work. 508 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:40,470 So I enjoy getting in there and trying to figure it out. 509 00:26:40,470 --> 00:26:45,165 I think Karen is a natural born project manager. 510 00:26:45,165 --> 00:26:50,010 Over the years, I've seen Karen lead multiple initiatives on campus, 511 00:26:50,010 --> 00:26:56,655 and this was just a natural transition from the quality initiative into accessibility. 512 00:26:56,655 --> 00:27:01,650 Karen becomes very passionate about the project that she's working on. 513 00:27:01,650 --> 00:27:05,685 In fact, before the state of North Carolina 514 00:27:05,685 --> 00:27:10,500 told all of their education institutions that we needed a five-year accessibility plan, 515 00:27:10,500 --> 00:27:15,465 Karen was already passionate about accessibility from the enhancement plan. 516 00:27:15,465 --> 00:27:15,945 QDP. 517 00:27:15,945 --> 00:27:24,570 QDP. So Karen and I went out to Utah to Web Aim workshop, 518 00:27:24,570 --> 00:27:30,345 and we were one of the two colleges from North Carolina present. 519 00:27:30,345 --> 00:27:33,490 So I feel like we were almost pioneers 520 00:27:33,490 --> 00:27:37,220 in moving accessibility and education forward in North Carolina. 521 00:27:37,220 --> 00:27:41,960 But a lot of that was due to Karen's natural ability to 522 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:43,970 be a great project manager and to be 523 00:27:43,970 --> 00:27:47,225 passionate about whatever it is that she's working on. 524 00:27:47,225 --> 00:27:53,475 So Gaston College is where it is because of Karen's passion, 525 00:27:53,475 --> 00:27:55,605 and she always wins, 526 00:27:55,605 --> 00:27:59,230 just like she said, and we all know that. 527 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:03,905 So we've been very successful at Gaston as well. 528 00:28:03,905 --> 00:28:05,975 When accessibility wins, everybody wins. 529 00:28:05,975 --> 00:28:06,380 Absolutely. 530 00:28:06,380 --> 00:28:07,685 So that's a good thing. 531 00:28:07,685 --> 00:28:11,600 Our college has been so supportive of this. 532 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,590 If we say we need it, they make it happen, 533 00:28:15,590 --> 00:28:18,815 and when we decided we wanted Blackboard Ally, 534 00:28:18,815 --> 00:28:21,770 it was like two or three weeks, 535 00:28:21,770 --> 00:28:23,450 it was decided that yes, 536 00:28:23,450 --> 00:28:26,450 we're going to do this and we were able to say why we needed it. 537 00:28:26,450 --> 00:28:28,370 We were able to show them why we needed it. 538 00:28:28,370 --> 00:28:30,740 We were able to show them how great it was going to be, 539 00:28:30,740 --> 00:28:35,180 and so we had those facts and figures and they're like yes, 540 00:28:35,180 --> 00:28:38,390 and if we say we need this yes. 541 00:28:38,390 --> 00:28:41,270 Fortunately we've been able to use Perkins funding, 542 00:28:41,270 --> 00:28:45,290 and I have two workers that are here 28 hours a week, 543 00:28:45,290 --> 00:28:47,450 and able to assist with this. 544 00:28:47,450 --> 00:28:50,885 They've allowed me a temporary part time position with Sarah, 545 00:28:50,885 --> 00:28:52,475 and I've had her for three years. 546 00:28:52,475 --> 00:28:56,585 I'm allowed to have work study students that can help with transcripts, 547 00:28:56,585 --> 00:28:58,685 so they have been very supportive. 548 00:28:58,685 --> 00:29:00,035 We asked for it, 549 00:29:00,035 --> 00:29:03,410 they pretty much will see that we get it. 550 00:29:03,410 --> 00:29:07,830 What was part of making that business case for Ally? 551 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:13,010 Did you talk about of what you were currently doing in accessibility? 552 00:29:13,010 --> 00:29:15,950 Yeah, because we really didn't have a way to track the numbers. 553 00:29:15,950 --> 00:29:20,855 We didn't know how many documents we had in Blackboard. 554 00:29:20,855 --> 00:29:22,775 We knew the courses. 555 00:29:22,775 --> 00:29:24,170 We knew how many courses we had in there 556 00:29:24,170 --> 00:29:27,725 but we couldn't drill down to that content, 557 00:29:27,725 --> 00:29:31,010 and as soon as we saw that Ally we can say, 558 00:29:31,010 --> 00:29:33,184 this course has 73 documents, 559 00:29:33,184 --> 00:29:37,475 and these were the issues with it and the remediation features of it 560 00:29:37,475 --> 00:29:42,320 meant to say something earlier with it when you did that instructor preview of, 561 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,050 now their Word document and it's going to show us that where 562 00:29:45,050 --> 00:29:49,580 the contrast colors are messed up in the document or where the heading structure is. 563 00:29:49,580 --> 00:29:53,150 That was the greatest thing and when I saw you guys in 564 00:29:53,150 --> 00:29:57,740 November with accessing higher ground did a little conversation, 565 00:29:57,740 --> 00:29:59,780 and I would say, the preview was coming 566 00:29:59,780 --> 00:30:01,805 and I got to see that in your bayden and I was like, 567 00:30:01,805 --> 00:30:03,950 oh my God, when I got back, I was like, 568 00:30:03,950 --> 00:30:07,235 you cannot believe what's going to happen and then you turned it on in January. 569 00:30:07,235 --> 00:30:10,070 I was like, yes. 570 00:30:10,070 --> 00:30:12,485 So that's great because now they can say, 571 00:30:12,485 --> 00:30:16,160 "Oh that's what's wrong with it," or where they're looking for it and 572 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:20,075 it just makes that so much easier to remediate those documents. 573 00:30:20,075 --> 00:30:23,705 When you rolled out to the entire campus that was in January. 574 00:30:23,705 --> 00:30:25,140 January, yes. 575 00:30:25,140 --> 00:30:28,540 Any push back from faculty? Did you get questions? 576 00:30:28,540 --> 00:30:29,770 What are these gauges doing? 577 00:30:29,770 --> 00:30:31,330 Why is my course all red? 578 00:30:31,330 --> 00:30:34,255 Did any questions come to the office at all? 579 00:30:34,255 --> 00:30:38,290 I don't really think it did because I think we had done a really good job back in 580 00:30:38,290 --> 00:30:42,695 the fall of doing some initial training. 581 00:30:42,695 --> 00:30:45,380 We took the opportunity at convocation. 582 00:30:45,380 --> 00:30:46,955 At convocation in January. 583 00:30:46,955 --> 00:30:51,530 In January. So we let them know what the gauges meant. 584 00:30:51,530 --> 00:30:55,370 I even had some little marketing cards 585 00:30:55,370 --> 00:30:59,180 if you will set up advertised some 30 minute workshops. 586 00:30:59,180 --> 00:31:02,150 Karen had mentioned some training that we had done. 587 00:31:02,150 --> 00:31:05,930 Our faculty could come to a 30 minute lunch workshop and learn 588 00:31:05,930 --> 00:31:10,025 about the gauges so that they didn't panic when they saw the gauge. 589 00:31:10,025 --> 00:31:12,215 We did a lot of that last summer. 590 00:31:12,215 --> 00:31:13,670 Started in the summer. 591 00:31:13,670 --> 00:31:16,730 In the spring we did on the tips tricks and triage. 592 00:31:16,730 --> 00:31:18,275 So we called it T-three, 593 00:31:18,275 --> 00:31:20,900 and we did it twice a week a little 30 minute sessions. 594 00:31:20,900 --> 00:31:26,045 In May we focused on Ally a little bit introduced what it was and some remediation. 595 00:31:26,045 --> 00:31:29,465 Kim did some in the training in the summer and in the fall, 596 00:31:29,465 --> 00:31:32,810 so they had that training, convocation we presented, 597 00:31:32,810 --> 00:31:38,060 and then created two soft talk tutorials just invented your videos, the student view, 598 00:31:38,060 --> 00:31:41,390 the faculty view and e-mailed the links so that they could 599 00:31:41,390 --> 00:31:44,900 see that posted it on the Blackboard log in page actually, 600 00:31:44,900 --> 00:31:47,270 so that they could say, this is Blackboard Ally, 601 00:31:47,270 --> 00:31:50,420 this is what it means and you can just go look at the video real quick. 602 00:31:50,420 --> 00:31:52,250 So we tried to really promote it and send it off 603 00:31:52,250 --> 00:31:54,995 the campus and send that out as an e-mail as well, 604 00:31:54,995 --> 00:32:00,965 so they see it and then once they see gear shift change they got really, really excited. 605 00:32:00,965 --> 00:32:03,545 I was getting, "Whats my score now." 606 00:32:03,545 --> 00:32:06,859 So in our initial training they had a printout 607 00:32:06,859 --> 00:32:09,920 of the little circles with their percentages, 608 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,400 and then the list of the number of items that were wrong for 609 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:18,005 this little baseline thing but immediately it was like, "What's my score?" 610 00:32:18,005 --> 00:32:21,215 So now don't you provide them a certificate? 611 00:32:21,215 --> 00:32:23,390 Yes. I've also made a little certificate, 612 00:32:23,390 --> 00:32:27,240 so they have a Blackboard Ally certificate with their percentage on it. 613 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,360 When I get done, 614 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:33,560 I send them an e-mail of all the numbers of how many documents, 615 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,255 what their score was before, 616 00:32:35,255 --> 00:32:38,240 how much time we spent remediating the courses, 617 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:40,760 and then I also sent that to their Dean as well so that, 618 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:42,515 and in a copy of the certificate. 619 00:32:42,515 --> 00:32:44,210 Also lists what's now there, 620 00:32:44,210 --> 00:32:45,890 we call that, new master course. 621 00:32:45,890 --> 00:32:48,230 So the next time they teach the course they know 622 00:32:48,230 --> 00:32:51,305 which course to copy from when they put in their request. 623 00:32:51,305 --> 00:32:53,675 So they also get a little certificate, 624 00:32:53,675 --> 00:32:55,099 that we just created, 625 00:32:55,099 --> 00:32:56,450 to give them a kudos. 626 00:32:56,450 --> 00:32:57,950 Everybody likes a certificate. 627 00:32:57,950 --> 00:32:59,810 Your never too old for a certificate. 628 00:32:59,810 --> 00:33:00,560 I guess so. 629 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:05,720 You are also part of your early process was doing in your syllabus template as well, 630 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,990 so your entire campus now uses the template. 631 00:33:08,990 --> 00:33:09,470 Yes. 632 00:33:09,470 --> 00:33:12,740 What was that process because that's definitely something that we 633 00:33:12,740 --> 00:33:16,010 talk a lot as a starting point for institutions, 634 00:33:16,010 --> 00:33:18,770 you say they work on an accessible syllabus 635 00:33:18,770 --> 00:33:21,185 if it's a template or if it's working with what they had. 636 00:33:21,185 --> 00:33:24,590 First, was there push back in trying to get them to use a template? 637 00:33:24,590 --> 00:33:31,820 Well, I think we did it covertely without them really realizing what was happening. 638 00:33:31,820 --> 00:33:35,600 Seems the beginning of last summer, the summer before. 639 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:36,710 It's been two years ago. 640 00:33:36,710 --> 00:33:37,070 Okay, two years ago. 641 00:33:37,070 --> 00:33:37,880 It's been a while now. 642 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:39,275 Beginning of a summer, 643 00:33:39,275 --> 00:33:41,225 Karen and I had a conversation, 644 00:33:41,225 --> 00:33:47,030 and I had been very passionate about at least getting 645 00:33:47,030 --> 00:33:56,585 a common look to all of our syllabi because we had some syllabi that was created in 1960, 646 00:33:56,585 --> 00:33:59,090 and it was PICA font. 647 00:33:59,090 --> 00:34:00,815 It was from a typewriter. 648 00:34:00,815 --> 00:34:07,355 It was from a manual typewriter all the way to your latest Word document. 649 00:34:07,355 --> 00:34:12,379 Three fours of our syllabus or of our syllabi are all the same, 650 00:34:12,379 --> 00:34:13,820 and has the same information. 651 00:34:13,820 --> 00:34:15,830 There's only certain things that need to change. 652 00:34:15,830 --> 00:34:20,330 So Karen and I started talking and felt like if we needed to start with 653 00:34:20,330 --> 00:34:26,570 one thing that we could make accessible that would impact the most people, 654 00:34:26,570 --> 00:34:32,015 and it would also get us decent syllabi across campus that would be it, 655 00:34:32,015 --> 00:34:36,575 and so we covertly, 656 00:34:36,575 --> 00:34:40,325 I think encourage all of the other deans to get on board. 657 00:34:40,325 --> 00:34:45,470 We ended up getting copies from all the divisions and then found the common elements, 658 00:34:45,470 --> 00:34:48,470 and then we decided to make sections. 659 00:34:48,470 --> 00:34:51,110 Because I think we even first started by just we wanted to 660 00:34:51,110 --> 00:34:53,915 go in and make the syllabus accessible, 661 00:34:53,915 --> 00:34:58,145 and then we realized all my word they're all different. 662 00:34:58,145 --> 00:35:01,280 It's going to take an enormous number of hours to do this. 663 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:04,985 What we need to do is start out with one type of document, 664 00:35:04,985 --> 00:35:09,410 and make it accessible, that was a big project. 665 00:35:09,410 --> 00:35:11,510 We took our policies and procedures manuals. 666 00:35:11,510 --> 00:35:16,580 There's a list of things that need to be included that were required to be in there, 667 00:35:16,580 --> 00:35:18,110 and we made that one section. 668 00:35:18,110 --> 00:35:21,410 So there's nothing that the faculty has to change in that, 669 00:35:21,410 --> 00:35:24,770 we made a part one that includes the course description, 670 00:35:24,770 --> 00:35:26,795 their outcomes, their textbook, 671 00:35:26,795 --> 00:35:28,940 it's usually about two pages long and that's 672 00:35:28,940 --> 00:35:31,355 where they can change their textbook information, 673 00:35:31,355 --> 00:35:33,050 and some of that basic, 674 00:35:33,050 --> 00:35:36,215 the course requirements, section two is where the big changes were, 675 00:35:36,215 --> 00:35:38,570 that this is where their grading policy is located. 676 00:35:38,570 --> 00:35:40,040 This is what their grading scale is, 677 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:41,930 this is their late work, their tardy policy, 678 00:35:41,930 --> 00:35:44,520 but we also included the college policy in 679 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:48,200 the sections that they can change but then we structured it with styles, 680 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:50,960 and navigation before somebody might bump it up 681 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,575 to 16 point bold all caps and thinking that's a heading. 682 00:35:54,575 --> 00:36:00,755 So we made that structure then we created what we thought was going be a good template, 683 00:36:00,755 --> 00:36:04,130 and then we met with all the deans and brought them in, 684 00:36:04,130 --> 00:36:05,690 and let them vet it, 685 00:36:05,690 --> 00:36:07,220 and they said, "We want this here, 686 00:36:07,220 --> 00:36:09,290 we think this is here, we think this is good," and 687 00:36:09,290 --> 00:36:11,885 got their input and they're buying in on it, 688 00:36:11,885 --> 00:36:15,335 and so we established our template, 689 00:36:15,335 --> 00:36:18,065 and then we started training, 690 00:36:18,065 --> 00:36:23,330 and so we required all of the full time faculty to come to training, 691 00:36:23,330 --> 00:36:25,940 some adjunct faculty came to training, we walk them through, 692 00:36:25,940 --> 00:36:27,245 have them used the template, 693 00:36:27,245 --> 00:36:28,640 there's an instruction sheet on 694 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:32,165 the very first page telling them that what's in the screen font, 695 00:36:32,165 --> 00:36:34,565 you can change, that's all you need change. 696 00:36:34,565 --> 00:36:37,625 Then we have that consistent look, 697 00:36:37,625 --> 00:36:40,174 and we put it on our shared network, 698 00:36:40,174 --> 00:36:43,520 and it's broken up by divisions in our shared drive, 699 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:45,950 and then all the faculty have access to that. 700 00:36:45,950 --> 00:36:49,940 The department chairs are able to edit in there, 701 00:36:49,940 --> 00:36:54,050 so if they need to make a change about a textbook on the master template, 702 00:36:54,050 --> 00:36:55,685 then they're able to do that. 703 00:36:55,685 --> 00:36:59,135 So our faculty can access that main template. 704 00:36:59,135 --> 00:37:01,910 The summer, each summer if there's changes, 705 00:37:01,910 --> 00:37:04,550 if the colleges made a change to the withdrawal process, 706 00:37:04,550 --> 00:37:07,025 that needs to be changed to campus wide. 707 00:37:07,025 --> 00:37:09,210 Well, Arts and Sciences. 708 00:37:09,210 --> 00:37:13,240 The Dean there handles their syllabi, they have like, 113, 709 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:16,845 I think we have 672 syllabi on our campus, 710 00:37:16,845 --> 00:37:20,150 and I manage the other less 113. 711 00:37:20,150 --> 00:37:26,990 So, my student workers will spend a month going in their master syllabi, 712 00:37:26,990 --> 00:37:28,550 and making those changes, 713 00:37:28,550 --> 00:37:31,385 so that we know that they're consistent and then 714 00:37:31,385 --> 00:37:34,580 we're getting them in the habit of it now because this will be our third Fall, 715 00:37:34,580 --> 00:37:36,890 that we're having an effective date. 716 00:37:36,890 --> 00:37:38,570 So, the Deans will say, 717 00:37:38,570 --> 00:37:41,570 ''Make sure you pull it off the shared drive.'' You got to update it. 718 00:37:41,570 --> 00:37:46,895 So, we let the department shares update the textbook or the faculty can change it, 719 00:37:46,895 --> 00:37:50,500 the main stuff that we're not require them to update, 720 00:37:50,500 --> 00:37:52,070 because when we used to say, ''Hey, 721 00:37:52,070 --> 00:37:54,260 change your syllabus,'' and the statement to, 722 00:37:54,260 --> 00:37:56,190 there's no telling where it would have gone. 723 00:37:56,190 --> 00:37:59,255 Now they're all in the same place, and then, 724 00:37:59,255 --> 00:38:02,075 we showed them the benefit of using the styles that 725 00:38:02,075 --> 00:38:05,055 they have to put a withdrawal date in every syllabi, 726 00:38:05,055 --> 00:38:06,830 and their certain dates throughout the semester, 727 00:38:06,830 --> 00:38:09,285 depending on when the course starts, and the link. 728 00:38:09,285 --> 00:38:11,120 So, we showed up, ''Hey, you turn this on, 729 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:14,165 you click withdrawal process now you don't have to scroll to page six.'' 730 00:38:14,165 --> 00:38:16,215 You can go in there and get to it quickly. 731 00:38:16,215 --> 00:38:19,860 So we showed them the benefit of using the styles, 732 00:38:19,860 --> 00:38:23,420 for themselves, and then also, as a side note, 733 00:38:23,420 --> 00:38:26,085 we showed them the benefit of using styles on how to conduct, 734 00:38:26,085 --> 00:38:27,465 create table of contents, 735 00:38:27,465 --> 00:38:28,790 because a lot of these people have 736 00:38:28,790 --> 00:38:30,915 advanced degrees and they had to do with this rotation, 737 00:38:30,915 --> 00:38:36,765 and they're like, "Oh, this is great, I wish I had known this before." 738 00:38:36,765 --> 00:38:39,945 So we've shown them the benefits of not just for accessibility, 739 00:38:39,945 --> 00:38:42,290 but just for them to be able to scroll, and quickly get 740 00:38:42,290 --> 00:38:45,545 to items in their syllabus that need to be updated and changed. 741 00:38:45,545 --> 00:38:47,520 Absolutely. All right. 742 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:49,985 I think we're almost ready to break for lunch. 743 00:38:49,985 --> 00:38:50,525 Sounds good. 744 00:38:50,525 --> 00:38:51,765 Last question is here. 745 00:38:51,765 --> 00:38:58,005 So moving forward, is the plan to continue to support the instructors, 746 00:38:58,005 --> 00:39:01,580 centrally, by going course to course as well as the hope 747 00:39:01,580 --> 00:39:05,540 that they're also going to start to initiate more of this on their own. 748 00:39:05,540 --> 00:39:07,970 A lot of them when we started the training, they're like, 749 00:39:07,970 --> 00:39:11,225 "Oh, how do I finish this remediation other than just the document?" 750 00:39:11,225 --> 00:39:16,120 So some of them want to know more with it and some of them will not, with it. 751 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:20,900 So it's going to depend we're want to encourage faculty to start learning how to do that. 752 00:39:20,900 --> 00:39:22,190 Hopefully, we're getting them in the habit, 753 00:39:22,190 --> 00:39:23,720 and training them how to do that. 754 00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:26,030 So, some are more are excited with it. 755 00:39:26,030 --> 00:39:28,370 So, that's the goal with it, 756 00:39:28,370 --> 00:39:31,595 but also we want to continue to support this way, 757 00:39:31,595 --> 00:39:33,275 that if they're not going to do that, 758 00:39:33,275 --> 00:39:36,200 and it's a high on that course that we're building it that way, 759 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:40,050 and just working in collaboration with them, and that also, 760 00:39:40,050 --> 00:39:42,980 if we have an accommodation from 761 00:39:42,980 --> 00:39:46,005 our special needs counselor about a student in the course, 762 00:39:46,005 --> 00:39:47,760 then that course we would definitely, 763 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,330 make sure that we get into that course, 764 00:39:50,330 --> 00:39:52,340 and check that course for accessibility, 765 00:39:52,340 --> 00:39:55,250 depending on what the need is, in that course. 766 00:39:55,250 --> 00:39:56,985 So, with the hearing impaired student, 767 00:39:56,985 --> 00:39:59,955 then we would make sure that anything that they have is captioned, 768 00:39:59,955 --> 00:40:02,420 and they'll work with a faculty member making sure 769 00:40:02,420 --> 00:40:04,595 that they're putting accessible content in there. 770 00:40:04,595 --> 00:40:07,830 If there is a specific video that we need to provide a transcript for, 771 00:40:07,830 --> 00:40:09,945 then we will work with that. 772 00:40:09,945 --> 00:40:11,930 If it's a visually impaired student, 773 00:40:11,930 --> 00:40:15,230 then we would want to make sure that the documents and the content in there, 774 00:40:15,230 --> 00:40:18,785 has the proper heading instructions in instance and a tag document as well. 775 00:40:18,785 --> 00:40:20,735 So, that would be a priority. 776 00:40:20,735 --> 00:40:23,645 We would definitely jump into those courses first. 777 00:40:23,645 --> 00:40:26,120 Has that been kind of the collaboration with, 778 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:29,565 Disability Resource Office, is going to working with commendation letters, 779 00:40:29,565 --> 00:40:31,065 and going into those courses? 780 00:40:31,065 --> 00:40:36,975 Yes. So, we have a very good relationship with that Coordinator, 781 00:40:36,975 --> 00:40:40,340 or the previous ones we're in the process of rehiring that position 782 00:40:40,340 --> 00:40:43,250 because they've been promoted to another position on campus, 783 00:40:43,250 --> 00:40:46,520 but we work very closely with that office, 784 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,000 in trying to make sure that we are able to meet those needs. 785 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,310 Kim, last question for you. 786 00:40:52,310 --> 00:40:56,430 You've seen a lot of technologies come around for the Learning Management System. 787 00:40:56,430 --> 00:41:00,060 What gets you so excited about Ally in particular? 788 00:41:00,060 --> 00:41:02,180 I think, the ease of use. 789 00:41:02,180 --> 00:41:03,770 It was so easy to learn. 790 00:41:03,770 --> 00:41:05,210 What it was telling me it was, 791 00:41:05,210 --> 00:41:07,010 the graphics are awesome, 792 00:41:07,010 --> 00:41:08,910 they're simple to understand, 793 00:41:08,910 --> 00:41:13,115 but I think most importantly is the benefit that it gives to the users, 794 00:41:13,115 --> 00:41:18,780 and we're not just talking about those users that have identified accessibility issues, 795 00:41:18,780 --> 00:41:20,490 but we're talking about everybody, 796 00:41:20,490 --> 00:41:22,120 because all of us especially, 797 00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:25,940 as we age, need some assistive technology. 798 00:41:25,940 --> 00:41:31,684 So, I see Ally benefiting every student, every employee, 799 00:41:31,684 --> 00:41:33,835 anybody that comes into contact, 800 00:41:33,835 --> 00:41:35,540 with our Learning Management System, 801 00:41:35,540 --> 00:41:37,520 and hopefully in the near future, 802 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:39,070 even with our website. 803 00:41:39,070 --> 00:41:44,975 Great to hear from Kim and Karen about their journey to more inclusive education. 804 00:41:44,975 --> 00:41:46,685 Hearing about their process. 805 00:41:46,685 --> 00:41:48,455 A lot of institutions, 806 00:41:48,455 --> 00:41:49,760 they always think well, 807 00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:50,810 where should we start? 808 00:41:50,810 --> 00:41:55,715 How do we make a dent into this giant accessibility challenge? 809 00:41:55,715 --> 00:41:58,205 Here we see, working with Deans, 810 00:41:58,205 --> 00:42:01,275 identifying those high impact courses, 811 00:42:01,275 --> 00:42:04,760 bringing in a student like Angus, building that team, 812 00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:09,795 making sure that the content is accessible to people who use screen readers, 813 00:42:09,795 --> 00:42:13,955 that they can navigate successfully through that environment, 814 00:42:13,955 --> 00:42:15,455 really cool to see. 815 00:42:15,455 --> 00:42:18,150 Thanks so much, for the team from Gaston, 816 00:42:18,150 --> 00:42:19,995 getting the chance to talk with them, 817 00:42:19,995 --> 00:42:23,505 and next time we'll be reporting from the, 818 00:42:23,505 --> 00:42:26,090 Medical University of South Carolina, 819 00:42:26,090 --> 00:42:29,165 hearing about how they're using Blackboard Ally, 820 00:42:29,165 --> 00:42:31,030 at a Medical University, 821 00:42:31,030 --> 00:42:34,225 to make for a more accessible community, 822 00:42:34,225 --> 00:42:36,250 not just at the University itself, 823 00:42:36,250 --> 00:42:38,410 but also the surrounding hospitals. 824 00:42:38,410 --> 00:42:42,080 Until then, see you on the road to IncluCity. 825 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:46,610 Join the tour, along with the rest of the Ally Community, @tour.ally.ac. 826 00:42:46,610 --> 00:42:49,040 You can catch the latest updates, 827 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:53,040 on Instagram and Twitter, @#allytour2019, 828 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:54,885 and listen to stories of inclusion from 829 00:42:54,885 --> 00:42:59,315 our community champions Ally Tour 2019 podcast series. 830 00:42:59,315 --> 00:43:02,735 Available on Sound-Cloud or in your favorite podcast app. 831 00:43:02,735 --> 00:43:05,450 We look forward to seeing you at the next stop, 832 00:43:05,450 --> 00:43:08,120 on road to IncluCity.